Disney+ has quietly pulled Dumbo, Peter Pan, Swiss Family Robinson and The Aristocrats off children’s profile on their streaming service in a bid to reconcile Disney long history of using racist stereotypes and negative depictions in their films.
The four films that have been pulled from the kids profiles still remain on adult profiles on Disney+ but now come with an advisory warning about the movies.
‘This program includes negative depictions and/or mistreatment of people or cultures,’ the advisory reads.
‘These stereotypes were wrong then and are wrong now. Rather than remove this content, we want to acknowledge its harmful impact, learn from it and spark conversation to create a more inclusive future together.
Disney+ has quietly pulled Dumbo, Peter Pan, Swiss Family Robinson and The Aristocrats off children’s profile on their streaming service. Crows from Dumbo were showing minstrel characters
The four films that have been pulled from the kids profiles still remain on adult profiles on Disney+ but now come with an advisory warning about the movies
‘Disney is committed to creating stories with inspirational and aspirational themes that reflect the rich diversity of the human experience around the globe.’
The warning then directs customers to their Stories Matter website to ‘learn more about how stories have impacted society.’
Disney+ profiles for children do already limit the content for kids to watch to titles rated G, TV-Y, TV-Y7/Y7-FV, or TV-G.
When launching Disney+ in 2019, the company put an advisory on a number of titles they said ‘may contain outdated cultural depictions.’ Then last fall, Disney launched Stories Matter in a bid to focus on telling stories from a diverse perspective while acknowledging past grievances in cinema.
Specifically in Dumbo, Disney highlight the ‘crows and musical number’ as paying homage to racist minstrel shows
Jim Crow was the name of the lead crow in the movie, referring to the name of laws that ‘enforced ravial segregation in the Southern United States’
‘We can’t change the past, but we can acknowledge it, learn from it and move forward together to create a tomorrow that today can only dream of,’ the Stories Matter page states.
Specifically in Dumbo, Disney highlight the ‘crows and musical number’ as paying homage to racist minstrel shows. Minstrel shows, when white performers would dress in black face and make their appearance haggard, were used predominantly in the south as a means of pointing fun at enslaved and freed Black people.
‘The leader of the group in Dumbo is Jim Crow, which shares the name of laws that enforced racial segregation in the Southern United States,’ the page reads. ‘In “The Song of the Roustabouts,” faceless Black workers toil away to offensive lyrics like “When we get our pay, we throw our money all away.”‘
In The Aristocats, a cat depicted in the film shows a ‘racist caricature of East Asian people with exaggerated stereotypical traits such as slanted eyes and buck teeth,’ as per the site
Additionally, the cat is seen playing the piano with chopsticks while singing in poorly accented English that is voiced by a white actor
In The Aristocats, a cat depicted in the film shows a ‘racist caricature of East Asian people with exaggerated stereotypical traits such as slanted eyes and buck teeth,’ as per the site.
Additionally, the cat is seen playing the piano with chopsticks while singing in poorly accented English that is voiced by a white actor.
The page continues: ‘This portrayal reinforces the “perpetual foreigner” stereotype, while the film also features lyrics that mock the Chinese language and culture such as “Shanghai, Hong Kong, Egg Foo Young. Fortune cookie always wrong.”‘
Peter Pan is featured on the list for its portrayal of Indigenous people, showing them in a stereotypical way that offers no breadth of diversity to the wide variety of Native people.
Peter Pan is featured on the list for its portrayal of Indigenous people, showing them in a stereotypical way that offers no breadth of diversity to the wide variety of Native people
‘Peter and the Lost Boys engage in dancing, wearing headdresses and other exaggerated tropes, a form of mockery and appropriation of Native peoples’ culture and imagery,’ the Stories Matter site reads
In Swiss Family Robinson, many of the pirate actors in the film were actually sporting ‘yellow face’ or ‘brown face’
‘It shows them speaking in an unintelligible language and repeatedly refers to them as “redskins,” an offensive term,’ the site asserts. ‘Peter and the Lost Boys engage in dancing, wearing headdresses and other exaggerated tropes, a form of mockery and appropriation of Native peoples’ culture and imagery.’
In Swiss Family Robinson, many of the pirate actors in the film were actually sporting ‘yellow face’ or ‘brown face.’ The characters are also made to show ‘otherness’ and barbarism in their costumes, dressed in ‘an exaggerated and inaccurate manner with top knot hairstyles, queues, robes and overdone facial make-up and jewelry.’
‘They speak in an indecipherable language, presenting a singular and racist representation of Asian and Middle Eastern peoples,’ the page continues.
Sequels for a number of films given advisory warnings are still on the streaming service, including those for Peter Pan, Lady and the Tramp and Jungle Book.
Stories Matter is comprised of a third-party council, representing diverse communities, geared at holding Disney accountable for past and future errors and ‘shifting perceptions.’