The dark side of Hollywood: the racism lurking in Disney’s most iconic movies
It is impossible to deny the cultural influence of Disney movies. They shaped most of our childhoods to some degree, whether we became obsessed with a certain princess, enjoyed trips to Disneyland, or simply pestered our parents to take us into the Disney Store. The image of the castle illuminated on the logo at the start of a Disney film would instil a sense of excitement and magic within us, gearing us up for gorgeous animations and infectious songs.
Yet, because the most iconic Disney movies were made between the 1930s and 1960s, it is safe to say that many have not aged well – possessing racist, sexist, and homophobic elements that were consumed by young viewers, potentially shaping their worldview subconsciously. It is no secret that racism is still a prevalent issue, but in the decades that Disney made some of its most popular movies, these beliefs were much more commonly accepted.
As a result, many racist caricatures, lyrics, and depictions of non-white people can be found in Disney movies aimed at children. Most commonly, animals were used to display stereotypes, and whether the creators of these films were consciously trying to be racist or not, this signalled a period in time when racist thinking was so normalised and unquestioned. Let’s start with The Jungle Book, which was released in 1967. While Mowgli is meant to be an Indian boy, he is portrayed in an Americanised fashion. However, the issue that is most discussed in relation to the beloved film is the depiction of King Louie as a racist caricature of African Americans.
Voiced by a white man, the part was originally designed with Louis Armstrong in mind, but Disney soon realised that using a black actor to play a monkey might be misconstrued as the character as a racist stereotype. Still, King Louie has been significantly criticised, with his character singing in a jazz style while portraying him with stereotypical African American traits. The song ‘I Wanna Be Like You’, in which Louie sings lines like “I wanna be a man” and “An ape like me/ Can learn to be human too,” has also raised a few eyebrows.
Another one of the most significant examples of racism lurking in a popular Disney movie can be found in Dumbo. The main crow in the film is voiced by a white actor, but he is portrayed with a voice that is stereotypically associated with African American vernacular. What’s more, in the original credits, the character was unbelievably called Jim Crow, referencing the racist law, which was also named after a minstrel character.
Disney+ has since put a warning on the film to make viewers aware of the movie’s racist history, stating, “The crows and musical number pay homage to racist minstrel shows, where white performers with blackened faces and tattered clothing imitated and ridiculed enslaved Africans on Southern plantations.”
I could hardly write this article without mentioning Song of the South, too – a film that promoted very questionable ideas about slavery. The movie, which blended animation with live-action, told the story of a young boy who befriends a plantation worker who lives with his family. What makes the film strange, however, is that Uncle Remus, a former slave, looks back fondly, with Song of the South promoting the myth that enslaved people were happy, ignoring the brutal realities of slavery and racism.
Slightly less severe than Song of the South but still incredibly harmful was the depiction of the Siamese twin cats in The Lady and the Tramp, with the characters Si and Am acting as Asian stereotypes. They are portrayed as being sinister, with slanted eyes and buck teeth, while the song ‘We Are Siamese If You Please’, sung by Peggy Lee, features broken English, imitating an Asian person. In The Aristocats, there is also a Siamese cat voiced by a white actor, no less, who plays the piano with chopsticks and moves with exaggerated gestures. His appearance uses the same stereotypes as the cats in The Lady and the Tramp.
You would think that decades on from an era defined by segregation and rampant racism that Disney would learn from its mistakes, but unfortunately, you can still see their use of animal characters to promote racial stereotypes in 1994’s The Lion King. The hyenas, Shenzi and Banzai, are portrayed as evil, their voices clearly reflecting accents possessed by people of non-white identities. Disney depicts these characters as savages rather than cunning and smart villains, marking a stark contrast between them and other characters.
There is also the issue of whitewashing in Pocahontas, which tells the tale of a real-life Native American girl who was severely mistreated by white people. Yet, in Disney’s film, her brutal history is given shiny Hollywood treatment, ignoring the bleak reality of her story. Then we’ve got the use of terms like “redskins” in Peter Pan, and even the emphasis on Snow White having “fair” skin seems to harbour white supremacist undertones.
Disney has progressed significantly in the last few decades by introducing more diverse characters, straying from racial stereotypes, and putting warnings on their earlier movies to alert people of offensive images. Yet, it is important to recognise the company’s complicated history, which reflects an era when racism was incredibly normalised.
