re: Disney axes Tinker Bell from meet & greets because “problematic”

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faced scrutiny from Disney’s Stories Matter team

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Stories shape how we see ourselves and everyone around us. So as storytellers, we have the power and responsibility to not only uplift and inspire, but also consciously, purposefully and relentlessly champion the spectrum of voices and perspectives in our world.

As part of our ongoing commitment to diversity and inclusion, we are in the process of reviewing our library and adding advisories to content that includes negative depictions or mistreatment of people or cultures.

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Here are a few examples of titles receiving an advisory, along with an explanation of some of the negative depictions in each title:

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Aristocats

The cat is depicted as a racist caricature of East Asian peoples with exaggerated stereotypical traits such as slanted eyes and buck teeth. He sings in poorly accented English voiced by a white actor and plays the piano with chopsticks. This portrayal reinforces the "perpetual foreigner" stereotype, while the film also features lyrics that mock the Chinese language and culture such as "Shanghai, Hong Kong, Egg Foo Young. Fortune cookie always wrong."

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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."

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Peter Pan

The film portrays Native people in a stereotypical manner that reflects neither the diversity of Native peoples nor their authentic cultural traditions. It shows them speaking in an unintelligible language and repeatedly refers to them as "redskins," an offensive term. Peter and the Lost Boys engage in dancing, wearing headdresses and other exaggerated tropes, a form of mockery and appropriation of Native peoples' culture and imagery.

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Swiss Family Robinson

The pirates who antagonize the Robinson family are portrayed as a stereotypical foreign menace. Many appear in "yellow face" or "brown face" and are costumed in an exaggerated and inaccurate manner with top knot hairstyles, queues, robes and overdone facial make-up and jewelry, reinforcing their barbarism and "otherness." They speak in an indecipherable language, presenting a singular and racist representation of Asian and Middle Eastern peoples.

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OUR ADVISORY COUNCIL

This third-party council is composed of leading organizations who advocate for the communities they represent and are at the forefront of driving narrative change in media and entertainment. They are supporting our efforts to increase our cultural competency by providing ongoing guidance and thought leadership on critical issues and shifting perceptions.


AAFCA
The AAFCA encourages diversity and inclusion within the film and TV industry with a particular emphasis on the Black experience. Through proactive programming, curated content and advocacy, the AAFCA supports empowering narratives of Black culture for the here and now and for future generations


CAPE (Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment)
CAPE champions diversity by educating, connecting and empowering Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in entertainment and media. Through their CAPE New Writers Fellowship, CAPE Leaders Fellowship and #GoldOpen movement, they are creating change from the writers’ room to the boardroom to the living room.


Define American
Define American uses media and the power of storytelling to shift the conversation about immigrants, identity and citizenship in a changing America. Through television consulting, original content development, advocacy campaigns and events, they humanize the conversation on immigration.

Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media
Founded in 2004 by Academy Award-Winning actor Geena Davis, the institute is the only research-based organization working collaboratively within the entertainment industry to create gender balance, foster inclusion and reduce negative stereotyping in family entertainment media. If They Can See It, They Can Be It

GLAAD Media Institute
GLAAD is a dynamic media force rewriting the script for LGBTQ acceptance, provoking dialogue that supports cultural and narrative change to create a world where everyone can live the life they love

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