Sunflower is one of the minor protagonists from The Pastoral Symphony animated segment of the 1940 concert film Fantasia. Though she appeared in the film while it was in theaters she has been removed from all releases of the film since 1969 due to perpetuating a racist stereotype.
Background
Personality
Sunflower appears to be a very young Centaurette because she is smaller than the other Centaurettes. She is kind but can become angry if the other Centaurettes are not groomed properly.
Role in the film
Sunflower is first seen shining the hooves of one Centaurette and then scrubbing it with a cattail. Next, she is seen putting flowers on another Centaurette's tail, which whacks her in the face and the flowers fall off. She starts putting the flowers back on after the other Centaurettes look through a tree at the Centaurs. She is next seen following another Centaurette while holding a flower bridle that the other Centaurette is wearing. When Bacchus arrives, another African Centaurette known as Otika (who resembles Sunflower), rolls the red carpet for Bacchus. When he falls off the chair she runs off and is not seen again in the rest of the segment.
Trivia
- Despite being a character from Fantasia, Sunflower does not appear in future re-releases of the film.
- The scenes showing her are considered racist and as a result were removed from the film in 1969, in order to minimize controversy.
- Because of her removal from Fantasia, Sunflower is not seen or heard of at the Disney theme parks.
- Despite this, publicity stills showing her from the film are seen in museums and can be purchased.
- When Fantasia was released on Disney+, despite the outdated cultural depictions disclaimer, Sunflower was still absent from the "Pastoral Symphony" segment.
- In the scenes that she is in, Sunflower has three different hair styles.
- In her first appearance she has four braids with four ribbons, in her second appearance she has two braids with two ribbons as well as a large sunflower on her head, and in her third and final appearance she has two braids with two small sunflowers on them.
- In the scene with Bacchus, it is believed that the African Centaurette who rolls the red carpet is Sunflower.
- However, according to an official source it is another dark-skinned Centaurette named Otika.
