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| After doing what ANY mother would do when her child is being bullied, Dumbo's mother is chained up. |
A lot of us are familiar with the old Disney classic movies. They're movies that we're supposed to love because they're considered classics.
But as an animal lover, I have tried to watch some of these movies with my daughter, and I actually found them disturbing now that I'm an adult and notice more things than I did as a kid.
Every generation of Disney movies will have characteristics that people will find to be on the questionable side. People will complain that today's movies have princesses/female characters who show a lot of cleavage and have a big rack (meaning she 's rather robust in the chest area).
Well, the old movies are disturbing to me as well. I am appalled at the treatment of animals in these older movies. I watched some of them while I was a child, and the treatment of animals in these movies never bothered me - or at least as much as they do now.
DUMBO
I can't watch "Dumbo" anymore. I hate it when they chain Dumbo's mother and throw her in a cage as a "mad elephant" after she is protecting her baby. Dumbo had unusually long ears and was jeered by everyone but his mother. If my daughter were being bullied, you better believe that Mama Bear will emerge from my 4'8" body! The circus people knew that Dumb was being mistreated by some circus fans, but they did nothing to help or stop it. Did they expect his mother to just stand by and do nothing?
And then there are the other female elephants who gossip about her and Dumbo. No compassion by these other mothers! Ladies, let this movie be a lesson to you on how NOT to act when another mom is going through a rough time! Also, the other elephants make fun of Dumbo as well. Way to set an example and be adults about people who look "different."
BAMBI
Bambi's mother gets shot. I know you hunters will blast me for this one, but it's heartbreaking to see someone just kill a doe who has a little fawn to raise. Now that fawn is without a mother and has to fend for himself, which he may or may not do too well without his mother. Bambi is left orphaned as a result of his mother getting shot. Thankfully, his dad, The Great Prince of the Forest, is no longer a dead beat dad and raises his son.
101 DALMATIANS
Cruella DeVil and her damn fur coat! She's willing to kill over 100 sweet puppies, skin them, and have another overpriced, fashionable coat made for herself! She is nothing but a heartless bitch! I hope that she dies of lung cancer from all the smoking that she does! And her hired animal abusers, Horace and Jasper... not only are they stupid, but they're mean!
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| Cruella DeVil sporting her fur coat. Sorry, Cruella, you're not getting a Dalmatian spot coat! Try prison stripes. |
PETER PAN
There are only two complaints about animal cruelty here. The first one, which is only speculative, is where did the Lost Boys got their animal skin clothes? I am sure that Neverland doesn't have a faux fur store.
The other one, which is more obvious. George Darling, the husband of Mary and father of Wendy, John, and Michael, drags the family's dog (and the children's "nurse") down the steps from the top floor of the house down to the back yard to put her on a tie out when he loses his shit about the Peter Pan nonsense. He's already stressed out because he and his wife are trying to get ready for a party, and he can't find some of his accessories. Then he finds out that his sons were using them as treasure and a treasure map when they were pretending - ya know, that imagination thing that kids are supposed to have - and finds out that they got the idea from Wendy, his eldest child, who tells them the Peter Pan stories.
Believing that his children should skip childhood and act like mini adults, he loses his temper and takes it out on the dog, Nana, who did nothing to deserve it and yet gets banished to the back yard. Her back has to take a beating being dragged down a couple flights of steps by the collar. Yeah, tell me that her backbone wasn't bruised from that and she wasn't being choked either. Get some anger/stress management skills, George!
However, this is where the political incorrectness comes into play. Yes, I realize that this is an old story and movie, but I get so angry watching it! Peter Pan is the boy who never grew up, and it shows. He's all about himself and his ego. Wendy idolizes him, and I want to just shake some sense into her and say, "Honey! He's a player! He's not that into you!" I mean, he flirts and supposedly kisses Tiger Lily, he lets the mermaids try to drown Wendy and trash her like a bunch of catty high school girls just because they're jealous of her presence around Peter - of which he does nothing to defend her, and he eats up Tinker Bell's jealousy for him playing her, too. If Wendy and Tink were both smart, they would've dropped him like a hot potato and moved on. I don't see anything appealing or heroic about Peter Pan at all except for when he saves Wendy, John, Michael, and the Lost Boys in the end.
Peter is more likable in Return to Neverland.
And then there's the issue of the portrayal of the Indians. Need I say more?
LADY AND THE TRAMP
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| Aunt Sarah pulling Lady on the chain. What is this dog hater trying to do... break Lady's neck or strangle her? |
I HATE AUNT SARAH! Why on earth would John Dear and Darling leave their dog-hating aunt in charge of their home WHICH HAS A DOG IN IT while they're gone is beyond me! They also treat Lady poorly after they find out that they're expecting a baby. Blame the pregnancy hormones all you want, Darling, but it's no excuse to be mean to your dog.
Back to hating on Aunt Sarah and her sneaky felines who go out of their way to get Lady in trouble... this horrible woman blames Lady for the chaos that her Siamese cats caused and gets Lady muzzled for the duration of her visit. Oh really? How is Lady supposed to eat if she's muzzled? Maybe Aunt Sarah's intention was to kill Lady by starving her. Not ruling it out. As much as I would never wish harm on a child, I kind of wanted the rat to bite the baby so that John Dear and Darling would see that Lady tried to warn the bitchy aunt about it, and she didn't listen. She was too busy focusing her anger on the dog. Maybe then they would realize that Aunt Sarah is to never be trusted with their child or dog ever again! I'll say it again... why would they leave a dog-hating aunt in charge of their home with a dog in it? I guarantee you that if we can't take Sydney on a trip with us, I am not leaving her with just anyone. She usually stays with my parents or my in-laws, all of whom I trust to treat her with the same love and attention that we'd give her.
John Dear and Darling do redeem themselves when they adopt Tramp, a long-time stray, into their family.
Some of you may think that I'm over analyzing these movies, especially since they're from a different time in which animals weren't seen as family and could be mistreated/killed, it was okay for guys to be players with girls, and to portray Native Americans in such a poor way. Still, how did kids back then not find some of these things disturbing? Like I said, I can't even watch some of these movies anymore without feeling a lot of anger and sadness.
By the way, I'm not trying to stir up a controversy or promote hate on Disney. I love Disney movies. I love Disney World! Just trying to get people to think when they watch some of these movies with children and maybe point out to children what not to do with animals and people who are different.
