by Francesco Prisco
In the UK, the film's rating changes: “It's discriminatory.” But there are at least five Donald Duck and Goofy shorts that are even less politically correct
3' reading
After the disclaimers for “Dumbo” and “Gone with the Wind,” Mary Poppins also finds itself in the crosshairs of political correctness. At least in the UK: The British Board of Film Classification is tightening its age classification 60 years after the release of the Disney film starring Julie Andrews. It is no longer a film for everyone, but a work for “accompanied children”. The reason for the decision lies in the “discriminatory language”, which is said to be evident in the use of the derogatory term “Hottentots”, which was originally used by white Europeans to refer to the nomadic peoples of Africa and referred to chimney sweeps with soot-smeared faces. For the same reason, here in Italy we should of course hope for a new version of a classic of our romanticism: the half-serious Grisostomo letter by Giovanni Berchet, in which the word “Hottentots” is addressed to the ignorant common people. But well, we don't fly that high. Suffice it for us to mention five short films from the Mickey Mouse production company from the 1940s and 1950s that will never be seen again in the current situation. Here you are.
The Face of the Leader (1943)
Disney was in both world wars. In the first he was a Red Cross driver in France. In the second case, as an already successful tycoon, he produced propaganda cartoons for the troops fighting against the Axis powers. The most famous, never released in Italy, is The Fuhrer's Face (1943), a short film that won an Oscar for Best Animated Film. Protagonist: Donald Duck in the hard life of a Reichswehr recruit, between detonators to assemble and shouting “Heil Hitler” and passages from “Mein Kampf” to memorize. Reconciliatory Ending: The unfortunate duck wakes up in America, sighs and hugs his beloved Statue of Liberty in a blaze of stars and stripes.
I Dream of You, California (1945)
The conquest of the West, according to Pippo in the short film “I dream of California” (California 'er Bust, 1945), where the caravans led by the heroic pioneers are forced to protect themselves from Indian attacks. The portrayal of Native Americans is nothing less than a caricature, while what was supposed to be a genocide becomes a kind of game here. Then the hurricane comes and takes everyone away.
A Present for Daisy Duck (1946)
No animals were harmed in the production of this film. How many times have we read it in the credits? Disney's animals were drawn, but in postwar America they were not so subtle: in A Gift for Daisy Duck (Dumbbell of the Yukon), here is Donald Duck, who decides to give his beloved a fur coat that is anything but ecological is to sacrifice a delicate bear cub. How do I get it out? Decapitation? Poison? In the end he will choose death, but obviously the endeavor is doomed to failure. Animal rights activists, goodbye.
Diet tomorrow! (1951)
Pippo also had online problems. Not really silly to be honest, but his fifties alter ego, George Geef, who appears in the episode “Diet Tomorrow!” (Tomorrow we're going on a diet!) engages in grueling hand-to-hand combat with an intelligent scale. Who isn't afraid to call him “fat as a pig”? Not exactly what child protection committees would want from an audiovisual product for families.
No Smoking (1951)
Before watching a vintage cartoon on Disney+, who knows how many times you read on the screen: “Contains depictions of tobacco.” If one day they decide to upload Vietato Smoking (No Smoking, 1951) to the portal, the inscription should read: “Contains only depictions of tobacco.” The short film starring Goofy/George Geef once again deals with one of the least concerned politically correct constraints of this world. Depicted in historical situations (Columbus lands in America and is honored with cigars by the Indians) and proverbial (the condemned man's last cigarette). Goofy tries to quit smoking, but his habit gets the better of him. You might as well give up.
Francesco Prisco
editor
View at ilsole24ore.com