Children’s profiles on Disney+ will no longer be able to view some of the company’s historical works, including Peter Pan and Dumbo. It’s because these movies are deemed to contain negative depictions of people or cultures.
Why Has Disney Removed Some Movies for Children?
In October 2020, Disney+ added a content warning to some of its movies. The message appears before many older Disney movies like Aristocats, Dumbo, Peter Pan, and Swiss Family Robinson, and reads:
This program includes negative depictions and/or mistreatment of people or cultures. These stereotypes were wrong then and are wrong now. Rather than remove this content, we want to acknowledge its harmful impact, learn from it and spark conversation to create a more inclusive future together. Disney is committed to creating stories with inspirational and aspirational themes that reflect the rich diversity of the human experience around the globe. To learn more about how stories have impacted society visit: www.Disney.com/StoriesMatter
For example, Dumbo features a murder of crows who perform in the style of a racist minstrel show, Aristocats features a cat that is a racist East Asian stereotype, and Peter Pan appropriates and mocks the cultural imagery of Native people.
At the time, this content remained available to everyone on Disney+. Now, anything with that content warning is no longer accessible through children’s profiles. It simply won’t appear anywhere, either on the home screen or through search.
While kid’s profiles always blocked content with an adult age rating, this change marks another step in the company acknowledging its past. At the time of writing, Disney hasn’t announced the change or commented on it.
These movies are still viewable from a standard Disney+ profile, with the content warning intact.