Is There Racism Expressed Through the Dialects of Characters in Disney Movies?

For this project, I studied several Disney movies to observe the dialects of the characters and see if these dialects reflect stereotypes of certain ethnic groups. I also talked to some people about what they thought about the subject. Most said that they didn’t think about it or notice it much. Here are the results of my project:

COMMENTS:

• I guess I never really thought about it before, but now that you point it out, maybe I will notice it more. I don’t think it has any effect on the kids at all, they’re too young to notice. -Carol, 34
• I never thought about that stuff when I was little, but I notice it now when I see movies. -Liz, 18
• A movie wouldn’t be very interesting if all the characters talked the same way. -Kurt, 18
• Of course a lot of the stereotypes we see are obnoxious and sometimes racist, but kids don’t pick up on that sort of thing. -Dave, 35

RESULTS OF MY ANALYSIS: It is clear that most positive characters in Disney films speak with a standard American English accent, while the majority of negative characters have foreign accents. While this may be offensive to many people, it is highly unlikely that these stereotypes have any affect on the children who watch the films.