Peter Pan, Pocahontas, and the Bashful Savages

Disney’s musical cartoons Peter Pan and Pocahontas have captured the hearts and minds of children for years. The beloved animated features are a staple in film meant solely for the entertainment of children. Therein lays the problem. Both movies inextricably portray Native Americans in a negative light, reinforcing stereotypes and delivering them right into the minds of children. Take a look at these two clips.





In the song “What Makes the Red Man Red,” children both in the movie (and in the audience) receive answers for some of their questions about Native Americans. Of particular note, is the question presented in the title of the song. First, calling American Indians “Red Men,” racializes them and places them in a different category altogether from most of the children watching the movie. They become different, not equal. Second, the answer produced from the question states, “Let's go back a million years / To the very first Injun prince. He kissed a maid and start to blush / And we've all been blushin' since.” The song not only makes a point to racialize the natives, but it also blames the creation of their race on a feeling of bashfulness when kissing a girl. More importantly, it presupposes that Native Americans were once white, becoming different after that single moment. Additionally, the animation that goes along with the song reinforces Native American stereotypes, focusing on strange tribal dances, incomprehensible language, drug use through a ceremonial pipe, and even misogyny. Is this really the image of Native Americans we want to deliver to children?

The song, “Savages,” on the other hand is a little more straight forward, repeatedly calling natives “savages,” “heathens,” “vermin,” “barely even human,” and “devils.” Even though the movie attempts to preach coexistence and tolerance, the words used in this song forcefully introduce stereotypes into the minds of children. No progress can be made while these stereotypes still continue to haunt the native people. No matter the historical context, by even momentarily portraying American Indians as savages, they will continue to be victims of stereotyping. Progress toward tolerance and equality can only be made if Native Americans can be presented in a positive modern light, free from American history and hundreds of years worth of stereotyping.