Fans say Disney+ content warning points out racism in Disney movies

in Disney, Entertainment, Movies

Siamese Cats and Dumbo Crows

Now that we know Disney is still including films with controversial scenes on its new streaming service, Disney+, and excluding others (like  Song of the South), fans finally have access to pretty much every classic animated Disney movie they could think of. But as Disney adds content warnings to the descriptions of films that contain scenes with culturally sensitive content, fans say that it’s become clear just how racist old Disney movies are.

Dumbo Disney+
Credit: Kelly Coffey/ITM
Lady and the Tramp
Credit: Kelly Coffey/ITM

As you can see in the screenshots above taken from Disney+, Disney has added a short message to every Disney film that the company believes contains “outdated cultural depictions.” And while some may think that the message is unnecessary, others say that it allows Disney to point out the flaws in its old films while still keeping them as they originally were when they were first released.

Many think that if Disney were to edit the problematic and controversial material out of its classic movies, the company would be erasing history. And others — many of whom don’t believe Disney films actually contain racist material — think that there’s no reason for the films to not be on Disney+ as is. So it looks like this brief content warning within the descriptions of Disney films is the company’s way of addressing the issue while not erasing its history.

Peter Pan, Tigerlilly and the Chief smoking the peace pipe, Peter Pan
Credit: Disney

Still, Disney fans have taken to social media to voice their opinions — and it seems since Disney+ has opened up the Disney Vault, fans of all ages are now able to see just how problematic Disney content used to be. Many who admit that it has been a while since they’ve seen films like Peter Pan and The Aristocats — which were released decades ago and include racist depictions of Native Americans and Asians, respectively — say that they never realized just how culturally insensitive these films were.

Here’s what the Disney fan community is saying on Twitter regarding Disney’s more controversial films.

So what do you think? Is it right for Disney to include films with racist undertones on its new streaming service, as long as they share a content warning? Let us know your thoughts on Disney films like these on Disney+ in the comments.

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