After looking into multiple Disney films there seems to be a stereotype that the writers are portraying. Most of the writers for Disney are men in which they have been socialized by today’s society (Mickey Mouse Monopoly). When they sit down to write these scripts for Disney movies their internalized thoughts of the norms and values of today are bound to surface into the films. Some people think these stereotypes are done on purpose but it doesn’t matter if it intentional or not because the affect is always the same. Here I have made a chart showing the races portrayed in Disney films:
Let’s go into detail about these examples. In some films they may use animals to represent African Americans but in other films a characters voice is just as strong as a symbol as physical looks. In the movie Lion King (1995) the hyenas’ voices are representing African Americans and Latinos. Shenzi’s voice is the voice of Whoopi Goldberg and Banzai’s voice is the voice of Cheech Marin (IMDb). Banzai is the leader of the hyena pack and he speaks with a think Mexican accent (IMDb). Shenzi is another henchman of Scar.
If we take a look into Disney’s usage of animals as characters we will find deeper meanings. Disney uses Chihuahuas to represent a Latino character. In the films Oliver and Company (1988) and The Lady & the Tramp (1955) a Latino character is represented by a dog. In Oliver and Company (1988) the character is named Ignacio Alonzo Julio Federico de Tito which could be seen as exaggerating the Latino name. There is a scene in the movie Oliver and Company where Tito is stealing a car. This could be giving children a sense that Latino people are supposed to know how to steal cars.
The next race that is falsely represented in Disney films through images is African Americans. In Disney films it is evident that African Americans are represented by vultures, monkeys, gorillas, and hyenas. In the film the Jungle Book (1967) African Americans are portrayed as the apes for example King Louie. In the film there is a scene where King Louie is singing to the boy and the lyrics to the song suggest that the ape or black man wants to be like a normal man.
I wanna be a man, mancub
And stroll right into town
And be just like the other men
I'm tired of monkeyin' around!
Oh, oobee doo
I wanna be like you
I wanna walk like you
Talk like you, too
You'll see it's true
An ape like me
Can learn to be human too
In the movie Aladdin (1995) Disney represents Arabic communities to be this hostile place which is not entirely true. For example in the beginning of the movie the song that is playing is suggesting that the place is barbaric. Now there were two different versions of this song that were presented to Disney. Disney decided to go with the song that the majority of the Arabic community thought was racist (Mickey Mouse Monopoly). Here are both sets of lyrics:
Oh I come from a land, from a faraway place
Where the caravan camels roam
Where it's flat and immense
And the heat is intense
It's barbaric, but hey, it's home
[Original first verse (1992-93):]
Oh I come from a land, from a faraway place
Where the caravan camels roam
Where they cut off your ear
If they don't like your face
It's barbaric, but hey, it's home
When the wind's from the east
And the sun's from the west
And the sand in the glass is right
Come on down
Stop on by
Hop a carpet and fly
To another Arabian night
Arabian nights
Like Arabian days
More often than not
Are hotter than hot
In a lot of good ways
Arabian nights
'Neath Arabian moons
A fool off his guard
Could fall and fall hard
Out there on the dunes
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