Overall, I can really see where Willetts is coming from with her disappointment in Disney's inability to portray "the Other, in this case, African, Latino, Asian and First Nations Diasporas" as characters that could be seen equal to Mickey Mouse and the gang (Minnie, Donald, Goofy and so on). However I think some of her examples are a bit weak and even when do they make sense, she only points them out and does not thoroughly explain them. For example, she explains how in the short The Grocery Boy, Mickey is chasing Pluto and while wearing the Napolean statue, he goes from "conqueror to coon". It is clear that this happens yet Willetts does not explain what this implies. It's just something that happens.
She then goes on to talk about Trader Mickey and how the natives are supposed to be scary "wild-eyed Africans". I can totally agree with her when she says that they are clearly being connected to primates and therefore putting forth the message that Africans are just like animals and can be treated as such, which as any decent human being knows, is wrong. Where I find fault with her argument is that she calls the natives cannibals due to the number of skulls in their habitat. I watched the cartoon and those definitely look like human skulls. Cannibalism can either refer to humans that eat human flesh or any animal that eats its own species. If we are to believe this cartoon where ever character is an animal, then why are there human skulls? Why is she identifying the natives as cannibals when those are clearly not skulls of the same species because primate skulls are distinctly different. That the natives try to eat Mickey and Pluto are even further proof that they are NOT cannibals. I think her argument may have gained something by including the fact that Africans were being portrayed as primates who attack and eat humans rather than jut calling them cannibals.
Her examples from Fantasia and Dumbo seem stronger to me which may be why they come up towards the end of her essay rather than the beginning. Sunflower's name as well as her being part donkey is such a subtle way of making her one of the Others that it's easy to see how Disney got away with it and why people with mindsets similar to Willetts are so offended.
I really enjoyed her final sentences. My favorite was "I imagine a blockbuster film featuring everyday people - Latinas without sass, Asians without choppy English and Africans without rhythm or rage". I was honestly just imagining something like that while watching The Princess and The Frog. I was wondering why there can't be a diversity in characters but then it occurred to me. If Disney were to portray a "sassy white girl" or anything that goes against the norm there'd be an outcry of how Disney does not even honor stereotypes correctly or critics will go and analyze who voices the characters. I doubt Disney and its critics will ever be appeased.
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