British Board of Film Classification said the Disney film uses colonial term Hottentots, a derogatory word historically used by white Europeans to refer to South Africa’s Khoikhoi people.
Mary Poppins’ age rating has been raised from U to PG by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) almost 60 years after its release.
The age rating was changed because of “discriminatory language”, the BBFC said.
The 1964 film, starring Dame Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke, uses the colonial term Hottentots, a derogatory word historically used by white Europeans to refer to the Khoikhoi people in South Africa.
Actor Reginald Owen’s character, Admiral Boom, uses the term twice in the film, once when he asked one of the children, Michael, if he was going on an adventure to “defeat Hottentots”.
