Tiana's Bayou Adventure: Disneyland Watch & Discussion

[CaptinEO]

I still haven’t seen any actual argument for why the Chandler Harris tales are racist beyond “cause a white guy was the one telling them”

If I recall Harris made derogatory changes to the dialect to over exaggerate stereotypes.

 

[THE 1HAPPY HAUNT]

If I recall Harris made derogatory changes to the dialect to over exaggerate stereotypes.

Such as?

 

[CaptinEO]

The Proud Family had been on Disney since 2001. Frozone was a major character in 2004. Hercules' storytellers were all black if I remember correctly. And let's not forget James Baskett's award winning performance as Br'er Fox and Uncle Remus. The first Academy Award Disney would earn and it was a Black actor who won it.

Yes, Tiana is the first black "princess" and is a significant marker in representation, but we shouldn't forget about the incredible talents who blazed the trail prior. I always found it odd that Princess and the Frog presents a black character living in the 1920's South, but the only conflict which she meets is because she's poor. I get not wanting to delve too deep in a cartoon, but they chose the setting and the characters. It reminds me of Greatest Showman when Efron is reluctant to be with Zendeya during the Civil War, yet they refuse to say why his parents wouldn't approve of her as a person.

We don't need blatant racism in a fantasy cartoon. IMO it's good Disney didnt include anything of the sort in Princess and the Frog.

Not every movie has to be a history lesson. Especially when families just want to have a good time.

 

[CaptinEO]

Such as?

I remember a discussion on here about it from a year or so ago where this was brought up. I have't read his books.

 

[CaptinEO]

And thank you. Still not necessarily back, just thought I’d drop in for a little. Will most likely dip out again in a few days or less.

It's great having you back. I greatly value your viewpoints and what you add to the discussion.

 

[Professortango1]

What about those guys that wouldn't let her buy their building? They were all but stated to be racist, what with their "considering a woman of your background" line.

It seemed they were perfectly willing to sell it to her, but she was poor and therefore they were making her jump through additional hoops. The issue always appeared to be her credit rating/collateral rather than skin color.

 

[Brer Panther]

I've tried to read Joel Chandler Harris' adaptations of the Brer Rabbit stories. The dialect he used made the stories really hard to read and was indeed pretty stereotypical. It hasn't affected my love of Brer Rabbit, though.

 

[Dear Prudence]

I've tried to read Joel Chandler Harris' adaptations of the Brer Rabbit stories. The dialect he used made the stories really hard to read and was indeed pretty stereotypical. It hasn't affected my love of Brer Rabbit, though.

They're supposed to be didactic, and many, many Gullah people have stated that it's written in their dialect. The Julius Lester versions are a much better alternative, and he was a leading expert on the subject of the stories, pulling from multiple versions.

You can even see a lot of Gullah people/ dialect speakers on the YouTube comments of the Disney Brer clips talking about this.

 

[Dear Prudence]

It seemed they were perfectly willing to sell it to her, but she was poor and therefore they were making her jump through additional hoops. The issue always appeared to be her credit rating/collateral rather than skin color.

They handled this so badly. You knew they didn't out right say racism because they don't want to isolate themselves from the money of people who refuse to admit racism exists.

 

[Californian Elitist]

The dialect is very difficult to read. Twain’s dialect for Jim in Huck Finn was much more reasonable.

One of my favorites is Remus yelling at a young black boy seemingly for going to school and calling him a “N” word. A white cop passes by and Remus shows off his Uncle Tommery.

“W’at a [“N” word] gwineter larn outen books? I kin take a bar’l stave an’ fling mo’ sense inter a [“N” word] in one minnit dan all de schoolhouses betwixt dis en de State er Midigin. Put a spellin’-book in a [“N” word’s] han’s en right den en dar’ you loozes a plow-hand.”

I hate Remus, both in the texts and in the film, but especially the texts.

 

[CaptinEO]

They handled this so badly. You knew they didn't out right say racism because they don't want to isolate themselves from the money of people who refuse to admit racism exists.

I think they are a childrens film company and bringing a serious/complex topic like racism up in a family film is a bit too much.

 

[Californian Elitist]

I think they are a childrens film company and bringing a serious/complex topic like racism up in a family film is a bit too much.

They’ve done it before.

How is it too much?

 

[Californian Elitist]

 

[Californian Elitist]

The idea that children can’t handle mature topics, such as racism, for example, isn’t founded on anything. What about the children who are actually experiencing racism? How can it be too much to discuss when this is happening?

 

[Mac Tonight]

The driving force behind The Color of Friendship was to help combat racism.
The driving force behind Princess and the Frog was not.

It was a reinterpretation of a German fairy tale that introduced Disney's first African American Princess.

 

[Dear Prudence]

The dialect is very difficult to read. Twain’s dialect for Jim in Huck Finn was much more reasonable.

One of my favorites is Remus yelling at a young black boy seemingly for going to school and calling him a “N” word. A white cop passes by and Remus shows off his Uncle Tommery.

“W’at a [“N” word] gwineter larn outen books? I kin take a bar’l stave an’ fling mo’ sense inter a [“N” word] in one minnit dan all de schoolhouses betwixt dis en de State er Midigin. Put a spellin’-book in a [“N” word’s] han’s en right den en dar’ you loozes a plow-hand.”

I hate Remus, both in the texts and in the film, but especially the texts.

I think they are a childrens film company and bringing a serious/complex topic like racism up in a family film is a bit too much.

Like... kids understand racism. little kids of color experience racism. Hunchback tackled racism. Kids aren't stupid.

 

[Dear Prudence]

The dialect is very difficult to read. Twain’s dialect for Jim in Huck Finn was much more reasonable.

One of my favorites is Remus yelling at a young black boy seemingly for going to school and calling him a “N” word. A white cop passes by and Remus shows off his Uncle Tommery.

“W’at a [“N” word] gwineter larn outen books? I kin take a bar’l stave an’ fling mo’ sense inter a [“N” word] in one minnit dan all de schoolhouses betwixt dis en de State er Midigin. Put a spellin’-book in a [“N” word’s] han’s en right den en dar’ you loozes a plow-hand.”

I hate Remus, both in the texts and in the film, but especially the texts.

Both Remus and Jim exist as figurehead, rather than truly formed people, and as vehicles for yt protagonists to learn about themselves through. And these tropes just will not go away. The Queen's Gambit has the same stereotypes, and no one said anything. It's so gross.

 

[Midwest Elitist]

Both Remus and Jim exist as figurehead, rather than truly formed people, and as vehicles for yt protagonists to learn about themselves through. And these tropes just will not go away. The Queen's Gambit has the same stereotypes, and no one said anything. It's so gross.

Is it bad that I thought Jim was kinda adorable when I read Huck Finn?

 

[Californian Elitist]

The driving force behind The Color of Friendship was to help combat racism.
The driving force behind Princess and the Frog was not.

It was a reinterpretation of a German fairy tale that introduced Disney's first African American Princess.

My overall point still stands. Disney has discussed racism before and it’s not a topic that should be off limits.

 

[EPCOTCenterLover]

Nice to have you back @raven24. I wondered what happened to you. You ok?