Disney Stereotypes

The Classic Animated American Film, Dumbo, preceded Walt Disney’s first Animated Feature Length films: Snow White and the Seven Dwarves and Pinocchio. Dumbo also arrived right before the American Animated classic Bambi. These films were undoubtedly made during a time of extreme racial oppression in the United States (the country where Walt Disney films were originally set to be consumed). It would come to no surprise that these films, though filmed primarily for children entertainment, would not only exhibit problematic racial stereotyping, but also would perpetuate systematic and institutional racism in the

Walt Disney once said, “Our greatest natural resource is the minds of our children.” Natural resources are controlled by various people. Our children are controlled by Disney. However, I don’t think society realized who they were entrusting their child’s innocence and minds with. In 2016, the Walt Disney Corporation grossed a whopping $55.6 billion, which is a 6% increase from the previous year. The power of Disney over children has only grown since its creation in 1923. But one can’t help but ask who is Walt Disney? Was he racist? If so, was it because of when he grew up or in response to when the company began? Furthermore, is the Walt Disney Corporation still racist today? Or is this just one of those over-analytical, outrageous

The mouse we all grew up to love and adore, Mickey Mouse, the face of the Walt Disney Corporation, has a racist past. Although he was initially created to become a satirical character, he ended up as the face of racism as well. Sadly, not many are aware of Mickey Mouse’s cartoon shorts, Mickey’s Mellerdrammer and The Opry House, which incorporate blackface in a minstrel and vaudeville show. Considering, that these films were made in the early 1930s, it is not surprising that they contain racist ideals. Thus, this raises questions about Disney’s past. It even makes me wonder if this all started from the creator, Walt Disney, because many assume that “Walt Disney himself was a famous anti-Semite, and under his direction, notoriously racist and sexist films were completed” (Dague 1). For instance, after the Mickey Mouse debacle, films, such as Pocahontas and Peter Pan; contained racist characteristics. Ironically, Disney always reiterates the importance of teaching a moral lesson, so it is quite baffling that they would have forms of racism and cultural appropriation in their films.

What images come to mind as one reflects upon his or her childhood? Playgrounds, blackboards, and soccer balls may be among the fondest of memories. Yet, for many, mermaids swim their thoughts, princesses get swept off their feet, and lions roar to their royal place in the animal kingdom. Disney films have captivated the American culture for years and have become a pivotal part of popular culture as well as a form of education. However, these films have devoured the youth of America and, in the process; have perpetuated an institutionally racist society based on harsh stereotypes. Minorities are often underrepresented, and even completely left out, of many Disney films such as Dumbo (1941), The Lion King (1994), Aladdin (1992), and

Through the eyes of the general public we see The Lion King as an entertainment asset but in the eyes of Gail Robertson; a diverse ethnicity towards characters is pointed out. After watching Disney's The Lion King under critical analysis, assumptions can be made that many characters grouped together are by race. In Robertson's Snow Whitey? Stereotyping in the Magical Kingdom, he bashes the fact that within Disney movies “a world filled with racism, sexism, ageism and heterosexism” (42) has to be viewed by the parents in order to understand Disney’s views on each stereotype.

Influencing our youth and future world leaders, Disney can create a racist society. Disney’s films have the capability to create a racist culture in the near

1. Describe three specific example of how Disney movie can unintentional create roles certain groups of people through socialization.

The Disney Corporation has had both positive and negative effects on American society. Disney has majorly affected both the youth and adults in America by way they interact with each other, what they expect from each other, and how parents bring up their youth in harsh and unrealistic expectations according to Disney. Disney has fostered a strong sense of imagination in the past, present and future youth of America. This sense of imagination is necessary to the development of children when it comes to success in life and self-confidence. The Disney Corporation knows how to work it’s audience for a profit and mastering that skill has allowed Disney to accumulated billions by advertising and selling fantasies to young children and their parents. It’s also these very ideas that influence what Americans believe our government and policies should be founded on. In “The Mouse That Roared” the author states “Education is never innocent, because it always presupposes a particular view of citizenship, culture, and society. And yet it is this very appeal to innocence, bleached of any semblance of politics, that has become a defining feature in Disney culture and pedagogy” (Giroux 31) This quote defines Disney at large. Disney has created the idea of ‘imagination’ in American society and perpetuates it in everything America does and influences everything America stands. In everyday American life, politics and business, The Disney Corporation has a hand in it.

The princess, Jasmine, is a fair-skinned maiden in danger and is in need of a rescue from this dark-skinned character known as Jafar, so along comes her fair-skinned prince, Aladdin, to save her. This film along with many others demonstrates how racist Disney truly is. Another example is how every dark-skinned princess becomes paler and paler as each new design for films is created. Pocahontas begins her journey as a darker Native American but finishes out her movies blending in with those of European descent. Disney’s racist actions allow for racism to continue within the younger generation, even within themselves.

During the last several decades, the media has become a strong agent in directing and controlling social beliefs and behaviors. Children, by nature, can be particularly susceptible to the influencing powers of the media, opening an avenue where media created especially for children can indoctrinate entire generations. Disney movies, like all other media “are powerful vehicles for certain notions about our culture,” such as racism. (Giroux 32). Racist scenes in Disney movies are often identified as simply being “symbols of the time” when the films were produced. Furthermore, Disney racism is often passed over as simple humor, or as a simple guide to

According to Cheu (2015), Disney films are criticized for their “reliance on racial tropes and racist representation in both their classic films and more recent attempts to create films that incorporate diversity” (p.92). In the films like Pocahontas (1995), The Little Mermaid (1985), The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996), and Aladdin (1993), there are stereotypical images of each woman’s ethnicity and over-sexualization of women of color which highlights their differences and otherness. The portrayal of race in Disney films not only affect its viewers, but it is also a reflection of how our society views and feels about such topics. We will discuss four Disney films that have caught our attention with their racial remarks, innuendos, and portrayals.

Corporations like Disney shape our daily lives in a huge way by using unique techniques. Movies and shows created by Disney recreate history based on stereotypes and try to hide their message in the innocence of a child’s mind. The women characters in the movies are submissive to men and lack power, they must use their body to manipulate people into getting what they want. In most of these films, the woman no matter how strong they may be is always in trouble and needs to be rescued by the man. Disney influences children to dress up as the characters in the movie, this gives the children a perception of how should men and women look like in society.

A little girl sits on the floor with her gaze fixed on the television screen in front of her, watching magical images dance before her eyes and catchy songs flow through her ears. Even though she had seen it at least twenty times before, she still loved The Little Mermaid just as much as she did the first time she watched it. As she watched it, she longed to be a beautiful mermaid with a curvy body and wonderful singing voice like Ariel. She longed to be saved by the handsome Prince Eric, and fall in love and live happily ever-after like Ariel did. In today’s society, women strive to achieve equality between the sexes. Despite the tremendous steps that have been taken towards reaching gender equality, mainstream media contradicts these

Disney is one of the most successful and largest companies in the world. They have their hand in nearly every form of entertainment as well as media, and broadcasting. Disney is best known for their animated films, unique cartoon characters, catchy musicals, and fairy tales that most of us were first introduced to as children. They are one of the few entertainment companies in the World whose primary demographic is children and teens. Nearly everybody is familiar with the Disney name and its brand, and its realistic to suggest that nearly everybody has experienced a Disney film and animated character at some point in their lives; which may have helped to influence them or their behaviors or even their

The next group of Disney Princesses start with The Princess and The Frog (2009) and go until the most recent princess film, Moana (2016). The other films that fall into this category are Tangled (2010), Brave (2012), and Frozen (2013). These princesses are described as “rebels who live on the edge, full-figured, well endowed, and sexually charged.” Tiana (The Princess and The Frog), Rapunzel (Tangled), and Anna (Frozen), still end up with a romance at the end of the film. Tiana is Disney’s first African American princess, which was important as up to this point many young girls did not have a princess that resembled them visually. Tiana exhibits both typical traits of princesses from the Classic Era, compassion and understanding, as well as traits typically viewed as masculine in the same films, enterprise, cleverness, and assertiveness. Although she finds love at the end of the film, it was due to chance and not from her actively looking for it. The film conveys an important message that wishing on a star is not going to accomplish anything, but hard work will. Tiana’s goal never changes throughout the film, even after meeting Prince Naveen and realizing she loves him, her sights always stay on owning a restaurant. Unlike the previous films that end the narrative with a wedding or presumed wedding, the narrative continues after Tiana and Naveen get married. The film ends with her working in the restaurant that she was finally able to open. Although released a year after