Modern Disney?

How bad is Disney for kids? Everyone in this class has probably seen a Disney movie or interacted with a Disney product in some way. I have seen many Disney films and would I say that Disney made me racist? No. Sexist? No. Believe in some unattainable fantasy? Maybe, but what is wrong with wanting to find love. For me growing up watching Disney, I did not recognize that the crows in Dumbo or the hyenas in the Lion King were supposed to be Black. I did not equate the worth of each Woman by the prince she attained in the end. Looking back on it I do not think it greatly affected my outlook on life as a child, but now that I am older I do think the portrayals of minorities by Disney is wrong.

And maybe now that Disney is older they are realizing the same things too. Although Disney still keeps it's old fashioned fantasy culture and image in tact, starting in 2000 I noticed a new trend in Disney films. Since Mulan came out in the late 1990's, there has not been a Disney animated feature film featuring a women protagonist or any characters that have been overtly racist. Maybe it is due to all of the bad press or their teaming up with Pixar, but most films that have come out recently have featured mostly non-human characters that are male. The most popular films being Monsters Inc, Lilo & Stitch, WALL-E, Cars, Ratatouille, and Finding Nemo. The plot lines do not focus around falling in love anymore, but seem to center more along the lines of self-discovery and maybe finding love along the way. And this love does not have to be between a man and a woman anymore, but it could be between and monster and child, a girl and an alien, a rat and food, or a father and son. It will be interesting to see where they head in the future and I think that may depend on the reaction to their new film featuring a black princess.

It is nice to see Disney moving a little more with the times, but I guess the real question I am beginning to wonder is if Disney can ever be truly modern or if that goes against the "Magic" of Disney that children fall in love with?