Walt's Original Sins: Disney and Racism

by Josh Spiegel, Bob McLain (Editor)

The conundrum of Walt Disney's racism, sexism, and other-isms is enduring fodder for speculation, argument, and of course, "outrage". Here, in compact form, ready for renewed analysis, is a catalog of the Disney company's cinematic "sins", from Mickey to Moana . Disney itself feeds the frenzy by its permanent embargo of Song of the South , the film that many fans—even those who haven't seen it—regard as irredeemably racist. But what about Peter Pan ? Aladdin ? Mulan ? The Jungle Book ? Even Lady and the Tramp and The Aristocats ? Do all these films truly contain threads of racism and misogyny, or have they been unfairly deconstructed by modern critics? Film critic Josh Spiegel takes a close look at Disney's classic films and finds that it wasn't just Walt who didn't get woke.

122 pages, Paperback

Published April 23, 2018