Few people outside the company have seen footage of the movie. Among them are consultants like Oprah Winfrey, whom Disney asked for input on the racial aspects of the film and was cast as Tianas mother. (Movie theater owners and members of the NAACP have also been shown scenes, and the reactions, according to a Disney spokeswoman, were extremely positive.)
Fueling the debate are photos of related merchandise taken from a toy industry event, a one-minute teaser trailer and Disneys enormous cultural impact.
The company wants to vanquish once and for all the whispers of racism that linger from stumbles in the past. Yes, Dumbo traded in black stereotypes in 1941 with its band of uneducated, pimp-hat-wearing crows. All the animals in The Jungle Book from 1967 speak in proper British accents except for the jive-talking monkeys who desperately want to become real people.
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