Now that my daughter is two, we’ve embarked on a grand tour of Disney movies. She has this uncanny ability to sense when we’ve watched TV for too long and loudly declares, “Bye bye TV!”—such healthy boundaries that her parents don’t possess! So, we only watch 20 minutes of a movie at a time. Highlights (for me) so far have been Moana, Luca, Encanto, Frozen, Toy Story, and The Princess and the Frog. Do yourself a favor and steer clear of Mulan 2—it completely reverses the feminist message of the original by having Mulan and Li Shang get engaged after knowing each other for one month! Blech. Why??
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Last night, we completed Lady and the Tramp. Now, I was a HUGE fan of this movie as a child, so much so that the one stuffed animal I’ve retained is a plushie Lady. However, I haven’t seen the film in at least 25 years. I was a bit surprised that a warning message popped up before the movie started, lightly suggesting that there was outdated material that doesn’t reflect Disney’s values today. I thought, “I wonder what content in this movie merits such a message?” And friends, the real question is, what content DOESN’T?
To start, Lady has these two old dude dog friends, Jock and Trusty. Jock is a Scottish Terrier, and Trusty is a Bloodhound. Jock has a ridiculous Scottish accent and calls Lady “Lassie” all the time, and Trusty is about as American Southern as you can get. Maybe it’s “okay” to pick on the Scottish and the Southern because they also speak English, so it’s more of a nudge nudge wink wink, but it felt jarring to me and smacked of boomer humor. I noted this and continued watching, a little more alert.
Eventually, we arrived at the scene that perhaps we all remember. I cherished this part of the movie because I absolutely adore cats, everything about cats. I’ve had a cat or two my whole life and will continue to do so. YES, I love cats more than dogs. I especially love Siamese cats, perhaps BECAUSE of this film. Yet lord almighty, the song and scene “We are Siamese if you Please” is about as racist as they come. My husband and I sat on the sofa, jaws agape, while our daughter’s synapses fired and formed a pathway I can’t unform.
I was struck with the thought—how many children through the years has this scene influenced? How has this influenced ME, cementing an impression of “Asian” that I’ve had to challenge as I matured? My husband and I questioned why the scene hadn’t just been cut—it certainly added nothing to the plot.
The answer is they would have to cut the rest of the movie too. Because this is the major theme of the movie that continues to be explored—each animal and human we meet has a different heritage, with not only an accent that embodies this, but also a raging stereotype. There is the Russian dog, the German dog, the Italian restauranteurs, and in the sneaky worst racist depiction of all, the Mexican Chihuahua whose sister has a “hilariously” long and unpronounceable name.
A child watching this today will leave the experience with at least seven racist stereotypes imprinted in their brain (I’m not even going there with how Lady is depicted as a weak young woman who needs to be protected by all the men around her). A written message at the beginning of the movie does not prevent this. Going into our next American Era where racists are creating policy and bolstering systematic racism, this type of content needs to be retired. I hope Disney will seek out examples of this in all their work, and simply remove them from Disney Plus, which can be accessed so easily. Let these stories remain in the world of VHS, along with the dying ideas of this country that are hopefully in their last gasp.