In this blog post I will analyse the uncensored version of Fantasia (1940) in order to understand racial and gender stereotypes.
The part I chose is the one drawn around the Symphony No. 6 in F, Op.68 “Pastorale” by Ludwig van Beethoven, which represents a mythical ancient Greek world with centaurs, pegasi and other Greek legendary creatures.
This part includes different social stereotypes and mainly gender stereotypes. In fact all the female centaurs, whose colour palette is pastel, are getting ready to meet the male centaurs in order to be paired. In the beginning scene some are taking a bath in the river and some are getting dressed up helped by baby cupids. Subsequently the males will be the ones choosing the partner based on the appearance.
The second main stereotype is race. It occurs in two different occasions. Firstly with a female centaur servant named Sunflower, who is part African human (hairstyle and earrings) and part donkey. She helps the female centaurs even if they do not treat her fairly. However Sunflower is only present in the uncensored version of the animations. Additionally, not only she did not appear from the published final movie, but also her scenes were not cut off and they hid her thought close-ups or treated her as invisible.
The second occurrence is when the female centaurs are walking elegantly to attract the male. This is a typical stereotype, in which the woman, beautiful and elegant, allures the male with her attentions. We can also see that all the pairs that are formed are the same colour (light red female with dark red male, light green female with dark green male). This is also a basic stereotype, that the couples have similar taste and race.
To conclude I think that this scene can mislead young children, main targets of Disney animations, causing misunderstanding about gender roles and racial discrimination.
Fabrica Animation 