Racism in disney movies assignment

The original version of Disney’s classic “ Fantasia” (1940) features a character called Sunflower, a little black centaur handmaiden. Sunflower is an extremely insulting caricature, and a bluntly racist stereotype of the “ servile grinning nigger” variety (Walker 22). In a featured scene during “ The Pastoral Symphony” elegant white centaurs frolick through the woods and are waited on by Sunflower. She is noticeably smaller than the other centaurs??? ostensibly because she is half-donkey instead of half-horse, but more likely to exaggerate her inferiority??? and has a darker complexion.

Her sole function in the film is to eagerly polish and shine the hooves of the tall, sexy Aryan centaur women who glare down their petite noses at this pathetic servant. Such scenes were later censored in the film due to the characters being considered “ ethnically offensive during the civil rights movement” (Walker 26).? In addition to reinforcing the stereotype of blacks as inferior beings, the scene from the “ Pastoral Symphony” also furthers racism by supporting segregation. Throughout the film the female Aryan centaurs pair up with the males of their “ race,” leaving Sunflower alone and separated from the group.

Dumbo, the fourth film in the Disney industry, was made in 1941 and produced by Walt Disney himself. It was originally designed as an economical feature to help generate income after the financial failure of Fantasia. The concerns people had against Disney being anti-Semitic and racist were sill strong, especially after Disney projected his own sense of alienation onto “ others” in Hollywood, namely, Jews, blacks, and union workers. In retaliation against the studio entrepreneurs, who were predominantly Jewish, Disney refused to employ Jews in high-level positions at his studio or as actors in his live-action features.

Not until 1969, two years after Disney’s death, did a Jewish actor, Buddy Hackett, feature prominently in a Disney film, The Love Bug. Disney Studios also denied black workers even minimal opportunities, as technicians and support personnel. Because Walt Disney was an infamous racist, even for his time, it is not surprising that a film he produced himself would be racist as well. Dumbo is full of racist images and themes. Dumbo’s birth itself speaks to the foundations of racism when the other female elephants single Dumbo out because he looks different with his unusual ears.

Furthermore, the lyrics construct and laud the image of the passive and content slave whose true payment and fulfillment is watching the joy of (white) children on circus day. Lyrics such as “ we slave until we’re almost dead” but, “ we’re happy-hearted” are utterly absurd and disgraceful. Slavery was a morally wrong institution and the fact that Disney condoned its practices in Dumbo is horrifying. Another overtly racist element in Dumbo is the characterization and function of the crows. Richard Schickel says, “ There was one distasteful moment in the film.

The crows who teach Dumbo to fly are too obviously Negro caricatures” (Shickel 113). Leonardo Maltint, after quoting Schickel, says that critics may be overreacting to the crows: “ There has been considerable controversy over the Black Crow sequence in recent years, most of it unjustified. The crows are undeniably black, but they are black characters, not black stereotypes” (Maltin 56). Even though Maltint makes a valid point, he does not address the fact that the crows in the film are very specifically depicted as poor and uneducated.

Like stereotypical Asians, they are buck-toothed and have slanted eyes, and speak in ridiculously exaggerated accents that bear little, if any, resemblance to actual Thai speech patterns. Their features, along with the banging of a gong at the beginning of their song, could not make the Asian-specific racism any more obvious, “ We are Siamese, if you please. We are Siamese if you don’t please! We are former residents of Siam. There are no finer cats than we am. ” Goldmark comments: One can hear the confidence and superiority in their voices. Those two cats don’t care about anyone but themselves, lacking any kind of empathy.

They are sociopaths, prepared to ruin Lady’s life because it is fun and it serves them. They are portrayed as cunning and manipulative, giving the widespread idea that all Asians act superior, are cunning and manipulative. (Goldmark 115) In the film, the Siamese cats function not only as a racial stereotype but also as a stereotype of the upper classes in Oriental countries: “ The cats prance around arrogantly in a Hollywood-invented style that is supposed to represent what the audience should assume are mannerisms of aristocratic Siamese or Chinese” (Romalov 46).

These instances show the racist way in which people from the East are portrayed as barbaric. The film could also be considered racist in that it portrays Arab culture as deeply oppressive of women and brutally violent. Princess Jasmine is trapped mercilessly inside her palace home, and the palace guards threaten to cut off her hand at one point in the film. She is also constantly controlled by the men who surround her. Finally, she is the only other woman we see in the film besides the belly dancers in the opening scenes.

What does that say in regard to the significance of women in Disney? Of course, Disney does not intend to offend anyone ??? that would be bad business. Most people who watch the movies are probably caught up in the Disney magic and do not notice these things. Problematically, one way in which Disney creates the magic is by using stereotypes that people respond to without thinking. Aladdin looks “ right” for a hero; Jafar looks “ right” for a villain; Jasmine looks “ right” for a trapped princess.

The hyenas also serve as an interesting opposition to the thoughtful, strong, and intelligent characters of the rest of the film, who represent the upper class, indeed, mostly “ white” culture. That is not to say all African-Americans are poorly depicted. James Earl Jones voices the role of the powerful and wise “ Mufasa”, and Robert Guillaume voices “ Rafiki,” the wise shaman. Yet even with two of the strongest main characters being voiced by African-Americans, it is hard not to notice the stereotyping Disney seems to be making about Black, Latino, and lower-class culture.

It is significant to recognize that The Lion King does not stop with racial stereotypes, but also cruelly targets other underrepresented groups including women and homosexuals. According to the Associated Press, Carolyn Newberger of Harvard University complained in the Boston Globe that “ the good-for-nothing hyenas are urban blacks; the arch-villain’s gestures are effeminate, and he speaks in supposed gay cliches” (Twomey 33). The film also furthers gender stereotypes by displaying women as subservient and dependent upon the strength of males.

Some might argue that portraying interracial marriage in film is good – but why then weren’t any of the white princesses given non-white princes to save them from white villains? And since Disney doesn’t give white princesses non-white princes, isn’t this interracial relationship at the expense of black boys who deserve a hero just as much as black girls deserve a heroine? (Kareem, 1) Prince is not the only critic to take issue with the difference in skin color between the prince and princess. Cultural critic Hensley Jameson comments, “ The prince is lighter than she is.

What’s that say about black men? Sure, Boris Kodjoe is fine, and we come in all shades, but to be truly black, a character can’t be any lighter than Denzel Washington (Kareem 1). Originally the prince was explicitly reported as being the jazz-loving monarch of a European country. By giving the prince an olive, but still white, complexion and a Brazilian accent, Disney gets to go forward with their original white hero yet make him ambiguous enough to not be unequivocally criticized as white at the same time. Tiana isn’t the problem,” says Angela Bonner Helm at Black Voices: “ Was there any particular reason why her love interest, Prince Naveen of Maldonia, couldn’t be black, too? Though America has a “ real-life black man in the highest office of the land with a black wife, Disney obviously doesn’t think a black man is worth the title of prince” (Kareem 1). The plot of The Princess and the Frog also follows Disney’s pattern of making their evil characters more “ ethnic” and darker than their good characters. The central villain in the film is the voodoo master, who is also African American.

For example, whereas other Disney films typically lack the mother figure completely and perhaps only reference the mother when explaining the past, The Princess and the Frog includes a mother who is present for the entire film. It may not be obvious to most viewers of The Princess and the Frog, but Disney takes a huge and important step in introducing a mother figure to their film ??? their past practice of eliminating the mother figure is arguably sexist and offensive to the female identity.

Another important change Disney makes in Princess and the Frog centers on the fact that unlike other Disney princesses who dream about meeting a prince, Tiana has realistic dreams and expectations ??? she wants to be a restaurant owner and works very diligently to achieve her goal. Despite this significant statement about female power, however, most film critics will probably instead choose to focus on the fact that Tiana, as an African American, is limited to owning a restaurant rather than a Fortune 500 company. Works Cited: Alan, Spector J.