Has Disney pulled all cartoons with racist characters?

[ILOVEDISNEY]

I was searching for info about Song of the South. I am sure I saw it on Disneyland and/or Magical World of Disney a long time ago. I know it is never going to be commercially available. My question is though: Has Disney also pulled all the old cartoons with racist characters in them? I know many old cartoons often made fun of African-Americans and during WWII many cartoons made fun of the Germans and Japanese.

 

[Dayma]

You looking for them on VHS or DVD?

I doubt they pulled historic info from them though. Did you check imdb.com?

 

[SirNim]

On VHS?

:lookaroun

I can only assume that any racist characters/cartoons are on permanent moratorium. I don't know how to officially confirm this, though.

 

[Shaman]

Call me ignorant...call me lazy...but what exactly is the deal with Song of the South??

:veryconfu

 

[Lokheed]

The upcoming DVD set "On the Front Lines" will contain a huge collection of the propaganda shorts that Disney produced in the 40's, including "Der Fuhrer's Face". I have only seen a few of these shorts, but it is safe to say they are riddled with racists stereotypes about the Germans and Japanese. I am surprised (and pleased) that this collection is being released. This is remarkable stuff, and historically very significant. The big difference with this set is that it stands apart as very clear wartime propaganda, as opposed to a film like Song of the South which is really just an entertainment product. I do wish that SotS could be released, because it is certainly a significant film as well, but I just don't see that happening anytime soon.

 

[ILOVEDISNEY]

I think older Disney fans, myself included, remember Zippidy Do Da, as the quintessential Disney song. It's one of those that if you sing it it will be in your brain all day songs. I think the uproar about Uncle Remus and the Heavenly Chorus is that they are too stereotypical, yet I have a few A-A friends that would like to see it at least once in their lifetimes just to see what it's all about.

 

[Woody13]

How about the crows, who mock Dumbo with the wonderful song "When I See an Elephant Fly"? Remember that the crows are the only social group in the film who act kindly to the little outcast.

 

[Wilt Dasney]

Disney re-edited parts of Fantasia a few years ago, cropping shots that contained black caricatures in the form of centaurs. The current DVD's and tapes of the movie are edited so that the characters never appear on-screen.

 

[LoriMistress]

Speaking with Disney and racism, I do have some racists cartoons and consperacy from Disney...I have a WW2 cartoon of Donald Duck fighting the Japanese...and I have the Anti-Nazis cartoon from Disney...very interesting.

 

[ISTCrew20]

In my school library we have books about the history of Disney characters. In the Donald book it shows a picture of an old short, in which Donald is wearing the Nazi symbol.

 

[lamarvenoy]

The whole S.O.S. topic makes me mad. It is a great movie, it has innocent intentions, it depicts a situation that was real. SLAVERY
HAPPENED, E D is in past tense. By banning it in US release they are silently agreeing that there is something wrong with this film. Disney owns many companys(Miramax included) and the Weinstein brothers have released many truely disturbing and offending movies-some are my favorites:animwink: So release this movie, and stop adding to the problem of NAACP double standards.

 

[Lokheed]

Originally posted by LoriMistress
Speaking with Disney and racism, I do have some racists cartoons and consperacy from Disney...I have a WW2 cartoon of Donald Duck fighting the Japanese...and I have the Anti-Nazis cartoon from Disney...very interesting.

That's "Der Fuhrer's Face". Great short. Donald slaves away in Nazi Germany working in a munitions factory, and then at the end wakes up from his nightmare. Literally wrapped in the flag, he kisses a miniature of the Statue of Liberty and says, "Am I glad to be a citizen of the United States of America!"

Not exactly going for subtlety there...

As a matter of fact, this is the avatar I use on another message board that I run (where my nickname is Punk Kid Hitler, which is what some yahoo called me after I banned him).

 

[cherrynegra]

Originally posted by objr
Call me ignorant...call me lazy...but what exactly is the deal with Song of the South??

:veryconfu

The first link deals with the racial stereotypes, and more importantly, the glossing over of slavery and the status of post Civil War slaves. The NAACP acknowledged "the remarkable artistic merit" of the film when it was first released, but decried "the impression it gives of an idyllic master-slave relationship".

http://www.snopes.com/disney/films/sots.htm

The second link is for a website that is devoted to the film. He deals with the artistice merit of the film, and his defense of Song of the South. Between the two, one can develop their own opinion of this film.

http://www.songofthesouth.net/

 

[mkt]

I own the movie (legitimate UK copy), and I see nothing racist at all about it...

nothing.

Not A Thing.

 

[Wilt Dasney]

Originally posted by mkt
I own the movie (legitimate UK copy), and I see nothing racist at all about it...

nothing.

Not A Thing.

But, dude, you're just whitebread, not a totally def and fly brutha like me... :lookaroun

Word!

 

[mkt]

please... I'm not whitebread.

I'm whitewheat

 

[cherrynegra]

Originally posted by cherrynegra
The first link deals with the racial stereotypes, and more importantly, the glossing over of slavery and the status of post Civil War slaves. The NAACP acknowledged "the remarkable artistic merit" of the film when it was first released, but decried "the impression it gives of an idyllic master-slave relationship".

http://www.snopes.com/disney/films/sots.htm

The second link is for a website that is devoted to the film. He deals with the artistice merit of the film, and his defense of Song of the South. Between the two, one can develop their own opinion of this film.

http://www.songofthesouth.net/

Mea Culpa!! I stupidly forgot to mention that one should also view the movie before making up their own mind as to whether or not the movie has racial stereotypes or not. Kinda hard to criticize or defend something you haven't seen.:hammer:

 

[DisneyFreak721]

As for whether or not Disney has released "Racist" material on DVD yet, they have. It's on the Treasures collection, but has an introduction by Leonard Maltin. The one i'm specifically referring to is "Victory Vehicles," A Goofy Short on the Complete Goofy set. The introduction is basically "This was the time period, that's why we did it" there are several other shorts with introductions like that.
So as for Song of the South, they should release that under the Treasures label, much like the Reluctant Dragon, but just with that short little intro by Leonard Maltin.

 

[Woody13]

Originally posted by DisneyFreak721
As for whether or not Disney has released "Racist" material on DVD yet, they have. It's on the Treasures collection, but has an introduction by Leonard Maltin. The one i'm specifically referring to is "Victory Vehicles," A Goofy Short on the Complete Goofy set. The introduction is basically "This was the time period, that's why we did it" there are several other shorts with introductions like that.
So as for Song of the South, they should release that under the Treasures label, much like the Reluctant Dragon, but just with that short little intro by Leonard Maltin.

An introduction by Leonard Maltin will make everything better? Racist material should be re-released because of historical merit? Perhaps Walt Disney was a bigot?:zipit:

 

[Wilt Dasney]

Originally posted by Woody13
An introduction by Leonard Maltin will make everything better? Racist material should be re-released because of historical merit? Perhaps Walt Disney was a bigot?:zipit:

His point was that those intros can provide some context for the material. What we consider bigoted today was acceptable to much of society half a century ago, just like things we laugh at today will likely elicit horror from future generations. We can't use the standards of the moment as an objective barometer for every piece of entertainment ever produced.