Racism In Disney Movies Essay

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

Was Disney ever racist? When the average consumer thinks of The Walt Disney Company they would probably associate them with whimsical animated films and the gigantic theme parks with kids running about having fun. However the terms racial discrimination, nationwide brainwashing and evil mega conglomerate would never be linked with the likes of Disney nor Walt Disney, the company’s co-founder. Though such claims may be passed off as ridiculous and/or obscene, one can look through films across time, namely around their 1960-1990 period, and see a picture, a picture depicting severe gender and racial stereotypes and discriminatory representations spanning decades.

[1] Disney’s Pocahontas has understandably received a lot of flak about the historically inaccurate story that is told about the legendary Pocahontas and Captain John Smith. There is a good reason for that. The movie does little that can be construed as historically accurate, yet Disney claims that was never their intent. Disney, in their previous movies, has been attacked for being racist and unsympathetic to racial minorities. Their answer was a movie whose sole purpose, as stated by Disney, was to promote racial tolerance. The question is, then can a movie promote racial tolerance when the issue is built on false history, history that if told accurately would depict the exact opposite?

Nearly everybody has experienced a Disney animated film in their lifetime, which has left them with either a negative or positive impression on the film, the characters or Disney as a company. Most people picture Disney, as a world of imagination, fairytales, magic castles, and dazzling Princesses. When we hear the name Disney the first thing that comes to mind is our favorite animated characters that we grew up watching on television like Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck or even Buzz Lightyear. Disney has made a name for itself as a family friendly, children oriented company. They also claim to operate under a set of values called the “Disney value structure” which Walt Disney himself implemented early on. These values can be misleading, and many suggest that they are a cover for Disney’s hidden racial biases and ulterior motives. What people fail to recognize is that Disney is a media conglomerate whose sole purpose like all businesses is to make a profit, although in this case they do so at the expense of their unsuspecting viewers cultural identities and self-image. Disney uses racial stereotypes in the form of microaggressions that are subtly placed throughout their films and racially coded slurs to misrepresent, homogenize, and disrespect ethnic viewers of their films. Do not be fooled by the relatively innocent nature of Disney films, behind every film lies the darker side of human nature, with the sole purpose of exposing our children to a series of racially coded slurs and culturally accepted stereotypes; in order to perpetuate the cycle of racial tensions that have existed since our countries founding (Schreiber,1). In fact, dozens of Disney cartoons and films including Dumbo, Peter Pan and even Princess and the Frog include racially coded slurs and damaging stereotypes that have left a negative impression on viewers (Schreiber, 2).

Movies and entertainment outlets speak volumes about the current state of a nation’s culture. Cinematic creations in the United States allow small voices to be heard and controversial issues to be addressed. However, a repetitive and monumental issue continues to be addressed, yet continues to persist in our 21st century culture, racial inequalities. Since the inception of the United States, black men and women alike have been disenfranchised at the hands of the “white man” in America. Instead of continuing the conversation today, the issue is continually silenced referencing the successes and achievements of the Civil Rights Movement in the 20th century. Nonetheless, an unfortunate reality looms upon this great land; racially based systems and structures continue to exist in 2015 the in United States. This paper synthesizes three films focused on racial inequalities in different time periods. Separate but Equal (1991), Selma (2015), and Crash (2005) illustrate how influential the Civil War amendments are, while serving as an uncanny reminder of how the racial prejudices during the 20th century continue to exist in our great nation today. Needless to say our nation has made great strides, but still has a long way to go.

The Amazingly Racist Walt Disney Generations upon generations of children have grown up to the wondrous tunes of Walt Disney films. More than that, many more have even ventured to the amusement parks or purchased some type of physical memorabilia that have been created in the ever-expanding corporation known as The Walt Disney Company. But, more often than not, it seems that many social issues arise in the creation of these items and yet they are just swept under the rug or overlooked altogether. While many in today’s society view Disney films as educational and stimulating for our youth, beneath these jubilant songs, personified animals, and damsels in distress lie many racist and pro-inequality themes that are being (unknowingly) taught to the future of the world. Take for example the 1941 classic Disney film Dumbo.

Hollywood’s leading animation studio has had many instances of stereotyping and being racially insensitive. Two main examples of their racism towards Native American tribes have been Peter Pan and Pocahontas. In both instances, there have been controversial songs that have the Native Americans at the center. Both depict the stereotypes that are not necessarily true of the tribes.

Do Disney’s animated movies offer a reflection into the development and strengthening of Human Rights throughout the 20th Century?

Disney successfully blurs the border between entertainment and pedagogy but introduces the misuse of stereotyping and social influence.

The message delivered by Disney movies is definetily not something children need to learn from.

People all over the world watch Disney movies which means that the little girl who grew up with unrealistic expectations had company. Disney movies are racist, unrealistic, sexist, and influential for children. Some believe that Disney movies have none of the stated ideas above but if Disney films are looked at closely predigest will be seen. Disney films affected more that just that little girl. It affected everyone who has watched Disney films.

For years, the world grappled with racial and ethnic representation in media. Characters that come into our homes through TV screens- who we laugh with, cry with, get angry with- have more than just a temporary impact on our lives. They help us shape our own reality, “who we are, who we aspire to be, and how we view the world around us”(1). Race and ethnicity are not only physical attributes of people but also are ways of seeing and understanding the world. Given that many of the messages that children receive about race and ethnicity come to them through animation and cartoons it’s important to discover how it impacts them.

Racism has long been a subject which has caused great controversy and problems between the varied races of the world. Whether it be between American-born people and the Chinese, or someone of a complete different ethnicity, skin color, and culture all together at once; racism is an issue that dates back further than most know. There are many real-life stories to be seen in the news, on the internet, and in other media about the topic, most depicting the worst of events. Then there are the softer representations of the issue, and why it is such a problem. Racism; verbally, physically, and simply in bodily language or attitude, can be seen everywhere. Though most may think that it is only real-life stories that can bring a change or attention to such an issue, this is not precisely true. Racism, like many other things, can be represented through even the fictional, giving way to many possibilities. Whether one is a lawyer, like Atticus; in real life or otherwise, whether one is a child, like Scout; in reality or in fantasy, or even a stand-in mother figure, like Calpurnia; subjects such as racism, equality, and morality, can be taught through them. Fictional characters, like real people, can both learn and teach their own set of valuable lessons.

While many were shocked at the blatant racism displayed in The Song of the South, it is not the first piece of Disney animation to feature controversial material. Walt Disney’s Oswald the Lucky Rabbit shorts had quite a bit of adult humor in it. In one short, Oswald gets chased by a bear into a cave where a fight takes place. Oswald comes out wearing a fur coat and the bear comes out wearing nothing but a bra and panties (Griffin, 2000). A closer look at Disney films may also indicate that Disney may have subtly used their films to speak out about political and religious issues. In certain films, there seems to be set values based off of Western Christian beliefs. The film Bambi is also thought to send a message about gun control and environmentalism (Pinsky, 2004). A previous animator who worked on the Snow White film admits that after long hours of drawing the same old pretty girl, many of the crew would get bored and draw pornographic images on Snow White. To give Walt some credit, however, he didn’t know about the dirty drawings his crew had made, and his employees suspected that if he had found out he would not have been amused. “His humor was quite different than that of the man of the street. You could never tell Walt a dirty joke. Word got around quickly to new employees not to try and ingratiate yourself with Walt by telling him an off-color story. He thought dirty jokes were terrible, and he was embarrassed by them” (Goldberg, 2014).

Disney movies display simple stories of true love, good v/s evil and protagonist triumphing over all hindrances. Unfortunately, real life is not the same and does not follow the same rule. Disney also should be criticized for their portrayal of non-whites and black in a stereotypical image and this portrayal display the racist side of Walt Disney. Although, Disney has less to show and follows a very specific traits in all of its movies. The elements repeat in film after film and as the result it brings the whole body of work altogether into a huge homogeneous blend. It is like watch one Disney film and our mind absorbs the formula. As the matter of fact, Disney will present its own way, irrespective of the reality behind it (If there it is). All of this concludeto the fact that Disney might reproduce history or