As someone who loves Disney (though admittedly doesn’t know much about Donald Duck), I found “From Noble Savages to the Third World” by Ariel Dorfman and Armand Mattelart very interesting. It’s strange how such political views were portrayed in a children’s cartoon – surely the children reading the comic couldn’t be expected to read that deeply into it, so the purpose of including such views is a bit confusing to me.
As Dorfman and Mattelart suggest, perhaps the cartoons were meant to subtly introduce the concept of imperialism to children and ingrain in them a sense of entitlement because of their ‘higher’ status as citizens of the great United States; but then, to what end? Did the US really maintain such imperialistic goals so recently? Even if it did, why would people like Walt Disney, a man of the entertainment industry, not politics – why would he take it onto himself to spread political views to children (not even adults), as if helping the US spread its values to the next generation? It simply doesn’t make sense to me.
Thus, I think that the cartoons were truly just supposed to be funny and silly. Yes, I cannot deny that this was at the expense of people who were looked down on by those in positions of power (i.e. those of higher status), but isn’t that the way it always is, or at least was at that time? Back then, this would have been normal – not right or politically correct, but it was a social norm. That social norm has since changed, and I think Dorfman and Mattelart overlook the fact that it every existed differently. They seem to apply the current taboo (regarding poking fun at minority groups) to this cartoon, which of course paints the cartoon in a negative light, portraying it as propaganda and such, with evil intentions. This is a skewed analysis though because it ignores the historical context which suggests that there was no higher purpose or motive – just entertainment.
Perhaps it is my personal bias because I like Disney stories, but I honestly do not think that the cartoons were meant to harm anyone or spread hatred of any kind. I am not naive enough to think that these sentiments were not fostered by cartoons like Donald Duck, but I think any hatred or power-over views spread, were done so unintentionally. Think about it – how often do we accurately and thoroughly assess the consequences of our actions right now, especially when these actions are deemed acceptable and appropriate by society? We would probably just follow through with our plans – like Disney when deciding to release the Donald Duck cartoons.
The bottom line is, I do not think we have the right to judge the Donald Duck cartoons so harshly, akin to propaganda. If anything, I think the story of the Donald Duck cartoons simply calls us to constantly question social norms and ensure that when we act according to them, we are not marginalizing or persecuting anyone.