Disney has added warnings to some of its great classics, such as
Peter Pan
or
The Aristocats
, to warn viewers against racist clichés in certain scenes.
"This program includes negative descriptions and / or mistreatment of certain peoples or cultures,"
warns the message, which cannot be passed.
"Rather than removing this content, we want to recognize its harmful impact, learn from it and spark dialogue to jointly create a more inclusive future"
, continues the warning, written in consultation with several organizations, including the Critics' Association of African-American films.
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Subscribers to the video-on-demand platform Disney + were already sensitized to
"old-fashioned cultural descriptions"
such as those of
"redskins"
by
Peter Pan
(1953) or the Siamese cat with slanted eyes of the
Aristocats
(1970).
The new warning which will now precede the works concerned will insist on the fact that these stereotypes
"were wrong at the time and are wrong today"
.
The Robinsons of the South Seas
or
Dumbo
, whose crows have been criticized in the past as a racist caricature of black Americans, are among the films which will be preceded by such a warning.
Racist clichés
Last June, Disney had already decided to modify “Splash Mountain” attractions in its American parks, which evoke the racist past of the United States.
The current theme for "Splash Mountain" is taken from a highly controversial Disney film,
Melody from the South
.
Upon its release in 1946, it had aroused numerous criticisms which accused it of disseminating racist clichés and of painting in an idyllic light the slave plantations of the old South of the United States.
For these reasons, the film has not been shown in theaters since the 1980s and has never been released on DVD.
Southern Melody
has also been deliberately kept out of the Disney + catalog.
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The two "Splash Mountain" of Disneyland (California) and Disney World (Florida) will in the future stage the story of
The Princess and the Frog
, whose heroine Tiana is Disney's first black princess.