It looks like many of the classic films showing on Disney’s new streaming service are coming with a new addition: a disclaimer at the beginning.
Films like Dumbo, The Jungle Book and The Aristocats will reportedly feature the following warning: “This program is presented as originally created. It may contain outdated cultural depictions.”
Several older Disney movies have problematic, often racist scenes or characters that just won’t fly with modern audiences.
For instance, the original 1941 version of Dumbo includes a musical number, When I See An Elephant Fly, featuring crows who are basically caricatures of Black people. The lead crow is named Jim, a reference to the Jim Crow laws that institutionalised racial segregation in the United States.
Lady And The Tramp also includes the Siamese Cat Song, which reinforces stereotypes about Asian people.
CNBC reported last week that Disney+ might censor the scenes it considered outdated. Now that the service is up and running, however, it apparently took a different approach.
Some people appreciated the attempt at providing historical context, but a few thought Disney could have taken a more forcefully worded approach.
Warner Brothers, whose own films and cartoons also contain cultural and racial stereotypes, have declared in the past that “these depictions were wrong then and are wrong today”.
There’s no word on which other films might get the Disney+ disclaimer, but there is one movie that currently has no chance of getting out of the vault: 1946′s Song OF tHE South.
The Root notes the controversial film about Uncle Remus has long been criticised “for perpetuating stereotypes and glorifying post-Civil War plantation life”.
It has not been available for viewing in the U.S. since the 1980s and won’t be available on Disney+, CNBC reported.
Disney+ is now available to US customers, and will be arriving in the UK in March 2020.
Before You Go
