The Racist Cat Song In “Lady And The Tramp” Is Being Replaced In The Live-Action Version
The upcoming release of the live-action version of Disney‘s “Lady and the Tramp” will not be including the racist cat song from the original.
Not too long ago, it was revealed that Disney’s classic love story between two dogs was getting its very own live-action remake. While many people were excited about seeing this new movie come to life in a new way, many were wondering how Disney would handle the controversial and racist song “The Siamese Cat Song”.
The original 1955 version of the song was performed by Peggy Lee who played multiple characters in the movie. Of those characters, Peggy Lee played the part of the Siamese cats Si and Am who have been called out multiple times for the way they portray racist caricatures of Asians at the time.
The song they perform, in particular, has drawn major attention over the years. In it, Si and Am sing in broken English with a mock Asian accent while backed by traditional musical elements like the gong and rhythmic drumming.
Additionally, the song includes lyrics like “We are Siamese if you please, we are Siamese if you don’t please” further showcasing the stereotyping of Asians in the 1950s.
Thankfully, Disney decided to scrap the song from the new movie and, with the help of Grammy winner Jannelle Monáe, bring a completely new song to viewers.
It has also been reported that “the pair” will no longer be Siamese cats, which could mean that Si and Am won’t be in the movie at all.
This step at fixing the cat song problem isn’t the first time that Disney has addressed issues form their original movies. Recently, the company also removed the character Jim Crow from their live adaption of “Dumbo”. “Lady and the Tramp”, meanwhile, is planned to drop on November 12 complete with a brand new song.
