Disney adds content advisory about Native stereotypes to ‘Peter Pan’

Indianz.Com > News > Disney adds content advisory about Native stereotypes to ‘Peter Pan’

A content advisory to Peter Pan is seen on the DisneyPlus website.

Disney adds disclaimer about stereotypes to ‘Peter Pan’

Monday, October 19, 2020

Indianz.Com

Disney has added a content advisory to Peter Pan due to its stereotypical depictions of Native people.

The advisory is generic. It is seen on the entry for Peter Pan on the DisneyPlus website and is shown before the animated film starts to play.

“These stereotypes were wrong then and are wrong now,” the advisory reads. The New York Times first reported on the advisory on Sunday, almost a week after Indigenous Peoples Day.

A still from Peter Pan. Image: Disney

Viewers are directed to another website Disney.com/StoriesMatter. A landing page explains why the advisory has been added to Peter Pan, which was released in 1953, during the termination era of federal Indian policy:

The film portrays Native people in a stereotypical manner that reflects neither the diversity of Native peoples nor their authentic cultural traditions. It shows them speaking in an unintelligible language and repeatedly refers to them as “redskins,” an offensive term. Peter and the Lost Boys engage in dancing, wearing headdresses and other exaggerated tropes, a form of mockery and appropriation of Native peoples’ culture and imagery.

A content advisory is not present on Pocahontas or Pocahontas II, based on a review of the DisneyPlus website on Monday morning.