Debunking "evil Disney" accusations

koryadams

koryadams

Active Member
No one can be pleased....
I am upset that Song of the South is no longer available...come on, I am sure there are other movies about history that are racist? It's called History!!
And I believe the Walt Disney Company is not evil. Walt was very smart...look around!
 
Clever Name

Clever Name

Well-Known Member
raven24 said:
Ever noticed the way the monkeys talk and speak in The Jungle Book? They're clearly black. Black monkeys. Hhhmm.
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Rudyard Kipling wrote The Jungle Book. Kipling also wrote the poem The White Man's Burden in which he says that the white man has a special burden to civilize the brown people of the world.
 
F

Fmmeloni

New Member
Avenger117 said:
I haven't seen Fantasia since I was a child and I barely remember any of it. I did hear about the original concept for The Princess and the Frog, that would have been even worst. The movie as a whole isn't that bad, but the first scene is awful. I almost stopped watching, I was irritated. I also agree that they could have made Naveen black, but I guess they thought it was more appropriate to make the voodoo guy black. Actually the more I think about it I really don't like that movie.

I did love Tiana's Showboat Jubilee at Magic Kingdom though!
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I know I'm late on this post but tiana wasn't a princess to start with, this is a take on the fable Frog prince. Tiana becomes a princess by marrying neveen at the end. Who cares how she was a frog most of the movie. It is about the journey of the story. I love watching it with my daughter. I'm an Italian American with no characters in the Disney repertoire except an Italian restaurant owner in lady and the tramp who could be a cousin of super Mario and luigi. It doesn't bother me. I feel that Disney as a whole does there best to showcase the eras and regions of the story. I wanted to be an animator and applied to Disney after college. They rejected me and I still love them.

A friend of mine who is 45 just went to DIsney world for the first time in his life. He said it was the happiest place on earth. He felt like a child again.
 
Matt_Black

Matt_Black

Well-Known Member
atsolomon said:
Even at the time of its release "Song of the South" was the subject of protest by the NAACP for its rosy depiction of slavery.
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Except that it takes place during the Reconstruction Era. As has been noted several times in the thread.

I'm white, so I'm not going to comment on any implications about Princess and the Frog, other than that I liked it, and the movie DID show that there was an unfair discrepancy during that time between whites and blacks. They didn't beat you over the head with it, but they didn't hide it either.

Regarding Fantasia, I've heard some people complain about the zebra centaurs that accompany Bacchus, which is mystifying to me, as I think they're kinda hot for fantasy creatures.

While during the Walt era, there were stereotypes, he seemed to avoid the really bad ones. For instance, I'm trying to think of an instance of a "Yellow Peril" type character showing up in any of the cartoons and can't think of one, with the possible exception of the Siamese Cats from Lady and the Tramp (and Disney films at that point had a history of portraying cats as jerks).
 
networkpro

networkpro

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
Yes
You're going to get someone taking umbrage at anything that doesn't represent 100% of their viewpoints. You cant over generalize that a single character is a blanket statement about everyone who shares real and perceived characteristics, but critics usually do. Squeaky wheels are an attempt to attract oil (eyeballs or supporters) for their agenda. Understanding the biases displayed in any work as well as their detractors is just part of living in any society (homogeneous or heterogeneous) ... there are always differences in opinions.
 
Yert3

Yert3

Well-Known Member
I myself don't understand why people always point fingers at Disney. As if no other animators have made stereotypes.
I don't see anyone ripping on Don Bluth and Steven Speilberg for this famous scene:

I gotta admit, an Irish mouse with red hair and wearing a leprechaun outfit if pretty funny.

I also don't see people ripping WB for this either:


So why is it always Disney?
 
FettFan

FettFan

Well-Known Member
Yert3 said:
I myself don't understand why people always point fingers at Disney. As if no other animators have made stereotypes.
I don't see anyone ripping on Don Bluth and Steven Speilberg for this famous scene:

I gotta admit, an Irish mouse with red hair and wearing a leprechaun outfit if pretty funny.

I also don't see people ripping WB for this either:


So why is it always Disney?
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Because Disney is an identifiable target. He's a bona fide American Icon up there with Ben Franklin and Red Sox*, and broadcast himself into every television-owning household in the nation every Sunday night in the 50s and 60s.

Nobody knows what the Warner Brothers look like (no, they aren't black-and-white cartoon cats).
WB is little more than a faceless corporation.




*normally i would say 'yankees', but my darling happens to be a boston native....so i have to tread lightly, lest i wind up with 5' of high-heeled sicilian-american fan furor.
 
FettFan

FettFan

Well-Known Member
raven24 said:
It wasn't just Dumbo. Ever noticed the way the monkeys talk and speak in The Jungle Book? They're clearly black. Black monkeys. Hhhmm. Some of the newer Disney movies are stereotypical too, though. The opening scene of Aladdin is stereotypical. I really don't want to get started on the original concepts of The Princess and the Frog, and the fact that the first, and I'm sure only, African American Disney princess spent most of her time in the film as a frog. I can let these things go but they do bother a lot of people.
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Oh posh. The Jungle Book monkeys are not black.

If anything, they're Italian-American. The evidence?

Louis Prima is the voice of King Louie, and he and his band dancing was used as inspiration for the "Wanna Be Like You" sequence.

There are no giants in these windmills; sometimes a monkey is just a monkey.
 
Californian Elitist

Californian Elitist

Well-Known Member
FettFan said:
Oh posh. The Jungle Book monkeys are not black.

If anything, they're Italian-American. The evidence?

Louis Prima is the voice of King Louie, and he and his band dancing was used as inspiration for the "Wanna Be Like You" sequence.

There are no giants in these windmills; sometimes a monkey is just a monkey.
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Woah, how old is this thread???
 
Californian Elitist

Californian Elitist

Well-Known Member
FettFan said:
Oh posh. The Jungle Book monkeys are not black.

If anything, they're Italian-American. The evidence?

Louis Prima is the voice of King Louie, and he and his band dancing was used as inspiration for the "Wanna Be Like You" sequence.

There are no giants in these windmills; sometimes a monkey is just a monkey.
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Oh, and just because the actors playing the characters are a certain race, it doesn't automatically make the characters that race.
 
Yert3

Yert3

Well-Known Member
raven24 said:
Woah, how old is this thread???
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Oh, opps. I didn't even realize it was on old thread. I just saw it at the top of the list this morning think it was created today because of what Meryl Streep said. I didn't even look at the date.
 
BuddyThomas

BuddyThomas

Well-Known Member
koryadams said:
No one can be pleased....
I am upset that Song of the South is no longer available...come on, I am sure there are other movies about history that are racist? It's called History!!
And I believe the Walt Disney Company is not evil. Walt was very smart...look around!
Click to expand...
You can purchase a copy of Song of the South on Ebay.
 

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