‘Fantasia’ And The Importance Of Self-Censorship

Censorship is a big topic of discussion these days. People are more sensitive to offending others through stereotypes, slurs, and even awkward depictions of various groups. And there is a lot of debate on both sides of the argument about what is acceptable and what is not when censoring past works. Another side of this discussion is self-censorship. That’s when either a creator or an owner of a story looks back on it and sees that certain aspects of the work wouldn’t be well received in modern society. Again, individuals get very heated when thinking about the idea of self-censorship, but it undoubtedly has a purpose and can be effective when handled properly.

A great case study for this is the Disney masterpiece Fantasia. For those who don’t know, Fantasia is an anthology film that consists of several animated shorts alongside classical pieces of music. One of these shorts, titled “Pastoral Symphony,” contained an extremely racist depiction of an African-American child. After the film’s initial release, the Walt Disney Company decided to rectify the character’s appearance by editing the short to remove her. This is the version that appears on their streaming service for all to see.

This is undoubtedly a form of self-censorship as Disney owns the right to the film and decided to edit it themselves. In this instance, it was the correct decision as the character’s inclusion or removal did not affect the quality of the short in the slightest. Some may view any form of censorship as wrong. But the history of the censorship itself is what’s important. As a commercial product, Fantasia should be as appealing as possible, and that means being censored. But that doesn’t erase the act of the censorship itself. The censorship is well documented in history and the original version can even be found online. The fact that the work was altered does not negatively affect its impact. And the act of the censorship can be used as a teachable moment as to how and why it is sometimes necessary.

Fantasia is streaming on Disney+.