Disney Plus. The home of nostalgia is packed into one location. Where dreams come true. The happiest and most magical place on earth is now placed right into our hands. There is no denying the cultural impact that Disney has had all over the world, for both children and adults of all ages. In a world where technology quickly shapes the online landscape, how we consume media is continually changing before our eyes. Waves have been made with Disney’s release of its premium streaming service, Disney Plus: a culmination of easily accessible old and new content that almost everyone is familiar with. In quarter one of 2020, there were 26.5 million subscribers, but as of quarter four in 2021, that number has skyrocketed to 118.1 million subscribers (Stoll). Disney has been releasing content since its feature film in 1937, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs...and that is a lot of time to make a large impact through generations that grow up on these movies (The Walt Disney Studios). But the times are changing, and what was socially acceptable in 1937 may not be acceptable in 2021. This streaming service is supposed to bring a library of classics that are considered to be timeless, but is the content still relevant or even acceptable to today’s standards? Films or shows that some may describe as “old school” or “classic” did not make it to the streaming service without some changes, meanwhile, some did not make it onto the platform at all. Despite Disney Plus working to market itself as a very progressive and evolving streaming service, the hypocrisy and actions of the parent company may actually hinder its attempts in doing so. Ultimately, it may become ineffective in truly moving forward as a society in a quickly changing cultural landscape. 

So what exactly has Disney done to some of the iconic original films that have made their way into pop culture? In 2019, Disney was working to release many classic films for the soon-to-be Disney Plus streaming service. Song of the South was decided that it will not be included at all due to being set on a plantation in Georgia after the Civil War, including insensitive depictions of black people (Grater). When Disney Plus debuted, there was a disclaimer tag that stated “This program is presented as originally created. It may contain outdated cultural depictions,” and was placed in front of films such as Dumbo, The Jungle Book, Fantasia, Lady and the Tramp, amongst others. It’s important to keep in mind some of these films such as Dumbo were still altered, despite being “presented as originally created.” Smoking tobacco was certainly more common than it used to be, therefore seeing tobacco was more common in the older films, which now receive a warning of “tobacco depictions” (Haring). Smoking tobacco was even encouraged at one point in time, which definitely brings up the question of how many warnings we will have in the future for actions we consider harmless now. October of 2020 brought in new changes, with Dumbo, Peter Pan, Swiss Family Robinson, and The Aristocats all removed from being shown on any profile labeled as a “Kids Profile." At the same time, they also introduced an unskippable content advisory warning that is placed before the films in regular profiles (Spangler). Located in the “details” section of the film in the streaming service, the content advisory 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.” The goal is for parents to sit down with their children to have an honest conversation about the content before showing these movies, but is putting a nonskippable warning for a few seconds enough to help future generations learn? What about the parents who can’t be bothered to explain how certain words or behavior depicted might be deemed offensive? Will our current shows we deem acceptable and find nostalgia in now, soon have warnings in future generations? By that point, we could expect to see some of these older movies completely blacklisted, much like Song of the South.

Additionally in their content advisory warning, they included a link to a website with a separate campaign called Stories Matter, their attempt to show how “stories have impacted society.” It does give a few examples of content that has the warning, and the reasons for having them. Dumbo has a warning due to the crows and musical number that “pay homage to racist minstrel shows, where white performers with blackened faces and tattered clothing imitated and ridiculed enslaved Africans on Southern plantations” (Stories Matter - The Walt Disney Company). One clip meant to be completely cut out included the leader of the group in Dumbo whose name is Jim Crow, which is also the name of the laws that enforced racial segregation in the United States (Staff THR). Peter Pan portrays Native people stereotypically with inaccurate depictions of their culture and often refers to them as “redskins,” a derogatory term today. While this campaign does include specific reasons for having a warning before these films, there are no real stories shared, despite being “committed to giving voice to [communities that have been erased or forgotten] stories as well.” It seems that this campaign does nothing more than appeal to audiences who are rightfully offended by what they see, but the actions don’t seem to truly give a voice to anyone. 

The older films aren’t the only things to be altered in some way on the streaming service, and this is certainly not the first time the power of the internet and social media has influenced massive changes to culture. Due to controversy around Michael Jackson, Disney Plus decided to pull the plug on a 1991 Simpsons episode, “Stark Raving Dad,” for featuring the voice of Michael Jackson. This was all in the wake of the HBO documentary, “Leaving Neverland,” which told the story of two boys who claimed Jackson had sexually abused them (Clark). According to Bruce Haring of Deadline, even The Muppets have warranted the content advisory disclaimer for their depictions of Native American, Middle Eastern, and Asian people. Disney has been known to change and make edits from their theatrical versions for decades. While a more innocent change, one instance that made headlines involved the movie Lilo and Stitch. The version that appears on Disney Plus involves Lilo hiding from her sister in a cupboard behind a pizza box, while the original film included Lilo hiding in a clothes dryer. This was deemed worrisome as they believed some children might try to replicate that behavior (Libbey). It’s clearly possible for Disney to make edits and changes both within the movie and on the platform itself, so why are a lot of older movies kept the same with a warning while newer movies are altered? Just as it was deemed worrisome some children might want to replicate Lilo, it should be deemed worrisome to keep outdated and offensive cultural content on the platform with just a warning label slapped on the front. The platform picks and chooses what to remove or change just to cater to more audiences. This does call to question who exactly Disney is trying to appeal for. While some argue these iconic movies of their childhoods are part of history and should not be altered or erased, some argue that the highly offensive content should not be accessible at all. The concern is that Disney and subsequently Disney Plus are not consistent at all with their actions or beliefs which obstructs the trust we can place in them. 

They may be trying to make the most money globally by appealing to multiple countries, but in turn, they end up hurting the same communities they are trying to appeal to. Disney and Pixar’s family film Onward has been completely banned in many Middle Eastern countries such as Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia due to a small reference to an LGBTQ+ relationship between characters. Disney Plus has to curate content that is catered around being “family friendly” and many people disagree with what that phrase may actually entail. Russia has also decided to change the scene by changing “girlfriend” to partner, in reference to the short line spoken: “It’s not easy being a new parent - my girlfriend’s daughter got me pulling my hair out, okay?” (Wiseman). While not all of this is Disney’s fault, and countries have specific laws against certain content compared to the United States, it’s been made clear that there is more they could do. Disney has a massive influence which they could use to their advantage, amongst physical protests such as removing their movies from certain countries or leaving their markets altogether. If they truly believed in the mission of equality, they would not cater to governments that promote anti-LGBTQ+ behavior at all. Queer characters may be hinted at, but they are always minor characters with very little reference to being queer. While this could be seen as a way to slowly acclimate the public to seeing LGBTQ+ representation in media and culture, it seems backhanded that Disney is so willing to comply with removing this content in other countries. 

Globally, there seem to be issues that affect many communities, but there is massive hypocrisy when it comes to Disney not being transparent. Disney’s live-action Mulan was the first of its kind to be hit with massive criticism as it reached the Disney Plus platform. The remake of Mulan saw an unexpected release as it came during the beginning of the COVID-19 global pandemic. The pandemic would prove to shut down 70,000 of the country’s theaters altogether (Ford). This sudden change provoked the way the movie was going to reach the audience, and it was then premiered exclusively on Disney Plus for an additional 30 dollars (Alexander). The controversy? It’s found in the final credits, where there is a “special thanks” given to eight government entities in Xinjiang of China, including Turpan, a city where several re-education camps have been documented (Kuo). Muslim minorities are detained in internment camps. The state regularly subjects “minority women to pregnancy checks, and forces intrauterine devices, sterilization, and even abortion on hundreds of thousands” (The Associated Press). How can Disney stand for sharing stories of “communities that may be forgotten” as they film in locations where mass genocide is currently destroying our current global communities? This is particularly upsetting as Disney has been reported to be sharing its script with Chinese authorities and local advisors in order to guarantee a release (Kuo). Disney is such a renowned studio that has the ability to go into deficit financing to reproduce these live classics, which may be why international distribution is so important to them. However, this doesn’t take away from how the warning labels and content advisories on the streaming service seem to be a last thought in comparison to the real-world oppression that is overlooked on the screen of Disney Plus. 

Ultimately, what we deem “acceptable” behavior or content now will probably not be in 10 years. In 50 years we can expect an entirely new culture or ways to interact with people and the past. The past will always exist, and even more so now that we have streaming services such as Disney Plus and digital copies of content floating around the digital world. Will we want to be judged by those future standards, or do we want to find ourselves appalled at society? We are all people doing our best to live by the standards and rules of society at present time. While Disney is certainly stepping towards telling more inclusive and inspiring stories, it’s just as crucial to look beyond the screen to the motivations behind it all. Putting a content warning while simultaneously not being firm in beliefs across many aspects makes the streaming service lose its credibility. There may not be as many “happily ever afters” in real life, but we can strive deeper toward that goal by putting our actions where our words are.