U.S. President Donald Trump is pushing for the repeal of the so-called DEI (diversity, equity, inclusion) policies, leading to changes at Walt Disney. Recently, Disney has been scaling back and eliminating policies and organizations related to DEI.
According to The Washington Post (WP) on the 13th (local time), Disney removed the content warnings it had placed on classic works with racially insensitive scenes, such as 'Peter Pan' and 'Dumbo.' 'Peter Pan' derogatorily referred to Native Americans as 'Red Skin,' while one of the crows helping Dumbo was named after the 'Jim Crow' laws that legalized racial segregation in the Southern United States.
Disney had stated through consultations with the African American Film Critics Association in 2020 that when classic films are played on the Disney online streaming service (OTT), they 'contain negative depictions of people or cultures, or scenes of abuse. These stereotypes were wrong then and remain wrong today.' Additionally, viewing was restricted for children under 7 years old.
In the future, Disney's warning statements regarding racial discrimination will only be available in the film details section. WP evaluated Disney's removal of warning statements as part of 'a comprehensive overhaul of DEI programs,' noting that 'this change has occurred amid a trend of corporations reducing DEI policies since the beginning of Trump's second administration.'
Disney has also replaced 'Diversity and Inclusion' with 'Talent Strategy' in its executive compensation assessment criteria. The 'storytelling and creativity' and 'synergy' sections remain unchanged. The company stated that the new performance metrics will be used to evaluate compliance with corporate values and to create an environment where employees can grow.
According to an internal Disney email obtained by WP, Disney's Chief Human Resources Officer Sonia Coleman said, 'Our commitment to fostering a corporate culture where everyone feels a sense of belonging and can excel remains unchanged,' adding that 'this is essential to providing entertainment loved in the global market.'
Disney has been a corporation that actively practiced political correctness (PC). In the animated film The Little Mermaid released in 1989, Disney portrayed the fictional character protagonist Ariel as a red-haired white mermaid, but in the 2023 live-action remake, Black actress Halle Bailey starred as the protagonist. The upcoming film Snow White, set to be released in March, also sparked controversy by casting a Latinx actor. Snow White is depicted in the original as 'a girl with hair as black as ebony and skin as white as snow.'
However, since the beginning of Trump's second administration, it has become difficult for Disney to maintain the values it once prioritized. Republican politicians and anti-DEI activists have criticized the inclusion of queer and minority characters in Disney films, while President Trump is also strongly advocating for the repeal of DEI. In December, Pixar, a Disney subsidiary, announced that it would remove transgender-related storylines from the animated series Win or Lose.