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Disneyland to remove 'stereotypes' of Indigenous people from Peter Pan ride

Published  August 22, 2024 1:09pm PDT
Disneyland
FOX Business

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ANAHEIM, Calif. - Disney is planning to update the Peter Pan's Flight ride at Disneyland to remove what it viewed as stereotypical depictions of Indigenous people.

The move follows a recent update to the attraction at Disney World Resort in Orlando. There, Disney's "imagineers" updated a scene featuring the Never Land Tribe to remove a chief in a headdress and several braves drumming and sitting around a fire along with Tiger Lily.

The updated scene now features Tiger Lily and her mother performing a dance around the fire, while other tribe members play a ceremonial drum.

Disneyland officials told the New York Post the changes at Disneyland's version of the attraction are likely to be similar and that the company's "imagineers" are focused on "thoughtful" changes that will be made over an unspecified timeline.

Disney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Peter Pan's Flight was previously updated as part of a broader update to Disneyland's Fantasyland in 1983, which gave Tiger Lily and the Never Land Tribe a more prominent role than in the original ride.

Peter Pan's Flight at Disneyland is one of the original attractions that debuted on the theme park's opening day in 1955.

Disney has taken action other times in recent years to remove potentially insensitive content or provide warnings to viewers.

The entertainment giant has added content warnings regarding the use of racial stereotypes and references in some of its films, including "Peter Pan."

The original film made by Disney in 1953 referred to Native Americans as "redskins" and showed Peter and the Lost Boys dancing in headdresses.

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When viewers on the streaming platform Disney+ tune in to the film, a disclaimer notes the depictions and says, "These stereotypes were wrong then and are wrong now."

Disney also replaced the popular Splash Mountain rides at Disneyland in California and Magic Kingdom in Florida. 

The original rides were based on the 1946 Disney film "Song of the South" that has been criticized as racist over its stereotypical depiction of African Americans in the post-Civil War South.

It has since been remade and rebranded as Tiana's Bayou Adventure, opened earlier this summer at Magic Kingdom and is scheduled to open at Disneyland in mid-November.