Values Dissonance in animated movies.
- Most of the pre-2000s Disney Princesses are under 18, with several of them ending up married or engaged at the end of their stories (though this is typically how their original tales ended). While it's not illegal even in America, it's no longer socially acceptable to get married so young and is looked down upon (in Western society, in the East it's the other way 'round). The real issue however comes with how they're presented. The most extreme example would be Snow White, who in the original story was seven when she was married, and in the Disney movie is fourteen according to Word of God. Ariel from The Little Mermaid has many scenes with quite a bit of subtext or just outright G-rated sexuality. She's 16, which, while above the age of consent in many countries (including most U.S. states), still leaves an uncomfortable taste in many viewers' mouths. Beginning with The Princess and the Frog, Disney has made it a point to have their princesses be above eighteen, something explicitly established in their 2010s films (such as Rapunzel from Tangled, who is explicitly 18; or Princess Anna, who is 18 years old in Frozen and 21 years old in Frozen II), if romance plays a major part in the plot. Younger ones, like the title character of Moana and Merida from Brave (which was made by Pixar but counts as a Disney Princess film), don't have love interests or are at least light on fanservice and avert Artistic Age. Tiana from The Princess and the Frog is the most contemporary princess (the film takes place in the 1920s) and she's nineteen in the film. The rest of the princesses predate the Industrial Revolution.
- This became an issue when planning the Fantasia 2000 segment "Pomp and Circumstance". The original concept was to feature the Disney Princes graduating and marrying the Disney Princesses who would have their children. When the producers recognized the issue of many of the Disney Princesses being underage (not to mention the concept's sexist and cultish undertones), they scrapped the concept and replaced it with a short based on the story of Noah's Ark featuring Donald and Daisy Duck.
- Another Disney example, albeit one in which they addressed the issue instead of covering it up, is the treatment of Love at First Sight and True Love's Kiss. In the 21st Century these values have gone from being seen as romantic, to being seen as reckless and irresponsible. So, at least five Disney films (Enchanted, Maleficent, Frozen, Into the Woods and Brave) have actually deconstructed the whole concept. The Cinderella remake was something of a reconstruction, but was careful to at least give the couple a few conversations to relate to each other before their wedding.
- In the "Legend of Sleepy Hollow" segment of The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad, a student draws an unflattering caricature of Ichabod Crane. He is about to smack the kid with the pointer — at the time the story was set, this was actually standard practice for schoolteachers, making this a case of Deliberate Values Dissonance.
- Aladdin stands out as Disney's first attempt at a film starring non-white protagonists. The film hasn't aged gracefully in certain respect. Unlike their 2000s+ films, not as much emphasis was put on accurately portraying the culture. This wasn't a big issue in the early '90s (though, even then they received criticism) but has since become one. The film has received a lot of flak for not being accurate enough and for featuring white actors voicing Arabic characters.note It's also received criticism for being accidentally offensive (for example, the original lyrics of "Arabian Nights" mentioning cutting off someone's ear if you don't like their face, a merchant trying to cut off Jasmine's hand for stealing, and Jafar's design in contrast with Aladdin and Jasmine's).
- There's a lyric in "Prince Ali" that mentions how he has slaves ("He's got slaves, he's got servants and flunkies"), immediately after the line "He's generous; so generous". While this would have been seen as Deliberate Values Dissonance in 1992, nowadays it would be very questionable for a sympathetic character to have slaves. The 2019 live-action remake remedies this by altering the line to "He's got 10,000 servants and flunkies".
- The Aristocats has a Siamese cat, Shun Gong, as a member of Scat Cat's gang. He's not malicious like the Lady and the Tramp Siamese and is portrayed as an equal among his peers, but he's still a squinty-eyed, bucktoothed Asian Speekee Engrish stereotype, a depiction that was common for its time but wouldn't at all fly today.
- Cinderella
- The montage of dress-making has a line where a female mouse prevents Jaq from sewing the dress by saying "leave the sewing to the women". While it could be referring to Jaq being so clumsy that he'd almost certainly mess it up, it still comes off as jarringly sexist.
- In modern times, Cinderella herself is frequently criticized for appearing too passive or submissive to her stepfamily. Ignoring the impact that years of physical and verbal abuse will have on a person's psyche, Cinderella has limited options in the time period her story is set in. She can't leave home and find another job — she's a penniless orphan girl who'd struggle to find a better situation.
- Coco centers around a close-knit, extended family who live under the same roof in a rural Mexican town. Protagonist Miguel is a 12-year-old boy who loves music but is forbidden from playing it by his grandmother, Elena, because of something (everybody thinks) her long-dead grandfather did. Elena is a loving matriarch who wants the best for her family but she's unequivocally the head of the family and no one goes against what she says out of respect. The movie doesn't treat her as being wrong for being this way (she eventually learns the truth about her grandfather and acquiesces) but people who don't come from such a collectivist culture may find it a bit odd that something that happened ninety years ago still has such an effect on the family or that a kid is expected to listen to what his grandmother wants him to do as a hobby, no questions asked.
- Dumbo:
- The crows. While Fair for Its Day, their mannerisms are reminiscent of blackface minstrel performers which definitely makes them the most notorious part of the film - next to the Pink Elephants.
- The fact that the circus uses animals is, itself, somewhat of a product of its time - in The '40s it would probably have been more normal, but during the next century it would be seen as more abusive.
- "Song of the Roustabouts" depicts faceless labourers singing about how they blow their pay away that they never learned to read or write, say "Grab that rope you hairy ape" to each other, and they are black or at least black looking thanks to the colour palette.
- Fantasia:
- Early prints featured the character of Sunflower from the Pastoral Symphony. Looking at her
, you can probably figure out why she's been completely cut from the movie since 1969. Two more black centaurs appear later in the segment, but lack the overtly racist features that Sunflower has and are portrayed much more respectfully. - The "Nutcracker Suite" segment features dancing mushrooms that resemble stereotypical Asians (hands in their sleeves, their caps resembling rice hats, slit eyes), though unlike Sunflower, they're not overtly offensive and are portrayed more tastefully than simple racist caricatures.
- Early prints featured the character of Sunflower from the Pastoral Symphony. Looking at her
- In The Fox and the Hound, Chief and Copper's owner keeps them tied up outside all day, which was fairly standard practice at the time, particularly in rural areas, but looks cruel to modern eyes.
- In Inside Out, a mild example occurred — for its Japanese release, the animators had to digitally replace the broccoli that Riley refuses to eat with green bell peppers. Japanese children generally like broccoli, and don't see why a character would hate it. However, green bell peppers are considered bitter and "yucky".
Plus, the animators offered different distributors a choice between hockey or football (soccer) for the sports memory sequences, as hockey is a "foreign-looking" sport in some countries. Most countries opted for the hockey sequence, since the family was from Minnesota and it added a bit of local color. - Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius: An inoffensive example. Sheen freaks out as Cindy tricked him into opening his Ultralord action figure box. This viewpoint is not quite as common as it was in 2001, as many action figure collectors now open their boxes.
- Lady and the Tramp:
- The reason behind Rusty and Jock's Honorable Marriage Proposals to Lady were Deliberate Values Dissonance even at the time of release due to the film being a Period Piece, but the meaning behind the scene goes past modern viewers' heads. They were trying to save her reputation but not for the reason people online cite. In the 1890s, an upper-class girl like Lady was considered Defiled Forever if she spent a night with a man, even if it was for chaste reasons. There's also the issue of Lady being in danger of being kicked out of her house for supposedly attacking the baby, so they're offering to take her in. These strict social rules are a thing of the past so viewers jump to other conclusions: Tramp got Lady pregnant and her friends were offering to marry her and raise her puppies together.
- The One-Scene Wonder Siamese cats are Asian stereotypes that may have been acceptable upon release, but just scream "Yellow Peril" afterwards. It's one of the most controversial scenes in Disney media due to the racist portrayal.
- Also qualifying as Deliberate Values Dissonance would be when we see Lady explaining (via flashback) that Darling physically struck her. In the time period it was set (and presumably during its release in 1955 and some years afterward as well), Corporal Punishment was deemed an acceptable means by which to correct a dog's unruly behaviour but by today's standards (with increased attention towards animal welfare), it would be deemed a cruel act more likely only shown committed by outright villains.
- Mulan:
- One scene has Double Standard in full effect; Chi-Fu goes into the bathing pool with a towel snugly wrapped around him and leaves looking shaken and angry clutching the towel around him with laughing in the background. This would never pass today what-with more awareness of bullying victims. And then Mushu comes along and chucks all subtlety out the window by grabbing his shoulders and shaking him violently which Chi-Fu is visibly surprised by. This is played for comedy.
- The movie is about a girl doing traditionally masculine things, but the movie seems only OK with this if the girl at least looks girly. Mulan as Ping is still very attractive and still can easily be seen as a very comely young lady if you know. This wouldn't be so bad on its own since a realistically grimy boot-camp trainee probably wouldn't sell as many dolls, if the movie didn't spotlight another — the only other non-traditionally — feminine woman in the movie — as a fat, gruff old lady who the movie mocks relentlessly... because she's a fat, raspy-voiced woman who actually holds a bit of power for herself.
- Women being masculine is considered empowering while men being feminine is treated as a joke. Chi-Fu is a Sissy Villain who Screams Like a Little Girl and the one time men crossdress as part of the mission is Played for Laughs, with the handsome, Badass Love Interest never touching a dress.
- Some critics (for example, The Nostalgia Chick, Lindsay Ellis) dislike the fact that Mulan turns down the post as the Emperor's consul to go home to her family. They think it implies that while a woman can be a hero, she shouldn't have an actual position of power. However, Mulan also turns down a job from the Khan (The Emperor's counterpart) and goes home to her family in the original story, which fits with a traditional Chinese message of Filial Piety. Granted, there is some Adaptation Explanation Extrication, as the gender reveal doesn't happen until Mulan has gone home in the original story.
- Pannonia Film Studio's Hungarian films:
- Cat City from 1986, a genre parody of dumb western action films and spy thrillers is one of the most popular animated films of its home country, but it's been slammed by many westerners as offensive and outright racist for its deliberately comical national stereotypes. Its native audience however argue that critics don't "get" Eastern European humor and fundamentally misunderstand the film by looking past its old-fashioned sarcasm and trying to view it from a progressive perspective. The English dub is also sub-par and gets rid of almost all the puns and raunchier jokes, arguably the film's most enduring aspect. The belated 2007 sequel is more of a mixed bag. As before, western reviewers called the movie racist for its introduction of dumb, primitive and superstitious African tribesmen stereotypes as the villains. And as before, its home audience found no issue with this, they simply thought the film wasn't funny or engaging enough.
- Johnny Corncob from 1973 is a film seeped in nationalism that romanticizes Hungarian hussar cavalry in a fairytale-like fashion. Foreign viewers have pointed to the comically racist depiction of Tartars and Turks as the film's low point. Yet in Hungary, scenes of Johnny and his fellow hussars outsmarting and massacring the nation's former oppressors are seen as uplifting and something to cheer for and be proud of. Like most East European countries, Hungary endured centuries of war, invasion and being forced to live under foreign rule, and even in the 21st century these psychological scars have not healed. Literature and fiction became one venue of acting out imagined scenarios where Hungarians would score a win over armies from other cultures. The original Johnny the Valian poem was written during the country's Habsburg oppression, while the film came out during its Soviet-influenced socialist years. Both the poem's author Sándor Petőfi and the film's director Marcell Jankovics felt audiences needed a boost in their national spirit, hence both works demonized Tartars and Turks in fanciful ways. Perfectly fine in its home, dismissed as hateful and racist in international circles.
- Son of the White Horse from 1981 is an interesting inversion, as it's far more popular internationally. Its native audience found the film's psychedelic style unpleasant and criticized its divergences from the folktales. In theaters and award ceremonies, the films was beaten out by Vuk. International media however praised the film's bold style and cared little about its source material. On the other hand, some modern reviewers found its content and gender roles too archaic. The director went on to explain the movie was meant to evoke ancient creation myths and the characters are deliberately basic traditional archetypes. In fact, people familiar with the original tales know the film is far more progressive than it seems, as it gives actual development and agency to most of its female characters and allows the male heroes to be more comedic, fallible and emotional.
- Vuk the Little Fox: In Hungary, this 1981 film is a cultural landmark and Vuk is among the most popular cartoon characters of all time. It's lauded for its themes, poetic dialogue, memorable characters and nuanced depiction of woodland animals and their struggles, with a heavy focus on the mutual cruelty between man and nature, death and loss. Being a classic literary adaptation, many are willing to overlook any potential faults in favor of its cultural value. Internationally, it's a very obscure Cult Classic at best, often seen as meaningless and horribly written, with sloppy designs and cheap animation. Some Americans argue it's far too depressing and cynical for kids, whereas Dark Humor and animal slaughter are still normal parts of rural European culture. The somewhat shoddy English dub is partially to blame, lacking the poetic wit of the original dialogue and censoring/rewriting some scenes. Another point of controversy is the unintentionally implied incest between Vuk and his mate — in the original novel they're unrelated and so Hungarian viewers don't pay much heed to how the movie muddles up their family tree.
- Peter Pan:
- The film's portrayal of the Indians is so laughably racist that it borders on self-parody. It features a mishmash of different tribes and cultures and a ferociously inappropriate song called "What Made The Red Man Red?". The filmmakers later regretted this caricature, and the tribe was notably absent from the sequel (made in 2002). However, the tribe did appear in the tie-in video game made the same year as the sequel.
- The female characters are all defined by their crush on Peter. Most notably, the mermaids try to drown Wendy just because Peter brings her to their lagoon. The film also eliminates the explanation that fairies only have room for one emotion at a time — making Tinker Bell seem like a Clingy Jealous Girl.
- At the beginning of the story, the Darlings' father decides that it's time that Wendy has a bedroom of her own. Both Wendy and the boys react in horror to this because it means that she has to move out of the nursery and it's a sign that she is growing up. Nowadays, different-gendered siblings sharing a room would have been excited to learn that they no longer have to share a bedroom with each other.
- In Pinocchio, which was released in 1940, the title character, a sentient puppet, is seen smoking a cigar along with Lampwick while the boys are playing pool, though Lampwick was in the process of turning into a donkey... or jackass, to be precise. Granted, Pinocchio hasn't become a human yet, but the idea of a child smoking wouldn't settle well nowadays. In fact, since the usage of any tobacco product is a factor before rating boards like the Motion Pictures Association of America, the film would've gotten a different rating like PG-13 or PG. Additionally, the film treats playing pool as being just as bad as smoking, drinking, and all the other vices the boys take part in. Nowadays, as long as there is no gambling involved, it's considered a respectable game of skill that people of any age can take part in and have fun.
- Pocahontas: The movie has received criticism for not accurately portraying the indigenous cultures enough.note It's also received criticism for the casting of white actors to voice the ethnic characters. Pocahontas did have a Native American cast, but had some of the singing doubled by white performers.note Contrariwise, one of the reasons why Mulan was well-received in China was due to the nuanced depictions of Chinese culture.
- Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas takes a figure from Arabian mythology, gives him a Race Lift to become Mediterranean and has the entire brown-skinned cast voiced by predominantly white actors.note The film got some flak for this at the time, but there would almost certainly be even more controversy if it was done today. The film was made in the early 2000s, and it has been suggested that filmmakers feared having an Arab hero would affect the Box Office numbers (not that it helped).
- The Lion King (1994): During the "Hakuna Matata" song, Timon prevents Pumbaa from saying the word "farted", exclaiming "Not in front of the kids!", implying that it would be inappropriate for children to hear. Nowadays, the word is not shocking at all. The remake actually cracks on this, with Pumbaa getting to sing the word, and then asking Timon in confusion if he's going to stop him. Jon Favreau outright said that by 2019, kids have heard worse than "farted".
- The Spongebob Squarepants Movie: When Mr. Krabs tries to explain why SpongeBob was passed up for the managerial position, several members of the audience try to finish his statement by suggesting various insults; the last of these is "Knucklehead McSpazitron." Likewise, SpongeBob repeats the phrase as Self-Deprecation during his speech in the film's climax. While the word "spaz" is seen as a generic insult in the film's native US, to the point where it can be juxtaposed with "dork," "goofball," "ding-a-ling," and "wingnut" without issue, in the UK, it's a ableist slur.
- Toy Story 2: The Casting Couch gag in the Hilarious Outtakes immediately became dated once #MeToo took off in 2017. Even disregarding the fact that director John Lasseter was one of the first people to be directly called out for sexual misconduct, it would be seen as much too sexually explicit for a family film after The New '10s, when the negative long term effects that sex in media has on children are taken much more seriously. Modern releases omit this clip.
- Finding Nemo has Sheldon receive a tail-whip to the back from his dad (despite doing nothing wrong) prompted by Tad saying Nemo "looks funny" when the few kids are introduced on the first day of school and none of the other characters nearby comment on this at all. Granted, it's more of a Dope Slap Played for Laughs than anything extreme (and was still deemed acceptable in some circles back in 2003) but Corporal Punishment wouldn't easily pass as a joke in children's media nowadays, especially with the consequences of physical discipline getting better known in the intervening years.
