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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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Someone claimed that "everyone knows" that Disney was racist and that he supported the Nazis. Really? I just finished a year of research on a Disney biography that was just published and I read dozens of legitimate accounts of his life. Not one biographer makes a substantiated claim that Walt Disney was racist. In fact, he created anti-Nazi wartime propaganda for the U.S. government. Don't make false accusations. You can see the Disney wartime animations on YouTube.
Uncle Remus = DEFINITELY on acid.
Not really Walt Disney's fault. He probably has a team of designers for these characters, and the more characters he allows them to make the more he has less time to keep track of them. Some of the designers must've passed down their racism to their creations and an obviously drunk/sleepy Walt Disney let it pass.
First of all, #2 WAS released on video. My mother owns it.
There is nothing wrong with portraying a black man on a plantation as happy. Plenty of plantation workers (the ones with good owners) WERE happy. That is why many black people CHOSE not to go North when many others were going North. It is also noted that the children were often raised by one of the female black workers. That means they would have had a close relationship with the children - a reason for happiness. IN addition, they could be married, and in some cases live in their own shack with their husband/wife. The man who played this character clearly didn't have a problem with it, and he is black.
The idea of being happy while working on a plantation teaches the idea of finding happiness within yourself, no matter the circ*mstances. Although this can be detrimental in certian situations, such as while unfairly locked in jail in the American system, where constantly working on and thinking about it may at some times make you more unhappy, but will ultimately have the possibility of getting you out of there if you're inhumanly smart and extraordinarily rich. However, in the case of slave workers who are not planning or not willing to risk an escape, finding happiness within one's self would be a good thing - similar to the Nazis you mention, in fact, if they were sent to working death camps. Considering that this show is for children, it cannot easily portray in a more "accurate" way.
It also shows the idea of "be happy with what you have/don't be greedy". This is a sentiment that is likely to have been expressed by well-treated slaves, as they were not likely to expect to have anything better and (taking in both the times and even the modern attitude of stereotypical "lower-class" black people) some of them were likely to have told others that the idea could be qualified as greed.
In fact working in manual labor more hours a day then is considered healthy can actually cause happiness, as it releases endorphins and adreniline.
It also shows the more common unhappy worker, who is being given what I assume is good advice in this situation (since these salves apparently belong to a merciful owner), to not run away and find worse things (or get captured by an evil or more evil owner).
This short does, however, have a huge problem in teaching children grammar.
You're definitely white.
So, this top-x list seems to be another attempt at finding something offensive about things that aren't offensive unless you're trying to rock the boat. Sure, some of the cited characters were blatantly stereotypical -- but to accuse Sebastian of championing minority laziness or King Louie of being a "stereotypical black" is just irresponsible. King Louie merely represents a dominant subculture at the time. What better race to portray a swingin', playful group of cool-daddio's than primates? Don't read into it and make it something it's not, just to stir the pot. As for Sebastian... are you kidding me? Okay. So, if you put a Jamaican character into a film, he can't sing about certain things? That's the definition of reverse-racism. Again, don't make it about something it isn't. All the undersea animals are fun-loving and carefree -- and, yes, some of them are *gasp* dark-colored!! Oh, my. :|
PS: King Louie was played by a white man -- one who actually talked and sang that way. Also, Sebastian was -- if anything -- *the* voice of reason throughout The Little Mermaid. Double facepalm.
Um yeah, saying the portrayal of Sebastian makes Disney racist is a "little" insane, but so obvious I didn't think it worth mentioning.
Louis Prima played the part of King Louie and he wasn't african american...just sayin
You forgot Pocahontas. As someone who has a Native American background, Pocahontas is a huge stereotype...
Uh yeah but not an incorrect one, except for her lack of violence with which Native American magick is replete. You must be Native American is race only, and not in belief. Pocahontas was not portrayed as "retarded" or anything similar, she was intellectually equal to John. John's band was portrayed as violent, which is true to history. Pocahontas was portrayed as a very spiritual woman, and a good human being. If you complain about that there is something wrong with you.
I wonder what stereotype Disney will portray next that will "offend" you. Maybe they will make a film including Christians, who they will portray as believing in a man who's first name was Jesus and last name was Christ which is contradictory to both history and the Holy Bible itself. Oh no what a horrible thing for them to do!
''Songs of the South'' actually was released on home video, I'm not sure where you're getting that information from because I owned it as a child & it was an official copy.
This is really ridiculous,Disney has made movies about all types of races during their history,like in Pocahontas,and Aladdin is not racist,everybody looks arabian,you guys just hope that every arabian people have the same face? That's racism.
*bad english*
Please We all know Disney sucks... It's like CIA's Cartoon & Comics Division... Disney comics are very racist and are full of stereotypes and imperialistic propaganda.
Y'know, this makes the Family Guy: Road to the Multiverse episode much more sensible.
I'm talking about the part where the Disney versions murder the Jewish guy-if this is the kind of racism that Disney regularly put into their products....
Well, I'll just say that I now understand why Disney didn't sue FG for that RTOM piece.
yeah the multiverse disney joke was because disney was a known antisemite not any reference to the racism of the movies
this is how they brainwash us as kids and keep the cycle going.
Now seriously, you don't think that Disney supposed he was doing black people a favor by portraying them as lovable, wisdom-embracing folks at a time of segregation? It's only the more modern brainless, hyper-PC context that makes it seem racial. And how can you whine about racism when it's a black guy doing the singing? Did they threaten to beat his mama if he wouldn't sing for them? OK, the movie premiere thing is a bit unfortunate, but still emphasizes my point.
Did you know you can rent a Bugs Bunny disc that has a disclaimer by Whoopi Goldberg about racial elements in old cartoons? Serious, it's Whoopi. She's never said anything racially charged, has she? Made me almost puke...
For "Song of the South" It's not so much racism - It's more that they were trying to play an ignorance card. Disney protrayed an elderly black man working on a plantation who was having the time of his life.
I do understand that it does credit for disney to make him a protagonist and a wisdom seeking character but at the same time it seems that Disney was saying "All the cruelty and slavery (Plantations) were no big deal - sure they happened but we are stronger and smarter now because of it" and proceeding to finish by saying "Infact, I'm so happy about all of it that I'm going to stay here".
Oh my word... Could people stop saying about the light shining on Aladdin making him look white. Aladdin doesn't look white he looks western and has western features, he plays the hero of the film and over throws the 'evil arab' obviouly the message may not have been intentional but that is what the film portrays. Notice all of the stupid or evil characters look overly arabic and are displayed as savages. Whereas our western protagonist is a thief that is actually a really good guy and represents everything good about the world and can out smart any of those 'evil arabs' as he roams about the city. In my opinion it also shows how america can go anywhere and spit on the floor and still lokk like the good guy. Either way this film has racist connotations. Also disney films aren't designed for just children they are renowned as 'family films' so the racist messages could have easily been picked up by any parent.
Heh, I just now rembered a situation like this!
We (being me and my sisters) used to watch this one tape "100 Classic Cartoons" all the time when we were younger, and one day it just went missing, you know, poof.
We talked about it when we got older, like when you about the cartoons you used to watch on T.V. (we didn't even have basic cable, but I digress), and so the question of where it went came up.
My mom revealed she had hid it because some of the characters were "racist".
Yeah, sure they were, but when we were younger none of us saw that, and it's not like we grew up hating any of the races potrayed in a stereotypical manner.
Is this for real? Disney is culturally diverse. You guys are looking too far deep in animations. If Disney's intentions were to be racist, they would have made it a lot clearer. You're stirring up issues that aren't even there. The picture from Aladdin, seriously? That was pulled out of a scene when light was shining on Aladdin because a genie was about to pop out of a lamp. That's why he looked white. And another thing, Disney animations are not based on real life, OBVIOUSLY. Also, most of these movies were made at times when things were different. Why are guys being such haters?
Disney is culturally diverse and yes the times were different but just like any opinionated director/producer/writer/artist etc.. They are going to put in they own subtle, almost subliminal "statements" that reflect their beliefs.
It is widely known that Walt Disney was racist, horribly so (he was a supporter of the Nazis) and that he did, in the original cartoons have very racists tones to his works. It stands to reason that he hired people who shared his views because someone that adamant about the Nazi movement would not have wanted opposition to his works.
Now the racism is very few and far between but there are some cases where its pretty clear a message was getting sent. Ex: Lion King - Why is Scar the only lion in the entire pride that is a reddish brown? A) Because that color makes people angry but also B) to emphasise that he was different; therefore being different is being evil.
But before anyone calls me on this, I'll add in that Lion King itself was ripped off from an old Asian cartoon (im not sure the specific origin) so if the same is prevalent in the j*panese cartoon that it proves that this sort of thing happens in every work of art you will find, no matter how subtle.
[{ Personally I believe that the main reason Disney did this is because they are "family films" and the rasict undertones and hidden adult jokes were for the benefit of the adults whom in the time of Walt's life were rasict and would've appreciated that }]
No, even now, I don't really think the orangutans (I can't even spell that word) in "The Jungle Book" are supposed to be racist.
Before anyone bites my head off, I think many people think the voice-actor for King Louie was black, but he was indeed white. It was jazz singer Louis Prima, if I'm correct.
See, the tables get turned a little if the voice-actor isn't black, now don't they?
Still, as LLaurie stated below, kids don't know that the characters are supposed to represent races. The kids just think their animals.
I just thought King Louie wanted to be a human, not that King Louie was representing a black man wanting to be a white man.
...So what if Louie was voiced by a white person? That doesn't negate the fact that his characterization was supposed to be a stereotypical and demeaning representation of what Disney thought of black people, nor does how you viewed the character as a child negate Disney's intentions with the character.
Stop trying to be an apologist for white racism and utilize some COMMON SENSE for once.
@Arcane574 -- If you take the time to look back into history and check out audio and video recordings of Louis Prima, you'd discover that what you term the "characterization" of King Louie in "The Jungle Book" was almost entirely based on Prima's own personality--much like how Phil Harris was basically playing himself as Baloo (and as Little John in Disney's "Robin Hood"). They were doing the same thing that Robin Williams would do decades later with Aladdin--taking the basic character outline and then liberally ad-libbing with their own style and personality. (This actually happens a lot in Disney, even in the classics--look at any live-action performance by Ed Wynn and compare it to his characterization of The Mad Hatter, for example).
So essentially, you're claiming that Louis Prima, a white man of Sicilian descent, was behaving as a black stereotype for his entire life--and doing so naturally, not as part of any specific role or act. Apply your "COMMON SENSE" (and your mighty caps lock) to THAT.
I'm kind of surprised the Siamese Cats from Lady and the Tramp weren't mentioned. Looking back at them with adult eyes, the exaggerated squint and buck teeth are all too obvious, not to mention their Engrish.
That said though, when I watched it--and the other so-called "racist" movies--as a little kid, I didn't see the cats as mean Asians, I saw them as mean cats. I saw King Louie as a monkey-representing-a-monkey, not a monkey-representing-a-black-human. I don't think kids of that age even have the capacity to think abstractly and draw symbolic connections. A cat is a cat, a monkey is a monkey. Articles like this are mainly for the benefit of the parents who watched this with their kids, or kids like me who grew up and rediscovered those movies. And you know something, I turned out fine, so suffice it to say you can probably safely let your kids watch these movies without worrying about them automatically turning into bigoted neo-Nazis.
Right! No one ever mentions the Siamese cats in "Lady and The Tramp"!.
I agree with you, though, kids don't have the ability to know what represents what.
I have Song of the South on home video though, I'm from the UK, was it released internationally?
Also i don't see the problem with Song of the South. Slavery was a horrible thing and some slaves were treated awfully by plantation owners. But it was a part of history and surely if all black people in America were slaves some, like the ones in Song of the South, would make the most of a bad situation by making their own subculture. That is where uncle Rhemus' stories came from, he was providing fun and release for the slaves. Also, how happy they were would also depend on how kind the head of the plantation was and Jesse's grandmother is a good character who is portrayed as kind and caring very much for characters such as uncle rhemus. Surely there were some slave owners like this
I totally agree - I really don't see the big problem with Song of the South. Not all slaves were beaten to shreds by whip-wielding taskmasters. In fact, a lot of them had fairly kind masters who treated them pretty well (aside from not paying them for their work, of course, and keeping them as slaves in the first place). No, slavery wasn't okay, but the point is, not all slaves were treated like rabid animals - what's the big problem, I ask, with SHOWING slaves who weren't treated like rabid animals, and who made the best of their situation, to boot?
Song of the South actually has a load of good morals told through Uncle Remus' stories - and the actual plot of the movie itself - that always seem to get entirely overshadowed by the "OH NOES, HAPPY SLAVES!" argument.
What really pisses me off is that Disney is totally okay with re-releasing Peter Pan - which is overtly racist toward Native Americans - but not Song of the South. Apparently because the Native Americans don't have a big bad organization like the NAACP to stand over them with the Big Stick of Political Correctness.
...Jessbob, are you insane?
The fact of the matter is that black slaves were SLAVES for no other reasons than because of their skin color and their enslavers considering them sub-human. Your comments about 'some slaves were treated awfully by plantation owners' is utter bullsh!t, and only serves to make you sound like a white apologist for white racism.
True to the author of this article's words, Uncle Remus is one of the most demeaning stereotypes of black people in Disney history, and there's nothing you can say or do to explain that away. Also, the fact that Remus was portrayed as 'kind and caring' is nothing more than a twist on the 'Mammy' sterotype of Black female slaves, who behaved in the same manner. In other words, whether it's a black MAN or a black WOMAN being portrayed as nothing more than 'kind and caring' to whites who were told and taught since birth that they were superior to blacks, IT'S STILL RACIST. Disney knew what they were doing when they created both 'Song of the South' and the 'Uncle Remus' character, and no amount of justification and/or apologist prattle from you or anyone else is going to change that.
I remember watching Song of the South when I was a kid. I'm 28, so you do the math. I just thought it was a happy man with birds around. Of course I was one of about 10 white people in my elementary school.