Kat George | January 9, 2015 8:00 am

You watched Disney cartoons as a child, but you probably never picked up on the racist subtext within. Why would you? You were a child! But now, in hindsight, we can see that unfortunately, some of our Disney favorites are really glaringly racist. For occasion, did you know the original release of Fantasia had dark-skinned centaurs effective as servants for light-skinned centaurs? That The Small Mermaid‘s Sebastian is considered offensive to Jamaican culture? Or that the pleased ending of Pocahontas white washes the brutal killings of Native Americans? There’s more where that came from. These are the 10 most racist Disney movies you probably didn’t even notice were racist.

Fantasia (original release, 1940)

The original release included the now controversial character “Sunflower,” a small dark-skinned centaur with braided hair who played servant to the larger, light-skinned, blonde and dainty centaurs. The racial implication here is glaring: casting the dark-skinned character as subservient to her light-skinned counterpart. You probably didn’t notice this because Disney’s removed the scene from the movie, so any modern version of Fantasia will come to you slavery-free.

Dumbo (1941)

We know what you’re thinking. “Dumbo? NEVER!” Unfortunately, the report about the little elephant that could has some deep racist undertones. First, the cartoon crows speak in heavy southern African-American jive. But before you weep “coincidence,” deliberate this: the leader of the crows is named Jim Crow, which was also the name of the laws that brought segregation to the South in the late 1800s and continued in anticipation of 1965. The crows are also described as dim-witted, annoying, and bone idle.

If that wasn’t enough, Dumbo includes a song called “Song of the Roustabouts,” in which lyrics like “We slave in anticipation of we’re almost dead / We’re pleased-hearted roustabout” and “Keep on effective/ Stop that shirking/ Pull that rope, you hairy ape” are alas sung by faceless black circus “workers.”

Songs of the South (1946)

Songs of the South is one of those movies we all without a sound agreed to wipe from pop culture, and because of that, the movie has never been re-released. It didn’t take people long to figure out this was blatantly racist — after all, it’s a movie about a former black slave singing songs and telling tales while still living on the plantation he was caged in. Not OK, Disney.

If you’ve never seen the movie (which most people born in the latter half of last century probably place of protection’t), you might be familiar with a little song called “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah” (and yes, you might want to deliberate not humming that to yourself anymore).

Peter Pan (1953)

The report of a boy who never grows up runs into some problems — big problems — with its portrayal of Native Americans. There’s a song called “What Makes The Red Man Red,” which is problematic enough. Aside from the offensive song, none of the Native Americans really speak to Peter and the gang. Instead, the chief of the tribe speaks in broken jargon, stereotypical to the way Native Americans are mocked. White children Peter, Wendy, and Co. also partake in cultural stealing by donning feathered head dresses, brandishing tomahawks, and running around making “whooping” noises while fanning their mouths with their hands.

1 2 3Next page

Tags: Aladdin, Peter Pan, The Small Mermaid