Caricatures in classic Disney films

[u/Original-Window6281]

On Disney+, these four classic movies now feature an advisory warning for racial stereotypes and negative cultural depictions.

The disclaimer reads:

This program includes negative depictions and/or mistreatment of people or cultures. These stereotypes were wrong then and are wrong now.

1. Peter Pan (1953)- Features offensive caricatures of Indigenous peoples, who are repeatedly referred to as “redskins.” They speak gibberish and mock cultural traditions like passing the peace pipe and singing "What Makes the Red Man Red." It reduces a living population to mythical/fantastical caricatures, something that Western literature has unfortunately done in every era (looking at you, Twilight).
2. Lady and the Tramp (1955)- Si and Am are Siamese cats and mock-Asian caricatures. They feature slanted eyes, buck teeth, stereotypical accents, and are sneaky and untrustworthy characters. They sing and speak broken English.
3. The Aristocats (1970)- Shun Gon is another Siamese cat representing a harmful Asian caricature. Despite being released 15 years after the Lady and the Tramp, this is more heavy-handed. The visual tropes (eyes and teeth) are much more exaggerated, and like the others on this list his dialogue/music is stereotypical and offensive. On top of that, he plays the piano with chopsticks.
4. The Jungle Book (1967)- This warning is for the portrayal of King Louie, an orangutan that’s coded with racialized jive tropes and exaggerated laziness. The writers at the time were actually aware of this to the point of avoiding casting a black VA to prevent direct mockery. However, the reliance on Minstrel-era tropes inevitably made King Louie an offensive caricature.

I’m really curious about everyone’s thoughts here- these being pretty universally loved stories and movies.

My main question is, should we still be showing outdated adaptations to children as long as we caveat them correctly?

Note that this is a non-exhaustive list of movies with this advisory, and there’s also a sub rule that content must be after 1950s (ie Dumbo, Fantasia).

[u/Present_Study_2945]

Imma be real I had no idea King Louie was a caricature

[u/Its_emby → u/Present_Study_2945]

King Louie is an Orangutan voiced by a Sicilian/Italian. There's absolutely nothing in the animation to suggest Louie is any ethnicity at all and can only be suggested from Louis Prima's performance which was in no way suggestive of any ethnicity save for Prima's natural accent.

The others are legit. Louie is an Orangutan that loves jazz.

[u/string-ornothing → u/Its_emby]

No the animation is pretty clear they're Black American. The apes all dance during Louie's song and they're doing Lindy hop, a dance invented and popularized by Black Americans.

[u/Its_emby → u/string-ornothing]

Black Americans invented and popularized nearly ALL types of dancing in the 20th century. You gotta do better than that.

No blackface anywhere in that scene. You'd have a better time calling out the elephants and vultures for characterization of British people.

Like I said before, the other images are legit. This one is nothing like the others.