"Negative Depictions": Disney+ Blocks Children Under 7 From Watching "Peter Pan", "Dumbo", Other Classics

Disney is censoring four of their classic films from the Disney+ 
accounts of children under age seven, citing what they described as the 
"negative depictions and/or mistreatment of people or cultures."

"Dumbo," "Peter Pan," "Swiss Family Robinson," and "The Aristocats" are 
no longer available for young users of the streaming account service, 
according to The Mail on Sunday.

The move is a follow-up to content warnings the entertainment company 
placed on some of its older films in October to provide context for 
characters that would today be deemed offensive.

Adult users can still access the children's movies, albeit after 
sitting through the 12-second content disclaimer that cannot be 
skipped. The disclaimer also directs viewers to a website called 
"Stories Matter," which says, "Because happily ever after doesn't just 
happen."

"As part of our ongoing commitment to diversity and inclusion, we are 
in the process of reviewing our library and adding advisories to 
content that includes negative depictions or mistreatment of people or 
cultures," the website says. "We can't change the past, but we can 
acknowledge it, learn from it and move forward together to create a 
tomorrow that today can only dream of."

"This program includes negative depictions and/or mistreatment of 
people or cultures," the warning reads. "These stereotypes were wrong 
then and are wrong now. Rather than remove this content, we want to 
acknowledge its harmful impact, learn from it and spark conversation to 
create a more inclusive future together. Disney is committed to 
creating stories with inspirational and aspirational themes that 
reflect the rich diversity of the human experience around the globe."

Dumbo (1941)

"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. The 
leader of the group in Dumbo is Jim Crow, which shares the name of laws 
that enforced racial segregation in the Southern United States. In `The 
Song of the Roustabouts,' faceless Black workers toil away to offensive 
lyrics like `When we get our pay, we throw our money all away.'"

Peter Pan (1953)

"The film portrays Native people in a stereotypical manner that 
reflects neither the diversity of Native peoples nor their authentic 
cultural traditions. It shows them speaking in an unintelligible 
language and repeatedly refers to them as `redskins,' an offensive 
term. Peter and the Lost Boys engage in dancing, wearing headdresses 
and other exaggerated tropes, a form of mockery and appropriation of 
Native peoples' culture and imagery."

Swiss Family Robinson (1960)

"The pirates who antagonize the Robinson family are portrayed as a 
stereotypical foreign menace. Many appear in `yellow face' or `brown 
face' and are costumed in an exaggerated and inaccurate manner with top 
knot hairstyles, queues, robes and overdone facial make-up and jewelry, 
reinforcing their barbarism and `otherness.' They speak in an 
indecipherable language, presenting a singular and racist 
representation of Asian and Middle Eastern peoples."

The Aristocats (1970)

"The cat is depicted as a racist caricature of East Asian peoples with 
exaggerated stereotypical traits such as slanted eyes and buck teeth. 
He sings in poorly accented English voiced by a white actor and plays 
the piano with chopsticks. This portrayal reinforces the `perpetual 
foreigner' stereotype, while the film also features lyrics that mock 
the Chinese language and culture such as `Shanghai, Hong Kong, Egg Foo 
Young. Fortune cookie always wrong.'"

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