Disney+ or Minus Inclusivity?
Disney+ has been around for a little over a month now, and whether you’re a gen Z-er experiencing the Disney Channel Original Movies (DCOM) for the first time, or a 90s kid reliving the magic of the channel’s original made for TV movies, the DCOMs sure don’t disappoint. But some things certainly have changed since Disney Channel aired its first original movie in 1996. Luckily, from early on, Disney Channel was pretty big on focusing on minority groups — particularly women. I mean, they did bring us the feminist icons of Motorcrossed, Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century, and everyone’s favorite, Cadet Kelly, along with a plethora of other great female characters. But every now and then, Disney Channel produces an insensitive and un-inclusive movie as well. Time to explore both sides…
First on this list is Twas the Night, from 2001. Twas the Night is about a con artist who, while on the run to escape his debt, knocks out Santa Claus and tricks his nephew into driving Santa’s sleigh in order to steal expensive gifts; all while under the guise of delivering presents and saving Christmas. There is a reason this film is low on the DCOM list. Despite Bryan Cranston’s good acting, the story is pretty predictable and could even be interpreted as a millennial version of The Grinch. In addition, the main characters are just plain mean and unrelatable, making it hard to root for them. Twas the Night only includes two people of color, both with small roles. Jung-Yul Kim portrays Elliot, the angry henchman of the villains, and Jamie Robinson plays Pablo, the leader of a gang in a bad neighborhood, reinforcing the stereotype that Hispanics are associated with criminals and street gangs. The film overall is derivative and really makes you question Bryan Cranton’s choices in roles between his Malcolm in the Middle and Breaking Bad days.
Thankfully, Twas the Night is buried amongst the many other much more inclusive Disney Channel Original films and was immediately followed by the female basketball hit Double Teamed, and the Hilary Duff/Christy Carlson Romano flick Cadet Kelly. We may have been cursed with Twas the Night in 2001, but we were gifted with Up, Up, and Away one year earlier. Up, Up, and Away was most likely the jumping off point for Disney’s feature length film Sky High. Both films are about a superhero family where the protagonist son is waiting to get his powers. Unlike Will in Sky High, in Up, Up, and Away, Scott never develops super powers, but learns that you don’t have to be super to help people. Another big difference between these two films is that the superhero family in Up, Up, and Away is African-American. We may not have gotten a black superhero movie from Marvel until Black Panther, but Disney Channel gave viewers a whole family full of them eighteen years prior.
A key member in this family of superheroes is Scott’s mom, Warrior Woman, who proves in the very first fight scene, that she does not need her husband to be strong — she kicks butt and takes on bank robbers all on her own. Other important women to note in this film are Nina, an environmental genius who creates computer programs that can mind control both teens and adults. Also, Amy, who although is somewhat of a love interest for Scott, that is definitely not all she is, and shows to be both courageous and sporty throughout the movie.
Since Twas the Night was made after Up, Up, and Away, one could argue that DCOMs took a step backwards on the inclusion scale for a moment. But Twas the Night was instead followed by more inclusive DCOMs like The Cheetah Girls and Twitches. And of course, what kind of DCOM inclusivity article would this be if I neglected to mention the most famous of all: The Color of Friendship.
The Color of Friendship takes place in the 1970s and brings two very different young girls together from across the globe. Piper, a black congressman’s daughter in Washington D.C., and Mahree, a white policeman’s daughter from South Africa. Once these girls get over their initial preconceived opinions of one another they realize that they are not that different and learn about friendship and prejudice. Although the girls’ bonding and friendship seems extremely fast paced, through its shopping and dancing montages, the teaching moments in the film are certainly powerful and take the time to hit home. The Color of Friendship tackles some big issues like racism and police brutality, topics you don’t usually see in movies directed at kids — there is a reason why this DCOM won an Emmy for Outstanding Children’s Program.
As the world of DCOMs continue on we are still sometimes met with hits and misses. For example, Disney Channel’s original 2014 movie How to Build a Better Boy features an incredibly bright woman of color, but also focuses largely on the protagonists’ love interest and her whole world revolving around him…also did I forget to mention that he’s a robot? Yikes. But then there are characters like the badass Kim Possible, and Mal from the even more popular Descendants. Disney Channel Original Movies have certainly come a long way since Twas the Night, and have since featured more diverse casts, but I hope it learns to reapply the awesome girl power it had in it’s 2000’s films into its present day originals.
