The Change in Portrayal of Native Peoples in Disney Movies

The Change in Portrayal of Native Peoples in Disney Movies 

Disney's Peter Pan (1953)

In 1953 Disney released Peter Pan, a movie that follows the story of a family of small children being magically taken into a place called NeverEver Land. While they are in NeverEver Land they come across a band of Native Americans who called them selves Algonquin. This movie was released in 1953, and as you can imagine the portrayal of Native Americans was very stereotypical and was also very inaccurate. 

Disney's Peter Pan (1953)
First view of Native American

The photo on the right is the first view of the "Algonquin" in Peter Pan. This photo is a Native Person wearing moccasins and hiding inside of a tree while sneaking up on one of the boys. Moccasins are shoes that are stereotypically associated with Native Americans, and Disney uses this stereotype to portray the Native Americans. 

Disney's Peter Pan (1953)
View of Native American Camp

After the children were captured by the Native Americans they were brought back to their camp high up on a cliff. This camp uses the common stereotypes that all Native Americans lived in teepees and had totem poles. According to Britannica, totem poles were only carved by Native Americans on the Northwest Coast of the United States and Canada. This is problematic because according to Anthrosource the only Native Americans who lived in teepees were plains Native Americans who were no where near the totem pole using Natives on the Northwest coast. This is another situation of Disney using common stereotypes for their animated movies. 

Even though this movie was released in 1953 common false stereotypes were used for the Native Americans. These stereotypes have been disproven and this is the first case of Disney using these uncommon stereotypes. 

My Opinion on Native American Portrayal in Peter Pan:

This movie came at a time where companies could get away with portraying Native Americans as savages. This does not excuse that this portrayal is still inaccurate and offensive. The teepees and totem poles are the most blatant use of lack of research because they are from opposite sides of the United States. Even with the times, this portrayal could have been done better.

Disney's Pocahontas (1995)

In 1995 Disney released Pocahontas, Pocahontas was different from many movies before it because the main character was a Native American woman. No animated movie had used a Native American woman as a main character before and it was a step in the right direction, but there are still many problems with Pocahontas. The most critical point people make for Pocahontas is that the character Pocahontas is portrayed very differently than how she actually was. 

Disney's Pocahontas (1995)
Pocahontas helps a recently injured John Smith

This photo shows Pocahontas helping an injured John Smith. Disney changed the entire story of Pocahontas and John Smith. According to SmithonianMag Pocahontas was only around the age of 11-12 years old. Disney changes her into a 20-30 year old woman who falls in love with John Smith. John Smith at the time would have actually been 20-30 years old. Disney changing Pocahontas for film purposes shows that they did not care about the actual history, but instead the ways they could benefit from the story.

Disney's Pocahontas (1995)
Pocahontas throws herself in front of John Smith
 to save him from her father

A common film technique used for Native Americans that has been used in other films such as Last of the Mohicans, is the Native Americans fighting for the white people or Americans are portrayed as the "good guys". This is the case with Pocahontas, Pocahontas is portrayed as the hero of the story because she saves John Smith from her father. All of the other Native Americans are portrayed negatively except for Pocahontas because she helps to unite the Native Americans and white people.

My Opinion on Native American Portrayal in Pocahontas:

Pocahontas came later in progression than Peter Pan did but there are still some problems with it. The biggest problem being that Pocahontas is portrayed very inaccurately due to her age. Being 11 or 12 there is no way that Pocahontas would have engaged with John Smith in this way, and Disney changed her for and the story and for the sake of their movie.




Disney's Moana (2016)

In 2016 Disney released the movie Moana. Moana was one of the first movies produced that followed Native Polynesians and their culture. Not only did Moana portray the Native Polynesians, but it portrayed them both positively and accurately.

Valley Isle Excursions
Accurate depiction of Maui

Even though Moana is praised for its cultural accuracy, there are still some inaccuracies that Disney used for the sake of the film. The largest of these inaccuracies is the physical descriptions of Maui. In the movie Maui is shown to be a large man, similar to a large Polynesian man. Though, Maui is often thought of as a smaller, and more muscular man. According to Valley Isle Excursions, Maui is more human than he is portrayed to be in the films. Maui is thought to have lived in a house, caring for his mother, and tricking his brothers and sisters into all sorts of adventures. There is little mention of this in the movie, and even though the depiction of Maui is not very accurate, in Moana he is still very similar to humans.

Disney's Moana (2016)
Photo of Maui

My Opinion on Native Polynesian Portrayal in Moana:

Moana is very accurate and portrays nearly everything very accurately. The only criticism of Moana is that Maui is shown very differently in the movie from how is depicted in real life. I think that Maui was changed to better fit the look of what many would think a Polynesian god would look like, and that it was also done to better fit the voice of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. These changes were not necessary but were not done to promote American influence over the Native People.

My Opinion on the Changes Disney Has Made Over Time:

Disney started in the early 1920's during a time where Native People were still heavily oppressed by the U.S. Government. This is visible in their works, even likely the most famous movie Disney has made, Peter Pan. Even though Disney started in that time, they have also changed with the time. In the mid 1990's Disney still had some cultural insensitivities, but they now respected the Native Peoples and cultures. Now closer to the present day, Disney has continued to adapt towards the times and produced a movie like Moana. Moana accurately showed the culture and lives on Native Polynesians and the gods they worshipped. One of the only inaccuracies in Moana was the depiction of Maui, but this was done to better fit the voice actor. Overall Disney has adapted throughout the times and changed for the better. 

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Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Totem Pole." Encyclopædia Britannica. November 12, 2018. Accessed April 26, 2019. https://www.britannica.com/art/totem-pole.

Campbell, Walter S. "The Tipis of The Crow Indians." Accessed April 26, 2019. https://anthrosource.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1525/aa.1927.29.1.02a00060.

Peter Pan. Peter Pan. February 5, 1953. Accessed April 26, 2019.

Mansky, Jackie. "The True Story of Pocahontas." Smithsonian.com. March 23, 2017. Accessed April 28, 2019. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/true-story-pocahontas-180962649/.

Pocahontas. Pocahontas. June 23, 1995. Accessed April 28, 2019.

//www.facebook.com/doug.bowser.92. Valley Isle Excursions. October 10, 2018. Accessed April 28, 2019. https://www.tourmaui.com/maui-demigod/.

Moana. Moana. November 23, 2016. Accessed April 28, 2019.