Cracked takes on "The Nine Most Offensive Disney Stereotypes." Here's my response to that article.
This writer remembers sitting in on a "classic movie night" where a certain segment of the audience felt they needed to demonstrate how politically correct they were by mocking the old movies they were watching.
Classics like The Philadelphia Story and Fantasia were mercilessly torn apart by individuals, desperate to prove that they were more politically correct than the rest of us plebes, who just wanted to catch some classic flicks.
Cracked's Ben Joseph suffers from a similar ailment when he slams various Disney flicks, from Fantasia to Aladdin, for racial insensitivity. In doing so, Joseph applies a 21st Century morality to movies, shorts and books made, in some cases, nearly 70 years ago.
The accompanying YouTube sequences have been removed, likely because of Disney's legal beagles.
Does Joseph have a point? In several cases, yes. However, in his haste to be holier than thou, he plays fast and loose with the facts.
4) Sunflower the Centaur from Fantasia (1940)
Again, another relic from a bygone era. Fantasia originally featured Sunflower, a black centaur, who cheerfully helps the white centaurs get ready for their dates in The Pastoral Symphony. Disney, realizing his error, excised the sequence from subsequent releases of the film but Joseph never lets us forget it.
Once again, forgetting for the moment that he's going after a film that's nearly 70 years old, Joseph actually counts Sunflower's later deletion as a further calumny.
"(To) make matters worse," he thunders, "they started categorically denying Sunflower's existence with the Fantasia re-release in 1960. How does that possibly make things better?"
Damned if you do, damned if you don't.
3) The Indians from Peter Pan (1953)
Confession time: this writer hasn't yet seen Peter Pan so there's no response to Joseph's assertions about "Tiger Lilly's traditional Native American hussy dance" and the ways in which "Native American's misogynistic tendencies are played for laughs."
Joseph is right in that Disney's depiction of Native Americans was inaccurate and offensive. But yet again, he's applying 2007 morals to a 54-year-old movie. Does that justify Peter Pan's patronizing portrayal of Natives? No. Does Joseph give Disney credit for the more balanced images in Pocahontas? Heck no.
2) Uncle Remus from Song of the South (1946)
Song of the South has always been a popular target for those who want to portray Walt Disney as a right wing bigot. This live-action/animated hybrid has never been released on DVD, due to concerns about its depiction of Uncle Remus, the cheerful plantation worker in the Post-Civil War era.
Joseph jumps on the "slam Song of the South" bandwagon, saying "It's as if someone made a children's musical about Jews in post-World War II Germany that had a number titled 'Hey! Nothing Bad Has Happened to Us, Ever.'" He also points out that James Blaskett, who played Uncle Remus, wasn't allowed to attend the movie's premiere in Atlanta, but misses the fact that Blaskett received an Oscar for his work on the flick.
Joseph's assertion that the movie is offensive to black people gets trashed by an African American, former Disney animator Floyd Norman.
"Lest we forget," he writes, "many African Americans still love Song of the South."
It's a little hard to denounce something, folks, when the alleged target isn't getting offended.
1) Thursday from Mickey Mouse and the Boy Thursday (1948 children's book)
In this obscure children's book from 1948, Mickey Mouse accidentally receives a West African native in the mail. Hijinks ensue, which includes Thursday (a riff on Friday from Robinson Crusoe) killing Mickey's radio and worshipping Goofy as a tribal god.
"The book compiles almost every offensive preconception of Africa lurking in the American subconscious," says Joseph.
Keep in mind that the "fish out of water" scenario has been a comedy staple since . . . forever. Also keep in mind that this book has been out of print, most likely since before most people surfing the Internet were actually born. Remember that Disney's depictions of minorities weren't exactly out of step with mainstream society back then. By Joseph's own (pained) admission, Disney "was almost progressive" in his treatment of blacks and other non-Europeans. Look at the larger attitudes of the day, and this book starts to look like Albert Schweitzer.
But no, Joseph has to pull this obscure skeleton out of Disney's closet so he can show us how smart and progressive he is.
Racism in Disney Cartoons? An Animator Has the Last Word
The final note on this subject goes to Floyd Norman, who was the only black animator working at the Mouse House during the 1950's and 60's.
"Overly sensitive people see racial or ethnic slights in every image," Norman once wrote. "And in their zeal to sanitize and pasteurize everything, they've taken all the fun out of cartoon making.
"I've had the pleasure of speaking with the late Bob Clampett about his 1943 cartoon, Coal Black and the Sebben Dwarfs (Clampett's notorious all-black take on Disney's Snow White). I've chatted with Ward Kimball about animating the crows in Walt Disney's Dumbo . . . Although some might call these comical images racially insensitive, I merely see them as funny."
Amen.
The copyright of the article Was Disney Racist? in Hollywood Animated Films is owned by Dominic von Riedemann. Permission to republish Was Disney Racist? in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
Walt Disney is not racist! think about it's a small world after all...hmmm,
let's see, that's about ALL the kids of the world. Black, white, asain,
jewish. comeon people... get real
Feb 20, 2009 8:11 AM
Guest :
he is not racist!! come on!! he has characters from all over the world!!
Feb 26, 2009 10:47 AM
Guest :
Walt Disney wasnt racist?!? He was a member of the Nazi party of America
for christs sake, of course he was racist!
Feb 27, 2009 9:42 AM
Dominic von Riedemann :
Here's what The Straight Dope has to say about whether or not Disney was a
fascist
(http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1623/was-walt-disney-a-fascist):<
br /> "A few white supremacist groups still cherish (the notion
that Disney was a fascist). Their best evidence is a misreading of the
short film 'Der Fuehrer's Face' (1943), in which Donald is seen in a Nazi
uniform, swastikas and all. In the end we find out it's all a nightmare,
but that doesn't dissuade the racists."
Disney animator
Art Babbitt claimed to have seen Disney at meetings of the German American
Bund, a pro-Nazi organization: "There were open meetings, anybody
could attend and I wanted to see what was going on myself," he said.
"On more than one occasion I observed Walt Disney and [Disney's
lawyer] Gunther Lessing there, along with a lot of prominent
Nazi-afflicted Hollywood personalities. Disney was going to meetings all
the time."
Getting back to SD: "For the most part
Disney doesn't appear to have had strong political views--his politics
seemed to turn on whatever it took to keep his studio going. It's likely
his interest in the German American Bund sprang from a desire to forge
relationships with Germany for possible film distribution there. On the
other hand, there was a lot of antisemitic feeling in the Disney studio.
While no one can specifically attribute bias to Disney himself, Jewish
people were ready fodder for the animators' gags and Disney approved every
scene in every short the studio made."
A little background
would help here. Back in the mid-20th Century, every visible minority was
comedy fodder: Jews, Blacks, etc. Looked at in a 21st century light, many
of those depictions would come off as racist.
Disney was
certainly conservative and anti-communist. Fascist however, seems a bit
of a stretch.
Apr 22, 2009 2:51 PM
Guest :
Come on people!! If you have nothing better to do than pick on Disney
movies for racism you have no life! go get a hobby! geeesh. if it was a
movie made in the 30s, back when racism was ok and tolerated then of coarse
there not going to realize it. what would you like DIsney to do? remake all
their movies so it cant offend anyone... might as well not make movies at
all.
May 9, 2009 3:08 PM
Guest :
Does everything have be turned into a Racist Issue ??? I personally am
sick to death of it. Can we just accept Disney as the wholesome family
tradition that it is??? I go to Disney theme parks and see people of
EVERY race religion and color. They dont seem to have an issue.
Jul 15, 2009 4:55 PM
Guest :
yes disney was racist. so was lindbergh, and ford. in fact, it was probably
a rare occurrence back then to find someone who wasnt racist. they may have
done good things for society...but they were not good people on a personal
level. as much as the good they did. who they were should be known too. let
the individual come to their own conclusions about what to think about
them.
Jul 18, 2009 3:54 AM
Guest :
Actually he was very racist small world after all doesn't feature any jew's
it show white people black people asians and polish.... that basically it
Disney is racist in all look at Pochantus they talk about killing savages
and Dumbo Drop they talk about killing every Disney movie is based around a
orphan or they dont have one parent! But back to small world after all
come on not one did I see a star of david on it!!! or Mexicans... but it
shows the myans the incans and all of them which our ansectors slaughtered
most off and it is very very stereo typical!!!
Jul 29, 2009 10:14 AM
Guest :
I rode its a small world two days ago and would have to say i saw Jews,
Mexicans and the works.....trust me i looked. No they didn't have the Star
of David but that is assuming all Jews practice Judaism, lets put a giant
cross over American representation to say we all are Christians. Who is
being stereotypical now?
Sep 1, 2009 4:27 AM
Guest :
well Walt Disney may not be racist, but the modern day producers might be
as i picked up from an episode of Phineas & Ferb called Night of the
livin Gelatine in which they make a giant swimming pool full of Grape
Gelatin( with a certain mystery flavour added by their presumably indian
friend Baljeet) the gelatine eventually turns evil and Phineas says maybe
it' the other flavour or something and Baljeet eventually admits it was
curry....Blatant racism right?
Oct 5, 2009 7:33 AM
Guest :
yes disney productions were racist... why deny the fact... when jerry hits
tom over the head with a pan... its sits on his head like a rice patty hat,
and tom's eyes are squinted shut... this cartoon still plays today in
2009... it doesn't bother me. but what does is when people deny the fact..
stop burying the past and face these racist demons which plagued 20th
century America.
Oct 5, 2009 7:10 PM
Guest :
Walt Disney is racist. People should stop trying to deny it. Its better for
the truth to be out. Does saying he isn't make you feel better about
watching movies that have racism embedded in it? Are you afraid that by
admitting he really was a racist that you are racist yourself or that you
condone racism, so by saying he isn't somehow "protects" you and
makes you feel better about it?
Come on! Stop justifying it. No
one cares if you like Disney or not! Pretending he is not racist is only
denying the truth, which actually makes you appear racist or someone who
condones racism.
Disney obviously didn't mind if people thought
he was racist, otherwise he would not make allusions in his movies about
his racist beliefs....so stop defending someone who more than likely did
not want to be defended in the first place!
Oct 5, 2009 8:30 PM
Dominic von Riedemann :
BTW, Tom and Jerry was produced by Hanna-Barbera for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer,
not Disney.
Oct 28, 2009 1:24 PM
Guest :
What about the fact that the first black Disney character beside the 1940's
Fantasia wasn't until recently and the FIRST black Disney princess doesn't
come out until 2010. Walt may not have been racist but someone there for
damn sure is!
