Most people have heard of some of the controversies surrounding Disney and racism. There is no doubt that there has been conflict created by some of the depictions of different ethnic groups in films, such as Aladdin. The Lyrics in the opening song of the Aladdin were actually changed because people were so outraged by the stereotypical portrayal of Arabs. Another example of offensive stereotypes can be seen in Disney's Peter Pan. The portrayal of Native Americans is insulting, and would not be tolerated today. It makes sense that in films featuring an assortment of characters from different cultures, there would be instances of racism. We do not live in a perfect world by any means, and we can find racism in many places, including children's movies. What I found surprising is that there in fact might be overt racist imagery and ideas in Disney movies that don't involve humans at all, but only animal characters. How can a creature without a race, portray this aspect of humanity?
When I came across Naomi Rockler-Gladen's article about race and hierarchy in The Lion King, I was a bit skeptical at first. In her article "Race, Hierarchy, and Hyenaphobia in The Lion King," she analyses the Disney film, and argues that there are very strong references to race and culture throughout the movie that should not be overlooked. She first defines hierarchy as, "A system in which some members of a culture have more privilege, economic resources, status, or other form of power than other members of a culture." She also explains the triangular nature of hierarchies, where there are fewer people on top and in power. She explains how this cultural phenomenon is very present in The Lion King. The lions are at the top of the pyramid and the hyenas are on the bottom. Rockler-Gladen describes how, "Historically, racial hierarchies often involve segregation of the hierarchically ' inferior' groups, who are separated from the rest of society and forced to live with inadequate resources and few opportunities." In the movie, the hyenas are segregated from the rest of the animals. Though Rockler-Gladen believes that the hyenas do portray some stereotypical African American characteristics, they don't necessarily represent a specific out-group or race. They are rather a metaphor for the fear and hatred toward certain members of society that are seen as different and unequal. The hyenas live in poverty, in the elephant graveyard, and they are not allowed to eat the food that is available to all the rest of the animals. Because of this, they are scavengers and thieves. Rockler-Gladen points out the fact that though the lions have all the power in the community, they feel no obligation to help the hyenas out of their poverty. She states that not once in the film is it shown that segregation is bad and that all creatures should be seen as equal. She believes that while many people argue that The Lion King is meant simply for entertainment and that it shouldn't be analyzed in this manner, it does in fact make impressions in children's minds about real life society. She says, "Certainly The Lion King does not turn children into racists...but it is one of many places where a child might learn implicitly about how race and hierarchy function in his or her culture."
After I read her article, I was convinced that even animals could convey race in these movies. I wanted to look into this further so I decided to do a similar analysis of some other Disney films involving animals to see if I could find the same themes of race and hierarchies myself. My first step was to find a list of all of the movies ever created by Disney and then I went through and selected the films that involved only or mostly all animal characters. I came up with eight movies to analyze: Bambi, Dumbo, The Aristocats, The Jungle Book, Oliver and Company, The Great Mouse Detective, Robin Hood, and Lady and the Tramp. For each movie I watched, I took specific notes on these things relating to each character: In-group vs out-group status, weather they would be considered good or bad characters, their economic status & living conditions, personality traits, physical characteristics, and their voice and the language they used. I also looked for any stereotypical or racist reference, hierarchies, and who held the power in society.
The results that I found were very mixed. Some movies were quite similar to The Lion King, in that certain species or groups or animals were segregated from the rest. Even though many of the films I watched did not have the aspect of segregation, in almost all of them I found at least some form of racism, some that were extremely shocking.
Lady and the Tramp:
This movie deals with a lot of class issues. The main character, Lady, is born into a wealthy family. On the other side of the class barrier are the dogs with no collars, including the Tramp. There is strong notion of in-group vs. out-group and who is allowed into the mainstream society and who is banished. I didn't feel that this issue of class was related to race in this case. The out-group was very diverse (there were many different breeds of dogs) as were the wealthy animals, so I did not feel either group portrayed a certain group of people or races. Regardless of this fact, I did find some overt racism in other areas of this film. At one point in the movie, Lady's owners go out of town and they have Aunt Sarah come to house- sit. Aunt Sarah brings her two Siamese cats. These cats, while wealthy and technically in the in-group, are evil characters. They are portrayed with very obvious negative Asian stereotypes. They are sneaky, sly, villainous, manipulative, and violent. They also have offensive stereotypical Asian physical features such as slanted eyes and buckteeth. They also have strong accents, saying, "Where we finding baby, there are milk near by." There is one other instance of racism in the movie when Lady runs away from Aunt Sarah and is caught by the pound. The pound is similar to a jailhouse, and there are all sorts of different dogs inside. One of the dogs portrays a very stereotypical Latino character. His name is Pedro, he has a strong Spanish accent, and mentions his sister, " Rosita Chiquita Wanita Shi Wowow."(4:40)
The Jungle Book:
Of all the movies I watched, I found this one to be the most similar to The Lion King. There are various species of animals in the film (a panther, a bear, wolves, etc) all living together. The one group of animals that is segregated from the rest is the apes. They are described as "Undesirable scatterbrained apes,"and no one wants to associate with them. They parallel the The Lion King also in that the apes live poverty, in the ruins, possibly a symbol of an urban setting. The personality traits of the monkeys, as we first see when they kidnap Mowgli, is that they are mischievous and violent. They also talk in stereotypical African American slang.
There is also a hierarchy among the apes themselves. King Louie is the leader and only orangutan of the group. He is shown as manipulative and selfish. He also uses a lot of slang language, stating to Mowgli, "Cool it boy, unwind yourself," and, "word has grabbed my royal ear….." The jazzy musical style and dance moves seem to in many ways portray African American stereotypes.
RobinHood:
This is one of the few films that I did not find any racism in. More than any of the rest of the films I analyzed, this movie focuses on the theme of class and economics. It's really about the rich people vs. the poor. What's interesting is that all of the characters that are in the lower class and technically in the out-group, are portrayed as good, while the wealthy are shown as evil and greedy. In the film, all different species of animals (foxes, bears, rabbits, turtles, etc) live in society together. The actual species of the animal does not seem to have anything to do with whether they are good or bad, rich or poor. There also did seem to be some inter-species dating. I noticed that Maid Marian, a fox, is supposedly the niece of King Richard and Prince John, both lions. It was nice to see at least one film that did not segregate by species or "race" and did not have any characters that were offensive to certain peoples.
Oliver and Company:
Oliver and company is based off of the classic Oliver Twist, but is set in New York City and the characters are animals for the most part. The main characters are a group of dogs that are thieves. The same theme of the wealthy vs. the poverty stricken seems to be very popular in many of these Disney films. As with Robin Hood, the idea of class does not seem to be based on race, but as seen in Lady and the Tramp, there is one character that is built on extreme stereotypes of the Latino community. Tito, whose full name is Ignacio Alonzo Julio Frederico De Tito, is part of the thief gang. He is a good character, but definitely has characteristics that can be seen as offensive. He is loud, annoying, flirty, and also knows how to hot wire a car when the rest of them don't. He is a Chihuahua, which plays with the idea the breed itself being of Mexican descent. He has a rough appearance (a bite is taken out of his ear) and he always wears a bandana. He also has a very strong Spanish accent and uses a lot of slang terms and phrases like, "Whatchu talkin' bout man?"
Another interesting, and much more subtle, thing that I noticed in the film was that Rita's (the only female dog in the group) voice changed when she sang. She seems to have a typical caucasian female voice, but when they break out into song, her voice changes into a much deeper more African American female sounding voice. I'm not sure why, when all of the rest of the characters stayed the same. It's not necessarily a bad thing, but I found it interesting.
The Aristocats:
Obviously, by the title we can tell that this movie deals with the idea of wealth and class. A mother cat and her three children are from a very wealthy and sophisticated family. They are kidnapped and dropped off in the streets of Paris. There they meet O'mally, a streetwise city cat. He has to show them the way around and helps them get back to their family. O'mally's friends are the musical cats Scat Cat and his gang. They are part of a lower class out-group. There are all different types of cats in the band, a fatter black cat, a skinny white cat with purple classes, and much more. I thought all was well, but then I noticed an extremely offensive Asian stereotype in the group. The drummer is a Siamese cat. He has all exaggerated features, including very large teeth. He says "Oh boy ferras, let's rock the joint." He plays his instrument with chopsticks and mentions fortune cookies. This is meant to be very funny, but I was pretty shocked when I saw it. I don't think would be allowed in most films today.
Bambi:
Aside from this movie being extremely slow, with almost no dialogue. It was also the only movie that I found absolutely no forms of racism or class system. This was Disney's first film using all animal characters, so that is exactly what it is. Each animal simply looks like and portrays the animal that they are, there are no metaphors for human culture and ethnicity in this film.
The Great Mouse detective:
As with many of the movies featuring animals, this film sticks to one basic species (or race) of animals. In Aristocrats its cats, in Lady and the Tramp its dogs, and in this film its mice. While many of these movies were based on themes of class and economics, this film focuses on themes of good vs. evil. There are the good people, including Basil of Baker Street, Dr. David Q. Dawson, & Olivia. Then there is the bad group, working for their leader, Ratigan. Ratigan is the only rat in the film. He is the ultimate evil character, described as the "Napoleon of Crime." At one point in the film, one of his comrades calls him the greatest rat in the world. This is obviously a no-no, mentioning that Ratigan is in fact a different species than the rest. The mouse that says this is then fed to Ratigans gigantic pet cat. Though this scene is not necessarily in reference to race, it does point to the differences between species and that one is superior over the other. (7:40)
Dumbo:
This movie deals with the idea of being different and being an outcast. Dumbo is a baby elephant born with gigantic ears. Though his mother and true friends still love him, the other elephants immiediately exlude him, calling him a "freak" as soon as his ears are discovered. The story is about redemption, how Dumbo is able to overcome his differences and actually benefit. He learns that he can fly by flapping his ears and and is infact a great asset to the circus. I didn't see Dumbo's otherness as being a symbol of race though. It seemed to me more like a parallel to a person with a disability that then overcomes that disability. Very similar to the The Lion King, and definitely extremely offensive to African American's, is the group of crows that Dumbo encounters near the end of the film. What makes these crows different than the hyenas or apes is that they are considered to be good characters that are helpful and not villainouse, but other than that there are a lot of parallels. For starters, the main character is named Jim Crow, if that isn't a reference to race I don't kow what is. They are part of an out-group. When Dumbo first sees them, his mouse friend says "What are you boys doing down here. Why don't you fly up a tree where you belong?" Their physical characteristics, specifically their clothing, are also very stereotypical. Jim crow says things like, "Brother, "and "What's Fryin' Boys." In their song, he states, "But I done seen about everything, when I see an elephant fly." In the end, these crow help Dumbo learn to fly and become his friends, but that does not make up for the fact that the references to the African American race are very offenseive and should not be tolerated.
We may ask: Should children be watching things films? I have to agree with Rockler-Gladen that we cannot blame movies for any racism that children may develop. However, it is very important for parents to be aware that these movies do contain imagery and messages about culture and race and that they may have some effect on children. I think the best solution is for parents to view these films with their children and talk to them about what they see. If parents take the time to learn themselves and teach their children about stereotypes and racism, then I don't think there is a problem with these movies being entertainment for children.
To see my notes and analysis of these films Click Here!
Bibliography:
Rockler-Gladen, Naomi. "Race, Hierarchy, and Hyenaphobiw in the Lion King."Race/Gender/Media:Considering Diversity across Audiences, Content, and Producers. Rebecca AnnLind. Boston: Pearson Education Inc, 2010. 166-173.
Dumbo. Walt Disney Productions. Ben Sharpsteen, Dir. DVD. 1941.
The Jungle Book. Walt Disney Productions. Wolfgang Reitherman, Dir. DVD. 1967.
The Lady and the Tramp.Walt Disney Productions. Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson, and Hamilton Luske, Dir. DVD. 1955.
Oliver & Company. Walt Disney Productions. George Scribner, Dir. DVD. 1988.