Disney has come a long way over the years. When Walt started making animated features in 1938, he never would have dreamed about what Disney Animation Studios would have become. Disney has gotten a great deal of criticism over some of the pieces that have "not aged well." Unfortunately, that is not really the right terminology. Disney movies have created scenes, characters and situations that were not socially appropriate. Sometimes this was in an effort to make a point or describe background but not always.
Disney+ has been carrying the weight of the Disney movie realm as they are streaming more and more programs every day. However, there has begun a movement to right the wrongs gone past. An initiative called Stories Matter was launched in order to combat some of the derogatory or degrading content, while others still have been omitted entirely. The advisory council behind this initiative is representative of all people of differing races, ethnicities, religion, gender, ability and is inclusionary of peoples from all different backgrounds, nationality, etc.
Some of the movies on Disney+ have been given an advisory notice before the airing of the film. You may recognize this from some of the classic Disney films, such as Peter Pan(1953), Dumbo(1941) and Aristocats(1970).
Disney has taking forward action towards past discriminations and making sure that is is acknowledged. Currently there are only a handful of movies with this advisory message:
Dumbo(1941)
Peter Pan(1953)
Lady and the Tramp(1955)
The Aristocats(1970)
Swiss Family Robinson(1940)
Fantasia(1941): although the scenes in question were deleted for the re-release
Davy Crockett(1955)
The Jungle Book(1967)
In addition to the advisory notice, Disney+ is now pulling questionable movies from the kids profile side. This will allow parents to view these movies with their children and explain to them the nature of the advisory. Disney Company policy has this to say about the stories and characters:
For nearly 100 years, The Walt Disney Company has been home to some of the world’s most beloved characters and cherished stories. Disney holds a special place in the hearts of millions of people because our themes and characters are universal, relatable and relevant to everyone. Our brands strive to be inclusive, with stories that reflect acceptance and tolerance and celebrate the differences that make our characters uniquely wonderful in their own way. We aim to create and share compelling storylines from our studios and media networks that entertain with inspirational and aspirational themes and reflect the incredibly rich diversity of the human experience. Our stories are timeless because they speak to the heart; our characters appeal to individuals across gender, identity, ability, and experience because they’re defined by kindness, loyalty, humor, courage, wit and other distinguished traits. Disney remains committed to creating stories and characters that are accessible and relatable to all.
There has also been advisories in front of movies that depict smoking. Movies such as Pinocchio, Hercules, Aladdin and The Three Caballeros all have scenes that show one or more characters with some tobacco product. The idea is to ensure the audience that Disney does not encourage the practice of smoking tobacco products and that the movie was created in a time as such that the authors did not believe that it would encourage bad behavior.
Not all the movies that one might think needs advisory have warnings at this time. This is mostly in part to the council having to go and vet every scene movie by movie. It will take some time to catch everything in nearly 100 years worth of programming. If you are concerned about your family viewing questionable material, I have compiled a list of movies that have been deemed inappropriate by sources outside of Disney.
Song of the South: This story of the Reconstruction Era just after the Civil War does depict offensive stereotypes and racist undertones. When Walt was creating the storyline, he blatantly ignored the advice of his council of black leadership and proceeded with his own vision. To make matters worse, the premiere of the movie took place in Atlanta, Georgia, which was still segregated at the time; James Baskett, who played the main character of Uncle Remus, could not get a hotel room. This movie was the inspiration for the popular attraction of Splash Mountain, but the story on the ride focused more on the characters of Uncle Remus' stories than the era from which they came. This movie cannot be watched on Disney+ and was never released on DVD in the United States of America.
Fantasia(1940): This movie was not well received in its time. There was a scene during Pastoral Symphony that featured a black centaurette named Sunflower, who seemed to be catering to the needs of the white centaurettes. While this scene was removed from post-1969 re-releases, there is also the matter of the blatant cartoon breasts in the Night on Bald Mountain segment.
Peter Pan(1953): The depiction of the Natives in Neverland leaves a lot to be desired. The stereotypes of savages and the lack of an indigenous language, as well as the careless use of pipe tobacco, headdresses, tomahawks and "whopping" noises, are nothing short of cringeworthy.
Lady and the Tramp(1955): The real issue in this film is the Siamese cats that are brought into Lady's home. Without receiving proper names, Si and Am are drawn and voiced in stereotypical Chinese fashion.
The Jungle Book(1967): King Louie and his band of apes drew some criticism for their depiction of jive-talking, unintelligent creatures. Some drew a comparison to the negative comparison of black people and apes.
Aladdin(1993): While the story was been rectified, there was once a line in the opening song that said "where they cut off your ear if they don't like your face." After some backlash about the connotation that brings to Middle Easterners, the line was changed to "where it's flat and immense and the heat is intense."
The Little Mermaid(1989): The biggest red flag here is that Ariel pines for this human prince so much that she trades her voice for a set of legs and leaves her entire family behind. Ursula states it outright when she sings about getting Prince Eric to love her. "You have your looks, your pretty face! And don't underestimate the importance of body language. The men up there don't like a lot of blabber, they think a girl who gossips is a bore. On land, its much preferred for ladies not to say a word. It's she who holds her tongue will get her man." This is bad enough for Ariel in the movie but it also perpetuates the idea that young girls should be quiet if they want to impress a man. Also, there is definitely stereotypes in the drawing of the fish for the "Under The Sea" scene. Fluke, the Duke of Soul, and a soulful Blackfish singer are drawn with droopy eyes and large lips and are noticeably voiced by African Americans.
The Aristocats(1970): The gang of wise-cracking alley cats are all cast in a very specific light. Billy Boss is rocking his Russian accent, with the air of Joseph Stalin. Shun Gon is a Siamese cat depicted with buckteeth, slanting eyes and a thick Chinese accent, while playing the piano with chopsticks. There is also Peppo the Italian, Hit Cat the Beatles tribute and the leader of the pack, Scat Cat who is fashioned after Louis Armstrong.
Pocahontas(1995): This movie is wrong on a number of levels. Historically inaccurate, it tells the story of Pocahontas as a young woman who falls in love with an English settler. Pocahontas was actually a young girl who befriended John Smith and was later abducted by English colonists and held for random. There was a lot of hostility on both the parts of the Natives and the colonists. She married John Rolf at about 17 years of age(which seems to be the age that they portrayed her). It was this marriage that ended the war between the Powhatans and the colonists. She left with him to England and died at the age of 21.
Dumbo(1941): Dumbo has a number of elements that are racially insensitive and otherwise just wrong. The first is the "Song of the Roustabouts," where faceless black circus workers are singing racial slurs. Next there is the drunken Pink Elephant hallucination that Dumbo and Timothy partake in. Followed shortly after, we have the crows that find Dumbo and Timothy in a tree. The leader of the crows was named Jim Crow in reference to the Jim Crow laws that enforced segregation and general hostility between black and white people in the South. The crows are drawn and voiced as stereotypes.
The original princess stories like Snow White and Sleeping Beauty are centered around true love's kiss. That can be generalized down to non-consensual "assault."
Pinocchio(1943): Pinocchio is tricked into skipping school and sold to Stromboli, who threatens to turn him into firewood if he doesn't perform for him. Pinocchio escapes and is tricked into going to Pleasure Island, where badly behaved boys drink, smoke and wreak havoc. The boys are then turned into donkeys for making asses out of themselves and sold to the salt mines.
Beauty and the Beast(1991): There are arguments that this story encourages Stockholm Syndrome as Belle slowly begins to care for her frightening and abusive captor, the Beast. It portrays the idea that girls/women can and should fix the men in their life.
Princess and the Frog(2009): There are complaints that Prince Naveen is ethnically ambiguous. Inspiration for the character's land of origin comes from the Maldives and Macedonia. the Maldives is formed principally of an Indo-Aryan people, having traces of Middle Eastern, South Asian, Austronesian and African genes. Macedonia was a collection of ethnic groups in the Balkan Peninsula including Albanians, Bulgarians, Greeks, Macedonians, Serbs, Turks and Vlachs.
Alice in Wonderland(1954): The characters are bizarre and trippy and the amount of drug references will astound.
The Three Caballeros(1943): Meant to portray Hispanic culture from Mexico, it instead portrays Mexican stereotypes.
Moana(2016): Moana is believed to be insensitive to Polynesian culture, portraying characters as hulky bulky people and the legends behind Maui.
Disney Villains get a special look as well. Over the years, villains have been given an queer-coded perception. This is when an writer consciously or unconsciously include LBGT stereotypes into the character without any extension of their character. For example, Scar from "The Lion King", Jafar from "Aladdin", Hades from "Hercules", and King Candy from "Wreck-It-Ralph" are all given effeminate, flamboyant personality types, while Ursula from "The Little Mermaid" is portrayed as masculine and brash.
There are things to catch everywhere we look: things we notice and ignore, things we didn't think about, and even things that we didn't know to think of as offensive. In a society that is built on inclusion and being attentive to all parties regardless of who, what or where they came, it is imperative that we as a community open our eyes to what may hurt other people around us.
When everyone is pointing fingers at everyone else for discrimination and prejudice,
Love each other, even when its hard.
Comentários