>>> In 1940, Disney released Fantasia, which has become one of the all-time classics of animation. The groundbreaking film is made up of several vignettes, each set to a classical composition performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra and its conductor, Leopold Stokowski.

The segment of the film set to Beethoven's "Pastoral Symphony" contained three shots with a black female centaur (named Sunflower). Performing menial duties for the blonde, white female centaurs, Sunflower is a racial stereotype along the lines of Amos and Andy, Buckwheat, and Aunt Jemima.

Starting with the 1960 theatrical re-release, Sunflower was cut from the movie. In all of the various releases of Fantasia on videocassette, laser disc, and DVD, she has remained missing. At first, her scenes were simply cut. In later versions, her scenes are in the movie, but the shots have been cropped so that she is no longer on-screen.

According to the Internet Movie Database, the Disney company has denied that such a character was ever in Fantasia. Fortunately, at least one screen shot survives (above). I believe the source for this image is the book Cartoon Confidential by Jim Korkis and John Cawley (Malibu Graphics Press, 1991).

Also, the Animation Archives has for sale two original production drawings of Sunflower (below).

Whether or not you feel Sunflower should have been erased from the movie, she was originally in it, and it's silly to pretend otherwise.

[read more at DVD Angle (middle of page) and the Internet Movie Database]

Fantasia is a registered trademark of Disney Enterprises, Inc. This page is in no way endorsed by or associated with this corporation. It is presented for the purposes of information and education.

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