Here’s a lovely one from Woke Disney:
Disney began an extensive review of its film library as it prepared to introduce the streaming service in 2019, according to a New York Times report. As part of the initiative, called Stories Matter, Disney added disclaimers to classic movies for containing “negative depictions or mistreatment of people or cultures.”
The Stories Matter team privately flagged certain characters as potentially problematic, with the findings distributed to senior Disney leaders, two current Disney executive told the Times.
One of them was Tinker Bell, who raised concern because she is “body conscious” and jealous of Peter Pan’s attention, according to the executives. Captain Hook was another potential liability because he could expose Disney to accusations of discrimination or prejudice against individuals with disabilities because he is a villain.
Disney also flagged Ursula the Sea Witch from The Little Mermaid, saying her dark complexion could be construed as racist and her flamboyant mannerisms could come across as “queer coded,” or homophobic.
Fucking hell. There is just no end to this bullshit.
Anyway, I don’t know about Hook and Ursula, but Tink has always been problematic for Disney, especially at the hands of the brilliant satiric (satyric?) artist Julius Zimmerman (warning: link is so NSFW you could face termination of the extreme kind, let alone just the loss of your job or your eyesight).
Disney is whizzing beyond comedy into self-parody faster than the speed of a single cartoon cel through a projector.
And Disney? Your stories don’t matter as much as you think they do.
