Disney: The Controversial Family Brand
It’s no surprise to claim that the content we viewed as young children has an impact on our outlook on the world as well as our own perception of self. One particularly famous brand, Disney, has produced several of the most critically-acclaimed animated films, but not without a past littered with controversies and problematic scandals. Walt Disney, despite being loved by families all over the world, himself held problematic aspects and views. With the power of storytelling, children idolize the heroes and cringe at the villains. Yet, the negative portrayal of characters of color leads viewers to think of people of color under an umbrella of stereotypes. Though it can’t be denied that the brand has created a haven of happiness in their amusement parks or movies for many children, the brand itself has controversial traits, down to Walt Disney himself.
There’s much speculation about the nature of Walt Disney, as he employed thousands of people and provided them with a source of income. However, Walt had a bad reputation as sexist, anti-Jew, and racist. His views can be found subtly in his work, and a letter written by Disney in 1938 said that he did not hire women for the jobs of animation and preferred all-male studios. To give Walt the benefit of doubt, it is argued that parts of his work could simply be a result of the demographic and ideals at the time. Though it’s important to note that it doesn’t make the racial stereotypes rife in Disney movies from the 40s acceptable.
Racist stereotypes in Disney movies
It may be argued that they were “a product of its time”, but many Disney movies were problematic because they depicted people of color in a negative and stereotypical light. Racism in Disneys’ content can be seen throughout many movies in the character design and personalities of characters. For example, when it comes to the portrayal of African-Americans, they shown characters who lack basic social skills and speak in broken English. Similarly, the portrayal of Latinos and Asians included heavy accents, such as in The Lady and the Tramp, where the Asian characters are seen as the Siamese cats, with their traits including buck teeth, thick accent, and slanted eyes. The only Latino characters in the Disney world are Tito, from Oliver and Company, and Toughy from The Lady and the Tramp; both were Chihuahua’s and were labeled as irresponsible characters.
Disney’s famous Castle, featured in their intro animation.
Unfortunately, there are many more examples of this. One of Disney's most blatantly insensitive and racist films was 1946s Song of the South, which wasn’t problematic for what it depicted, but what it chooses not to depict (as said by The Kingdom Insider); by stripping out any concrete details of the setting, Disney essentially turned the plotline of the plantation system into a utopia where blacks and whites live in harmony, which is far from the historical truth. Other examples of racism in Disney content cited the short Mickey's Mellerdrammer where Mickey Mouse dresses in blackface and the stereotypical "Black" Bird in the short Who Killed Cock Robin. Additionally, the depiction of Native American 'Indians' as savages in Peter Pan, and the poor and uneducated crows in Dumbo are both more examples of stereotype prominence in characters. These poorly represented characters and insensitive plotlines give children a misrepresentation of what people from these backgrounds are like, which only perpetuates the continuation of stereotypes.
Sexism and reinforcement of patriarchal culture
There is also a heavy emphasis on patriarchal ideals in many Disney movies. The depiction of femininity in Disney movies includes a heavy amount of sexualization, with the female lead often relying on her male counterpart. As pointed out in the Chicago Tribune, all of the princess movies from 1989-1999 are male-dominated. Men speak 68% of the time in "The Little Mermaid"; 711% of the time in "Beauty and the Beast"; 90% of the time in "Aladdin"; 76 percent of the time in "Pocahontas"; and 77% of the time in "Mulan,” with Mulan counting as a female even in disguise as a male. With the character design of the women in movies, Disney subliminal sends a message to young girls that to be beautiful you have to have long hair, a tiny waist, and fit into more unattainable standards.
Disney is so big that it has multiple theme parks across the world.
Other controversies
Apart from Disney’s questionable content itself, they had their fair share of company controversies.
Several of Disney's animated films have been accused of plagiarization, the most controversial example is The Lion King, which critics allege was plagiarized from Osamu Tezuka's Japanese manga ジャングル大帝 Janguru Taitei and its TV series dubbed and retitled Kimba the White Lion, 1966.
In 2011 Disney factories were in the news for employing children as young as 14, and forcing workers to do three times as much overtime as permitted by law, leading Disney to launch its investigation of the issue.
In 2017, during the live-action remake Beauty and the Beast when Bill Condon announced that Lefou would come out as a gay character and dance with a man named Stanly. As a result, a theater in Henagar, Alabama refused to screen the film.
This article isn’t to nitpick all the wrong sides of Disney, but rather to talk about how inherently racist and sexist ideals illustrated through content, like films, trickle down to influence the younger generation. Disney has a history of sexualizing their female characters and continues to push a message to little girls that they should be reliant on men as their “saviors.” Up until 2009, Disney had never had a black character in any of their films, and the princesses were primarily white. Disney’s questionable business practices and content isn’t groundbreaking, many other entertainment companies are similar in both ethics and depiction of minorities. On the bright side, many are now cognizant of problems plaguing our media, and changes have been made, with some films having a diverse cast and non-ignorant character plots.
SOURCES:
"Criticism of The Walt Disney Company"/Wikipedia
