Dumbo (1941): Contains a scene of a group of cigar-smoking crows, with their leader named Jim Crow, referring to the racist segregation laws of the South, and voiced by a white actor.
What is the warning at the start of the Dumbo movie?
“Dumbo,” released in 1942, includes a warning because of the crows, which “pay homage to racist minstrel shows, where white performers with blackened faces and tattered clothing imitated and ridiculed enslaved Africans on Southern plantations.”
The streaming service said Thursday it is updating the disclaimer placed on films such as “Aristocats,” “Dumbo,” “Peter Pan” and “Swiss Family Robinson” to say: “This program includes negative depictions and/or mistreatment of people or cultures. These stereotypes were wrong then and are wrong now.
Here are a few examples of titles receiving an advisory, along with an explanation of some of the negative depictions in each title:
Aristocats. The cat is depicted as a racist caricature of East Asian peoples with exaggerated stereotypical traits such as slanted eyes and buck teeth. ...
"This program is presented as originally created. It may contain outdated cultural depictions," the first warning reads after each film's plot description, referring to triggering elements that are culturally insensitive.
Disney adds racial trigger warnings to old cartoons
What are the inappropriate scenes in Dumbo?
The MPAA rating has been assigned for “peril/action, some thematic elements, and brief mild language.” The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes a brief kiss, several scenes with women wearing cleavage revealing circus costumes, a scene of a circus tent collapsing and killing a man, many scenes of risky tricks and ...
"Pink Elephants on Parade" is a song and scene from the 1941 Disney animated feature film Dumbo in which Dumbo and Timothy Q. Mouse, having accidentally become intoxicated (through drinking water spiked with champagne), see pink elephants sing, dance, and play musical instruments during a hallucination sequence.
After receiving criticism last year, Disney is changing the way it addresses racism in its older animated films. On Oct. 15, Disney Plus introduced a new disclaimer that appears before older films like Dumbo (1941) and Aladdin (1992), warning viewers that the films include harmful stereotypes.
Content is intended for audiences 15 and over only, and may include some depictions of violence, inappropriate language, and mild suggestive themes. Content is restricted to adults 18 and over only, and may include explicit sexual activity, violence, and drug usage.
Under the service's Stories Matter section, Disney explained its decision of removing the content. 'Dumbo,' made in 1941, features a group of crows who "pay homage to racist minstrel shows, where white performers with blackened faces and tattered clothing imitated and ridiculed enslaved Africans."
The clowns, who are shown in silhouette, are obviously drinking. Dumbo and his mouse friend Timothy accidentally get drunk after drinking what they think is water. While drunk, Dumbo has an elaborate (and creepy to some kids) hallucination with the infamously trippy "Pink Elephants on Parade" sequence.
A content advisory notice for racism in classic Disney films, in place since last year, has been updated with a strengthened message. When played on the Disney+ streaming service, films such as Dumbo, Peter Pan and Jungle Book now flash up with a warning about stereotypes.
Such warnings appear when users go to watch films such as Dumbo, Fantasia, Lady and the Tramp and The Jungle Book, all of which have been criticised for including racist imagery. “This programme is presented as originally created,” the message reads. “It may contain outdated cultural depictions.”
The topics of racism and segregation, individualism, self-making, and even sexuality are shown in the animated version of Dumbo. The marginalization of Dumbo because his ears are too big can be regarded as the reference to the racist ideology and segregation that followed it.
TV-MA is a more severe rating than R. TV-MA is the equivalent of NC-17 in the US. Note that R and MA are used by two different groups. The MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) uses a rating system that you can review here where R is the second most severe, coming up behind NC-17.
Restricted: R - Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian. Contains some adult material. Parents are urged to learn more about the film before taking their young children with them.
However, behind the scenes, Disney has also been involved in the production of several R-rated films that cater to a more mature audience. These movies, with their edgier content and adult themes, may come as a surprise to those familiar with Disney's more iconic animated classics.
For the 1970 film "The Aristocats," the advisory refers to one of the felines, noting that it "sings in poorly accented English voiced by a white actor and plays the piano with chopsticks."
Violent references and undressing references have been edited for the Disney+ release. One of the lyrics in "Arabian Nights" that said "Where they cut off your ear if they don't like your face." were replaced by one that said "Where it's flat and immense and the heat is intense".
Dumbo, crying after visiting his mother, gets the hiccups, so Timothy takes him to the vat for water. Both of them get drunk, and hallucinate pink elephants. Dumbo and Timothy are later discovered asleep high up in a tree by Dandy Crow and his friends.
The original includes a sequence in which Dumbo accidentally drinks champagne. While drunk, he hallucinates a number of pink elephants marching and singing a psychedelic tune.
To cheer Dumbo up, Timothy takes him to visit his mother; on the way back, Dumbo cries and then starts to hiccup, so Timothy takes him for a drink of water from a bucket which, unknown to them, has accidentally had a bottle of champagne knocked into it by the clowns.
