Is Disney Finally Getting the Picture?

admin July 17, 2023

Artists are addicted to re-imagining classic stories, but that isn’t always a bad thing.

We didn’t know we needed another take on the Founding Fathers until “Hamilton” rocked the pop culture world. Creator Lin-Manuel Miranda shot the country’s founding through an aggressively diverse lens, giving us a fresh look at America’s origins.

Other re-imaginings have been far less successful.

Disney has been criticized for being too faithful to its classic tales, like 2016’s updated “Jungle Book” film.

The Mouse House shook up a few elements for this year’s “Little Mermaid,” leaning hard into the company’s woke brand in the process.

Now, what might be Disney’s most aggressively woke move is getting mocked on social media. The big surprise? The company indirectly acknowledges that audiences have had enough of its virtue signaling.

A few days ago images from the upcoming “Snow White” live-action update hit the web. The film stars Latina actress Rachel Zegler of “West Side Story” fame as the title character. We’re expecting to see the film sometime next year unless dueling Hollywood strikes alter those plans.

The film drew early headlines for a stunning decision by the film’s casting team. They feared hiring seven dwarf actors to play the story’s little heroes would be … problematic. They appear to have reacted to LP actor Peter Dinklage, the star of many hit projects like “Elf” and “Game of Thrones.”

Dinklage praised casting a Latina actress in the “Snow White” update but suggested using LP actors for the seven dwarfs would be insulting.

“It makes no sense to me. You’re progressive in one way, but you’re still making that f***ing backward story about seven dwarfs living in a cave together. Have I done nothing to advance the cause from my soapbox? I guess I’m not loud enough.”

Disney agreed.

“To avoid reinforcing stereotypes from the original animated film, we are taking a different approach with these seven characters and have been consulting with members of the dwarfism community.”

Some LP actors seethed at Dinklage taking away potentially plum roles for them, but the studio sided with the Emmy-winning actor.

Now, we’re seeing our first glimpse of Zegler’s character and her seven “friends.” The images inspired instant social media mockery. The figures include several people of color and two women. Only one appeared to be an LP actor.

The original “Dwarfs” from the classic 1937 movie were bearded male figures with names like Doc, Grumpy and Happy. The film’s IMDB.com page either doesn’t list the full cast or shows actors who don’t go by those classic, comical names.

Disney brass immediately cried foul, saying the unauthorized images weren’t from the film in question.

Asked for comment on the brouhaha, a Disney spokesperson initially told The Daily Beast “the photos are fake and not from our production” and added that the Mouse House wanted a correction from the Mail.

Then, very soon thereafter, the Mouse House admitted the much-derided images are actually from the film’s production but weren’t official.

Studios routinely supply still images from movies, either near their release date or during the production process, for publicity purposes.

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Why would Disney deny the photos were real in the first place? The mega studio realized the lack of dwarf characters generated scorn from potential movie goers. They wanted to deny the truth, to tell consumers the images they were laughing at weren’t tied to the upcoming film.

They lied, but they couldn’t deny reality for long.

The right-leaning New York Post’s editorial board piled on, mocking the company for wallowing in woke.

Finally, our corporate overlords have taken on the scourge of racism against magical creatures!

…It’s not stereotyping; rather, like all fairy tales, it uses the unreal to illuminate the far-too-real world we do inhabit.

This comes on the heels of the reeling Mouse House suffering yet another body blow. Its showcase summer film, “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” will cost the studio millions before all is said and done. The film will likely top out around $160 million at the U.S. box office, and overseas results haven’t been what they needed to make up for modest stateside sales.

Add that to the company’s slumping stock prices, theme part attendance woes, streaming sub losses and previous flops like “Lightyear” and “Strange World.”

Disney is in trouble.

Company CEO Bob Iger recently seemed to regret diving head first into the culture wars, another sign the company is beginning to understand the mess it’s made for itself.

It just might be too late to reverse the trend.

The post Is Disney Finally Getting the Picture? first appeared on Hollywood in Toto.

The post Is Disney Finally Getting the Picture? appeared first on Hollywood in Toto.


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