I was watching a bunch of Disney movies with my sister yesterday and I do not think they are a good influence on children, especially girls. The movies are full of racist and sexist messages.
The classic Disney princesses are all dangerously underweight. Many are passive and helpless and even those who do have some control over their own lives are still ultimately reliant on the prince to save them. Most marry in their teens.
On top of this there is a pattern in the appearances of the characters. Protagonists of both genders are beautiful, supporting characters are strange looking and villains are ugly or monstrous. This clearly sends the wrong message about appearance. Villains are always darker in colour than the heroes as well. Even on the rare occasion heroes are not white they are always lighter skinned than the villains.
I would not take issue with any of this if these were movies for adults, but as Disney movies are not only aimed at young children but are usually the first movies children see it is important to be aware of the lessons they are teaching.
What does everybody else think? Are Disney movies a bad influence on children? Do the characters make good role models?
EDIT: I would like to retract my claim about Beauty and the Beast not being harmful in light of some well reasoned responses. I still think it is better than most but clearly there are problems I missed.
EDIT 2: I would like to make clear that this isn't a call for censorship or banning Disney or anything like that. If you think it is please read the OP again.
