As Disney Finds Itself In the Middle of Culture Wars, It Receives A Fresh Round of Criticism for Trigger Warning on Classic Animated Films

At the height of the COVID-19 Pandemic, Disney Plus was on fire. According to Avada, a company that tracks market share for streaming services, by the end of 2020, Disney Plus controlled 18 percent of the streaming market after only one year of existence.

But as modern audiences started to look back at some Walt Disney Animation classics, they began to realize that a handful of the films contained some outdated cultural depictions and racist stereotypes. Rather than remove those films from the Disney Plus catalog, Walt Disney Studios instead decided to include a warming before those films.

Related: Disney Would Very Much Like You to Forget that ‘Song of the South’ Ever Existed

The warning read:

This program contains 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.

At the time, the Walt Disney Company was criticized for attempting to change its history and pandering to a segment of the population that would have been offended by those racist stereotypes. But eventually, that died down, and the films continued to play on Disney Plus.

However, as the Walt Disney Company finds itself in the middle of America’s culture wars, there is renewed outrage over Disney including this warning before its classic animated films.

Related: The Complicated History and Future of ‘Pocahontas’

The Films With Warnings

Disney Plus has included the warning before five of its classic animated films. The warning is shown before Peter Pan (1953), which has scenes that show stereotypical depictions of Native Americans and mockery and appropriation of Native American Culture.

Lady and the Tramp (1955) received a warning for the Siamese cats and the stereotypical depiction of Asians and depictions of various ethnic groups in the background characters. The Jungle Book (1967) received a warning for the character of King Louie, who was deemed an offensive caricature of African Americans.

The Aristocats (1970) and Dumbo (1941) were also labeled with a warning for their use of racial stereotypes. Despite the warnings, all five films can still be found on Disney Plus.

New Backlash

The Walt Disney Company’s feud with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis over its response to Florida’s Parental Rights in Education Act has put Disney square in the middle of America’s latest culture war. With this renewed focus on Disney, X (formerly Twitter) users have found Disney’s “trigger warning” and cited that as another example of the company’s downfall.

This is the trigger warning shown to people on Disney Plus before they watch…the Aristocats…

It seems we have truly lost our minds. pic.twitter.com/YlfvJHRhCi

— James Esses (@JamesEsses) January 29, 2024

Related: Disney is Accused of Being ‘Woke,’ What Exactly Does That Mean? 

One X user wrote:

This is dumb, but it’s better than them editing the cartoon. I hate that. 

So, despite Disney creating the warnings more than three years ago, the company faces another round of criticism for its “trigger warnings.” In this case, no matter what Disney did, someone would be unhappy with them.

What do you think about Disney’s warnings? Let us know in the comments.