We finally get to move to to the Pastoral Symphony! Here we get to travel to ancient Greece, meet mythical animals, scramble to avoid Zeus' bolts, and maybe even get drunk with Bacchus. However, the most important part of this segment, in terms of racism, is in those segments that feature the Centaurs.
Now I think that the best place to start here is with a discussion of the Centaur character known as Sunflower. Sunflower was a young female centaur that was depicted as a servant to the older centaurs. She tended to their appearances. Below is a compilation of all of the scenes that she appears in.
Sunflower, is clearly meant to be a black centaur. She is subserviant to the other centaurs who vary in colour from yellow to pink to blue. I think that it is very obvious that by depicting Sunflower as they did
in the role that they put her in, Disney was perpetuating racial
stereotypes.
Sunflower-Fantasia 1940
I am not trying to defend Disney in any way for their decision here, however I think that it is important to remember that the numerous social movements that pushed forward African American rights in the United States had not yet taken place and would not take place in ways that would gain any traction for another 20 years. The 1960s was the period where African American rights, equality, and integration were ideas that came to the forefront of social consciousness.
Sunflower-Fantasia 1940
Sunflower is not the only young black centaur though. There is another, referred to as Otika who appears in only one scene. She is shown rolling out the red carpet for Bacchus.
Otika-Fantasia 1940
Interestingly enough, if you were to purchase this film today, you would not see either one of these girls. Both were removed from the film for its re-release in 1969. It was felt that they were objectionable because of the racism perpetuated in them and furthermore, it was felt that keeping them in would promote racial controversy. Wikipedia marks the African American Civil Rights Movement as lasting from 1955-1968. However, I would argue that while this was a period of rampant growth and support for the movement, the movement itself started much earlier and lasted much longer. I would even argue that the movement is still in existence today. However, there is not time or space enough to prove that here, and frankly it is not essential to the discussion.
Sunflower-Fantasia 1940
During the period of 1955-1968 there were several major events that contributed to the Civil Rights Movement. These include:
1) 1954 - Brown v.Board of Education. This determined that separate but unequal schools for black and white children were inherently unequal.
2) 1955-1956 - Rosa Parks Bus Boycott. In this instance, though pre-planned, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on the bus to a white person.
3) 1957 - The desegregation of Little Rock Central Highschool
4) 1961 - Freedom Rides. Black and white people traveled by bus across state lines in non-violent protests.
Certainly these event and the growth of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s contributed to Disney's decision to remove these two characters from the film. The fact that Disney chose to remove these characters from the film and their reasons for doing so leave little to the discussion of whether or not racism was present in these segments. Clearly it is, clearly it was recognized, and Disney chose to deal with it by removing the characters from the film all together.
What is interesting here is Disney's decision to completely remove the characters from the film in re-releases. In older films where there is smoking, with the exception of the re-release of Saludos Amigos (where cigarettes and cigars were removed), Disney places a disclaimer about the dangers of smoking at the beginning of the film.
I think that likely, they were embarrassed about the racism that had been so blatantly perpetuated by their films that instead of really addressing or apologizing for the mistakes they just took it out, modified history, and pretended that their mistakes never happened. Indeed, Disney has done this several times throughout the years, perhaps most notably with the company's apparent denial that the film Song of the South even exists. An incredible feat considering that one of the major attractions throughout the Disney Parks is "Splash Mountain" which is based on the animated characters of Song of the South.
While I am glad that Disney did something to deal with the apparent racism in this segment, I think that a better and more positive approach would have been to do like Warner Bros. did when they released the "Looney Tunes Golden Collection". The "Looney Tunes Golden Collection" was a series of six four disc DVD box sets of Looney Toons and Merrie Melodies cartoons. Their release began after the apparent success of the "Walt Disney Treasures" series. Releases ran from October 2003-October 2008.
In the "Looney Tunes Golden Collection" the following disclaimer was placed:
"The cartoons you are about to see are products of their time. They may depict some of the ethnic and racial prejudices that were commonplace in American society. These depictions were wrong then and are wrong today. While the following does not represent the Warner Bros. view of today's society, these cartoons are being represented as they were originally created, because to do otherwise would be the same as claiming these prejudices never existed."
Warner Bros. decision to depict the cartoons as they were originally created ensures that they are not portraying a false history of their company. It shows responsibility, acknowledgement, and a commitment to the brand. It is, one might say, an adult way to deal with past decisions of the company. Indeed, in comparison to Disney's sweep it under the rug and pretend that it never happened approach, the Disney approach seems quite immature.
What can I say, long time no posts. Needless to say the past several months have kept me incredibly busy. Finals, a taxing yet rewarding job, returning to university, and starting a new and exciting job in the world of libraries and archives has left me little free time. As an avid podcast listener, I used to look down in disdain after refreshing a podcast that had not updated in weeks or even months. Here I have become the very person that I disdain. Nevertheless I hope that you all will forgive me, as I have forgiven those who have slacked off on producing content.
It is going to be a little difficult for me to jump right back into Fantasia when I have so many other places that my mind wants to take me, but I will do my best to stick to my arbitrary, though chronological schedule.
Had I just been going off of memory here I would have thought that we would finally get to move on to the Pastoral Symphony, but a quick Wikipedia search of the program has informed me that the scene with the dancing fish is set to the "Arabian Dance" movement of Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite. This means that we can't move on quite yet. This clip takes place right after the dancing mushrooms and right before the dancing thistles and flowers, so I apologize for breaking chronology here. Take a look at the clip below.
I will be the first to admit that I do not know my Middle Eastern history as well as perhaps I should. My focus has always been, throughout my University career, on North American settlement, so forgive me if my historical references are a little scant.
Concept art - note that the character is called "Ballerina Goldfish"
I think that the best place to start here is to establish a location. While today we think of Arabia as almost a mythical place, the Arabian Peninsula is in fact a real place. It is a peninsula of Western Asia, located North East of Africa.
Arabian Peninsula
Historically there are two points that this region is remembered for. Firstly it became the cradle of Islam in the 7th century. During the mid 20th century, vast oil deposits brought the region back into the hot seat. Though we cannot for certain say what time period Disney intended the Arabian Dance scene to take place, I think that we can safely say that these two historical points are not of great significance to our discussion. Thus, we shall press on.
Although I did not even think about it until I found out what this segment was titled, it not seems incredible obvious that the fish are meant to portray the sensual hip swaying and bodily movements of Belly Dancing. Belly Dancing itself is a western bastardization of more traditional folk dances of the region commonly known as Rags Sharqi. These dances are identified as solo improvised dances based on torso articulation. While the age and evolution of Belly Dancing are uncertain, it is certain that it is rooted in this region.
If we look at this segment from the ballet, we will see that it is not the "tantric" movements associated with Belly Dancing, but rather much more controlled movements. Indeed is seems more like Tai Chi.
This interpretation makes sense with the slow, pensive quality of the composition, however, Disney's interpretation leads to something much more sensual in nature, at least if you happen to be a fish. If you have not watched the clip, go back to the beginning of this post and watch it.
Fantasia 1940
Fantasia 1940
Notice how the fish are kept in shadow for the first half of the segment. This adds a sense of mystery to them and makes the viewer anticipate their emergence.
Fantasia 1940
The fish move in a seductive and tempting manner, their tails imitating the movements of a Belly Dancers hips, and body. We can also interpret their tails which are mostly translucent in nature, as veils and scarves not unlike those used in Belly Dancing that we are familiar with, as in the below video.
This excerpt of Fantasia portrays the foreign women who are being represented by the fish as seductive, temptresses. One even wonders if they are meant to be sexually deviant. Certainly these women bore their bodies, and moved their bodies in ways that were not at all characteristic of how American women in the 1930s and would have presented themselves. This adds an air of mystery and seduction to this scene that once may not pick up on the first several times you watch it. I certainly did not.
I am sure that I could find other things to say about this segment but frankly, I do not feel that I have the authority to delve into it further. If you have any ideas or comments I would love to hear them so leave them in the comments below.
Still keeping with Fantasia I want to move onto the 'Dancing Mushrooms' section. This portion of film is also part of the Nutcracker suite and is called the 'Chinese Dance'. It actually takes place right before the 'Russian Dance' segment in the ballet.
Fantasia - 1940 Chinese Dance segment (skip ahead 1 minute)
Before the invention of home video and it's subsequent popularization, the Walt Disney company re-released its films every seven years from the proverbial "Disney Vault" into theatres. Naturally, one of these releases occurred during the hippie movement of the 1960s. In Douglas Brode's book From Walt to Woodstock: How Disney Created the Counterculture he tells an interesting anecdote that has been brought up many many times about teens and young adults of the countercultrue getting high and going to the theatre to watch Fantasia. Brode suggests that this is why Fantasia was so successful in its re-release at this time. He suggests that the "trippy" and "nonsensical" nature of the film was only enhanced by the incorporation of hallucinogenic drugs, and I imagine that this is true. While this may seem like an indulgent anecdote, which it is, I promise that is has huge significance later on.
I don't think that it is unreasonable to say that these mushrooms are meant to be Chinese. I conclude this based on a few points. Firstly, this section of the Nutcracker Suite falls in right before the Russian Dance in most presentations of the ballet.
The Nutcracker Ballet - Chinese Dance
Secondly, the dancing of the mushrooms is characteristic of the traditional fan dances preformed Chinese women. I had always imagined these mushrooms to be male rather than female, contrasting them to the female, dress wearing flowers of the Russian Dance segment. I suppose that I assumed that if Chinese females were being depicted, they would be more reminiscent of Geishas. A racial stereotype on my part. However, if I am not mistaken, lots of the concept art includes long thin pony tails and the "fu manchu" mustache. A racial stereotype on Disney's part. Thirdly, and I cringe at the bluntness I am about to express this with, the eyes that the animators have given the mushrooms are characteristically Asian, though not specifically Chinese. However, it is clear that, for better or worse, the mushrooms are Asian.
Traditional Chinese Fan Dance, this sort of gives you the idea
Asian mushrooms as a concept might seem innocent enough, there are no humans depicted in this segment of Fantasia so it is not as though it is de-humanizing the Chinese race. It is merely an aesthetic choice. Or is it...
Fantasia concept art
You see Chinese immigrants experienced mixed review when immigrating to the United States. There are three distinct waves of Chinese immigration. The first wave in the mid 1800s. This wave were primarily employed in railroad construction. A job so dangerous and poorly paying that hardly anyone else would do it. Despite provisions put forth for equal treatment in the 1868 Burlingame Treaty, political and labour organizations rallied against Chinese immigration. Most Americans, it seems, felt that the Chinese were a degraded race. They were, it seems, good for just one thing, cheap labour. Because the Chinese were willing to work for less pay they were, in effect, taking jobs away from Americans and this was not good. This is an argument that is still being used today by anti-immigrationists.
Feelings towards Chinese immigrants were also overtly negative because many immigrants that came early on had no intention of staying in America. Most were young men who came to America to earn money and then take their wealth back to China where they would start their families. The thought was that American wealth should be for America, not for China. Remember that neither China or America were the super powers that they are today at this time. Anti-Chinese sentiment was so strong that in 1882, Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act which prohibited Chinese immigration to America for the next 10 years. This was extended time and time again, later including virtually all Asian peoples. It was only during WWII when China and the United States became allies that life for Chinese living in America began to improve. The first wave of Chinese Immigration lasted until 1949, so with the release of Fantasia in 1940, this is the only significant wave to bring up.
Vinyl cover art for Fantasia soundtrack
So why is this important? Well, Chinese were seen as being a danger to the well being of the United States. It was believed that they had poor morals, and furthermore that they were more different than any of the other European immigrants before. The Chinese did the work that no one wanted to do, and thus they were successful. They worked building the railroad, they worked in mines, and they opened laundries. Americans feared that they would over run the country and send it into moral depravity not unlike, a fungus. And to really hit the nail on the head here, mushrooms are a fungus.
While in most of the country there were not tons of Chinese at the time that Fantasia was being created, there was one exception, California. Many Chinese had arrived in California for the California Gold Rush and some had stayed. Thus, there presence was felt more strongly where the film was being created than other places. Perhaps Disney's decision to depict the Chinese Dance with mushrooms was reflective of this nationwide sentiment of Chinese as a dangerous fungus. To bring home this point even more so, many mushrooms are poisonous, and I have yet to cross a mushroom with a red top in my time that I would trust to eat. In this case I think it is fair to conclude that the decision to depict the Chinese dancers as mushrooms is, while historically reflective of the widely held opinion of Chinese in the United States up to the 1940s and the slowly changing opinions after that point, it can be seen by today's standards as racist.
Dancing Mushroom topiaries, in honour of the Flower and Garden Festival
You thought that I was done? Well, this is not the end. Here I invite you to enter a less concrete world that may be a farther stretch than anything that I have claimed previously, but bear with me. I am hoping that it will make sense in the end. Britain, centuries ago, we are talking like beginning in the 1700s here, began to seriously trade with China. China was home to silks, tea, and exotic spices. What did Britain have to offer, opium, lots and lots of opium. While opium had been known to the Chinese since the 7th century it was only used for medicinal purposes.
For anyone who does not know, opium is found on the outsides of unwashed poppy seeds. It has the effect of inducing euphoria and making pain disappear. While it is illegal today, and opium is no longer a widely used drug, opiates are converted to heroin. The effects of opium are similar to those of morphine and heroin's effects are about twice as strong as morphine.
The British brought to China the concept of combining opium with tobacco and smoking it and thus the opium den was born. The Chinese emperor saw the effect that this was having on the men of China and the importation of opium was banned and so prohibition against opium set in.
The British would later criticize China for their problems with opium use, conveniently forgetting that they had introduced the problem in the first place.
So what does opium have to do with Fantasia? Here comes the leap. China has strong historical connections with opium,. Though opium is seen as a depressant, it also contains hallucinogens. Likewise, the Psilocybin mushroom, better known as "magic mushrooms" or "shrooms" is also a hallucinogenic drug and the Chinese Dancers in Fantasia's Nutcracker Suite are mushrooms. A quick google image search has shown me that the Psilocybin mushroom has a red tops and beige bottom and if the image search is to be believed, bare a striking resemblance to Fantaisa's mushrooms. While there are hundreds of psychedelic mushrooms, one of the more common is the Fly Agaric and this one, pictured below seems right out of Fantasia. Is this an illusion to once of the fears associated with Chinese immigration, that they would disrupt the moral foundation of the United States through, among other things, drug use?
Fantasia - 1940
Fly Agaric, a common psychedelic mushroom. Note how even the shapes of the mushrooms mirror one another.
Here Douglas Brode's words start to echo. He talked about the generation of the 1960s, the generation of the Hippie movement, attending a screening of Fantasia. While perhaps Disney's original audience would not have interpreted this segment of the film the same way that I have here, I can't help but wonder in this audience, the audience that was so keenly aware of drug culture and the effects of various drugs might have picked up on at least some of the connections that I have made here. I thank Brode for his reading (though I seriously doubt that he will ever read this) of Fantasia as it is what piqued my interest in this segment of the film and its historic undertones about a year ago.
While I admit that this may be stretching a bit, take a look at the photos below and consider what I have said and then draw your own conclusions. As for me, I have convinced myself. Therefore I conclude that the decision to depict the Chinese as mushrooms was not done in good taste. However, I also conclude that this was very reflective of the views held in the United States towards Chinese people at this time. Finally I conclude that this analysis requires a fair amount of knowledge about the history of trade, immigration, and racial relations and thus the average movie goer then and now was probably not aware of all of the history that was brought into this short 1 minute scene. Perhaps the story developers and animators were not even fully conscious of the connections that they were making in this film either.
If you got to the end of this post, congratulations and also, I am honoured.
Alright, well back into the fray as they say. And by 'they' I mean Charlotte of The Princess and the Frog fame. So excuse me while I wipe the mascara from my teary eyes and adjust my dress. Let's begin. I have been thinking a lot about Fantasia as of late and I have been thinking about the Nutcracker Suite specifically.
Now, as we all know, the nutcracker suite in Fantasia has nothing to do with nutcracker's or the original ballet. The segment I will be talking about today is below:
Russian Dance in Disney's 1940 film, Fantasia
We are told in the introduction to this movement that Tchaikovsky hated this composition and further more that the Nutcracker Ballet is not performed now a days. Now, while perhaps the Nutcracker Ballet was not performed in the 1940's it is certainly, in my knowledge, one of the most well known ballets of all time. Maybe I am missing something here, but the idea that a ballet that seems so popular now would have fallen out of fashion at the time of Fantasia seems unusual, but we press on. This is not racist discussion, which is what I have committed to discuss for this film.
Concept art for Fantasia
"However, Russia represented something that the Untied States had never been a fan of...Communism."
Thinking about it, I am almost certain that people who are out to find fault with Walt Disney look to his work for any trace of reference to race and expect it to be racist without considering context and the historical period of not only the original distribution of the film, but also the time period in which the film was set. One of the aspects of this movement in the film that, to my knowledge, has not received accusations of racism, and rightly so, is the dancing thistles and flowers (possibly violets) that appear. They perform a dance characteristic of traditional Russian dance. I really enjoy this homage as Russia is where ballet was refined and made into the art that it is today. Here too we see a celebration of Russian culture. Indeed, this section of the Nutcracker Suite is called the Russian dance. However, Russia represented something that the United States had never been a fan of...Communism.
Take a look at the traditional Russian dance depicted below, as well as the Russian Dance segment from the ballet below. Given how far the animators and Disney strayed from the original Nutcracker storyline everywhere else, the use of the existing dance style and to that effect, story line is unusual.
Russian Army Choir presents: Kalinka
The Russian Dance in Tchaikovsky's Ballet, the Nutcracker
"The Red Scare was a term used in the United States to describe the rising fear of the growth of communism, communist support, and communist spies within the United States itself."
Russia had hosted a revolution recently, the Bolshevik revolution of 1917-1921, effectively taking Russia out of World War II. It had also brought on the first Red Scare. The second red scare began in 1947, 7 years after the release of this film, in 1940. The second Red Scare would go on to shake Hollywood to the core, an issue that Walt Disney spoke out in favour of anti-communism in front of the House of Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), however, that is a story for a different time. The Red Scare was a term used in the United States to describe the rising fear of the growth of communism, communist support, and communist spies within the United States itself.
Fantasia: 1940
It is interesting to consider the inclusion of Tchaikovsky's 'Russian Dance', given that the ballet was apparently not performed anymore so no one would know if it was left out, and given the obvious tension that was rising between Russia and the United States that would become the Cold War, and given Walt Disney's obvious vendetta against communism.
Fantasia: 1940
Fantasia: 1940
While initially I expected this to be a minute point in passing, given that the entire scene runs just over a minute, the more I thought about it, the more complex the inclusion of the Russian Dance as part of Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite, in Walt Disney's rebirth of it in Fantasia came to be. Perhaps not so much the musical piece itself, but more so the decision to use the piece to recreate traditional Russian dance given the rising tension between Russia and the United States at this time. However, we must not forget that Russia and the United States were on the same side during World War II. Still, the obvious tension between the two countries was still apparent at this time and had been apparent in the past as well and can not be overlooked in examining the short segment of the film.
Today we move on from Pinocchio. My thought was to go through the Disney cannon in chronological order, if only so that I can remember what I have and haven't talked about, but then I realized that I skipped Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. I watched the film yesterday and I didn't really see anything that makes waves. Perhaps this is because it was Disney's first feature film, or perhaps it means that the company and Walt himself did not ever intend to present offensive material. If you think that there is anything racist worth talking about let me know in the comments and I can return to this topic.
Lets move on to the net film, Fantasia! Cards on the table, despite many attempts I have never seen the entirety of Fantasia in one sitting. Partly because I usually get interrupted by something and have to pause and come back later and partly because I tend to fall asleep. That being said, I do really like this film and I can appreciate it for what it brought to the entertainment world, an early version of surround sound in theatres. There are a few things throughout this film that are worth mentioning so Fantasia, like Pinocchio, will likely warrant a few days of discussion and analysis. For each segment worth discussing under the umbrella topic of racism I will devote one post, this will keep things from getting to long.
I was listening to a podcast a while back and I can't remember which one it was, but they were discussing Fantasia and they were talking about how amazing it would have been to see Fantasia when it first came out. they suggested that we loose a lot of the allure of the film watching it at home. I tend to agree. However, one point was made that I must disagree with. They suggested that it would have been amazing to have the film play with a live orchestra.
For us today, that would be really cool. But for theatres of this time it would have been seen as a step backwards. Silent films in theatres often had a piano or orchestra playing alongside them. Once sound was added to film the speaker was projected from behind the screen. What Disney came up with was revolutionary, it was early surround sound. It enabled everyday people to hear the full bodies sound of attending an orchestral performance without the high cost. People would have been amazed to hear the, then incredible, sound quality of the surround sound. That first time experience is a part of the film that has been lost throughout the ages and the development of technology. It is something that we can never recreate and it keeps us from fully seeing Fantasia in the light that it was originally meant to be seen.
Tomorrow we actually delve into the racism of Fantasia, and I promise that the following images have a lot to do with it.
Alright, well the more I think about it, the more I realize that the female marionettes that come on to Pinocchio are both sexist and racist. However, this is how females, especially non-American females were commonly depicted in Hollywood film in the 1930s, 1940s, and beyond.
There are three ethnicities of woman portrayed in this segment, each has a feature woman. The first is a group of Dutch girls. Naturally the main girl is looking for love. However, let's not forget that Pinocchio is the only live puppet, all others are being controlled by puppeteers, though I have no idea who those puppeteers are, It cannot be Stromboli, because he is down front conducting the whole time, so I guess that it is just part of movie magic. In other words, the puppets are not acting this way on their own accord, all of this is being done in jest to be humorous.
Pinocchio - 1940
Next come the French Can-can dancers. The Can-can first appeared in France in the 1830s. It is a highly physically demanding dance that is traditionally performed by a chorus line of female dancers. The main features of the dance are lifting and manipulation of the skirts, as well as high kicks and suggestive, provocative body movements. Therefore, these puppets serve their purposes and are historically accurate.
Pinocchio - 1940
Finally we have the Russian marionette who, though she is speaking English, we can hardly understand. However, it seems that there is supposed to me something alluring about that.
I think that it is worthwhile to point out that there is a strong sense of ethnic 'othering' throughout this marionette show scene. Collodi's Pinocchio story takes place in Italy and Pinocchio can be found in the Italy Pavilion, however, the film has strong German undertones with Pinocchio's clothing and all of Gepetto's clocks. This German idea is enforced by Pinocchio's Village Haus in Fantasyland in Disney World. So whether it is German or Italian in Disney's mind, it is important to know that the female puppets are from other nations. Therefore it suggests that the women of other countries and cultures are seductresses and temptresses, but not the wholesome women of our own culture.
Pinocchio - 1940
Therefore, I feel that the puppet show is an accurate reproduction of worldview in the 1880s and humour in the 1880s. It is not really racist, it is sexist, but it is humorous. Sexism, especially as it pertains to females continues to be used in humour to this day, though it perhaps should not be. However I feel that this scene is humorous and all of the fun that it pokes in in jest.
In Disney's 1940 film, Pinocchio at the point when Pinocchio and all the other boys arrive at Pleasure Island there is a scene cut from the rough house to a place called Tobacco Row.
Tobacco Row features a number of, what appear to be, early animatronics of First Nations men, all identical. They hold a large pipe at their side and with the other hand they hand out tobacco; cigars, cigarettes, and chew continuously. They shower the boys with this temptation, which is the point of Pleasure Island. Pleasure Island is designed to tempt young boys into behaving poorly, making bad decisions and feeding their temptations so that they will turn into Jack Asses or, if you prefer, donkeys.
"I think that it is far more likely that the animators simply said, tobacco, that reminds me, Indian Braves, lets do that".
Tobacco was and remains an important part of many first Nations Cultures. Traditionally tobacco has been used to pray, give thanks to the Creator and Mother Earth, communicate with spirits, and purify the mind and heal the body. However, the tobacco used in these ceremonies and rituals is much different from the tobacco with high nicotine content and added chemicals that we find in cigarettes, and the high nicotine content of cigars and chewing tobacco. This is not ceremonial tobacco. First Nations elders maintain that this recreational use of tobacco is highly disrespectful to the spiritual, medicinal, and traditional uses of tobacco. Tobacco should be used in a traditional ceremonial pipe for ceremonies.
Ceremonial Peace Pipe typical of Northern Plains Nations
Peter Pan - 1953
Lets return to tobacco row. Here is a bit of an unusual analysis but bear with me. There are 6 statues, each holding a pipe. While this pipe does not have the same appearance of any traditional ceremonial pipe, or even the ceremonial pipe used in Peter Pan 13 years later, I think that we can cut the animators some slack and suggest that these could be interpreted as traditional ceremonial pipes. Notice that they are not being given to the misbehaving destructive white man, or in this case, white boy. The boys are being tempted with non-traditional forms of tobacco that are disrespectful to First Nations ceremony and tradition. Perhaps this short scene can serve as a social commentary on the horrors and disrespect that the white man placed on First Nations people. Perhaps Pleasure Island can be read as the reality of what the white man has done to North America. It might be a stretch but I think that there may be something there, though I may be reading too much into it.
"We cannot discount that this is a historically accurate treatment for the time period of the film".
Historically residential schools were created for Indian children because white immigrants believed that Indians still had a soul, unlike black African slaves who they believed had no souls. Indians simply had to have the Indian 'beat out of them' so that they could become like the white man. There was much that was unknown about First Nations cultures and this lack of understanding and misunderstanding is still prevalent today. While I would like to think that my previous idea of Tobacco Row as a metaphor is true, I think that it is far more likely that the animators simply said, tobacco, that reminds me, Indian Braves, lets do that.
Pinocchio - 1940
So in this case I have to admit that the Walt Disney company was using racial stereotypes and in turn helped to perpetuate the untrue stereotype of First Nations people as slaves to their vices, incapable of higher morality. However, let me remind you that is was 1940 and, not that I am making an excuse for forgiveness but, things were different back then, people didn't understand and didn't try to understand. They knew what they knew and that was good enough for them. Also, this film takes place in Europe in the mid 1800s where there was a fascination with America and 'Indians' but no one really knew anything about the culture, only stories that had been told third hand so these First Nations stereotypes are not out of character for the time period that the film was set. We cannot discount that this is a historically accurate treatment for the time period of the film.
More often than not when people think about racism in film, and in life they jump to racism directed towards African Americans and First Nations stereotypes. Isn't that automatic jump to these two cultures pretty racist? The face is that racism is present in all cultures and towards all cultures and peoples.
Criticism for Pinocchio seems to be mostly centred around two groups, Jewish and First Nations. People have interpreted the character of Stromboli as a Jewish Gypsy. Stromboli's pre-occupation with money and his anger when someone throws a metal slug on stage instead of legal tender certainly plays to the stereotype of Jewish men as misers focused on money, loans, and wealth. This stereotype has been explored countless other times, perhaps the most well known being in William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice where the character of Shylock is a Jewish money lender in the city of Venice. He is seen as unloving, uncaring, and blood thirsty with the mantra of "I will have my bond". But where does this stereotype of Jewish as misers and money lenders come from?
Stromboli finds a slug in his earnings
Pinocchio - 1940
Well it all comes from the widespread of Christianity throughout Europe. Christians were not supposed to lend money and expect it back in return, especially with interest. Jewish did not have this same moral focus. Christianity is rooted a specific morality and love of all people while Judaism focuses more on the importance of the law, The Torah. Because of this, Jewish people made a business out of lending money to Christians and charging interest on that money, before there were centralised banks.
Pinocchio - 1940
Coming back to Stromboli, He seems quite Italian to me, be doesn't seem to be animated with any stereotypically 'Jewish' facial features. In my mind Stromboli is a gypsy trying to support himself by putting on a travelling puppet show. In addition to that we see that he drinks a fair amount which could lead to his anger management issues. Perhaps there is a reason that he works with puppets and not other humans, because he is a horrible man with a vile temper.
The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi
The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi was first published as a serial in Italy in between 1881 and 1883. In the story Collodi focuses of a misbehaving puppet and does not focus on the ideas of a higher morality and conscious that are so dominant throughout Disney's film. Instead it seems to tackle the real and practical issues of life in Florence and the struggles of finding the bare necessities of life, food, shelter, etc... in Florence.
If Stromboli is a Jewish miser then Collodi is contributing to the traditional treatment of Jewish people in his time and the time before him. He is building on the tradition of discontent amongst Christians who simply did not understand the concepts of interest on money loans. It was not part of their religion and against their morality which led Christians to view Jewish as morally inferior to themselves.
However, let's not forget that Stromboli has an identifiably Italian accent and he curses repeatedly in Italian, not an identifiable Jewish accent and he does not curse in Hebrew. Finally, the name Stromboli is a distinctly Italian name, named after the Volcano of the same name. Stromboli translates to 'fire-eating' or 'fire-spewing' which describes both the behaviour of a volcano Stromboli's bad temper and attitude.
Disney's Pinocchio was released in 1940. Historically we are looking at the period of the Holocaust here. the Holocaust, or systematic persecution of Jews in Germany and German occupied territories by Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party. The Holocaust 'started' around 1933 and lasted until 1945. Given that the Disney Company produced several anti-Axis country and anti-Hilter short films during World War II I have a hard time believing that the company would use Stromboli as a Jewish stereotype. Stromboli is not Jewish. He does not look Jewish, he does not sound Jewish, he is Italian.
The only similarity he has to a Jewish person seems to be the similarity between Stromboli and Jewish men as money lending misers. If this is enough to make Disney racist for viewers then they need to examine why they themselves see Jewish people in this way and interpret Stromboli in this way. It is not Disney that is racist in this case, it is the viewers.
Pinocchio - 1940
This is the end of my thoughts on Stromboli, but not the end of my thoughts on Pinocchio. Coming up in the next two days, First Nations and flirtatious European marionettes.
Growing up I think that I maybe saw Alice in Wonderland once. When I turned 15 or 16 I went crazy for Alice in Wonderland. The books, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll are amazing! But that is not why I am Alison in Wonderland.
Through the Looking Glass
- Lewis Carroll
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
- Lewis Carroll
Growing up all through elementary school my classmates teased me an called me Alison in Wonderland. That, on top of having a last name that no one could pronounce made early formative years less than perfect. Eventually that term of endearment that I despised so much was replaced with Nature Girl, which really wasn't much better. Growing up I think that I was afraid to like Alice because she represented childhood mockery. For a long time I blocked the girl, the film, and the name from my consciousness but lately I have been thinking about my elementary school name again and I decided that it really isn't so bad. In fact, Alison in Wonderland is a pretty cool nickname if you ask me.
So here we are, Alison in Wonderland, talking coming out of the closet as a Walt Disney fan, the laughter, the tears, and everything in between.
