Stereotypical Disney Characters

So many characters within the Disney creations have be criticized for the offense caused according to race or gender stereotyping and misleading judgements. Here I have given examples and reasons as to why they have been criticized and for what reasons…

“Aladdin”

Jafar, the evil villain has a very significant Arabic appearance. His features are exaggerated such as his hooked nose, darker skin, most oriental eyes and he always holds the most cunning facial expressions. His accent, appearance, thoughts and actions supposedly portray his race in a very negative way such as when he takes Jasmine and the Sultan hostage. He is dystinctively unattractive with his towering body and sour face which is fair enough considering he is the villain but it’s his exaggerated racial characteristics that potentially make his character one of Disney’s racial mistakes.

Then we have Aladdin, the hero; with his American accent and youthful fresh face, he is far from the Arabic character you’d expect to be the centre of an film based in Arabia. He is ‘clean shaven’ unlike all other Arabic men in the film and his facial features reflect that of a Euro-American. His skin is much paler, his accent is 100% American and he asks people to call him ‘Al’, an American name, not an Arabic name.

The Sultan has the palest of all complexions in the film. It is he who holds the power within Agrabah which suggests the whiter race is significantly more important, more successful and powerful than those of a darker complexion. He too, has an American accent, supporting the correlation between good guys and Americans.

Jasmine is your typical beautiful Princess with the unrealistic body proportions, only she wears a more revealing, ‘sexy’ outfit than the other classic Disney princesses who are most often known for wearing a glamorous ballgown. For this contrasting matter, it could easily be apparent that Arabics supposedly sexualize their women more so than any other culture. This is an unfair meaning for Disney to portray, particularly as many Arabic women are obliged to a strict dress code where they cover up more so than other women on the planet. Also, the Qur’an states that ‘A woman is not created for the purpose of a man. Rather, they are both created for the mutual benefit of each other’ -so really, by making nearly all females in the film appear as sexual objects and ‘eye candy’ for men, Disney are in fact discriminating against the race, culture and religion.

“Pocahontas”

John Smith, supposedly an Englishman has an American accent (played by Mel Gibson). He just so happens to be the hero of the Englishmen and the good-guy protagonist who would rather protect the Indian Tribe than allow his Colony to achieve their mission for gold. His features being Euro-American are most obvious; hence the blonde hair, blue eyes and well-spoken dialect.

Pocahontas – supposedly the ‘good Indian’ for she saved an Englishman’s life. Many other Indians who defend their land are the ‘bad Indians’ because for obvious reasons, they resent the British. Her Indian features are illustrated with her flatter face structure, oriental eyes, small nose and fuller lips. Her colouring is dark, her hair sleek and black and her outfit very ethnic. She disobeys her Father so that she could meet John Smith who she fell in love with.

Ratcliffe is the most racist of them all. He leads his colony, encourages the Englishmen to be racist and murder the tribe in War. His overwhelming frame, heavy English accent and luxurious clothing all contribute towards his evil character.

“The Lion King”

 The Hyenas are the intrusive and intimidating creatures who gang up on the American-spoken Simba and Nala. They are accused of portraying African-Americans badly because of the gang-like resemblances which supposedly immitate that of criminal inner-city gang members of New York. On top of this, one of the Hyenas ‘Ed’ is very dim and some could say gives the impression of having learning difficulties which is portrayed via his actions, speech and appearance (cross-eyed, hung-out tongue) This is an unfair representation of black people. They also have a scruffy, tramp-like appearance whereas members of Pride Rock are well groomed.

Scar the villainous, cunning character with sinister eyes; typically with an almost over-exaggerated English accent is the leader of the menacing hyenas. Some may argue that this gives the impression that Africans are least important and the lowest of all social class, followed by the English who are supposedly evil and later defeated by, guess who? The Americans. Those humble, brave, powerful Hero’s who save the day.

“The Jungle Book”

The Vultures hold a cockney English dialect, and their use of colloquialisms and elisions give the impression that they’re common and poor. They know their place, they’re the comical part of the film, the observers and some say they’re a animated re-creation of The Beatles. Although they start off with an intimidating jokey attitude towards lonesome Mowgli causing upset, they soon reveal their sweet tempermants and loyalty. This gives the English a mixture between how the black’s are usually represented, with how the white’s are represented.

Shere Khan is certainly the most vindictive and intimidating character. His evil character is emphasized by Disney’s typical way of placing a well-spoken heavy English accent upon the villains in their films. His violence is underlined many times as he has a threatenning attitude and is openly willing to take down anyone who may stand in his way of power.

Kaa being a snake, is best known for his sly skills of manipulation as he is secretly sneaky and deceptive. His blatant lies and snide are accentuated by his English accent however he is feeble in comparison to Shere Khan for example, which goes to show his ‘wannabe’, fake side. The fact that he tells obvious lies to Shere Khan are evident to his stupidity and lack of genuine authority in The Jungle. He reminds me of Billy Mitchell from Eastenders as he is most definitely inadequate to those around him, no matter how hard he tries.

The voice of King Louie; Louis Prima, despite being Sicilian has that distinctive voice that could easily be mistaken for a an African-American and the character definitely has the strongest African-American voice in the film. He is an ape and sings a song to Mowgli ‘I wanna be like you’ which implies that who he is just isnt good enough and he will aspire to be like Mowgli, the human. The monkeys that follow King Louie are portrayed as mischievious, and go on to kidnap Mowgli. It is suggested that they too, represent black people but are only inferior to their King (similar to a gang formation)

“Dumbo”

Black men are the workers who set up the circus. They have no face; no eyes, no nose, no mouth, no identity.

The Crows represent black people. The unfair representation is because they are portrayed as lazy and uneducated. Their African-American voices are combined with a lack of grammar, and colloquial referals such as calling eachother ‘Brother’. When they meet Dumbo, they are asked ‘What are you doing down here?’, in response the Crows say ‘What are you doing up here?’ – giving the impression the black crows should always stay in their place which is segregated from everyone else. Supposedly, everyone has a place where they belong according to their race and should remain there. When Dumbo accidently ends up in the Crow’s place he is instantly mocked and made to feel afraid and intimidated.