The character has come under wrath for being a rather ‘crass’ caricature of East Asian people, with his slanted eyes and prominent teeth. In the 1970 movie ‘The Aristocats’, there was a Siamese cat character by the name of Shun Gon. During a musical interlude, faceless black workers can be seen working hard to offensive lyrics like “ ‘When we get our pay, we throw our money all away”. The 1941 movie ‘Dumbo’, a favorite among children and parents alike, was removed for wrongfully portraying African-Americans who were enslaved on Southern plantations. ‘Peter Pan’ has been removed since it features a Native American tribe who are referred to as "redskins" – a dated and offensive terminology. These stereotypes were wrong then and are wrong now.” The films now remain available on the adult accounts, with the disclaimer - “This program includes negative depictions and/or mistreatment of people or cultures. The ban and censoring were brought on by a group of external experts who assessed if the content ‘represented global audiences’. The animated classics like Peter Pan and Dumbo came under the scanner for portraying racial stereotypes that are offensive to diverse racial identities. Bob Chapek (Getty Images)ĭisney+ revised their content advisory in October to make their content more streamlined and free of problematic portrayals, in accordance with the changing societal attitude of the audience. Other family favorite movies like Dumbo, The Aristocats, and Swiss Family Robinson have also been removed from the children’s accounts. The online streaming platform Disney+ blocked children below the age of seven to watch the 1953 classic Peter Pan. Why did Disney+ block Peter Pan & other movies? The films reportedly violated the recently implemented content advisories for having racist connotations in their storyline and dialogues. However, kids from this generation might have to do without Peter Pan and a few other Disney classics like Dumbo, The Aristocats, and Swiss Family Robinson, as recently Disney+ removed such films from the children’s section. Maybe there is value in keeping it as a reminder of just how awful, cruel and racist the world was and to ensure that we never allow society to go back to that place.It is hard to imagine a childhood without the charming, captivating fairytale of Peter Pan - the boy who was brought to life on screen by Disney. However, clearly, very clearly, without a shadow of a doubt, the crow characters in Dumbo are a harmful and insulting portrayal. But are stepmothers hurt by the Disney stereotype and does that influence how stepmothers are viewed by children? Are dwarfs insulted by the portrayal in Snow White and does it influence how people treat them? I could go on ( I am Welsh after all). And I don’t suppose most British people are insulted by the portrayal of the cockney in Mary Poppins or the nanny in Peter Pan etc. Personally, I am not insulted by Welshmen’s reputation for having inappropriate relationships with sheep, or adding extra unnecessary words to sentences, or treating rugby as though it is a religion. Perhaps the question is, at what point does the portrayal of a character using stereotypes cease being humorous and become instead insulting.
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