(Joshua Paladino, Liberty Headlines) Walt Disney Company‘s new streaming service, Disney+, has introduced a trigger-warning for “outdated cultural depictions” on its old films.
Classics including Dumbo (1941), The Aristocats (1970), The Jungle Book (1967) and Lady and the Tramp (1955) have the warning, Fox News reported.
The notice comes at the end of each movie’s description: “This program is presented as originally created. It may contain outdated cultural depictions.”
The warning reportedly centers around racial stereotypes.
For example, “Dumbo” portrays two crows, with one named Jim Crow, that talk in African–American voices.
Cliff Edwards, the actor who played Jiminy Cricket in Disney’s Pinocchio, does the voice acting for the crows.
Likewise, “The Jungle Book” has monkeys who are “portrayed with negative, dated African and African–American characteristics,” Fox News reported.
Then there’s the “Lady and the Tramp” song “We Are Siamese,” which contains two cats singing with Asian accents to Oriental music.
Disney+ launched on Tuesday Nov. 12. The streaming service has already garnered 10 million subscriptions, and Disney’s stock has jumped 7 percent.
When Disney+ launched, it came with a live-action remake of “Lady and the Tramp” that does not have the cat scene.
Seeking to avoid criticism, Disney+ does not include the 1946 movie “Song of the South” that depicts African Americans in the post-war South, despite the film’s Oscar-winning song “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah.”
