Disney+ Pulls Several Titles from Its Childrens' Programming Due to Racist Stereotypes

Sorry, kids. Now you need your guardian's permission to check out Disney's sordid past. 

Disney has been issuing content warnings over some of their titles since they hit their streaming service. Movies like Peter Pan, The Aristocats, and Dumbo all contain depictions of races and cultures that are frowned upon by today's standards. At best, they're cartoony stereotypes. At their worst, they're morally vile and racist. 

Rather than censoring these titles, they were running with a disclaimer. Now, Disney has decided to remove them from their default children's sections, instead moving them to the adult accounts only. 

The Walt Disney Company pulled Dumbo, Peter Pan, The Aristocats, and Swiss Family Robinson from its offerings for children under seven. 

Disney has acknowledged this decision and has been using the "Stories Matter" section of their website to expand on their worldview and make up for mistakes in the past. As Disney puts it, "Because happily ever after doesn't just happen. It takes effort. Effort we are making."

These titles run with this disclaimer beforehand: "This program includes negative depictions and/or mistreatment of people or cultures. 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. To learn more about how stories have impacted society, please visit www.disney.com/StoriesMatter" 

Aside from that, the aforementioned titles all have much more specific advisories. For instance, with Dumbo, "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.'"

It's worth checking out the advisories around the other titles. 

Kids are an impressionable bunch, and I think leaving the decision to explain racism, stereotypes, and cultural understanding to parents is a smart idea. These movies are still entertaining, but context matters greatly. I'm glad they're not disappearing but happier that Disney is making a concerted effort to present them in a way that acknowledges previous problems. 

Let us know what you think in the comments.