Now I hate to jump to conclusions here but I wonder if the unconventional Disney endings in these films have anything to do with the fact that, at their heart, both films are about race, a subject which has proven to be the bane of Disney since its existence. Though there has been news articles which have contested this, it's well known that the great Walt Disney was allegedly a racist and an anti-Semite. According to Wikipedia, though Disney donated to several Jewish charities, he allied himself with an anti-communist/ anti-Semitic organization and extended an open invitation to Hollywood to Nazi propaganda filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl. More specifically, it's alleged that some of his earlier cartoons, such as The Three Little Pigs purposely made use of ethnic stereotypes. A review of a biography on Disney on the website for Bloomberg Business Week Magazine also briefly mentions that Disney was against hiring African-Americans because they would "spoil the illusion of Disneyland". If these allegations are true, is it not possible that the endings of Fox and Pocahontas purposely abide by the Disney "moral" code?
Perhaps to an even further extent than the more recent Princess & the Frog, the first Disney film with an African-American princess, Pocahontas is a film that probably had old Walt rolling in his grave. The very "threat" of an interracial relationship is one that brings the world of Disney closer to social realities, steering away from the fantastical world of genies, fairies and talking animals. If Disney's successors were to have followed the original Pocahontas story more closely, Walt would have probably had an even greater meltdown. It is alleged that though, in reality, young Pocahontas was captured unwillingly by the English, she eventually began to follow many of the conventions of English culture. She changed her name to Rebecca , practiced Christianity and married an Englishman, John Rolfe. This historical blueprint would have provided the perfect outlet for the 'powers that be' at Disney to conceptualize a Disney-friendly ending for Pocahontas and John Smith. Yet the hurdles faced in this kind of relationship are ones that can't be solved through magic. They involve very different social, cultural and spiritual backgrounds learning to co-exist with one another. While it's perfectly okay for Beauty & the Beast to preach a message of inner beauty because the beast turns into a handsome prince at the end, the story of Pocahontas is one that provokes far too many challenges and sacrifices for the film's couple. Therefore, instead of providing a standard Disney ending which preaches that racial boundaries and prejudices can be overcome, Disney settled for a "safer" ending that encourages a strange, contradictory message of acceptance and, simultaneously, disassociation. In other words, the message is "we should accept others but limit our associations them". This is certainly quite a bizarre message for Disney to impart on young viewers.
Fox is a more curious case than Pocahontas because usually talking animals are a safer bet than people of color. It would have been quite easy for the team behind the film to reunite Todd the Fox and Copper the Hound. They could have very easily promoted a " true friendship can overcome all obstacles" type of message. Yet, Todd and Copper return to their designated roles of the hunter and the hunted, despite Copper nobly sparing Todd's life. Perhaps this goes back to a period where Disney was even more sensitive about its attachment to themes of race. Though not as easily recognized, a friendship between two animals with distinctly differing roles in the circle of life would have provided as many real obstacles as a relationship between Pocahontas and John Smith. Again the only way to avoid such obstacles is to provide the tale with a "safer" ending where Todd and Copper maintain some form of comradeship but find that their original friendship bond is irreparable. More than a decade later The Lion King would promote the unconventional friendship bond between Timon the meerkat and Pumba the warthog. Clearly back in the eighties world of Disney though, bonds between animals of different breeds were as taboo as interracial relationships between humans.
Now that Disney's had it's first film with an African-American princess, it will be interesting to see in what direction it goes. Will we see more racially friendly Disney films? Or will Disney return to its racially conscious roots as it steps into a future where their 2D animated musicals are now becoming obsolete.
Source for pic 1:http://thetalkingmirror.com/biased-reviews-teddy-roosevelt-reviews-disneys-pocahontas
Source for pic 2: http://www.fanpop.com/spots/the-fox-and-the-hound/images/14125212/title/fox-hound-photo
Info on Disney and Pocahontas: Wikepedia
Link for Disney book review: http://www.businessweek.com/stories/2006-12-03/walts-not-so-wonderful-world
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