Introducing 

Prezi AI.

Your new presentation assistant.

Refine, enhance, and tailor your content, source relevant images, and edit visuals quicker than ever before.

Loading…
Transcript

Jazz Gorillas?

Is the gorilla's and elephant's inherent ability to play jazz a coincidence or is Disney once again, assigning stereotypical African American behaviors on animals?

It is easy to agree that Disney is neglecting to represent the native people of Africa, however, if we look at Disney's habit of anthropomorphizing animals to represent minorities in past movies, a deeper question and problem arises...is Disney omitting African natives or only portraying them negatively?

<A href="http://bestclipartblog.com"><IMG src="http://bestclipartblog.com/clipart-pics/tarzan-clip-art-5.gif"></A>

Mia Towbin takes the notion a step further in a publication titled--Images of Gender, Race, Age, and Sexual Orientation in Disney Feature-Length Animated Films, by stating--"Tarzan, a film produced in 1999, makes strides in its portrayal of a male character who has an emotional life; however, this film also contains racist overtones. Tarzan, a White man, is shown in control of African jungles, without even one portrayal of a Black character."

Philip Cohen, author of--Tarzan and the Jungle Bonnie's. Class, Race, and Sex in Popular Culture--makes the following statement: "Tarzan is soon Lord of the Jungle, master of all he surveys. And, like all clever civilizers, he learns the natives' (that is, the animals') languages in order to get them to do his bidding. Even when he is at his wildest, uttering savage whoops and cries, he remains a born aristocrat, one of nature's gentlemen."

Imperialism

If the stories can be looked at as a metaphor for Imperialism then Jane and her father's choice to stay in Africa can be viewed as the establishment a new colony. Jane and her father join Tarzan who is now the king of the apes and therefore they are placed into a position of power and prestige amongst the natives (Rothstein).

In Conclusion

Both the original story and Disney's recreation are stories about a white man's supremacy in Africa. Imperialism and racism can be found throughout both stories. In the Disney version the lack of African natives in the film as well as the anthropomorphizing of the apes reinforces negative stereotypes and harmful white supremacy beliefs.

Tarzan

Racebending and Imperialism

work Cited

Arnold, Bonnie.Tarzan - Trashing Camp. Disney. 1999. Web. 28 May 2013. http://

www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ekbd8S5XYU.

Cohen, Philip. Tarzan and the Jungle Bonnies. Class, Race, and Sex in Popular Culture.

New Formations. Number 5 Summer 1. 988. pag. 28-29. 1987. Web. 23 May 2013.

Edgar Rice Burrughs.com. Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc. 2011. Web. 21 May. 2013.

Faherty, Vincent E. Is the mouse sensitive? A study of race, gender, and social

vulnerability in Disney animated films. Studies in Media & Information Literacy Education 1.3 (2001). Web. 23 May 2013.

Harris, Cheryl L. White washing Race: Scapegoat Culture. JSTOR: California Law

Review. Inc. Vol. 94:907. pag. 911-912. Web. 22 May 2013.

Hillman, Bill. Edgar Rice Burroughs - Tarzan. Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc, 2005. Web. 21

May. 2013.

Racebending.com - Media Consumers for Entertainment Equality. 2013. Web. 28 May

2013.

Rothstien, Edward. From Darwin to Disneyesque. The New York Times: Learning

Network. 16 July 1999. Web. 22 May 2013.

Towbin, Mia A. et. al. Images of Gender, Race, Age, and Sexual Orientation in Disney

Feature-Length Animated Films. Journal of Feminist Family Therapy, 15:4, 19-44. Web. 23 May 2013.

By Kaleb Erickson

http://openclipart.org/people/stevepetmonkey/JungleLeaf.svg

Racebending

Racebending is a term developed by the founders of Racebending.com, and is used to refer to the common practice of media changing the ethnicity of one or more characters.

We're in Africa?

Vincent Faherty, asked an important question in a essay titled--Is the mouse sensitive? A study of race, gender, and social vulnerability in Disney animated films--How is it that Disney could produce two films recently, both based in Africa (The Lion King and Tarzan) with out any native African human characters?

Tarzan of the Apes - A Romance of the Jungle

27 Tarzan Clip Art Tarzan-clip-art-6 – Best Clip Art Blog

The original Tarzan was written by Edgar Rice Burroughs and published in 1912 in a pulp magazine. Most pulps were published as serials but Tarzan was printed in full (Hillman). The publisher, Thomas Metcalf, was quoted saying: "It is the most exciting story we have seen in a blue moon, and about as original as the make'em."

The Original Tarzan

In the original, "Tarzan" meant white skin (Edgar). One of the biggest differences between the stories is that Kerchak kills Tarzan's father in the original story rather then a jaguar; also Kala is killed by a tribe of African Natives, who Tarzan torments for revenge (Edgar). Lastly Tarzan is born into an aristocratic family and more importantly, Tarzan doesn't woo Jane until the sequel (Edgar).

http://slideinfantis.blogspot.com/2009/05/tarzan.html

Disney vs. the Original

As we have seen throughout the trimester Disney likes to make its own version of the story. In both the original and the Disney version Tarzan is in fact an orphan of marooned parents in the African jungle and he is raised by the apes that he will come to rule. This is about were the similarities end.

http://images.search.yahoo.com/images/view;_ylt=A2KJkP64fKVRmjMANweJzbkF;_ylu=X3oDMTBlMTQ4cGxyBHNlYwNzcgRzbGsDaW1n?back=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.search.yahoo.com%2Fsearch%2Fimages%3Fp%3Ddisney%2527s%2Btarzan%2Bclipart%26_adv_prop%3Dimage%26va%3Ddisney%2527s%2Btarzan%2Bclipart%26fr%3Dmoz35%26tab%3Dorganic%26ri%3D53&w=275&h=402&imgurl=www.disneyclips.com%2Fimagesnewb6%2Fimageslwrakr01%2Fclipkal5.gif&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.disneyclips.com%2Fimagesnewb6%2Ftarzan9.html&size=22.8KB&name=Walt+%3Cb%3EDisney+%3C%2Fb%3EBaby+%3Cb%3ETarzan+Clipart+%3C%2Fb%3E-+%3Cb%3EDisney+Clipart+%3C%2Fb%3EGalore&p=disney%27s+tarzan+clipart&oid=d8c9756667bf6424a8e20b53cdb93077&fr2=&fr=moz35&tt=Walt+%3Cb%3EDisney+%3C%2Fb%3EBaby+%3Cb%3ETarzan+Clipart+%3C%2Fb%3E-+%3Cb%3EDisney+Clipart+%3C%2Fb%3EGalore&b=31&ni=56&no=53&ts=&tab=organic&sigr=11jpkvgue&sigb=14g14mdt1&sigi=11rlvp982&.crumb=JLQdfYYuqH8&fr=moz35

http://www.tarzan.org/history_of_tarzan_part1.html

Learn more about creating dynamic, engaging presentations with Prezi