Some Disney cartoons have received an advance notice warning viewers of outdated racist stereotypes. This includes Peter Pan, Dombo and the Aristocats.
“This program contains negative portrayals and / or mishandling of people or cultures,” the warning said. “These stereotypes were already wrong then and still are.” Disney says it does not want to remove the cartoons, but rather “recognizes their painful impact in order to learn from them and spark discussion”.
Disney’s decision is the result of the heated racism debate in the United States after multiple cases of deadly police brutality against black Americans in recent months.
Play the piano with chopsticks
On his website the American media giant gives some examples of scenes that are outdated. Thus, in the Aristocats (1970) shows a cat with stereotypical Asian facial features. He also sings mocking things about Chinese culture with an accent and plays the piano with chopsticks.
In Peter Pan (1953) Native Americans are ridiculed and in Dombo (1941), a few crows pay tribute to the minstrel shows of the nineteenth century, where white actors made fun of black slaves. Other movies that have been given a disclaimer are Lady and the Tramp in Jungle Book.
In June it became a Hollywood classic Gone with the Wind from 1939 temporarily pulled from streaming platform HBO Max, because that film would romanticize the American slavery past. The film later returned with a cautionary introduction.
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