On Monday I took a look back at some of Disney’s more controversial movies from the 1940s through the 1960s. Today I’m going to finish my examination of their hot-button films, and try to find some sort of resolution about how we should approach them today.
“Aladdin” (1992) – “Aladdin” sparked protests from Arab-American groups for its opening sequence. The original lyrics to the song “Arabian Nights” contained the line “where they cut off your ear if they don’t like your face” when describing the Arabic land/culture. The DVD release of the movie changed the line to “where it’s flat and immense and the heat is intense.”
Surprisingly, the lyrics of the following line were not changed, which reads “it’s barbaric, but hey, it’s home.” Also, the film was accused of portraying the lead Aladdin with much more European features, whereas the villain Jafar was said to look more Middle Eastern in appearance.
“Princess and the Frog” (2009) – “Princess and the Frog” is a movie more controversial during its creation than at its actual release. The film was originally titled “The Frog Princess,” after the Russian fairy tale on which it was based, and the lead character named “Maddy.”
The movie title was accused of implying that an African-American princess was like a frog, and the name Maddy was considered insensitive due to its common use as an African-American slave name. The film was also criticized by some for having its first African-American princess (and many criticized Disney for taking so long to create one) spend the majority of the movie as a frog.
I have to admit I’m surprised that Disney left in elements of racism in some movies from their source material. Disney is famous for cleaning up the stories it uses for family audiences (Brothers Grimm fairy tales, anyone?), so I don’t understand why why they didn’t do the same for movies like “Peter Pan” and “The Jungle Book.”
The question remains of what to do about these movies now. Many of them are classics from our childhood, and so we’d like to share them with our own children.
I think we have two options. One: skip the movies that justifiably offend us, and hopefully doing so will teach Disney to continue to be more aware and appropriate in the future.
Option two: In some cases, we might still love these movies and want to watch them with our kids. When viewing them, however, I think it’s important to address the issues raised by their inappropriate content. Ignoring those parts altogether seems wrong, because to do so is to not acknowledge the wrongs of our past.
Instead, if we still want to share these films with our children, we should use them as a springboard for discussion. We can watch them and enjoy them, but then we should talk with our kids about the ways in which these movies are wrong, portraying characters/situations poorly and inaccurately.
I think this is the best way to own up to the uglier parts of our country’s past, while still valuing the artistry and entertainment of these films. Doing so, especially with a little parent-child interaction and addressing of these issues, will help us raise children who are tolerant, discerning, and well-prepared to live in our global society.
Related Articles:
“Princess and the Frog” Hints at New Era for Disney
The Frog Princess–Disney’s First Black Princess
Angelina Jolie Argues Cultural Rights vs Disney Princesses
Positive Steps to Confront Stereotypes
Combatting Stereotypes in Children, Part One
Combatting Stereotypes in Children, Part Two
Resources for Responding to Racism: Hate Hurts: How Children Learn and Unlearn Prejudice