Walt Disney has been an advocate for bringing magic and laughter into our childhood. However, Disney has also been blamed for creating many damaging stereotypes and unrealistic expectations for children who watch his films. For example, in almost every cliché Disney movie, there is the princess who resembles a damsel in distress. She suddenly becomes beautiful and the prince automatically falls in love with her. Of course, the story ends with the two living happily ever after. As if “happily ever after” only occurs if the princess is gorgeous and Prince Charming rescues her from a fire-breathing dragon.
But if the story is not about a princess, then it is about animals. One of Disney’s most highly-acclaimed films is The Jungle Book, a well-known story about a boy (Mowgli) who is mentored by Bagheera, a black panther and is on his way to the “Man-Village” to be with his own kind. As a child, it is simple to fall in love with all of the color that the film brings, the amusing characters and the ever-so-catchy songs. However, as an adult it is easy to notice the many stereotypes in The Jungle Book.
For example, the entire movie revolves around the idea of how one should stay with his own kind. The film was released in 1967, the height of segregation, so the idea needing to stay with our “own kind” was a very powerful and racist concept at that time. Moreover, regarding racism, it seems that the monkeys in the film are Disney’s version of African Americans. King Louie’s voice seems to have an accent, but what is even more breathtaking is the lyrics he sings. For instance, King Louie recites, “I want to walk like you,/ talk like you do. You see it’s true./ An ape like me can learn to be Human too.” This song is also sung with a jazz beat and scat style, a type of genre that was popular amongst the black community during the 1960s.
The power of sexism plays a definite role in The Jungle Book. The few women in the film are depicted as weak creatures with no voice nor mind of their own. For instance, on his journey, Mowgli meets a group of elephants. The head elephant is Colonel Hathi, who has a wife named Winifred. Colonel Hathi treats Winifred the same way he treats his army: he looks down to her, and she is to obey his orders. However, when Bagheera asks Colonel Hathi for help to find Mowgli, and Colonel Hathi says no, Winifred takes it upon herself to stand up to her husband. She threatens that she will lead the army herself if he does not help Bagheera. Colonel Hathi was in complete disarray and stated that it would be “utterly preposterous” for a woman to lead the herd.
Toward the end of the movie, a girl from the village sings a song with a beautiful tune, yet the lyrics are not so beautiful. For instance, she sings, “I must fetch the water/ ‘Til the day that I am grown/ Then I will have a handsome husband/ And a daughter of my own/ And I’ll send her to fetch the water/ I’ll be cooking in the home.” This song perpetuates a serious stereotype— the idea that women are caretakers of the home, and men are the providers. Disney is only furthering the misleading stereotype that women are only worthy of staying at home in the kitchen.
Furthermore, out of the three women in this film, two do not speak. According to Disney, women do not need to speak, for they have their own charm and eyelashes they can just flutter to get whatever they want. Tward the end of the film, the girl filling the jug with water knows Mowgli is staring at her, so when she is on her way back to the village, she drops the jug on purpose and bats her eyelashes at Mowgli so that he will fetch the jug for her. The scene depicts the girl playing with her hair, giving Mowgli flirtatious glares and blinking her big brown eyes in a seductive way. This shows the baffling message in which women need to be flirtatious, charming and beautiful to get what they want.
Disney does a “wonderful” job at depicting the apparent roles in men and women, races and blatantly, society as a whole. It is true that Disney creates positive images such as friendship and bravery in their films, but the company also engrains stereotypical ideas in the minds of the youth. The many illogical and utterly perplexing scenes and images in The Jungle Book are unfortunate stereotypes that sadly still exist in today’s society. Disney has brought joy into the lives of many through racism, sexism, and damaging stereotypes.