Disney+ has removed several classic movies like Dumbo and Peter Pan from its children-focussed movie selection because of 'racist' stereotypes.
Settings on the streaming site’s app deter children from watching once-loved, now controversial titles, including Peter Pan, Disney's classic featuring the fictional character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie.
Children under 7 are not able to access Swiss Family Robinson and the The Aristocats.
Settings on the app will prevent the movies from even showing up on the young viewers’ profiles.
Disney explained its rationale behind each film’s removal on the child-focused Stories Matter section of their website.
They the 1941 animated classic Dumbo's infamous singing crows, which “pay homage to racist minstrel shows, where white performers with blackened faces and tattered clothing imitated and ridiculed enslaved Africans on Southern plantations.
Dumbo trailer
"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."
For the 1953 Disney depiction of Peter Pan, they stated that “the film portrays Native people in a stereotypical manner that reflects neither the diversity of Native peoples nor their authentic cultural traditions.
“It shows them speaking in an unintelligible language and repeatedly refers to them as ‘redskins,’ an offensive term.
“Peter and the Lost Boys engage in dancing, wearing headdresses and other exaggerated tropes."
Peter Pan trailer
For The Aristocats, they said: “The Siamese cat Shun Gon is depicted as a racist caricature of East Asian peoples with exaggerated stereotypical traits such as slanted eyes and buck teeth.
“He sings in poorly accented English voiced by a white actor and plays the piano with chopsticks.”
Of the 1970 animation The Aristocats, it says: “The (Siamese) cat (Shun Gon) is depicted as a racist caricature of East Asian peoples with exaggerated stereotypical traits such as slanted eyes and buck teeth. He sings in poorly accented English voiced by a white actor and plays the piano with chopsticks.”
The Aristocats trailer.
The content warning displays on the films says: “This program includes negative depictions and/or mistreatment of people or cultures. 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 is committed to creating stories with inspirational and aspirational themes that reflect the rich diversity of the human experience around the globe Adults will still be able to access — and show their children — the taboo movies with disclaimers warning viewers of “negative depictions and/or mistreatment of people or cultures.”
Other classics that will include the warning include the 1955 love story Lady and the Tramp.
It comes two weeks after Disney+ added a new disclaimer to old episodes of The Muppet Show, warning of “negative depictions and/or mistreatment of people or cultures” throughout the series.
The platform began streaming Jim Henson’s family variety show on February 19 but prefaced 18 of its episodes with a content advisory that adds: “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.”
The Muppet Show ran from 1976 to 1981 and was guest hosted by some of the biggest stars of the time including Steve Martin, Johnny Cash and Peter Sellers.
The company has hired external advisers to assess the content, and has chosen to acknowledge and contextualise offensive material, while bringing classic programs and films to a modern audience.
“Rather than removing this content, we see an opportunity to spark conversation and open dialogue on history that affects us all,” the company had said.
The same disclaimer now appears at the start of Disney+ streams of Lady and the Tramp, The Jungle Book, The Aristocats, Dumbo, Peter Pan and Swiss Family Robinson. Yet while the Stories Matter website describes why scenes from The Aristocats, Dumbo, Peter Pan, and Swiss Family Robinson were deemed offensive, no explanations have been provided for the warnings added to The Muppet Show.
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