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Kaisey Santiago

Professor Granillo

English 103

25 November 2018

It’s a White’s World After All

Disneyland is considered “The happiest place on earth”, which many people from around

the world go to enjoy a variety of different rides, shows, themes, etc. In the United States, many

people from different cultures and ethnicities are still facing prejudice and discrimination;

especially those who are not from the white race or American culture. Prejudice and

discrimination can target any individual at almost any location. Disneyland’s famous ride “It's a

Small World” tries to promote peace and unity between cultures from around the world, however

fails, due to the fact, that it was built from an eurocentric point of view which does not contain a

real aspect of the other cultures within the decorations of the ride. Disney's “It’s a Small World”,

portrays a positive message about valuing different ethnic cultures to help bring peace in the

American culture, however demonstrates race in a stereotypical way. Utilizing culture criticism

and the Du Bois Critical Race Theory, Disneyland's ride “It's a Small World”, can actually be

seen as an attraction that praises white cultures a lot more than any other ethnicity. Therefore,

Walt Disney Imagineers should be more aware of what they create when building the park’s

designs, construction, and creations, especially when it relates to race so that they don't offend

anyone.

Located in Fantasyland Disneyland’s “It’s a Small World is a family friendly, water-

based, dark ride that lasts about fifteen minutes. Throughout the ride, it features many audio

animatronic dolls representing different cultures from around the world, singing in unity and
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representing world peace. It can be seen that the Walt Disney Imagineering group, the designers

of the ride, created the attraction to create unity. The ride being very popular gets many visitors.

However, when critically thinking, an unintentional effect of the ride is that it praises white

culture more than any other race. This can be an issue because, this translates as whites being the

superior race, which goes against the theme of the ride.

First of all, what gives “It’s a Small World” a signal of unity can be seen through the

animatronic dolls and countries represented throughout the ride. However, in it’s “It’s a Small

World”, the Walt Disney Imagineers constructed the ride in a way in which it honors more of

the white and european nations. For example, throughout the ride “It’s a Small World”

portrayed many types of european countries by giving them their own scenery. For example,

France, Holland, Sweden, Norway, and other european nations had their own exhibit. On the

other hand, nations who were not white or european were not given their own exhibit. Instead

they were all bunched up and combined into one room. For example, there was only one spanish

exhibit to represent many hispanic cultures. The unfair treatment also effects other nations such

as Asia and Africa. In addition, the nations who were not white or european were not actually

labeled as specific countries. This can be an obstacle, because passengers who are in the ride can

only guess through the stereotypes that are offered.

Moving forward, the european nations were decorated as elegant and fancy while the non

european nations were set up to be ironic and racist. This can represent the idea of Nordicism,

which is an “ideology that plays a powerful role in most if not all white cultures. From a

Nordicist perspective, not only is the Caucasian race genetically superior to all other races, but

Nordics -Germanic peoples of Northern Europe- are the most genetically superior Caucasians”

(Tyson 372). This can be seen throughout most of the ride. For example, many european dolls,
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whether from Holland, Dutch, England, Germany are typically blonde hair and blue eyes. These

dolls are acting in a calm, behaved manner while they sing in their elegant clothing. Also, the

scenery of the european environment has a classy setting with beautiful buildings and activities

going on in the background. On the other hand, countries who are not white are not decorated as

nicely as the white nation. Instead, they are behaving in an unfamiliar manner which does not

make them seem as nice as the white nation.

Visitors going into the ride would like to see every race to be equally beautiful, however

this can be problem, because there is an unbalance. According to “Black Children, White

Preference: Brown v. Board, the Doll Tests, and the Politics of Self Esteem” by Bergner she

states that “white preference behavior indicates that African American children idealize

whiteness, denigrate blackness, and therefore disavow their racial identity”. In spite of the fact

that the article was mainly between white and black children, this can also take effect for any any

individual of color. Therefore this can be issue when an individual goes on the ride to see that

their race is not elegant like the europeans. This can lead to issue of the individual not being

proud of their ethnicity.

Not feeling as powerful or equal to the European or white culture can be an issue

because it can lower self esteem. Especially if one's own culture is being portrayed as a joke or

cynical. This can be seen between many different animatronic dolls within the ride. For example,

when the boat takes the passenger through India, there Indians flying on carpet and a doll playing

the flute to control a snake. Another culture that did not look important is Asia. This small

scenery, which lasts only for a few seconds, portrays only a few animatronic dolls and one of

them is riding on a domestic yax. Another culture that was being teased is Africa. When the boat

reaches to Africa, the African cultures is portrayed mostly with animals instead of dolls to
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represent humans. What makes the matter worse, is that for Africa there are only a few black

dolls while in european countries there are many white dolls. It can be seen that the Walt Disney

Imagineers can only portray Africa as more the wild life than actual culture itself. According to

William Edward Burghardt Du Bois, an American sociologist and civil rights activist, he stated

that “We can go on the stage; we can just be funny as white Americans wish us to be; we can

play all the sordid parts that America likes to assign to Negroes; but for anything else there is

still small place for us”(Granillo 21). Although this statement was made for African Americans it

can connect to all race of color connect to the ride because the non white races are being overly

stereotyped in an ironic way which is made for entertainment. On the other hand, white cultures

are not acting silly or doing anything ironic, instead they are acting elegant and typically normal

with well behaved manners. The non white cultures that are acting silly can be seen through

stereotypes.

When the passengers travel through the ride they learn and experience different cultures

that the ride is offering. This can be an issue because the ride is based off of stereotypes. This

can be a major problem because many passengers may believe in some of the stereotypes.

According to the article, “Multiracial Women Students and Racial Stereotypes on the College

Campus” by Harris, the author states that “Over time, racial stereotypes which are exaggerated

beliefs, have become attached to socially constructed racial categories. Racial stereotypes lead

people to false understandings of how certain racial groups should behave, look, and exist within

US society”. Some individuals, after the ride, may have the wrong idea of how specific race are

portrayed and can treat them differently. This can lead to a major obstacle because it can lead to

the wrong mindset for a specific culture. This can really affect the younger audience because

they are more vulnerable to learn what is true and what is false.
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Disney imagineers who decide how they want “It’s Small World” to be portrayed also

showcase how the world is like. Individuals who have not traveled around the world can learn

about the race through the ride. According to the article “Du Bois WEB Criteria of Negro Art

pdf” Du Bois states “In other words, the white public today demands from its artists, literary and

pictorial, racial pre-judgement which deliberately distorts truth and justice, as far as colored

races are concerned, and it will pay for no other”(Granillo 29). In other words, white culture will

be demonstrated in a positive way instead of showing any sort of flaw. While for color races it

doesn't really matter how they’re portrayed. This is bad because it shows unfairness.

Although white culture is portrayed as more superior, it is not on purpose. The Walt

Disney Imagineers could have sub consciously created the ride the way it is. Many people of

color can see how the ride is racist, but some white cultures can’t see how it is. According to

Delgado and Stefancic and the basic tenets of critical race theory, they state that, “Perhaps one of

the most distressing forms of everyday racism is white people’s denial that racism exists or has

occured in a particular instance. In other words, they’re accused of seeing racism where it

doesn’t exist when. In fact it does exist, but the white people exhibiting or witnessing it aren’t

able or don't choose to see it as racism”(Tyson 330). Individuals who are white might say that

the ride is not racist because everything about the ride is peace and unity. Just because it’s based

off peace and unity does not make the ride racist. This can be simply seen through the

stereotypes portraying the colored cultures.

Moving forward many people in the United States believe that racism and prejudice is not

as bad as it used to be back in the 1800’s or 1900’s. Many can agree that the United States is a

lot better due to the fact, that the nation band slavery and segregation. However, that does not

mean that the issue is fixed. According to the the article “The Trauma of Racism: America’s
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Original Sin by Ponds, the author states “Racial prejudice has slightly increased 2008, whether

measured by explicitly asking about racist attitudes or through experimental views”. The years

between racial prejudice is not far away from present day. This can say a lot about the

development in the United States and the world as a whole. The United States is still facing

many issues across the country such Trump’s negative attitude towards Mexicans. Which

influences many individuals to have the same idea. Or the activist movement of “Black Lives

Matter” which campaigns against violence against racism towards black people. Therefore in the

United States, issues with race is still a major issue which needs to be fixed before it gets any

worse.

Disney’s “It’s a Small World”, demonstrates race in a stereotypical way, however does

try to portray a positive message about bringing peace in the American culture and the world by

valuing different ethnic cultures. Culture criticism and Du Bois Critical Race Theory, does

establish a clear perspective on how the Walt Disney Imagineers created the ride in a Eurocentric

point of view. Therefore when creating any sort of project for the the amusement park, the Walt

Disney Imagineers should be more careful on what they build and how their creation can affect

their visitors intentionally and unintentionally.

Work Cited

Bergner, Gwen. "Black Children, White Preference: Brown v. Board, the Doll Tests, and the

Politics of Self-Esteem." American Quarterly, vol. 61, no. 2, 2009, pp. 299-332,423.

ProQuest,
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http://ezproxy.canyons.edu:2048/login?url=https://ezproxy.canyons.edu:2457/docview/2

23302819?accountid=38295.

Granillo, Ashley. “Criteria of Negro Art.” W.E.B Du Bois pp. 21-29

Harris, Jessica C. "Multiracial Women Students and Racial Stereotypes on the College Campus."

Journal of College Student Development, vol. 58, no. 4, 2017, pp. 475-491. ProQuest,

http://ezproxy.canyons.edu:2048/login?url=https://ezproxy.canyons.edu:2457/docview/2

008062207?accountid=38295,

doi:http://ezproxy.canyons.edu:2069/10.1353/csd.2017.0038.

Ponds, Kenneth T. “The Trauma of Racism: America’s Original Sin.” Reclaiming Children and

Youth, vol. 22, no. 2, Jan. 2013, pp. 22–24. EBSCOhost,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ1030317&site=ehost-

live.

Tyson, Lois. “Colonist ideology and postcolonial identity” Critical theory today A user friendly

guide. 2015, pp.372-373

Tyson, Lois. “Basic tenets” Critical theory today A user friendly guide. 2015, pp. 330