As an adult I’ve gone back and re-watched many of my favorite Disney films. They’re as wonderful as ever, but in some cases I am disturbed by the content I find in them.
I realize that many of these movies were made in a different era, but part of me wants to believe that Disney was always squeaky-clean and welcoming to people of all backgrounds. In this two-part article I’d like to address how we might approach the controversial material in Disney films, both as adults and as parents.
Here’s a rundown of some of the more controversial Disney films:
“Fantasia” (1940) – Many people don’t know about the controversy in “Fantasia” because the offending scenes were removed with the movie’s re-release in 1960. In the film’s Greco-Roman mythological sequence, often goofy-looking darker-skinned centaurs were seen polishing the hooves and otherwise serving prettier Aryan-featured centaurs.
“Dumbo” (1941) – “Dumbo” makes controversial lists for its the three black crow characters. These characters depict negative African-American stereotypes; they are portrayed as simplistic, poor, and uneducated. The lead crow’s name is even Jim Crow.
“Song of the South” (1946) – “Song of the South” is probably Disney’s most famous controversial film, not the least because it is yet to be released on DVD. The film, set in the post-Civil War South, is accused of attempting to whitewash the past.
The character of Uncle Remus, the movie’s protagonist, works happily on a plantation with the film never acknowledging the realities of the period in which it is set. A sad related fact is that James Baskett, the actor who played Uncle Remus, was banned from attending the film’s premiere in Atlanta due to the city’s segregation laws.
“Peter Pan” (1953) – “Peter Pan” inherits its controversial elements from its source material, J.M. Barrie’s famous play. The society of the Native American characters in Never-Never Land is represented as misogynistic and backwards.
The Native Americans call themselves “injuns” and explain that they say “how” in order to ask the English characters for their knowledge. Tiger Lilly also dances alluringly for the male children of the group.
“Lady and the Tramp” (1955) – “Lady and the Tramp” makes the list for the Siamese cats. The cats speak in the faux-accented English commonly given to stereotypical Asian characters. Their greedy and conniving behavior adheres to negative Asian stereotypes.
“The Jungle Book” (1967) – “The Jungle Book” is another example of a Disney film inheriting its controversy from its source material, a book of the same title by Rudyard Kipling. In the movie, almost all of the jungle animals speak in proper British accents, with one of the notable exceptions being the jive-talking monkeys. The monkeys are led by their king in a musical number where they sing to the human Mowgli that they desperately “wanna be like you.”
On Wednesday I will cover some of the more recent controversial Disney films. I will conclude my examination of the movies and try to come to a resolution about how to approach them in the modern era.
Related Articles:
Where in the World is “Song of the South”?
Disney Reconsiders Releasing “Song of the South” on DVD
Book Review: Orientals: Asian Americans in Popular Culture