Over lunch today, my dad remarked that if my mom raised me on her own, I wouldn't have watched any Disney movies (except 101 Dalmatians). My mom is strongly feminist in a very 1970s Ms. sort of way, so she objects to Disney's portrayal of women and Indians (in Peter Pan; she didn't watch Pocahontas with me when it came out). I understand her points; you'd have to either be seriously racist or blindfolded and wearing noise-cancelling headphones to think Peter Pan portrays Indians fairly. But I think children pick up on much more on what's scary in Disney movies (and anything else they watch) more than sexism and racism.
For example, I hated Pinnochio (and haven't watched it since elementary school) because of the scene when the boys turn into donkeys. Listening to a melody repeated in a particular Disney short (Mickey and the Beanstalk) made me feel annoyed, and then uneasy. I still can't stand the opening of the "Mysterious Theatre" skits that used to be on Sesame Street. As a young child, I was most afraid of certain noises, such as the noise of hand dryers and hair dryers, so I think what bothered me about Mysterious Theatre was the thunder crashing and creepy music.
I used to have trouble understanding facial expressions and emotions as a young child (I was diagnosed on the higher-functioning end of the autism spectrum), which I think made a lot of movie villains less scary. Even noticing anger was beyond my understanding, which would have certainly reduced the scariness of pretty much every villain on film. I wish I could remember the point at which emotions started to "click" for me; I can't even pinpoint when I no longer had to have special education teachers in elementary school, but it's become so clear to me in recent years what a difference they made, and I think that's something to be thankful for.
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