Exotifying Other Cultures Because You Think It's a "Compliment". They tried. Top editors give you the stories you want delivered right to your inbox each weekday. BOZEMAN, Mont. When a young Inuit hunter needlessly kills a bear, he is magically changed into a bear himself as punishment with a talkative cub being his only guide to changing back. His being is caught betwixt and between: he is a bear with a stupid human mind. It is set approximately 2000 years ago. It likely takes place in Alaska as it features grizzlies, moose and auroras, but the animators said they visited national parks in Alaska and in the contiguous United-States for inspiration. The real Pocahontas was about 12 when she met John Smith. As for the talent involved, one of the music producers was South African. The Princess and the Frog is inspired by a European fairy tale called The Frog Prince. [19], Brother Bear was originally slated for a spring 2004 release, while Home on the Range was scheduled for a 2003 release. [20] However, Disney announced that Brother Bear would be released in fall 2003, while Home on the Range was pushed back for a spring 2004 release. AltseWait 3 yr. ago. The actress playing Nani was born in Hawaii and the actor playing David grew up there. The local shaman disagrees with this action, and transforms the brother into a bear. Today, many believe the crows to be racist caricatures of black Americans for their use of "jive talk." "The hyenas had to change a lot," said Jon Favreau in Disney's press notes for the new movie. brother bear cultural appropriationerik ellington supra shoe's causes of conflict around the world Fundacin Gil Gayarre . Posted in Uncategorized and tagged appropriation in fashion , cultural appropriation , Drink 818 , Drink 818 is appropriation , fashion , indigenous , indigenous culture , kendall jenner , kendall . The film begins at a standard widescreen aspect ratio of 1.75:1 (similar to the 1.85:1 ratio common in U.S. cinema or the 1.78:1 ratio of HDTV), while Kenai is a human; in addition, the film's art direction and color scheme are grounded in realism. The movie got a tiny bit of criticism for its portrayal of Kristoff as a blond Sami. The old shaman is Tanana (mispronounced, at least in the usual Alaska sense, as Ta-NA-na). Disney films have been a mainstay in many people's childhoods for generations, but some elements of them don't hold up today. It was beautiful and moving. One major criticism Keziah received was that she profaned the dress by wearing it to a party. kiss kiss kiss! Tahana reveals that his spirit helper is the bear. One of the great American myths about native shamans is that they were rare. An ongoing question in the cultural appropriation versus appreciation conversation is, how do white people who love black, Asian, Latinx, Indigenous, and other cultures and its creations express . Brother Bear was the first feature since The Horse Whisperer to do a widescreen shift. The website's consensus reads, "Brother Bear is gentle and pleasant if unremarkable Disney fare, with so-so animation and generic plotting. Cultural assimilation is the process in which a minority group or culture comes to resemble a dominant group or assume the values, behaviors, and beliefs of another group. The term "Cultural appropriation" is a post-civil rights liberal revisionist term. as well as other partner offers and accept our, Walt Disney Productions/RKO Radio Pictures, Visit Insider's homepage for more stories, Kristen Bell recalled asking her young daughters in an interview with Parents.com, many believe the crows to be racist caricatures of black Americans, "Pinocchio" live-action remake moving forward, wrote Elizabeth Broadbent for The Huffington Post, apes embody historically dehumanizing, racist comparisons between black people and apes, Kenzie Allen, a descendant of the Oneida Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin, told The Atlantic, The New York Times said of the song in 1993, Dann Hassler-Forest wrote in The Washington Post, argues YouTuber Rowan Ellis in her video essay. The do's, don'ts, maybes, and I-don't-knows of cultural appropriation. "To characterize an entire region with this sort of tongue-in-cheek bigotry, especially in a movie aimed at children, borders on barbaric," The New York Times said of the song in 1993. Yes, powerful shamans who could cure were rare, but the use of medicine powers was not. August 26, 2015 11:10 AM EDT. "Under this reading, when Beauty at last tells the Beast that she loves him, it doesn't feel like a genuine romantic decision made by a fully empowered woman under her own free will," wrote Constance Grady for Vox. "Because of the photo-real nature of the film, having too broad of a comedic take on the hyenas felt inconsistent with what we were doing.". Co-creation, not cultural appropriation, is the way forward. Disney wisely avoided recreating this scene in the "Dumbo" remake, but they cheekily reference it. Mouse, tells him to drink a barrel of alcohol that he thought was water. Here are some of the most common ways people end up causing harm through appropriation, even without meaning to - even when they're just trying to help. without permission. 578. [15] Art Director Robh Ruppel stated that the ending of the film originally showed how Kenai and Denahi get together once a year to play when the northern lights are in the sky. But if you're unfamiliar with "Song of the South," the 1946 Disney movie that they come from, you're not alone it's been locked away in the Disney Vault for decades, and is considered the company's most offensive release. Tribal. This can include unauthorized use of another culture's dance, dress, music, language, folklore, cuisine, traditional medicine, religious symbols, etc. Think black people being called thugs, assumed to be gang members and refused job opportunities when we wear cornrows, or even our own natural hair. Do you find the movie Brother Bear offensive and/or inaccurate? I will go over the movies that either take place outside the United-States or focus on minorities of the United-States (but I will skip Songs of the South!). Collins, who had never written a score before, was excited to learn and the end result is wonderful. 1. Following the critical and commercial success of The Lion King, Disney chairman and CEO Michael Eisner urged for more animal-centric animated features, and suggested a North American backdrop, taking particular inspiration from an original landscape painting by Albert Bierstadt that he bought. In the halls of academia, discourse regarding cultural appropriation arose in the late 1970s, sparked by the publication of Edward Said 's famous book "Orientalism.". "[] Yes, there is visibility in telling their stories, but it is a tainted visibility, a false reality rendered through the dominant culture, which seeks to ameliorate, always, the horrific methods by which they came to occupy an entire nation's worth of landmass.". The story is an original folktale, but Maui is a famous character in Polynesian mythology. (I'm sorry if this is not the right place to ask about Inuits, but I couldn't find a different sub to ask this in. Thus, the account not only bolsters our un derstanding of how cultural appropriation can cause harm, but may also provide the resources to lodge objections to cultural appropriation without exacerbating the harms of essentialism. Mulan takes a famous Chinese legend and turns it into the most awesome Disney movie ever. My favorite quote from Brother Bear: "Hey baby! : Why Disney Channel turned down Brother Bear: The Series", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Brother_Bear&oldid=1141793525, Best Performance in a Voice-Over Role - Young Actor, This page was last edited on 26 February 2023, at 20:57. On the positive side, Disney can shine their spotlight on various countries and cultures, depict diverse people and ideas, and promote openness and understanding. Brother Bear has Inuit protagonists. And family audiences are treated to a vibrantly hued movie with appealing characters. Cultural Appropriation: "Taking intellectual property, traditional knowledge, cultural expressions, or artifacts from someone else's culture without permission. He hunts down and chases the bear up onto a rocky cliff, fighting and eventually slaying it. [3] In order to be human again, Kenai must travel to a mountain where the Northern lights touch the earth. The drunken inn is a possible Bavarian stereotype. It is important to understand, however, that there is a difference between appreciation and appropriation . It is partially a documentary and the rest is humorous. Appropriation on the other hand, is simply taking one aspect of a culture . He later wrote: "This opulent movie, with gorgeous rainbow animation, is heavy on message but light on humor."[37]. [12], The film is traditionally animated but includes some CG elements such as "a salmon run and a caribou stampede". I s the . Your email address will not be published. Irene Bedard, a Native American actress, voiced Pocahontas. Look for much more on American Indian medicine powers to come. Cultural Appropriation, by some it's seen as an adoption culture being stolen away from a dominant group. ", Disney replaced the first half of those lyrics in all future versions of the movie after facing backlash from the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, but refused to cut, "It's barbaric, but hey, it's home.". "[34], Writing for Variety, Todd McCarthy summarized that "Brother Bear is a very mild animated entry from Disney with a distinctly recycled feel [because] the film's characters and narrative simply fail to engage strong interest, and tale is probably too resolutely serious to enchant small fry in the way the better Disney titles always have. I also read that the story was inspired by a supposed gap in the navigation history of the Polynesian peoples. Another thing Id like to see is a movie set in Africa, also with human characters. The lead crow is even named Jim Crow in an obvious reference to the racist Southern segregation laws that lasted until the mid-1960s. Additional vocals by Patrick Pinney, Bob Bergen, Rodger Bumpass, Roger Rose, Debi Derryberry, Randy Crenshaw, Phil Proctor, John Schwab, Bill Farmer, Pamela Adlon, Hope Levy, and Sherry Lynn. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 37% of 131 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.5/10. When patterns of borrowing fail to acknowledge their sources and compensate them, they can be categorized as cultural appropriation. [10], In March 2001, Joaquin Phoenix confirmed he was cast in the film, exclaiming, "Oh, but forget the Oscar nomination (for Gladiator). When it comes to cultural portrayal, Disney has to walk the line between representation and appropriation. Sweeney. "[17] While Collins composed six songs for the film, he shared vocal performance duties with Tina Turner, who sang the opening song;[18] the Blind Boys Of Alabama and the Bulgarian Women's Choir, who performed the song, "Transformation". Can you paint with all the colors of the wind? Kenai falls down some rapids, survives, and is healed by Tanana, the shaman of his tribe. My first memory of Chuck Berry came from the movie "Back to the Future.". As Ursula tells Ariel when she agrees to give up her ability to speak in order to become human and vie for Prince Eric's affections, "On land it's much preferred for ladies not to say a word / It's she who holds her tongue who gets a man. All American Indian medicine ceremonies are also preceded by a purification ritual, the purpose of which is to invoke humbleness. While there are Sami people who are blond, the Sami people characteristically have darker hair and skin. Amandla Stenberg, an activist and an individual who has considerable reach amongst the masses used her platform as an actress to speak out against cultural appropriation when she responded to a post on the Instagram of a celebrity teen socialite in early July. I hope in the future they do more fairy tales set in real places. Representation or appropriation? In the 2019 remake of "The Lion King," the hyenas are much shrewder and more threatening. The film grossed $250 million against a $46 million budget. (This is a linguistic score for Disney--the Kenai people belong to the Tanaina tribe, and her name symbolizes that Tahana is the essence of her people.) Its worth a watch to see how Disney sort of sticks to history while doubling down on the noble savage trope. She does not speak the bear language, but advises him to return to the mountain to find Sitka and be turned back to a human, but only when he atones for his actions; she vanishes without an explanation. Bear shamans are also well known for the ability to transform into a bear. [5] Around 2000, the story evolved into a tale in which the transformed Kenai is taken in by an older bear, Grizz, who was to be voiced by Michael Clarke Duncan. For the parade, the song had slightly changed lyrics and was performed by an ensemble. "[11] After the filmmakers heard his audition tapes for Finding Nemo, Jeremy Suarez was cast as Koda. I'm almost certain it's not accurate but wanted to know if it was offensive. Native American war bonnets are among the most instantly recognizable artifacts of Native American culture, and for this reason, often the most appropriated items of Native American culture.. A war bonnet is a piece of headgear made using eagle feathers and beads and worn either during battle or on special ceremonial occasions . Her trip to England and marriage to John Rolfe are bizarrely portrayed in the direct-to-video sequel. The Jungle Book was Disneys first feature-length adventure outside of Europe and the United-States. Koda is reunited briefly with the spirit of his mother before she and Sitka return to the spirit world. It may have come from some sort of New Age spirituality, but the problem comes when the concept is misused in a way that trivializes generations of deep Indigenous belief from a host of different cultures. It defends the present day colonial mindset that believes it . See more. In 1955's "Lady and the Tramp," the character Aunt Sarah has two Siamese cats named Si and Am, who sing "The Siamese Cat Song." I love it when Disney movies travel around the world. of cultural appropriation while eschewing the identification of cultural outsiders in individual cases. The crowd, waiting to see B.B. When Tahana calls for him, Kenai's childish dream is to get a power stronger than either of them. Matt Sayles/Invision, via Associated Press. Ohio University launched a poster campaign in 2011 called "We're a Culture, Not a Costume.". This fact applies only to more recent times. Lilo takes hula lessons, Nani surfs and the dialogue contains Hawaiian slang. While riding on the backs of a mammoth herd, Koda reveals that his mother is missing. In addition, for many Indigenous peoples and local communities, making traditional clothes is a source of income; as such, cultural appropriation can . Mulan and Aladdin are to date my favorite classic Disney films. "Animals have sustained our people for thousands of years . 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