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Meme Claiming Older Disney Was More Naturally Inclusive

This is a four-panel collage meme with text at the top stating 'Sometimes I think Disney was more inclusive when it wasn't trying so hard to be.' The four panels below showcase scenes from older 2000s Disney animated films that naturally center non-white protagonists and their family/community dynamics: top left shows Tiana from *The Princess and the Frog* (a Black protagonist set in 1920s New Orleans) working as a waitress carrying trays of food and drinks; top right shows the Indigenous Alaskan main character family from *Brother Bear* posing together with happy expressions; bottom left shows the Indigenous Mesoamerican Pacha family from *The Emperor's New Groove* smiling and posing together as a group; bottom right shows Native Hawaiian sisters Nani and Lilo from *Lilo & Stitch* interacting on a beach, with Nani kneeling to speak to a dejected Lilo. The meme makes the argument that older Disney projects included more authentic, unforced diverse representation compared to modern Disney releases that are often criticized for performative, tokenized inclusivity.
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Sometimes I think Disney was more inclusive when it wasn't trying so hard to be.

Overview

This is a four-panel collage meme with text at the top stating 'Sometimes I think Disney was more inclusive when it wasn't trying so hard to be.' The four panels below showcase scenes from older 2000s Disney animated films that naturally center non-white protagonists and their family/community dynamics: top left shows Tiana from The Princess and the Frog (a Black protagonist set in 1920s New Orleans) working as a waitress carrying trays of food and drinks; top right shows the Indigenous Alaskan main character family from Brother Bear posing together with happy expressions; bottom left shows the Indigenous Mesoamerican Pacha family from The Emperor's New Groove smiling and posing together as a group; bottom right shows Native Hawaiian sisters Nani and Lilo from Lilo & Stitch interacting on a beach, with Nani kneeling to speak to a dejected Lilo. The meme makes the argument that older Disney projects included more authentic, unforced diverse representation compared to modern Disney releases that are often criticized for performative, tokenized inclusivity.

Origin notes

Per the provided additional information, this meme originates from Reddit's meme subcommunities. It gained widespread circulation across social media platforms including Reddit, Twitter/X, and Instagram in the early to mid 2020s, amid growing public discourse criticizing large media companies for performative diversity efforts that prioritize marketing over authentic, well-developed representation of marginalized groups in media content.

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