There have been murmurings for years now that The Walt Disney Company has been on a collision course with its founder, Walt Disney. Perhaps today that dam is finally breaking loose.
The Walt Disney Company has responded to Variety today to defend itself from the criticisms it faced from Peter Dinklage over “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs”. In doing so, it has seemingly condemned Walt Disney’s masterpiece and the very first full-length animated feature film.
“To avoid reinforcing stereotypes from the original animated film, we are taking a different approach with these seven characters and have been consulting with members of the dwarfism community. We look forward to sharing more as the film heads into production after a lengthy development period.”
— The Walt Disney Company
Okay.
So does that mean there will be no more appearances from the Seven Dwarfs as featured in the animated film? No more dwarfs in the parks? No more depictions in animation? It seems that’s a big statement from a company whose existence is fundamentally set upon that film. Without Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the animated film, there would be no Walt Disney Company today. If Disney uses the animated versions of the Dwarfs in the future, are they reinforcing stereotypes one should avoid?
That Park Place will reach out to The Walt Disney Company to request info as to whether or not the animated Seven Dwarfs are now considered stereotypes which should be avoided and not reinforced. Should we get an answer, we will let you know.
Just a heads up from this author to Disney: if you seek to become more and more pure and inoffensive in every possible way, you will never succeed.
Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
