The Walt Disney Company has become no stranger to censorship and banning.
Disney made the decision to permanently close Splash Mountain at Walt Disney World Resort and Disneyland Resort because the story was based on the controversial film Song of the South (1946). Instead, Disney will be replacing the ride with a new log flume attraction based on Princess and the Frog (2009), titled Tiana’s Bayou Adventure.
But, the company is currently in the midst of reviewing its library and it seems that more content will be joing Song of the South as “permanently banned” from ever being reposted or shared by Disney again.
This time, it’s in the form of books.
Author Don Rosa recently shared that two of his Scrooge McDuck stories have now been permanently banned by Disney. The message from the company to Rosa read:
“As part of its ongoing commitment to diversity and inclusion, The Walt Disney Company is in the process of reviewing their library of stories. As a result, some stories that do not align with their values will no longer be published. This applies to two of your classic stories, ‘The Richest Duck in the World’ and ‘The Dream of a Lifetime’. These stories will not be part of any reprints or new collections.”
The two stories include “The Richest Duck in the World” and “The Dream of a Lifetime.”
Rosa responded on social media to the announcement, sharing that the stories were banned because “they can’t be published without the final chapter.”
“I wonder what other Duck stories are now banned? Maybe only mine? Maybe not? But obviously all 12 chapters of my [Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck] are now banned because they can’t be published without the final chapter. I won’t even comment on what this will mean to the collector market.”
The controversial chapter features an incident first shared Carl Barks story “Voodoo Hoodoo” when Scrooge drove an African tribe off their land when he became a villain. This led to encounters with the character Bombie the Zombie, who was dispatched by the witch doctor named Foola Zoola. The character would reappear in “The Dream of a Lifetime.”
In addition to bans some older cartoons, Disney has been no stranger to having to alter its content in China. The Chinese Government has censored quite a bit of content on Disney+, most notably several episodes of The Simpsons and Winnie the Pooh, where the company chose to adhere to the censorship.
