Disney is U-turning on its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs and restoring some of its classic films to their former glory on its streaming platform Disney+.
In a note sent to employees on Tuesday, obtained by Axios, Chief Human Resources Officer Sonia Coleman detailed the company’s policy changes that removed previous alerts about scenes involving racial or outdated stereotypes.
Disclaimers had been put on older titles like Dumbo and Peter Pan, which warned viewers of ‘negative depictions and/or mistreatment of peoples or cultures’.
Now, a new, updated advisory will read: ‘This program is presented as originally created and may contain stereotypes or negative depictions’, according to the outlet.
Peter Pan’s disclaimer was due to the movie featuring a Native American tribe whose members are referred to as ‘redskins’.
Dumbo, the 1941 cartoon about a lovable flying elephant, was accused of ridiculing enslaved African-Americans on Southern plantations.
At one point during a musical interlude, faceless black workers toil away to offensive lyrics such as, ‘When we get our pay, we throw our money all away’.
Disney will also now replace their diversity and inclusion factor that is used to evaluate executive compensation with a new ‘talent strategy’, according to Coleman.
Disney will replace their diversity and inclusion factor that is used to evaluate executive compensation with a new ‘talent strategy’
Sources inside the company confirmed that Disney would be updating their use of language in content advisories before certain titles on streaming services. CEO Bob Iger is seen here
That new strategy will include some ideas taken from its original diversity and inclusion factor, but will be focus more on how values drive success.
The memo also reportedly said they will throw out their ‘Reimagine Tomorrow’ initiative, which was used to amplify talent from underrepresented communities.
Chief Human Resources Officer Sonia Coleman, seen here, detailed the company’s change in policy in a note to employees
Part of the memo also detailed the changing the name of the so-called ‘Business Employee Resource Groups’ to ‘Belonging Employee Resource Groups’.
Disney did not immediately respond to the DailyMail.com’s request for comment.
Other movies that had included warnings included 1970 musical comedy The Aristocats, 1955 canine love story Lady and the Tramp and 1960 adventure Swiss Family Robinson.
In relation to The Aristocats – a film about a group of musical felines – Disney warned viewers about a scene where one of the cats, who is voiced by a white actor, chants out stereotypical Chinese ‘words’ while playing the piano with chopsticks.
The Jungle Book, a 1967 adaptation of Rudyard Kipling’s novel, was also highlighted, namely for its depiction of the ape King Louie, which has been accused of perpetuating stereotypes about African Americans.
Lady And The Tramp was placed on the list due to its perceived stereotyping of Asians courtesy of Siamese cats Si and Am, while a dog pound features canines with largely ethnic names and accents, including Mexican and Russian.
Peter Pan’s disclaimer was due to the movie featuring a Native American tribe whose members are referred to as ‘redskins’
The Jungle Book was highlighted, namely for its depiction of the ape King Louie, which has been accused of perpetuating stereotypes of African Americans
In relation to The Aristocats – a film about a group of musical felines – Disney warns viewers about a scene where one of the cats, who is voiced by a white actor, chants out stereotypical Chinese ‘words’ while playing the piano with chopsticks
The decision to reverse their policies comes amid a seismic cultural shift across corporate America.
CEO Bob Iger has in the past spoke out against Trump in previous years but has remained quieter as the president’s second term got underway.
He also previously spoke out about the company’s movies being too focused on messaging over actual entertainment value.
Speaking to The New York Times in 2023, he said: ‘I’ve used ‘Black Panther’ as a great example of that just in terms of fostering acceptance, or the movie ‘Coco’.
‘I like being able to do that, entertain and if you can infuse it with positive messages, have a good impact on the world, fantastic. But that should not be the objective.’
Asked last year at Disney’s shareholder meeting if the company would stay out of politics, Iger also emphasized Disney’s prime focus on entertaining.
He said: ‘I’ve always believed that we have a responsibility to do good in the world, but we know our job is not to advance any kind of agenda.
‘For as long as I’m in the job, I’m going to continue to be guided by a sense of decency and respect, and we’ll always trust our instincts.’
The year before that he told an analyst call that he was ‘sensitive’ about ‘promoting the woke agenda’ telling those that Disney ‘should not be agenda-driven’.
He echoed that similar idea in September of that year, telling investors Disney would ‘quiet the noise’ surrounding culture wars.
It comes after Google also announced last week that they would be scrapping their DEI hiring targets.
The decision to U-turn on their policies comes amid a seismic cultural shift across corporate America after President Trump returned to the White House
In a memo to employees, Google said it was considering other changes in response to an executive order from President Trump aimed at prohibiting federal contractors from conducting DEI practices that constitute ‘illegal discrimination’.
Google’s parent company Alphabet also signaled things were changing in its annual 10-K report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The report dropped a boilerplate sentence it has used since 2020 declaring that the company is ‘committed to making diversity, equity, and inclusion part of everything we do and to growing a workforce that is representative of the users we serve.’
Bosses at the tech company said that they would no longer be striving to improve DEI representation in the workforce.
President Trump was quick to make good on his own promise of demolishing DEI policies in his second term.
Last week, more than 8,000 pages were scrubbed from government websites as he demanded the federal workforce comply with his new DEI initiatives.
Many of the pages contained information about ‘climate initiatives’ or ‘transgender care.’
The scrubs come after the Office of Personnel Management sent a two-page memo demanding all heads of government agencies comply with measures to end DEI programs.
That memo laid out ‘steps to end federal funding of gender ideology.’
It included an order to ‘take down all outward facing media that inculcate or promote gender ideology.’
Trump also ordered federal employees to remove their pronouns from their email signatures.
And he required all federal agencies to ‘recognize women are biologically female, and men are biologically male.’
