The casting of Naomi Scott, who is of English and Indian descent, upset some fans and critics who believed the role should have been played by a Middle Eastern actress. Subscribe for full access to The Hollywood Reporter, Several representatives of minority advocacy groups spoke with The Hollywood Reporter about their reactions to the Disney+ disclaimer for films such as 1967's 'The Jungle Book' and 1953's 'Peter Pan. The company said that while. However, the outbreak of the first Gulf War (a conflict involving Iraqs invasion of neighboring Kuwait) in the early 1990s prompted the directors to set the story in the fictional city of Agrabah, an adaptation of Baghdad. Outrage flared again when Disney announced that they had cast white actor Billy Magnussen in a newly-created role of a Scandinavian prince vying for Jasmines attention. RELATED:Disney: COVID Forces Restructure, Puts Greater Focus on Streaming Content. Sign up for THR news straight to your inbox every day. Jungle Bookreceived a disclaimer, yet its 2003 animated sequel did not. Aladdin's racism feels lazy. Disney is the only media outlet who can show Aladdin. Instead of simply being upset with her father for restricting who she can marry as in the 1992 version Jasmine aspires to be the first female sultan and is frustrated by her fathers refusal to consider her because of her gender. On a different note, Disney has actually restored Saludos Amigos on Disney+. pic.twitter.com/X9aGjXv97o. Back in 1992, Shaheen cited cable television and videocassettes as making it easy for stereotypes to travel far and wide. In the examples below, the, With the advent of the Hollywood film industry, the story returned to its fabled Middle Eastern origins, replete with exotic and exaggerated stereotypes note the poster for a. Aladdin was criticised for perpetuating Orientalist stereotypes of the Middle East and Asia (Credit: Alamy), Daniel Newman, professor of Arabic at Durham University, acknowledges that Western portrayals have come a long way from the lotus-eating, Orientalist fantasies of yesteryear, but barring a few exceptions, what has happened is that one clich has been replaced by another; from the scimitar-wielding lascivious Arab, we have gone to the bomb-wielding terrorist Arab. While some moderate characters have been introduced in shows such as Homeland, he says, the pervading feeling is one of threat, based primarily if not exclusively on religion., Id ask the animators to add benevolent market-vendors and heroic guards who befriend Aladdin, Shaheen said of the 1992 Aladdin, conscious of the image of Middle-Eastern people that might be made on the films young viewers. After Mr. Aladdin is one of them. 8. The warning was crafted by Disney's advisors council, which includes representatives of the African American Film Critics Association (AAFCA),Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment,Define American,Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media,GLAAD Media Institute,Hollywood, Health & Society,IllumiNative,The National Association of Latino Independent Producers (NALIP),RespectAbility,The Science & Entertainment Exchange andTanenbaum. Disney have not commented on the search, and although it has been suggested that the lengthy casting process is due to the studio's commitment to finding the right actors, some are critical of. But maybe thats the issue that Disney and other major corporations cant seem to understand. Bias/Anecdote: While I can't remember too much about Aladdin specifically that might call for this (the changed line about cutting off your hand during the opening theme comes to mind, but that's already been removed), the overall tone plays on a great deal of stereotype tropes for Middle-Eastern cultures that aren't really that accurate or true, or are at least heavily exaggerated. A cemetery posted a personal ad for a goose whose mate died. So much so that Disney+ added a warning label before the film starts. The Hollywood Reporter is a part of Penske Media Corporation. UPDATE: Disney has updated their content warning on Disney+ to an unskippable, 12-second message in front of controversial movies or shorts. It's barbaric, but hey, it's home". The Disney drama kicked into higher gear after we saw Dr. Seuss books go from being $5 to $500. With the advent of the Hollywood film industry, the story returned to its fabled Middle Eastern origins, replete with exotic and exaggerated stereotypes note the poster for a 1952 version of the story below! For more, Xbox Game Pass Is Having its Best Stretch Ever, Attack on Titan Fans Are Desperately Searching for The Final Season Part 3's First Episode Online, The Flash: The Arrowverse's Red Death Isn't Who We Thought, $30 Million Worth of Funko Products are Being Sent to a Landfill, Atomic Heart Faces Backlash on Multiple Fronts, all the movies and shows on or coming soon to Disney Plus, The Simpsons Hit and Run Designer Wants to See a Remake - IGN Daily Fix. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. Furthermore, these advisors helped ensure that any Arabic-language text was correctly displayed and that the setting and dress were more culturally realistic. Potato Head survived by a thread and liberal white men working at Disneyland saved black women from the horrors of Splash Mountain-now Aladdin is racist. The film remains controversial to this day. Walt Disney Studios. Ghanizada notes a2015 Public Policy Pollin which one-third of Republican primary voters supported bombing the fictional kingdom of Agrabah, the setting ofAladdin. A Syrian named Hanna Diyab did apparently meet with Galland at some point, but it remains unclear how much, if any, of the story came from him. RELATED:Amazon Prime Video Is Catching up to Netflix While HBO Max Outpaces Disney+ Growth. Most people consider Aladdin to be set somewhere in the Middle East. These stereotypes were wrong then and are wrong now. These stereotypes were wrong then and are wrong now. InPeter Pan, offensive Native Americans caricatures appear throughout the story, along with the problematic song, What Makes the Red Man Red. Lady and the Trampand another Disney animated animal film,Aristocats, both feature cats that mock Asian Americans with illustration and voice acting. We take a look at the origins of the folktale, the previous dramatic portrayals of the story, the 1992 animated film, and how the filmmakers tried to overcome past controversy in the latest rendition of Aladdin. Ron Clements and John Musker, the directors of the 1992 film, that the movie was originally intended to be set in Baghdad, Iraq. These stereotypes were wrong then and are wrong now. Why or why not? Many have referenced the WB. 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. Delivered Wednesdays. Jasmine's mother is barely a thought in the 1992 animated movie. The rest of us can FF through that crap, chuckle at it and enjoy the show. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. , earning over $346 million in worldwide box office revenue. Nothing else. Source. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-GAMBLER. Aladdin is not an entertaining Arabian Nights fantasy as film critics would have us believe, wrote Jack Shaheen in 1992, then a professor of mass communications at Southern Illinois University, but rather a painful reminder to 3 million Americans of Arab heritage, as well as 300 million Arabs and others, that the abhorrent Arab stereotype is as ubiquitous as Aladdins lamp.. However, when Aladdin points this out, the Genie insists Aladdin cannot have any more free wishes: GENIE: (Still as stewardess) Thank you for choosing Magic Carpet for all your travel needs. "Disney is committed to creating stories with inspirational and aspirational themes that reflect the rich diversity of the human experience around the globe.". The films with the updated disclaimer includePeter Pan, Dumbo, Lady andthe Tramp, Fantasia,The Jungle BookandSwiss Family Robinson, among others. Fans questioned the need to include this new character whose appearance was ultimately inconsequential and wondered why a white character had to be added to a refreshingly-multicultural film. Others defended Scott, noting that the story includes Indian aspects, Agrabah is meant to be a melting pot of cultures, and Jasmines mother is said to be from another land, making it entirely plausible that Jasmine could be an Indian woman. In updating the film and its content, from the Muslim Public Affairs Council, an LA advocacy group, as well as groups comprised of Middle Eastern, South Asian, and Muslim scholars, activists, and creatives. Due to the advisory groups input, the film avoided the crude portrayals found. ", clearly implying it's cutting off the hand. She won Best New Journalist in 2019 at the Australian IT Journalism Awards. Nearly a year later, on Thursday, Disney said that after consulting with a council of organizations representing minorities, it's added a new disclaimer acknowledging the "harmful impact" of. That is even more important in an era of mass media, all-you-can-watch online streaming. Disney also removed the "This program is presented as originally created" description from Saludos Amigos, which is funny because now the movie is actually presented as originally created. Reviews have been mixed but the film has been popular, nonetheless: the. An adamant defender of The Last Jedi and the series finale of Lost, he can be reached at sam.g@cbr.com or through his Twitter, @SamMgelman. But, he adds, with Native American actress Irene Bedard as the voice of Pocahontas in the film, some in his community might both enjoy and accept it as presented. Thus, when Disney reported in 2016 that a live-action adaptation was in the works, director Guy Ritchie had to contend with the original films controversial legacy. ', As 10 million Disney+ subscribers browse through the new streaming platforms hefty film and TV library, a line at the end of select content summaries might catch their attention: This program is presented as originally created. It was even broader than that because we talked about the history of stereotypes and the lack of roles for Asian Americans. , including Afghan payraans, Indian saris, Omani daggers, and turbans from multiple cultures. It just reminds me of apu from the simpsons, where they got such a backlash that the voice actor now quit doing his voice. to be set somewhere in the Middle East. KEEP READING:Disney+ Rebrands Non-MCU Marvel Films as Marvel Legacy. At that time, it simply noted, "This program is presented as originally created. He covers basketball and baseball for OutKick.com, chats with the Purple and Gold faithful on LakersNation, and shitposts on Twitter. on exploring stereotypes with American film and television, which offers guided activities for your students. Instead of simply being upset with her father for restricting who she can marry as in the 1992 version Jasmine aspires to be the first female sultan and is frustrated by her fathers refusal to consider her because of her gender. Edit: forgot to write "answer", so i copypasted my original vomment. in the 1992 movie. Was it possible to accurately depict cultural nuances using a fairy tale? Credit: , which initially referred to Agrabah as a place where they cut off your ear if they dont like your face/its barbaric, but hey, its home, has altered lyrics. If you are a younger person and youre watching something and that youre not aware that theres potential violence or now, cultural insensitivity, I think [the disclaimer] is kind of protecting [filmmakers] the same way that it does those other catchphrases., Still, she says that Disneys decision to include a disclaimer is appreciated, noting it is the first step to correcting things that might not have been thought about 10, 20, 30 years ago when these [films] were being made., Aoki echoes that sentiment, saying he finds Disney today to be a totally different company from the one that existed even 20, 25 years ago. He adds: I spoke to a Disney executive a few years ago who told me that, I think it was every Friday, [CEO] Bob Iger has a meeting with all the company heads, including Marvel and Pixar and everybody that is under their corporate umbrella, and he says, OK, report to me what you have done to further diversity at this company. So its not lip service as far as, Oh, yes, we believe in diversity and we try to have open casting. You are agreeing to OutKick's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy, but don't worry we don't spam. The Stories Matter page on Disney's site notes the characters' connection to racist minstrel shows. Those disclaimers are now gone in favor of the new message. The line you're thinking of is "Where they cut off your ear if they don't like your face. A lot. The song Arabian Nights, which initially referred to Agrabah as a place where they cut off your ear if they dont like your face/its barbaric, but hey, its home, has altered lyrics.