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Credit: Inside the MagicThe Walt Disney Company has added a content warning to many of its classic movies.
Disney Plus (stylized Disney+) is a subscription-based streaming service owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company. It offers a wide variety of movies and TV shows from various Disney-owned properties, including content from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, and National Geographic. Disney+ launched on November 12, 2019, in the United States and has since expanded to numerous other countries. Disney+ provides users with on-demand access to a lot of unique content, including classic animated films, live-action movies, TV series, documentaries, and exclusive original programming. Some of the notable original series on Disney+ include The Mandalorian, WandaVision, The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, and Loki, among others.
In addition to streaming popular movies and shows, Disney+ also offers subscribers the ability to download content for offline viewing, create customizable profiles, and access the service on multiple devices, including smartphones, tablets, smart TVs, and gaming consoles.
While Disney+ is home to many beloved classics, some fans have expressed backlash for themes and depictions of certain characters in many classic films. As a result, Disney has removed many classic films from the “kids” option on Disney Plus, and many others have come with a warning.
According to a report from Good Morning America that was updated and resurfaced earlier this week, the publication shares the content message, which has been appearing on the content for a couple of years. In the message, Disney states that it has decided not to remove the content, but to “spark conversation to create a more inclusive future together.”
“This program includes negative depictions and/or mistreatment of people or cultures,” the statement reads. “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.”
The message also includes a link to Disney.com/StoriesMatter, which details why some of these notices were included. The films included in this particular warning message include Peter Pan (1953), The Aristocats (1970), Swiss Family Robinson (1960), Fantasia (1940), and Lady and the Tramp (1955). There have been several other classic Disney films to include a warning message before it plays.
Disney originally added these warning messages to its content several years ago, but it has continued to reevaluate its content since then. Though the company did not remove these classic films at the time, there are some who speculate that Disney may make the move to begin removing some of the less-popular classic films that it has deemed offensive during its historic content purge. However, there’s no reason to believe this to be true, as this is just speculation.
All the titles still remain available for streaming, though they are restricted from being viewed on a kids’ profile. While the classic films seem to be safe, other content on the streaming platform is not.
Disney Plus has removed tons of content in the last couple of months, including the following: Big Shot, Turner & Hooch, The Mysterious Benedict Society, The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers, Willow, The Making Of Willow, Diary of a Future President, Just Beyond, The World According to Jeff Goldblum, Marvel’s Project Hero, Marvel’s MPower, Marvel’s Voices Rising: The Music of Wakanda Forever, Rosaline, Cheaper by the Dozen remake, The One and Only Ivan, Stargirl, Artemis Fowl, The Princess, Encore!, A Spark Story, Black Beauty, Clouds, America the Beautiful, Better Nate Than Ever, Weird but True!, Timmy Failure, Be Our Chef, Magic Camp, Howard, Earth to Ned, Foodtastic, Stuntman, Disney Fairy Tale Weddings, Wolfgang, It’s a Dog’s Life with Bill Farmer, The Real Right Stuff, The Big Fib, Rogue Trip, More Than Robots, Shop Class, Pick the Litter, Own the Room, Among the Stars, Harmonious Live!, Pentatonix: Around the World for the Holidays, and several others.
With major movies, television series, documentaries, and much more already removed, most insiders speculate that Disney is not done purging its own content in an attempt to save money on its streaming platform.