Fans React to Disney+'s 'Outdated Cultural Depictions' Warning

Some viewers thought it didn't go far enough.

Disney+ (Plus) logo seen displayed on a smartphone.
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Image via Getty/Rafael Henrique

Disney+ (Plus) logo seen displayed on a smartphone.

Disney+ killing the vaunted Disney vault for good had many observers and longtime fans of the company wondering how they would deal with their material that dealt in offensive cultural stereotypes. 

While the slavery hagiography Song of the South was left off the platform entirely, tracking with statements made by Disney CEO Bob Iger at the beginning of this decade, other movies that contained racist depictions were front-loaded with a warning.

Look at #DisneyPlus letting the people know early that their old films were racist and culturally insensitive.

Accountability is key, and historical context is important. pic.twitter.com/JvHVYMxBsk

— Ernest Owens (@MrErnestOwens) November 12, 2019

some real discordance between "fall in love with this classic" that also "has outdated cultural depictions"

— casey morell (@csymrl) November 12, 2019

“may contain outdated cultural depictions” THERE’S A CROW NAMED JIM CROW

— 🎀 💒 🎀 (@princessxemnas) November 13, 2019


Others said that the way Disney applied the label was a little selective, noting that later films which perhaps should have carried the warning were spared.

Feel like it's worth mentioning that this copy isn't used uniformly; the 1992 ALADDIN, which has lots of racist/Orientalist tropes, doesn't get a warning. FANTASIA's "Sunflower" character remains edited out, but the Zebra centaurs are still in, with the note. Etc, I imagine.

— Jeva Lange (@Jee_vuh) November 12, 2019

Viewers said the warning paled to the one shared in re-releases of old Warner Bros. cartoons. That disclaimer accepted responsibility for the cartoons and left the offensive material intact.

"The cartoons you are about to see are products of their time. They may depict some of the ethnic and racial prejudices that were commonplace in American society. These depictions were wrong then and they are wrong today," the studio wrote.  "These cartoons are being presented as they were originally created, because to do otherwise would be the same as claiming these prejudices never existed."

compare wb’a statement to racism in their old cartoons to disney’s. lol pic.twitter.com/VKu2fi5jAh

— 🎀 💒 🎀 (@princessxemnas) November 13, 2019

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