Disney went woke now they're going broke

Yes casting a black actress as the little mermaid is a good thing but to then set the movie in the Caribbean during the time of slavery but showing none of that instead having a happy relationships between the races basically airbrushes out slavery and the harms it caused so not great

That's the dumbest take on The Little Mermaid I've ever read. It's not supposed to be hard-hitting journalism.

@musixa well you're right, but I think we can acknowledge that different people have different skin tones, and just like you wouldn't cast Tom Cruise in a biopic of Barack Obama, you probably shouldn't cast a olive skinned woman in the character famously known for being very pale with red lips and black hair.

I do agree that Disney offerings recently have been disappointing at best. I wanted to like Soul, but it was so boring. Luca - meh, it was ok. Didn't like Turning Red much, and Strange Worlds should have been my favourite but I fell asleep during it. I don't want to watch any of the live action remakes.

I think they've forgotten there doesn't actually have to be a message at the end of every story. And if there is, then they should word harder to make them better, and not just shoehorn in the latest cause du jour.

Disney has decided to remake it with Rachel Zegler who definitely does not have skin white as snow.

No-one, of any ethnicity, literally has 'skin as white as snow' without make-up.

I personally this has been overblown. I was an absolutely huge cinema-going, probably going once a week throughout the year but then the pandemic came along and I got out of the habit. I have only been twice in the last 12 months! Nothing to do with the films themselves, I just don't mind waiting for them to be streamed on Disney plus etc now. This seems to apply to most people I know, we've all got used to watching things via streaming.

Snow white & the 7 Dwarves.

"At the beginning of the story, a queen sits sewing at an open window during a winter snowfall when she pricks her finger with her needle, causing three drops of red blood to drip onto the freshly fallen white snow on the black windowsill. Then she says to herself, "How I wish that I had a daughter that had skin as white as snow, lips as red as blood and hair as black as ebony..."

Disney has decided to remake it with Rachel Zegler who definitely does not have skin white as snow.
They didn't even think about how offensive the story might be for those with dwarfism although now apparently they are going to get consultants in after being called on it.

She is a beautiful actress, wasted in this stupid exercise in EDI willy waving by Disney, but she isn't Snow White & they aren't lightening her skin to make her look like she is.

If you change the tale to "Nothing Like She Was Supposed To Be & the 7 Ethnically Diverse Individuals", who will almost certainly have no explainable reason for being together (one will probably be a woman & another one will have to suddenly announce their sexual preferences or their pronouns even if it has nothing to do with the story so has to be crowbarred in there), what is the point of saying it's a remake?

I don't think it's that anyone objects to black or gay characters it's that this has become so obviously a 'policy' decision it feels like every film is preaching something and most people want to be entertained by Disney not preached to.

I think even if you're fine with the message there's a feeling of: who is Disney a huge corporation to preach to me and why should I pay to be preached at by a corporation?

People are sick of it, from all the corporations.

Just sell us beer and make a good kids film we don't need you to tell us what we should think.

Apart from The Jungle Book I haven’t bothered with any of the “live action” remakes of the renaissance-era films. Nothing to do with the casting (apart from Emma Watson as Belle, I mean WTF?!), I just love the originals and I don’t see why they keep rehashing something that was so great in the first place.

Disney has managed to run Star Wars into the ground which is kind of shocking.

In what sense? Yes the sequel films were a bit shit (i like to pretend they didn't happen), as was the book of boba fett. But the sequel films made oodles of money, and tbh the various pre Disney Star Wars installments were of very variable quality. And Rogue One, Rebels, The Mandalorian and Andor are very very good, and apparently Jedi Survivor is a brilliant game. There are more Star Wars series, games and films in the pipeline, so the franchise seems fairly healthy to me.

Spider-Verse is a good example of a diverse superhero movie doing well, because it’s got a good story, engaging heroes and it looks like no other animated films of its generation. My kids aren’t superhero fans and they both loved it.

I didn’t really see the point of any of the live action Disney remakes as they don’t seem to bring anything new to the stories (apart from Malificent).

I haven’t had a chance to see Guardians yet, I was thinking more in terms of Black Adam, the latest Dr Strange and also some
of the most recent Marvel Disney Plus series being of patchy quality and performing poorly.

Not RTFT yet but an overlooked factor is the parks.

They have become almost unaffordable and with the new queue system are attempting to wring every possible $ out of people.

You used to be able to turn up at whichever park you wanted when on a multi park ticket and hop between parks but now every visit has to be planned in advance with rides booked and requires meticulous organising which takes some of the spontaneity and fun out of things.

People have become wise, footfall has stalled and the parks are no longer seen as value for money. Parks are a huge part of Disney’s income, plus nobody wants to go and have gender woo, pride merch and BLM shoved in their faces.

The last film I saw at the cinema was the second Downton Abbey one, not because I don't like going or can't afford it (it's a fiver!), but because none of the current films appeal. I can stand some wokeness (albeit while rolling my eyes a bit), but all the films seem to be aimed at children, whether they're actually for them or not. I'd just like to see some intelligent stand alone stories (rather than remakes and sequels). Is that really too much to ask? As for replacing existing white characters with black, isn't that rather insulting to black culture? And why on earth is it always redheads who are replaced?

You completely lost me when you decided that Guardians of the Galaxy 3 wasn't absolutely fantastic. If you can be so wrong about that, how can I take anything else you've said seriously.

Movie writing is quite shit at the moment, Disney is the biggest example, and a lot of it is down to continually pushing certain types of characters and narratives that people find predictable and off-putting. The sex-swap of roles, the fact that female roles have to fit within a very narrow type, the sense that in every production they are purposefully changing something that fans liked but is now seen as not relevant, etc.

Too much doesn't ring true. And it combines with the otherwise shit plots and writing, and then when people complain about that, the studio says it is because they are bigots. That is really what pisses people off.

Disney has managed to run Star Wars into the ground which is kind of shocking.

I think "go woke, go broke" is a nice catchy tabloid phrase, but not applicable here.

Audiences will embrace diversity decisions when they're backed up with acting talent and clear directorial vision (I'm thinking the critically and commercially successful Adrian Lester as Henry V, the all female Julius Caesar set in a women's prison several years ago), but can also sniff out tokenism and box ticking.

Yeah yeah yeah. And Der Stürmer was a brave campaigner for ethnic equality. Keep drinking the Kool-Aid.

The public will vote with their feet, and it seems that they have done.
Proof of the pudding and all that......

I don't even think people really have superhero fatigue. Guardians 3 and Across The Spider Verse (with a very diverse set of characters) both did as well as, or better than, the previous entries in their series. But they are both very well reviewed films. I think people will go see 'woke' and superhero films if they aren't shit. My DC wanted to see Spiderman and The Little Mermaid. We could afford to see one. We went to see the one that was good.

That's overstating their position somewhat. They have run stories that have thankfully exposed some of the batshittery of gender ideology when more traditionally left-wing media has stayed silent or, worse, tried to gaslight women, but please don't make the mistake of thinking they've done this out of any allegiance for or understanding of women's rights. The DM historically is anti-liberal, and while the people (mostly women) who have been paying attention can see how deeply misogynistic, homophobic, regressive and often racist the GI movement is, on the surface it's considered 'progressive' and so the DM's stance is more about sticking it to the 'woolly liberals' than it is standing up for women.

I don’t believe that the reason the recent Disney owned films have underperformed is anything due to diversity of casting and have more to do with the general economic climate, poor marketing and fatigue.

I have primary aged kids and Disney +, never heard of Strange Worlds until this thread- suggesting it may have had problems reaching its core market.

The trailer for Lightyear looked boring and derivative, which is why I didn’t bother watching it, and neither of my children like Toy Story. Although in Lightyear’s case the same sex kiss may have affected its performance because of foreign markets who will not show same sex relationships on screen. I assume Disney knew that when they were making the film though, and chose to include the scene anyway.

And is the Little Mermaid underperforming? I heard it was doing very well.

As for Marvel, I think that’s more to do with fatigue with superheroes. They’ve dominated cinema for over a decade, cost an fortune, and a lot of people who enjoyed those films previously have had enough. People are less willing to do a load of homework by watching several other films and a Disney Plus series to understand the plot of the latest release. The diversity of the cast and new heroes has come at a time when people are just fed up of cape films in general and looking for something new. Additionally, the quality of the Marvel TV shows have been patchy and/ or sometimes niche in appeal.

I think Disney have made bad business decisions, but diversity isn’t one of them.

"I'm happy to be called woke if it means in not a racist, homophobic dickhead."

I don't think it does mean that though does it? Being aware of social injustice is great. However some people thrive on finding and calling out injustice where it never existed, because calling other people racist or homophobic or whatever makes them feel superior.

Getting Dylan Mulvaney to endorse bud light wasn't an example of "not being a racist homophobic dickhead" was it? It was an example of associating themselves with an offensive clown that most of their potential customers disliked.

Anyone offended by the same sex relationship in Lightyear is actively seeking out ways to be offended. It's such a minor plot point, it's actually really easy to miss and it's played (correctly) as just a normal family.

Ariel, the whole family of sisters is ethnically diverse, reflecting the different oceans / seas they watch over. Ariel has red hair. Halle Bailey is a frikkin awesome singer and did a brilliant job. The fact it made some little girls feel like they could be a Princess too cos she looks like them is fabulous. I have white, blonde haired kids. They don't need to see more people that look like them to feel included, they are already included.

People need to grow up channel their inner kid more. Kids don't CARE unless they're being told to care by stupid adults.

What I came to loath was the poor writing - and increasingly Jodie Whittaker playing the Dr as some ditzy forgettable aren't I daft character because she was female because women can't be competent and have gravitas

Completely agree. Gave up due to the endless preachy episodes and gormless, confused gurning.
Missy was indeed fabulous.

Disney films have been dire lately.
Endless live action crap remakes and animated films that are dull and boring.

The last half decent film they brought out was encanto, and it was the music that carried it. But when in was released just before the xmas on Disney Plus it was almost impossible to get merchandise in the UK and by the time it arrived in stock, the film was forgotten. Bad planning.

Soul was dull.
Luca we got about half way through.
Seeing red was a watch once.
Raya and the last dragon wasn't bad.
Lightyear. So, so bad.

They need decent storylines that 4 year olds can follow, with songs that stick in your head. Because that's the prime age for the dolls and dresses.
Diversity isn't the problem for Disney. It's the lack of great ideas and crap writing.

There's a reason why the older films and moana, frozen etc did well.
The films that are watched over and over.
Most now are a one watch and forgotten, with the merchandise on clearance after a couple of months.

"Woke" was a term coined by Black Americans to mean "awake to racial injustice."

Unfortunately it's been twisted into a slur that is thrown against targets both valid and invalid that fit into any vaguely "progressive" category. Hence we are in the unfortunate situation that it is being used by feminists to protest the prioritisation of FIMs rights over those of women, while it is also used by white supremacists to incite boycotts of any organisation that tries to increase racial diversity. The irony being that the racists are actually using the term according to its original meaning.

I'll call anyone, man, woman, dog, cat, whatever, a fascist is that's what they are, and for me, someone hurling the 'woke' epithet at progressives and adducing the Daily Mail in support of a certain set of political/cultural/social views richly deserves to be called a fascist, be they ever so mighty, and that includes the Grand Panjandrums of Mumsnet.