Disney+ has blocked kids under seven from watching Peter Pan, Dumbo and others over concerns they show racist stereotypes.
While the films remain available on adult accounts, they come with a disclaimer that says: ‘This programme 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 said.
Disney implemented a revised content advisory in October to flag up any issues surrounding racial stereotypes and concerns were raised in relation to Peter Pan and the other productions. The decision to ban the films from children’s accounts was made by a group of external experts who were brought in to assess if the content ‘represented global audiences’.
Other long-standing family favourites – The Aristocats, Swiss Family Robinson and Dumbo – have also been removed from children’s accounts for breaching ‘content advisories’ that were recently put in place.
It is understood the main reason behind Peter Pan being blocked is because it features a Native American tribe whose members are referred to as ‘redskins’.
Meanwhile, the 1970 movie The Aristocats has a Siamese cat character called Shun Gon, whose slanted eyes and prominent teeth have been described as a caricature of East Asian people.
Swiss Family Robinson, which was made in 1960, has been criticised for its ‘yellow face’ and ‘brown face’ pirates.
Dumbo, the 1941 cartoon about a lovable flying elephant, has been accused of ridiculing enslaved African-Americans on Southern plantations. At one point during a musical interlude, faceless black workers toil away to offensive lyrics such as, ‘When we get our pay, we throw our money all away’.
The Disney website says that while it can’t change the past, “we can acknowledge it, learn from it and move forward together to create a tomorrow that today can only dream of.”