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These old Disney movies are a little bit like your aging Uncle Frank. Honestly, he means well when he points out that Will Smith is "well-spoken." It's just that he, like the assemblage of clips below, dates from a time when people were unfairly characterized by their ethnic background (the acceptable methods are, of course, religion, geography, sexual preference and income). #9.
The Merchant from Aladdin
The opening musical sequence from the hugely popular 1992 animated film had to be edited due to protest from Arab-American groups for saying about the Middle East what most of us were merely thinking.
Lesson Learned:
Best (Worst?) Moment:
#8.
Sebastian from The Little Mermaid
In this 1989 film, a Jamaican-sounding crab teaches Ariel that life is better "Under the Sea," because underwater you don't have to get a job.
Lesson Learned:
Up on the shore they work all day
Are we reading too much into it? Do you see anything wrong with how they've drawn "the duke of soul" at 1:57?
Still too subtle? How about at 2:01 when the "blackfish" appears?
Best (Worst?) Moment:
#7.
The Crows from Dumbo
In this 1941 classic, Dumbo the flying elephant runs into a band of jive-talking black crows who sing, "I'd be done see'n about everything/when I see an elephant fly!"
Lesson Learned:
Best (Worst?) Moment:
For its time, though, the portrayal of the crows was almost progressive. The crows band together and help Dumbo learn to fly, so they're counted among the heroes of the film. Remember, this was just a couple of years after somebody introduced a bill to outlaw lynching and congress voted it down. So, you know, you take what you can get. #6.
King Louie from The Jungle Book
Having outgrown the crude portrayal of African-Americans as black crows, in 1967 Disney decides to portray them as monkeys instead.
Lesson Learned:
Best (Worst?) Moment:
#5.
The Siamese Twin Gang from Chip n' Dale Rescue Rangers
Overt racism against African-Americans was obviously intolerable by the time this Chip n' Dale series began in 1989. Overt racism against Asians, luckily, was still on the table.
Lesson Learned:
The video becomes cringe-worthy about six minutes in:
Best (Worst?) Moment:
#4.
Sunflower the Centaur from Fantasia
Of all the items on this list, this is the one Disney has tried the hardest to make us forget.
Lesson Learned:
Best (Worst?) Moment:
#3.
The Indians from Peter Pan
In this charming musical number, the "Red Man" explains his people's history and culture.
Lesson Learned:
Best (Worst?) Moment:
#2.
Uncle Remus from Song of the South
The tales of Br'er Rabbit are relayed by kindly old Uncle Remus, a black man happily working on a plantation in the post-Civil War South. Disney has never released this one on home video, for some reason.
Lesson Learned:
Best (Worst?) Moment:
#1.
Thursday from Mickey Mouse and the Boy Thursday (Book)
Lesson Learned:
Best (Worst?) Moment:
Some choice quotes: "Well, well." Mickey laughed ... "So I'm supposed to be your governess and nursemaid, and you can't even talk!" Perhaps the most depressing part is that this was somebody's idea of tolerance, back in the ideallic '40s: "Poor little guy! He just makes mistakes. He doesn't know any better. I'll just have to be patient and teach him the right way to do things," said Mickey. You may also enjoy Ben Joseph's 10 Most Ridiculous Overseas Rip-Offs of American Films. |
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The Siamese Twins are Chinese - I'm a Chinese and I well know the differences between Japanese and Chinese.
i just laughed pretty hard at jaysays. haha what the f**k man
@ hisquietchild...I'm pretty sure the voices of a lot of these characters are white...so what...that's what makes it even more wrong is having a white guy do an asian voice or speak in "black talk" It's called acting dude and I totally agree that King Louie was probably meant to be modeled after a black person. Also, King Louie did jive-talk, what Italians do you know talk like that?
I hope that jaysays is joking or else his only chance may be someone coming up with a medication which cures intolerable stupidity.
to hisquietchild -- Just because the actor/singer was not black, does not mean that the character doesn't portray a black person, or more accurately in this case a black stereotype.
I seem to remember that in one scene in Fantasia, there were beautiful african centaurs, only instead of horse bodies they had zebra bodies. I remember thinking that they were prettier than the others.
I don't agree or disagree with this article, but would like to point out that the singer/voice of King Louie was a fantastic Italian-American jazz LEGEND, Louie Prima....ssoooo, NOT a "black" character. Maybe look up all the facts. I am not a fan of Disney, and I TOTALLY think that there are PLENTY of subliminal ideas that are portrayed in all kinds of movies, ESPECIALLY movies designed for children.
It's 2009,I' am a 50 yr old woman,both my parents are products of mixed race.
"Halfricans" and they've had problems coming,and going because of race,from both white and black people.Disney just created it's first Afro-American character,after all the green ones and blue ones,and having Mr.Obama,in the White House,I guess they just could'nt wait to help little black kids have a
character they can identify with.After all we are not blue,or greem,but we are
people,and the fact that you voted for Mr.Obama, dose not mean you arn't racist,so stop using that to prove you are not!
Are you people serious? These are MOVIES, CARTOONS!!! MOST OF THEM WERE BASED ON BOOKS, AND THERE ARE NOT ANY SUBLIMINAL MESSAGES TO MAKE KIDS RACIST!!! I watched Disney all my life and I'm not racist! Get a life! if you want to battle racism, go to protests or do something constructive other than this, it's ridiculous! And no, I'm not ignorant to the so called "obviousness" of these ideas. Yes, from an extremist point of view they can come off as racist, but extremists find EVERYTHING racist!Like Sebastian...It's a crab FROM THE CARRIBEAN! The whole movie takes place there! that's where the original story takes place! Would it be better if he had a french accent? NO! BECAUSE IT'S THE CARRIBEAN!!! This is insane. I'm going to bed. You people are CRAZY
I can't believe you didn't include the Siamese cats from 'Lady and the Tramp.' "Are you seeing that sing srimming in there?"
Nothing has really "changed" over the years to imply that racism has itself diminished. Racist has just gotten more sophisticated, more "sneaky" if one will. Of course, some white people allow their anger and true selves get the best of them, and you get very blatant incidents such as with Dom Imus or Michael Richards. Everything that's done in racist taste is more carefully thought out, played into a deeper level of subliminally racist messages, and that's where the real sickness comes into play. It's a very sad thing indeed. Racism itself should definitely qualify as a disease, and maybe, with a little honesty and self-admittance, we can come of with a medication to treat it.
oh and its not racism its truism. i guess the truth hurts.
way to call aladdin a white piece of cornbread. backwards minded racitst bastards.
look at all the explanation points in Carrots comment.... Holy f*****g Jesus (you see offense in that, a*****e?)
Wow this whole debate remindes me of the debate surrounding a very racist collection of cartoon called Kembells Coons. This little comedy gem was in most peoples houses at the turn of century becuase they were quite entertaining like the disney movies. They contained some of the MOST racist images of African Americans ever put to paper, and funny enough look a lot like what Disney put out later in there cartoons. But becuase they were so rascist by the 60's many people had come around and were embarassed to own copies and distroyed them. Now today few copies survive, and most would say good right? Well now people say that they never existed ot that they couldnt have been that bad. This is why removing the racism from Disney would be just as pointless, becuase then it's like pretending they wern't intollerant A-Holes. And for those of you whole like to pretend it's not racist, you have no clue how wrong you are. These pictures are pretty much a modern day version of Kembells horrible images.
Wow, talk about ignorance! Has anyone sat back and thought that most of Disney's movies are based on a story written by someone else? For example the Uncle Remus character.Uncle Remus' stories were to make observations about post-Civil War black culture, and Southern society in general. What's the big deal? Here is another thought too. It's not ok to use a minority race but it's perfectly ok to use a white race for all things evil? That would be racist too, so get over it!! If you can't enjoy Disney movies for the stories themselves, then you have serious problems and are one of the main reason racism still exist today and will always exist.
Okay you all are probably really dumb! Yeah sure you may think it's racist what it says above but wtf seriously you all need to see the bigger picture. It isn't racism unless you think about it. I'm pretty freakin sure Disney did not intend for people to think "Holy crap! Theres a black fish in the little mermaid hence a black woman!" Ok for those of you who think that honestly wtf thats not true. There such things as black fish! I pretty darn positive that Disney is not racist! I mean who cares if the Sabastion sings about people working n slaves and other s**t like that! He isn't talking about african slaves, hes talking about everyday people working everyday. And he compares them by saying...
"Up on the shore they work all day
Out in the sun they slave away
While we devotin'
Full time to floatin'
Under the sea!"
And by this he means that people up there work and the mermaids and fish don't have to work they just have to swim. So he is saying it is better to swim all day than work all day! DUH! So next time you think something in a disney movie is racist think again because the people who made the movie probably weren't thinking about the same thing at the time of making the movie!
GO KRUCIFY
I love all of those pointing fingers and crying about ignorance. None of which have had an actual argument for their case. :D
And yes, it is purely subliminal. It's intended to implant racist stereotypes into children's minds at a young age. Little kids don't realize the stereotypes consciously, but the subconscious is truly amazing. Anyway, I'm not going to get into detail. If you care at all to learn more about it, do a little bit of research. "Oh god. He's clearly ignorant to other cultures...blahblahblah" Save it. Your pathetic assumptions are worthless. It's subliminal, do some research.
That is all.
KruCify~
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Oh please... most of these are just like the other articles on "racism" here on Cracked -- vague attempts to grasp at extremely loose straws... I agree with Milfmaid... if you're specifically looking for something, you're going to find it no matter what.
Peter Pan -- how about the fact that the lost boys are fat, useless, and genetically stupid? That is clearly meant as a representation of homeless people (they live in home-made tree dwellings), and it's all Disney's fault because in the book, the lost boys were a strong, self-sufficient group of --... NO, are you retarded? It's just the way they drew them, jesus... If they draw or portray any character as being of a race other than caucasian, you flip out because it must be racist, but if they made a movie with ONLY white characters, you'd flip out because they're excluding other races...
Honestly, the majority of the stuff you guys post on these "racism" articles is total BS and should be taken with a grain of salt... Stop trying so damn hard to be 100% PC... it's stupid.