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Top 10 Ways Disney Corrupts Children
by Anonymous, November 22, 2012
To many, Disney is synonymous with innocent morality stories and fluffy rodents singing songs of hope and
joy. This is an image Disney has worked hard to perpetuate in their films, but many of the supposedly
innocent messages, on closer examination, can be revealed as otherwise. There is no doubt that Disney
movies have brought happiness to millions, if not billions of children around the world. In this list, however,
I have examined some of the more harrowing themes present in Disney movies, which may have affected
you and your children more than you know.
10
Historical Inaccuracies

Perhaps one of the most obvious points critics have grilled Disney over are historical inaccuracies in their
few films which are actually based on real events. “Pocahontas” has been dubbed a travesty on the history of
the Native American genocide. The title character is portrayed as a native woman who falls in love with
settler John Smith, but in reality Pocahontas was only 10 at the time. Smith did befriend the girl but there
was no romance. An even worse travesty is the film’s end. The settlers become friends with the natives and
everyone lives happily ever after. Really Disney? In fact, 90% of the indigenous people in America were
wiped out by a combination of disease and genocide of crazed religious settlers, believing their actions
justified by the idea of “manifest destiny”. Those who survived were subjected to poor living conditions and
servitude to the land-grabbing Europeans, who subsequently became Americans.
9
Extreme Thinness

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The size-zero look is replicated by every single Disney princess in cinema, with the exception of Snow
White, perhaps because in the 1930s ideals of beauty were different from now. It’s not just that women are
portrayed as slender to increase their attractiveness; the level of exaggeration (for example in the impossibly
lean waist of Megara from “Hercules”) is staggering to the point absurdity. Many critics, particularly
feminists, have blasted Disney over this portrayal of women, claiming that the images have inspired
anorexia and eating disorders in young women.
8
Subliminal Messaging

Disney has a track record of slipping bizarre messages into their films, mostly in the form of hidden images,
but also sometimes through sound. For those who don’t know, subliminal messaging refers to images or
sounds that pass by so fast that only your subconscious picks them up. The most notable case was
announced by Disney itself on a home video copy of “The Rescuers”; as two mice ride in a sardine tin, a
photograph of a topless woman can be seen in a window for several frames. Disney were quick to lay the
blame on editors for planting the image as a joke (of course), and recalled all copies of the film.
7
Sexual Harassment is Acceptable

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A recurring theme for Disney princess films involves a beautiful woman being awakened by an unapproved
kiss on the lips (though I guess this is slightly better than the rape found in the original Sleeping Beauty).
Although it is arguable that some people wouldn’t mind being woken by the kiss of an impossibly handsome
and wealthy prince, most women tend to reject this idea. In both Snow White and Sleeping Beauty, however,
the women tend not to take the harassment too badly; in fact both characters marry these potential rapists
after their respective rude awakenings.
6
Importance of Social Status

Disney heroes and villains are almost always high in the social hierarchy when compared to others. The plot
structure of “Cinderella” revolves around a woman who manages to escape her terrible living conditions
simply by marrying a wealthy man. Her success is down to her attractiveness in comparison to her hideous
stepsisters. This sense of entitlement amongst central characters is consistent in almost every Disney film.
So-called “Prince Charming” characters are so valued for their wealth and power that they can get away
with basically anything. Imagine a reversal of the roles: replace Prince Phillip from “Sleeping Beauty” with
Philoctetes, a minor socially-inferior character from “Hercules”. I wager most women would wake up to a
kiss from Philoctetes screaming “Rape!” at the top of their voices, rather than “Let’s get married!”

5
Ugliness is Immoral

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In almost every Disney movie the primary antagonist is portrayed as physically unattractive, encouraging
children to associate this character trait with evil. Female characters are particularly subjected to this
treatment, all having at least one of the “Big Three” of Disney villain characteristics: being fat (Ursula in
“The Little Mermaid”), old (The Old Woman in “Snow White”) or hideously ugly (The Ugly Stepsisters in
“Cinderella”). The bottom line is that Disney openly preaches that attractiveness is synonymous with both
morality and happiness. Disney villains are often portrayed as insecure about their appearance, which then
causes them to take it out on younger, slimmer, better-looking characters. For example the villain of “Snow
White” is obsessed with being the “fairest of them all”, and the ugly stepsisters bully and abuse innocent
beautiful Cinderella.
4
Beauty is Moral

The film “Beauty and the Beast” works on the pretence of “looks don’t matter”. However a closer look at
the plot structure reveals this as a false front. In the climax of the film the beast transforms back into a
handsome human form, thus allowing him to live happily ever after with the equally attractive Belle. This
totally contradicts the film’s supposed message of “looks don’t matter”, because if that were true, why is the
transformation needed? “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” also does this with the main character being
physically deformed. However, the message is again twisted when a new handsome character in the form of
Captain Phoebus is introduced to marry Esmerelda instead of the protagonist, who of course is not worthy of
her because of his ugliness.
3

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Satanic Imagery

Although perhaps something of a controversial entry, visible evidence exists which suggests Disney uses
subtle themes of Satanism in their films. For example, the beast of “Beauty and the Beast” is portrayed as a
horned creature with fangs, resembling a traditional image of Lucifer. Philoctetes in “Hercules” is also
displayed in this form, with horns and cloven-feet. The most bizarre, albeit most controversial case is
perhaps in Disney’s adaptation of “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe”. It has been argued that eight-
year-old Lucy’s meeting with Mr Tumnus involves a subtle theme of paeodophilia: the stranger (incidentally
portrayed with goat legs and horns) persuades Lucy to visit his home before putting her to sleep by playing
lullabies on his flute. The next thing we know, Lucy wakes to find Mr Tumnus crying and saying that he has
“done something very bad”: in the context of the story Tumnus betrayed Lucy to the White Witch. Despite
the evidence of a darker theme, many critics of the theory have suggested the sequence simply represents the
consequences of children trusting strangers.
2
Everything is Fluffy

Now many would feel inclined to offer Disney some leniency here, given that it is targeting children with its
films, but many others would condemn them for sugar-coating themes of death and deceit with fluffy
singing animals and perfect happy endings. Take “The Lion King” – a film based on William Shakespeare’s
classic tragedy “Hamlet”. Disney altered the original ending of the play, in which many of the central

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characters die, and replaced it with a perfect triumph of good over evil, firmly rendering the plot
meaningless and holding up a giant middle finger to Shakespeare in the process. However “Hamlet” isn’t
the only literary masterpiece Disney have butchered on screen. Take the plot structure of Hans Christian
Anderson’s “The Little Mermaid” and you will find another drastically altered ending. In the original, Ariel
does not marry the prince and is forced to kill him to regain her mermaid tail, but she cannot perform the
deed and instead dies sadly.
1
Racial Stereotypes

Overall the most blatant and unambiguous message that Disney teaches any child is how to discriminate
between races. The crows in “Dumbo”, released in 1941 when racism against African Americans was more
acceptable, is probably the most blatant example. The language and attire of the birds are clearly intended to
mock African Americans. The characters exist only to help the white protagonist, and contribute mainly
comedic value amongst white audiences, adding insult to injury on the already glaring stereotype. Another
example is the Chinese cat from “The Aristocats”, who sings about fortune cookies (invented in America
incidentally) with an almost unintelligibly Asian accent. Disney has been blasted time and again for racism
and yet it continues to perpetuate glaring stereotypes.
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157 comments 6

Discussion Community Share

Jacques Jones • 3 months ago

10. As much as I agree with you, historical inaccuracies have cropped up in Disney films even
before this was made. Why do you think Peter Pan was originally intended to be released in the midst of
the Second World War, but was held back a few years until after the war finished.

9. Whilst your argument is valid, may I point out that this practice wasn't done until the 1990s'. Sleeping
Beauty and Cinderella did not have this hurdle, and even when this was in practice, Disney didn't adopt
the stylised approach of Hercules until Emperor's New Groove, hence why your example is so thin.
Sometimes the view of gender politics changes over time, hence why Snow White was so happy doing
the dishes and cleaning the house whilst the dwarves worked.

8. The same thing happened in Pete the Dragon. That was because the animator [Don Bluth] was
despising the heavy work conditions and thus planted the image of a naked woman on purpose. The
Rescuers also had this case. It's called 'Artist on Board' where the artist places subliminal messages to
throw off the audience and the producers because he/she may be unsatisfied with how the story or work
conditions are restricting his/her work.

7. Both Snow White and Sleeping Beauty revolved around how the heroines were helpless before a
magic spell and only a prince could save them. It's called true love and it's been a cliche in fairy tales
since it's inception. Plus, Snow White was dying from being poisoned, hence why it required a prince to
awaken her from her slumber. Also, Cinderella had this same story. Idiot.

6. Fairy tales often had princes as their protagonists' love interests because they were created mostly
during feudal times, so as such there are some things that do not translate well into other mediums. Also,
remember Alladin or Oliver's Company? Those two cases didn't start out as arguments for social classes
being superior because their protagonists were dirt poor in the first place.

5. Gaston, Evil Stepmother, the villainess from Tangled, Scar, Malificent, The Horned King, Sheere Khan.
All of those characters were not physically ugly, but were evil as personalities go. Plus, Snow White's
villain was an ugly witch because it was meant to be ironic, damnit! The queen wanted to be the fairest in
the land, yet she resorted to becoming an old crone to kill Snow White.

4. The picture you used was from Beauty and the Beast, a story that said no matter what you looked like,
there was still a chance you could do good. The villain, Gaston, was just as handsome as Belle, but he
was a monster in a different way. Plus, the Captain was not a villain, he was a rival character. And in the
end, Quasimodo was the hero. He didn't marry because society shunned him. That was the point of the
original text.

3. All three cases you brought up aren't satanic, you twit. Mr. Tumnus in Narnia and the mentor in
Hercules are creatures known as Satyrs; half-goat monsters of Greek mythology. Mr. Tummus betrayed
Lucy to the white queen because he, along with the other characters in the kingdom, were under her iron
thumb and dissent meant a horrible lingering death, not because he was 'satanic' And as for the Beast,
HE'S CALLED THE BEAST FOR A REASON, you stupid oaf! Beauty and the Beast was inspired by
Western European folklore, hence why Beast appears 'satanic', because at the time the movie was set,

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