fbpx
Wikipedia

Criticism of the Walt Disney Company

January 01, 1970

The Walt Disney Company, one of the largest media corporations in the world, has been the subject of a wide variety of criticisms of its business practices, executives, and content. In particular, the Walt Disney Studios has been criticized for including stereotypical portrayal of non-white characters, sexism, and alleged plagiarism. Several of Disney's business ventures, which include television networks, theme parks, and product lines, have also sparked controversy amongst groups of consumers and media outlets.[1]

Company officials edit

Michael Eisner edit

Main article: Michael Eisner § "Save Disney" campaign and retirement

In 1977, Roy E. Disney, the son of Disney co-founder Roy O. Disney and nephew of Walt Disney, resigned as an executive due to disagreements with his colleagues' decisions at the time. As he claimed later, "I just felt creatively the company was not going anywhere interesting. It was very stifling."[2] However, he retained a seat on the board of directors. His resignation from the board in 1984, which occurred in the midst of a corporate takeover battle, was the beginning of a series of developments that led to the replacement of company president and CEO Ronald William Miller (married to Walt's daughter Diane Marie Disney) by Michael Eisner, Frank Wells, & Jeffrey Katzenberg. Roy soon returned to the company as vice-chairman of the board of directors and head of the animation department.

Eisner has been criticized for his management style. The book DisneyWar by James B. Stewart is an exposé of Eisner's 20-year tenure as chairman and CEO at The Walt Disney Company. Stewart describes some of the following:

In 2003, Roy resigned from his positions as Disney vice chairman and chairman of Walt Disney Feature Animation, accusing Eisner of micromanagement, flops with the ABC television network, timidity in the theme park business, turning The Walt Disney Company into a "rapacious, soul-less" company, and refusing to establish a clear succession plan, as well as a string of box-office movie flops starting in the year 2000.

On March 3, 2004, at Disney's annual shareholders' meeting, a surprising 43% of Disney's shareholders, predominantly rallied by former board members Roy Disney and Stanley Gold, withheld their proxies to re-elect Eisner to the board. Disney's board then gave the chairmanship position to George J. Mitchell. However, the board did not immediately remove Eisner as chief executive.

On March 13, 2005, Eisner announced that he would step down as CEO one year before his contract expired. On September 30, Eisner resigned both as an executive and as a member of the board of directors, and, severing all formal ties with the company, he waived his contractual rights to perks such as the use of a corporate jet and an office at the company's Burbank headquarters. Eisner's replacement was his longtime assistant, Bob Iger.

Bob Iger edit

In reaction to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike, Bob Iger, the CEO of The Walt Disney Company, said the actors' demands were "not realistic", adding they are "adding to the set of the challenges that this business is already facing". Iger has been criticized for these remarks in light of his contract with Disney allowing him to earn as much as $27 million for 2023 between his salary and bonuses.[3] SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher called Iger's remarks "repugnant" and "tone deaf."[4]

Walt Disney Studios edit

Walt Disney Animation Studios edit

Ethnic and racial stereotyping edit

Over the years many scholars, film critics, and parent groups have been critical of Disney for the stereotypical portrayal of non-white characters. Examples cited included the short Mickey's Mellerdrammer where Mickey Mouse dresses in blackface; the stereotypical "Black" Bird in the short Who Killed Cock Robin?; Sunflower the half-zebra/half-African servant centaurette in Fantasia; the film Song of the South, which depicts an idealized version of the lives of former slaves; the depiction of Native American 'Indians' as savages in Peter Pan; the cunning and manipulative Siamese cats Si and Am in Lady and the Tramp; and the jive talking crows in Dumbo (however in the latter instance some critics have defended the crows as being one of the few characters in the film sympathetic to Dumbo's plight since being a marginalized group they understand what it's like to be ostracized themselves).[5][6][7][8]: 433 

Some people have used these stereotypes to accuse Walt Disney of being racist.[8]: XVIII  During a story meeting on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, he referred to the scene when the dwarfs pile on top of each other as a "nigger pile" and during casting of Song of the South he used the term pickaninny.[8]: 433  However, Disney biography Gabler argues that "Walt Disney was no racist. He never, either publicly or privately, made disparaging remarks about blacks or asserted white superiority. Like most white Americans of his generation, however, he was racially insensitive."[8]: 433  The feature film Song of the South was criticized by contemporary film critics, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and others for its perpetuation of black stereotypes,[9] but Disney became close friends with its star, James Baskett, describing him as "the best actor, I believe, to be discovered in years."[8]: 438–39  Disney later campaigned successfully for Baskett to receive an Honorary Academy Award for his performance, the first black male actor so honored. Baskett died shortly afterward, and his widow wrote Disney a letter of gratitude for his support.[8]: 438–39  Floyd Norman, the studio's first black animator who worked closely with Disney during the 1950s and 1960s, said, "Not once did I observe a hint of the racist behavior Walt Disney was often accused of after his death. His treatment of people‍—‌and by this I mean all people‍—‌can only be called exemplary."[10]

Since its release in 1992, Disney's Aladdin has been accused of perpetuating racial and ethnic stereotypes of Arabs. In July 1993, Disney announced that it would alter a line in the film's opening song, "Arabian Nights", written by Howard Ashman and Alan Menken.[11] In the original film, the song featured the lyrics, "Where they cut off your ear if they don't like your face/It's barbaric, but hey, it's home."[11] After Arab-American groups complained that the line was derogatory to Middle Easterners, Disney amended the lyrics in later editions of the film to an alternate lyric written by Ashman: "Where it's flat and immense and the heat is intense/It's barbaric, but hey, it's home."[11] Menken approved the change before its adoption, as did the estate of Ashman, who had died before the film's completion. The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee further requested that the word "barbaric" be removed; however, Disney refused this, claiming that the word appeared in all versions of Ashman's text and it referred to the film's desert setting in the altered lyrics.[11] Don Bustany, president of the ADC's Los Angeles chapter, argued that the existing alterations were "nowhere near adequate, considering the racism depicted in Aladdin ... there still remains the very sleazy, burlesque character in the prologue and the scene where a merchant is going to cut off the hand of Princess Jasmine because she took an apple from his stand to give to a hungry child."[11] A March 1995 article published on the ADC's website further criticized Aladdin for depicting the film's protagonists, Aladdin and Jasmine, with light skin and Anglicized features in contrast to dark-skinned merchants and palace guards who were cruel, greedy, and vicious while featuring Arab accents and distorted facial features.[12][13] Shortly after the film's release, Jack Shaheen, a professor of mass communications at Southern Illinois University, said that "Aladdin is not an entertaining Arabian Nights fantasy as film critics would have us believe, but rather a painful reminder to 3 million Americans of Arab heritage, as well as 300 million Arabs and others, that the abhorrent Arab stereotype is as ubiquitous as Aladdin's lamp."[13]

Sexism edit

In 1938, The Walt Disney Company sent a rejection letter to Mary Ford, stating that "girls are not considered" for creative positions. The letter was rediscovered in 2009 when Ford's grandson uploaded the image on Flickr.[14][15] The letter received greater attention on January 7, 2014, when, after congratulating Emma Thompson for her Best Actress win at the National Board of Review Awards, Meryl Streep referenced the letter.[16] Referencing Thompson's film, Saving Mr. Banks, Streep responded "It must have killed [Disney] to encounter a woman, an equally disdainful and superior creature, a person dismissive of his own considerable gifts and prodigious output and imagination."[17][18]

In response to Streep's statements, many Disney scholars and artists defended Disney, including Disney Legend Floyd Norman, who said "Much has changed, and changed for the better."[17] Other journalists found the speech ironic, noting that Streep just finished filming the then-upcoming Disney film, Into the Woods.[18][19][20]

The Walt Disney Company has also been criticized for the lack of feminist values seen in the older, original Disney Princesses. Snow White in particular is under constant criticism for her lack of feminist ideals.[21] The film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) features a main protagonist who, at the time, fit the domestic and docile expectations of women in the pre-World War II era.[21][22] Snow White is displayed on screen covered in a long dress, embellished with a white collar, puffy sleeves, red cape, and a red bow constraining her hair; a traditional, modest feminine look that reveals minimal skin.[23] Through her actions portrayed in the movie, she draws on the traditional femininity that was encouraged in 1930s American culture.[22] In the midst of the Great Depression, women were encouraged to return to the home and care for the household, a theme that is widely displayed in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.[22]

However, with the second resurgence of Disney movies (known as the Disney Renaissance) beginning in 1989 and ending in 1999, Disney transformed the damsel in distress into a strong woman with a desire for adventure.[22][23] This new approach ushered in a decade of go-getting, proactive heroines who possessed character traits that coincided with the new era of acceptable roles in a society where women hold the same jobs as men.[22] This is evident in princesses such as Ariel from The Little Mermaid (1989), Belle from Beauty and the Beast (1991), and Jasmine from Aladdin (1992)[23]

Plagiarism edit

Several of Disney's animated feature films have been accused of plagiarizing existing works. The most notable and controversial example is The Lion King, which critics allege was plagiarized from Osamu Tezuka's Japanese manga ジャングル大帝 Janguru Taitei i.e. Jungle Emperor ジャングル大帝 [ja] and its anime adaptation of the same name (in Japan). This TV series was in turn dubbed and retitled Kimba the White Lion for English-speaking audiences by Titan Productions for NBC from 1965 to 1966, and it premiered on Los Angeles' KHJ-TV in September 1966.[24] After Kimba's original run in the United States ended in the autumn of 1967, the series was shown in syndication on TV stations across the U.S. through September 30, 1978.[24]

As a number of media journalists and fans watched The Lion King after its initial release in 1994, they noticed characters and events in the story resembling those of Kimba. Although the two works follow different screenplays, there are strong artistic similarities, and The Lion King contains numerous sequences that closely match up with Kimba's.[25]: 159–161  Other similarities are thematically deeper and more pronounced, such as that both feature the theme of the circle of life. Alleged similarities in the characters, beginning with the protagonist lion cubs Kimba and Simba, include the evil lions, the one-eyed Claw and Scar, the sage baboons Dan'l Baboon and Rafiki, the animated birds Pauley Cracker and Zazu, and the pair of hyena sidekicks (it was a trio in the Disney film).[26]

The Lion King co-director Rob Minkoff deflected criticism of similarities in the characters by stating it was "not unusual to have characters like a baboon, a bird or hyenas" in films set in Africa.[26] Both films feature the protagonist looking up at cloudbursts in the shape of his father lion, as pointed out by Frederick L. Schodt.[26] The similarity is alluded to in a scene from The Simpsons episode "'Round Springfield", where a parody of Mufasa (voiced by Harry Shearer) in the clouds tells Lisa Simpson, "You must avenge my death, Kimba ... dah, I mean Simba!".[25]: 159 [27]

Matthew Broderick has said that when he was hired as the voice of adult Simba in The Lion King, he presumed the project was related to Kimba the White Lion.[28][29][30][31] "I thought he meant Kimba, who was a white lion in a cartoon when I was a little kid", said Broderick. "So I kept telling everybody I was going to play Kimba. I didn't really know anything about it, but I didn't really care."[32] In addition, a memo written by Roy E. Disney in July 1993 refers to Simba as "Kimba", causing critics to claim that Disney was aware of the similarities.[33]

Upon the release of The Lion King in Japan, multiple Japanese cartoonists including Machiko Satonaka signed a letter urging the Walt Disney Company acknowledge due credit to Jungle Emperor Leo in the making of The Lion King.[34][27] As Tim Hornyak wrote in The Japan Times, "The Tezuka–Disney connection extends back decades before the movie. Tezuka met Walt Disney at the 1964 New York World's Fair, and Disney said he hoped to "make something just like" Tezuka's Astro Boy.[35]The Lion King director Roger Allers claimed he remained unfamiliar with Kimba throughout production until his movie was nearly completed;[36] co-director Rob Minkoff also said he was unfamiliar with Kimba.[26][27]

The other Disney film, Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001), was alleged for plagiarizing the Japanese animated series as well; many critics and viewers alike claimed it was plagiarized from one of the popular anime television shows ふしぎの海のナディア Fushigi no Umi no Nadia i.e. Nadia of the Mysterious Seas (Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water) ふしぎの海のナディア [ja], more specifically in its character designs, setting and storyline.[37] As noted by the viewers in Japan and America, the similarities became strong enough to call its production company Gainax to sue for plagiarism. They only refrained from doing so, according to Gainax member Yasuhiro Takeda, because the decision belonged to parent companies NHK and Toho. Hiroyuki Yamaga, another Gainax worker, was quoted in an interview in 2000 as: "We actually tried to get NHK to pick a fight with Disney, but even the National Television Network of Japan didn't dare to mess with Disney and their lawyers. ... We actually did say that but we wouldn't actually take them to court. We would be so terrified about what they would do to them in return that we wouldn't dare."[38]

Although Disney never responded formally to those claims, co-director Kirk Wise posted on a Disney animation newsgroup in May 2001, "Never heard of Nadia till it was mentioned in this [newsgroup]. Long after we'd finished production, I might add." He claimed both Atlantis and Nadia were inspired, in part, by Jules Verne's 1870 novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas.[25]: 187  Speaking about the clarification, however, Lee Zion of Anime News Network wrote, "There are too many similarities not connected with 20,000 Leagues for the whole thing to be coincidence."[39] As such, the whole affair ultimately entered popular culture as a convincing case of plagiarism.[40][41] In 2018, Reuben Baron of Comic Book Resources added to Zion's comment stating, "Verne didn't specifically imagine magic crystal-based technology, something featured in both the Disney movie and the two similar anime. The Verne inspiration also doesn't explain the designs being suspiciously similar to Nadia's."[42]

In March 2014, animator Kelly Wilson sued Disney for plagiarism, alleging that the teaser trailer for Frozen was similar to her short film The Snowman. After four months of legal battling, federal judge Vince Chhabria ruled in Wilson's favor, citing evidence that Disney was aware of The Snowman and "the sequence of both works, from start to finish, is too parallel to conclude that no reasonable juror could find the works substantially similar." In April 2015, Chhabria explained that several Pixar employees had attended the 2011 San Francisco International Film Festival, in which The Snowman was screened four times alongside the Pixar short Play by Play.[43] In June 2015, Entertainment Weekly reported that Disney had agreed to settle the case.[44]

In March 2017, a year after the release of Disney's animated film Zootopia, screenwriter and producer Gary Goldman sued Disney, claiming that he had pitched a similar idea to the studio in 2000 and again in 2009. According to a story in The Hollywood Reporter, Goldman alleged that Disney had stolen the film's title and various artwork from him after he offered the project. A Disney spokesperson dismissed the accusations, declaring that "Mr. Goldman's lawsuit is riddled with patently false allegations. It is an unprincipled attempt to lay claim to a successful film he didn't create, and we will vigorously defend against it in court."[45]

Accusations of bribing on The Academy Awards for Best Animated Film edit

Disney has been accused by many animation communities and spaces of supposedly bribing The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences into giving films from Walt Disney Animation and Pixar the award for Best Animated Film. Much of the criticism for this has been based off how since 2008, the award has been dominated mostly by films made by Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar, with films from other studios almost exclusively being nominated. Directors of the nominated films have claimed that is actually better to be nominated because they know they will lose against Disney. The only exceptions to this have been Nickelodeon Movies' Rango in 2012, Sony Pictures Animation's Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse in 2019, Netflix Animation's Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio in 2023 and Studio Ghibli's The Boy and the Heron in 2024. Other criticism has been that some films of both studios didn't deserve the award, with a notable example being when Toy Story 4 won the award over SPA Animation's Klaus in 2020.[46][47][48]

LGBT references in Disney films edit

Main article: Disney and LGBT representation in animation

Disney has been criticized for limiting and stereotyping LGBT representation in its media, with LGBT topics previously being deemed not "family-friendly" to address directly by Disney while villains were often portrayed as queer-coded through gender non-conformance.

Controversy was stirred in the live-action remake Beauty and the Beast (2017), when director Bill Condon announced that Lefou would come out as a gay character and dance with a man named Stanley. As a result, a theater in Henagar, Alabama refused to screen the film.[49]

In March 2020, the Pixar animated film Onward introduced the first openly lesbian character in Disney media named Officer Specter, voiced by the real-life lesbian actress Lena Waithe, who discusses that her girlfriend's daughter gets her pulling her hair out.[50][51] This resulted to the film receiving backlash in several Middle Eastern countries such as Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.[52][53] The film is also censored in Russia, where the gay propaganda law officially criminalizes the dissemination of LGBT-related content to children under 18.[54]

Filming in Xinjiang edit

Main articles: Persecution of Uyghurs in China and Xinjiang internment camps

In 2020, Disney was criticised for filming in the autonomous region of Xinjiang, where human rights abuses are taking place, and thanking the publicity department of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region Chinese Communist Party Committee and the public security bureau in Turpan in the credits of the movie Mulan.[55][56] In a statement released, Disney said it was not responsible for the credit and attributed it to a 3rd party involved in the filming.[57] The public security bureau in Turpan was added to the U.S. Bureau of Industry and Security's Entity List in October 2019.[58]

Miramax and its handling of foreign films edit

Formerly a subsidiary of Disney from 1993 to 2010, Miramax came under criticism for its editing, dubbing, and replacing the soundtracks of various foreign films that it releases. One notable example is Iron Monkey which, though released subtitled, had its subtitles altered to remove the political context of the story; had scenes trimmed and changed for violence and pacing; and had the soundtrack changed, removing the famous Wong Fei Hung theme. Other films that they have altered in this way include Shaolin Soccer; Farewell My Concubine (theatrical release); The Thief and the Cobbler; and Jet Li's Fist of Legend.

Peter Biskind's book Down and Dirty Pictures details many of the Weinsteins' dishonest dealings with filmmakers.

Under the Weinsteins, Miramax had a history of buying the rights to Asian films, only to sit on them without releasing them for years. One example of this is Hero, a 2002 Chinese martial arts film. It languished in Miramax's vaults for two years before it was salvaged with the intervention of Quentin Tarantino, the Government of China and even Disney's executives. Another example is Tears of the Black Tiger, a Thai film originally released in 2000. After changing the film's ending, Tears of the Black Tiger sat in Miramax's vaults for five years until its rights were purchased by Magnolia Pictures in 2006, where the film was released unedited.

A "no cuts" policy was highlighted when Miramax co-chairman Harvey Weinstein demanded edits to the Japanese anime film Princess Mononoke to make it more marketable. In response, Toshio Suzuki, a producer at Studio Ghibli, sent an authentic katana with a simple message: "No cuts".[59] According to promotion manager Steve Alpert, when Weinstein initially found out about this, he flew into a rage, threatening Alpert that he would "never work in this ... industry again".[60] He eventually gave in, however, and the film was released uncut.

One reason for the delays and non-releases of films was an accounting scheme that the Weinsteins used to shift potential money-losing films to future fiscal years and ensure they would receive annual bonuses from Disney,[61] while trying to bar retailers from legally exporting authentic DVDs of the films.[62]

Defenders of the company point out that, prior to Miramax, most of the films purchased by the company would have had little to no chance of achieving U.S. distribution other than by very small distributors with minimal marketing expertise and funds. They also state that the purpose of the company's aggressive re-editing technique was always to try to help the films find a broader American audience than they might otherwise find. "I'm not cutting for fun", Harvey Weinstein said in an interview, "I'm cutting for the shit to work. All my life I served one master: the film. I love movies."[63]

Miramax is also accused of ignoring their more artistic, less audience-friendly films, especially when directors refuse to re-cut them to make them less challenging. Dead Man, which director Jim Jarmusch refused to re-cut, got a very limited release and critics have accused the Weinsteins of burying the film.[64][65]

Miramax was parodied in the Kevin Smith film Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001), in which the studio attempted to adapt Jay and Silent Bob's comic book characters, Bluntman and Chronic, into a movie, thus resulting in the duo traveling to Hollywood to stop them from making the movie. According to Kevin Smith, this film is a direct response to the controversy surrounding his previous film Dogma.[citation needed]

Marvel Studios' relationship with VFX workers edit

In the wake of Marvel Studios firing executive vice president of film production Victoria Alonso for breach of contract in March 2023, criticism from VFX workers were noted,[66] who had raised complaints of Marvel's "demanding post-production schedules". Alonso was described by some as a "kingmaker",[66][67] and "challenging to work with",[68] with Chris Lee at Vulture reporting that Alonso was "singularly responsible for Marvel's toxic work environment" with VFX workers.[69][67] Alonso reportedly took days off to produce Argentina, 1985 instead of her post-production commitments for the various Marvel Cinematic Universe projects, which in turn resulted in the need to delay several projects in 2022 and 2023.[68] However, Alonso was also described as the "epitome of professional" and supportive on set, with Joanna Robinson of The Ringer describing the reports as a "gross mischaracterization" and the opposite of Alonso's work.[66][70] Following Alonso's firing, visual effects vendors for the various MCU projects were working with producer Jen Underdahl.[71] In August 2023, more than 50 of Marvel's on-set VFX production crew filed a petition for an election to be represented by the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees with the National Labor Relations Board.[72]

Secret Invasion A.I. opening credits sequence controversy edit

In 2023, it was revealed that the series opening credits sequence of the Marvel Studios series Secret Invasion was created using generative artificial intelligence to showcase "the shapeshifting tone of the series" according to Ali Selim.[73] Reception to the sequence was met with backlash and disappointment from audiences and the animation industry. Major criticism includes that the argument was especially timely, since the Writers Guild of America voted to strike after failed negotiations with the Association of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which included language about protecting writers against the use of AI in the writing process. Over the past eight weeks, the use of AI to replace laborers has come to the forefront of many discussions about the strike.[74][75] Storyboard artists and animators on the series expressed disappointment on the opening sequence.[76]

Using deepfake and A.I on background actors without their consent edit

During the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike, it was revealed that several background actors for several Marvel Studios, Walt Disney Studios, Lucasfilm and Disney Branded Television productions were scanned to train a generative artificial intelligence to use their image on several episodes or films without their consent or additional payment. The major productions where this case was exposed were WandaVision and the Disney Channel Original Movie Prom Pact. Criticism includes that the union has highlighted how the studios have been scanning the faces and bodies of background actors to help with VFX work, however, the studios have been trying to get actors to sign over their likenesses for future films and shows which many have described as disgusting and soulless.[77][78][79][80]

Disney General Entertainment Content edit

American Broadcasting Company edit

On February 9, 1996, The Walt Disney Company acquired Capital Cities/ABC, and renamed the broadcasting group ABC, Inc., although the network also continues to use American Broadcasting Companies, such as on TV productions it owns.

ABC's relationship with Disney dates back to 1953 when Leonard Goldenson pledged enough money so that the "Disneyland" theme park could be completed. ABC continued to hold Disney notes and stock until 1960, and also had first call on the "Disneyland" television series in 1954.

With this new relationship came an attempt at cross-promotion, with attractions based on ABC, shows at Disney parks and an annual soap festival at Walt Disney World (the former president of ABC, Inc., Robert Iger, now heads Disney). In 1997, ABC aired a Saturday morning block called One Saturday Morning, which changed to ABC Kids in 2002. It featured a five-hour line-up of children's shows (mostly cartoons) for children ages 5–12, but it was changed to a four-hour line-up in 2005. Since then, it was aimed for children more in the 10–16 age range.

Despite intense micro-managing on the part of Disney management, the flagship television network was slow to turn around. In 1999, the network was able to experience a brief bolster in ratings with the hit game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. A new national phenomenon, Survivor, on CBS persuaded the schedulers at ABC to change Millionaire's slot over to the Wednesday time slot at 8:00 to kill Survivor before it got ratings to hold. The first results were promising for CBS; they lost by only a few rating points. ABC tried to keep the strength running, so they tried an unprecedented strategy for Millionaire by airing the show four times a week during the next fall season, in the process overexposing the show, as it appeared on the network sometimes five or six nights during a week.

ABC's ratings fell dramatically as competitors introduced their own game shows and the public grew tired of the format. Alex Wallau took over as president in 2000. Despite the repeated overexposure of Millionaire and its switch to syndication, ABC continued to find some success in dramas such as The Practice (which gave birth to a successful spinoff, Boston Legal, in 2004); Alias; and Once and Again. ABC also had some moderately successful comedies including The Drew Carey Show; Spin City; Dharma & Greg; According to Jim; My Wife and Kids; and George Lopez.

Still, one asset that ABC lacked in the early 2000s that most other networks had was popularity in reality television. ABC's briefly-lived reality shows Are You Hot? and I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! proved to be an embarrassment for the network. By the end of the 2003–2004 television season, ABC slumped to fourth place, becoming the first of the original "Big Three" networks to fall into such ratings.

ABC Daytime edit

Main article: ABC Daytime

"The strike-termination agreement does not allow the retention of replacement writers in lieu of allowing striking writers to return to their jobs. ABC Daytime are clearly violating this agreement", said Ira Cure, senior counsel for the WGA East, in a statement. "They have left us no other option but to file arbitrations to ensure that our members will be afforded their rights outlined under this agreement." Broadcasting & Cable: Arbitration Suit Against ABC-D

In August 2009, Frons announced that the production of All My Children would move from New York City to Los Angeles by the end of the year.[82][83]

ABC News edit

Main article: ABC News

On April 30, 2004, Nightline host Ted Koppel read the names of the members of the United States Armed Forces who were killed in Iraq. This prompted controversy from conservatives, who believed that Koppel was making a political statement, and from Sinclair Broadcasting Group, which felt that ABC was undermining the Iraq war effort. Others, including a The Washington Post television columnist, thought it was a ratings stunt for sweeps, and indeed Nightline was the highest-rated program during that time period, and had about 30% more viewers than other Nightline programs that week. Sinclair stations did not air the program.

Koppel repeated the format on May 28, 2004, reading the names of service members killed in Afghanistan, and on May 30, 2005, reading the names of all service members killed in Afghanistan or Iraq between the last program and the preparation of the program. This time, Sinclair stations aired the program as scheduled.

In the wake of the job cuts, a significant controversy erupted online in May 2010 after it was announced the former VP of news coverage, Mimi Gurbst, was leaving the network to become a guidance counselor.[84] A story in the New York Observer reported that Gurbst was a "cherished" mentor inside the news division.[85] Reporters who closely follow TV news observed that a large number of current and former ABC News staffers went online to vigorously respond that Gurbst had helped perpetuate a negative culture with ABC News.[86][87]

The Path to 9/11 edit

 
Wikinews has related news:
  • ABC comes under fire for alleged partisan slant in 9/11 miniseries

ABC aired the controversial two-part miniseries The Path to 9/11 in the US on September 10, 2006, at 8 p.m. EDT and September 11, 2006, at 8 p.m. EDT. The extensive pre-broadcast controversy over the film has included disputes over the accuracy of its dramatization of key events, as well as calls by historians and from former Clinton and Bush administration officials for ABC to re-edit part of the film or to not broadcast it at all. According to the official statement released by ABC on September 7, 2006, the film is a dramatization, not a documentary, drawn from a variety of sources, including the 9/11 Commission Report, other published materials, and personal interviews.[88]

The main source of the controversy stems from portions of the film concerned with the Clinton administration in the 1990s. Critics say that certain dramatized scenes tend to suggest that blame for the events that took place on September 11, 2001, lies with Clinton and his cabinet. One example cited is a scene in which then-National Security Advisor Sandy Berger does not approve of the order to take out a surrounded Osama bin Laden, tells the squad in Afghanistan that they will have to do the job without official authorization and then hangs up the phone. According to Sandy Berger and others – including conservative author and Clinton critic Richard Miniter – this never happened.[89] Screenwriter Cyrus Nowrasteh has now admitted that the abrupt hang-up was not in the script and was improvised.[90]

American Airlines reportedly threatened to pull its advertising from ABC after this program aired. The liberal watchdog group Media Matters for America named ABC its third annual "Misinformer of the Year" award in 2006, not only for the miniseries, but for the alleged conservative pandering of ABC News director Mark Halperin and for biased claims on news programs such as ABC World News and Good Morning America.

Alexis Debat edit

Alexis Debat, a consultant for ABC for years and also a writer for The National Interest, resigned from ABC in June 2007 after the broadcasting company discovered that he did not have a Ph.D. from the Sorbonne as he pretended.[91] Furthermore, in September 2007, the French news media Rue 89 revealed that he had made at least two bogus interviews, one of Barack Obama and another of Alan Greenspan, both published in the French magazine Politique internationale.[92][93] This in turn also led to his resignation from The National Interest.[91] Debat had specialized in reports on terrorism and national security for the past six years (writing, for example, on the Jundallah Balochi and Sunni organization).[91][94]

ABC contract dispute affecting WABC-TV and WPVI edit

On March 2, 2010, WABC-TV in New York, along with Philadelphia sister station WPVI (carried in Mercer, Monmouth, and Ocean counties), stated that they would pull their programming from Cablevision on March 7, 2010 (at midnight), unless a new payment structure was implemented for its network programming. Cablevision responded by citing WABC-TV and WPVI's free, over-the-air accessibility. Cablevision spokesman Charles Schueler stated, "It is not fair for ABC-Disney to hold Cablevision customers hostage by forcing them to pay what amounts to a new TV tax."[95]

The removal of both stations occurred on the weekend of the 82nd Academy Awards, which was scheduled to be one of ABC's largest yearly specials, and was projected to cause a devastating blow to advertisers for the Oscars and to Cablevision itself.

On Sunday, March 7, 2010, at 12:01 a.m. ET, both WABC and WPVI were removed from Cablevision, leaving a black screen in their place, confirming the rumors that if a deal with Cablevision and ABC was not reached by midnight, the network and other Disney-owned channels would go off the air.

Cablevision began looping a public service announcement on each affected channel and forcing all of its customers' set-top boxes to channel 1999, which was looping the same announcement, much like was done when Scripps Networks pulled their cable channels' programming. Besides providing certain details of the disagreement they stated that ABC shows could be watched online through TV websites such as Hulu.

Also that day, Cablevision announced through e-mail that their entire film catalog of on-demand movies would be available without charge until midnight that evening as an apology to their customers.[96]

At 8:50 p.m. that day, WABC and WPVI returned to Cablevision's programming, after notification during the 82nd Academy Awards announced progression in "Work to complete our negotiations", and the return of ABC's programming during the negotiations.

Freeform edit

Fox Family Worldwide Inc. was sold from News Corporation's Fox Entertainment Group to Disney for $2.9 billion on October 24, 2001. The sale to Disney also included TV channel Fox Kids and Saban Entertainment (renamed BVS Entertainment (now Hasbro)). The entire network was officially renamed ABC Family on November 10, 2001.[97][98][99][100]

The sale to Disney was considered one of the largest mistakes or problems occurring during the tenure of Michael Eisner. The failure was primarily due to the acquisition being done by the strategic planning department of Disney, without consulting anyone at ABC. The original plan was to use the channel to essentially show re-runs of ABC programming, but this plan was completely impossible since ABC had no syndication rights to the majority of their own programs. During this time, the network did air same-season repeats of Alias, Less Than Perfect, Life with Bonnie, and The Bachelor, almost all of which were Touchstone Television productions (The Bachelor is distributed by Time Warner's Telepictures). But in trying to change the focus of the channel, Disney also canceled several Fox Family series, like State of Grace, and cut back on the network's TV movies, which were among the few programs Fox Family was doing well with. The ratings tumbled further as the network became dependent on syndicated reruns and no original programs (save for original wrap-around segments around Bachelor repeats, and children's programming).[101]

The next major plan was to reposition the channel to market it to college students, young women, or to a more hip audience under the name XYZ, a reverse reference to ABC. Disney soon found that the channel could never be renamed as such. The original sale from CBN to Fox/Saban contained a (now disputed) stipulation that the channel contains the word "Family" in the name forever, no matter who owns the network. To create XYZ, the Family Channel would have had to cease to exist – terminating all existing cable TV contracts – and XYZ would have to be created as a completely new network. Cable companies would not be obligated to put XYZ in the spot vacated by the Family Channel. ABC scrapped the idea after discovering this clause.[102]

The name was revisited at one point in 2003, serving as a program block entitled "The XYZ", showing programs and movies aimed at the above groups. The network was also used as a buffer to burn off failed ABC series, such as All American Girl, which featured former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell.[103]

Since 2006, the critics have gone after programming on ABC Family. Most critics of the network feel it has gone from a family friendly to "too risqué", and shows like Greek and The Secret Life of the American Teenager are far too racy for "family viewers". Critics feel that the executives at ABC Family are only after viewership numbers and are unconcerned about showing younger generations in questionable scenarios in series and films. The main focus of criticism is on teenage pregnancy or underage drinking.[104]

Despite the channel's name including the word "Family", the channel's programming content standards had changed several years earlier after the sale of the channel by International Family Entertainment, and the channel had been airing even some acquired series and movies that contain profanity, violence and sexual content or dialogue after the sale, particularly since being purchased by The Walt Disney Company. ABC Family did air parental advisory tags at the beginning of some TV-14 rated programs, such as That '70s Show and some episodes of The Secret Life of the American Teenager. In 2015, a survey revealed that viewers who only watched the channel occasionally thought that the channel was entirely family-friendly. As a result, the channel was rebranded as Freeform on January 12, 2016. This change was made in order to establish the network as a general entertainment channel. Despite this, family-oriented shows and movies continue to air on the network.

National Geographic Partners edit

The enterprise was originally established by 21st Century Fox and the National Geographic Society. Following the completion of Disney's acquisition of 21st Century Fox on March 20, 2019, Disney assumed 21CF's 73% share in the joint venture.

Disney Channel edit

Some critics disapprove of the Disney Channel marketing strategy led by Anne Sweeney,[105] president of the Disney Channel from 1996 to 2014.[106] Under Sweeney, the Disney Channel's programming was geared mainly towards preteen and teenage girls, with a decrease in animated programming.[107] Criticism was also aimed at removing almost all Walt-era and pre-1990s material from the channel in 2002 with the removal of the late-night "Vault Disney" block devoted to this material, which used to make up the majority of the channel's programming since its inception in 1983.[108][109] In 2008, Sweeney explained that Disney Channel, resulting from its multi-platform marketing strategy using television and music, would become "the major profit driver for the [Walt Disney] Company."[109]

The channel has also pulled (and sometimes re-shot) episodes that have featured subject matter deemed inappropriate for its target audience, due either to humor or to timing of real-life events.

Brian Peck Blackash edit

See also: Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV

Disney Channel faced backlash for hiring Brian Peck on the series The Suite Life of Zack & Cody after being accused of being a sex offender, Disney Channel executives fired Peck after learning about his conviction, Peck's voice lines and on-screen credits on the series were replaced or removed. Disney Channel representatives have stated that Peck was never on set nor interacted with the show's cast or crew.[116][117]

Primos controversy edit

On June 13, 2023, the opening sequence of the series Primos was released by Disney Branded Television,[118][119] with a mixed reception to the sequence on social media, including from Latinos and Mexicans.[120][121][122] Some viewers argued that the sequence had various negative stereotypes, complained about names of some characters, and claimed the Spanish pronunciation of some characters in the sequence was incorrect.[123][124][125]

ESPN edit

Main article: Criticism of ESPN

Criticism of ESPN is mostly concerning the journalistic standards of the network versus the entertainment division.

One such event came in 2010 when ESPN gave one hour of time, and the advertising money that goes with it, to NBA superstar LeBron James so he could announce where he would play during the 2010-11 NBA season. This program was called The Decision and received criticism because ESPN ceded control of the hour to an outside source, and the person doing the interview was Jim Gray, who was not an ESPN employee. This is in addition to the hours of hype preceding the special which was in the form of a three-hour SportsCenter telecast.

There was a Texas Tech scandal, which involved ESPN College Football analyst Craig James. Through James, ESPN used its power to get head coach Mike Leach fired because of how James's son, Adam, was treated following a concussion.

ESPN has also been accused of overpaying for sports broadcasting rights, and that Wall Street analysts have raised concerns that this could be a major drain on Disney as a whole, since the amount of money that can be recuperated from retransmission consent fees and advertising is limited; Disney still profits from the ESPN division but as of 2015 was cutting the network's higher-priced content to ensure long-term profitability.[126] In October 2015, ESPN laid off about 300 employees, citing the rights costs combined with the increasing trend of cord-cutting.[127]

In November 2019, ESPN's owner The Walt Disney Company launched the streaming service called Disney+. ESPN heavily promoted the Disney+ launch, leading to accusations that the network was sacrificing its journalistic integrity.[128][129] Examples cited by critics included a Simpsons-themed edition of SportsCenter "Top 10", as well as NFL reporter Adam Schefter tweeting that Disney+ "will change lives". Writing in Slate, Laura Wagner[130] said that the "tongue bath" for Disney+ "represents a new inflection point in ESPN's decline from journalistic institution to entertainment company". Wagner added "This clumsy marketing blitz is an embarrassing exercise that turns ostensible reporters into stooges. It's also a stark example of just how flimsy ESPN's editorial vision has become." Meanwhile, Kelly McBride of the nonprofit journalism organization the Poynter Institute in an interview with The Washington Post[131] said "You're turning the journalist into a salesperson and asking them to upsell the product. That's not the relationship you want the journalist to have with the audience member. You want that relationship to be about trust in the journalist's expertise."

Disney Entertainment edit

Hulu edit

Kardashian-Roblox scandal edit

The series premiere of The Kardashians, which debuted on April 14, 2022, titled "Burn Them All to the F*cking Ground", led to a public feud between Kim Kardashian and Roblox. In the episode, Kim's son Saint West shows his mother an experience on the platform from a tablet that depicts an image of Kim crying across the skybox and baseplate. She claimed, however, that the person who uploaded the experience had also obtained footage of her and Ray J's sex tape, and that she reacted by crying and claiming to later sue the company. Despite this allegation, the incident has been seen by many as a hoax, and was deceptively edited and staged as a way to cause uproar and false drama.[132]

A spokesperson for Roblox responded by saying "The referenced video was never available on our platform. We have strict moderation and policies to protect our community, including zero tolerance for sexual content of any kind which violates our community rules." and "The text reference to the tape that got around our filters was quickly taken down and fortunately visible only to an extremely small number of people on the platform. We also swiftly took down the associated experience and banned the community developer involved with the incident."[133] An individual close to the Kardashian family denied accusations of faking the event.[134][135]

The series is distributed by Disney Platform Distribution and was released in the United States on Hulu, Disney+ internationally via Star and Star+ in Latin America.

Disney+ edit

Criticism over removing titles from streaming edit

On Disney’s earnings call from May 10, 2023, CFO Christine McCarthy had said the company expected to take a write-down in the June quarter of $1.5 billion-$1.8 billion from removing content from its streaming platforms. The move, comes with a content impairment charge of $1.5 billion to $1.8 billion.

The company faced backlash from various cast and crew members from the following removed series: Big Shot, Turner & Hooch, Willow, The Mysterious Benedict Society and removed films such as The One and Only Ivan, Flora & Ulysses, Better Nate Than Ever, Cheaper By The Dozen, Magic Camp, Stargirl and its sequel Hollywood Stargirl.

Criticism includes that Disney removed many content featuring many positive POC and LGTBQ+ representation and that said titles where even barely advertised as opposed to other popular titles from the service mostly made by Marvel Studios and LucasFilm within the Star Wars franchise. The latter criticism came with the removal of the film Crater which was removed two months after being dropped on Disney+. Disney received backlash over the potential removal of Howard — a documentary about famous lyricist Howard Ashman, a gay man, who co-wrote the songs for Disney’s Little Mermaid animated classic — and its timing, on the eve of the release of the live-action Little Mermaid film and LGBTQ+ Pride Month.

Several other Disney+ titles that had been earmarked for removal like, A Spark Story, Marvel’s MPower and Marvel’s Voices Rising: The Music of Wakanda Forever stayed due a similar backlash.[136][137][138]

Walt Disney Parks, Experiences and Products edit

Disneyland Resort edit

Ban on same-sex dancing edit

Between 1957, when the park first allowed dancing, and 1989, Disneyland only allowed pairs of men and women to dance on stage, barring single and group dancers (with the exception of children) as well as same-sex couples.[139] Disney claimed the policy had been put in place for crowd control and to avoid harassment of women, but also stated that it was "because some patrons might have found dance partners of the same sex offensive".[140][141] Teenage gay rights activist Andrew Exler (now known as Crusader) decided to dance with his friend Shawn Elliott in 1980 to protest the policy after his lesbian roommate was told she couldn't dance with other girls; the security guards responded to their "homosexual fast-dancing" by kicking them out, claiming that as a "family park... We do not put up with alternative lifestyles here." Exeler, who had already notified the media, sued Disney in court for discrimination and won the suit in 1984; however, Disney later claimed that the ruling only applied to Exler and Elliott and continued to enforce the ban, particularly for same-sex "slow" or "touch" dancing, resulting in another lawsuit later in the decade that forced Disney to rescind the policy in 1989.[142][139]

Al Lutz's Disneyland reports edit

Al Lutz, who has written about Disney since the 1990s, often writes about a perceived decline in value and quality at Disney's theme parks, chiefly Disneyland and its neighboring park Disney California Adventure that opened in 2001.[143][citation needed] Much of his criticism was directed at Paul Pressler, the one-time president of Disneyland who later was named chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, and Cynthia Harriss, Pressler's successor as Disneyland's president. From 1996–2002, Lutz maintained a set of sarcastic Web pages called Promote Paul Pressler!,[144] with the stated goal of "getting current Disneyland Resort President Paul Pressler promoted to a new job somewhere else within The Walt Disney Company!"

Lutz's July 2006 report on the alleged antics of Lindsay Lohan during a private party held at Disneyland for her 20th birthday[145] drew a rebuke from a representative for the actress, who said that reports of bad behavior were "complete bull".[146] This report brought Lutz's website, MiceAge, briefly into the spotlight, and established Lutz as a Disney watchdog in the mainstream media.

Disney California Adventure edit

Disney California Adventure, originally named Disney's California Adventure Park until a name change in June 2010, was expected to draw large crowds when it opened in 2001. A January 14, 2001 Los Angeles Times article titled "The most Jam-Packed Theme Park on Earth?" stated "Senior Disney officials acknowledge that there will be days when California Adventure will have to turn patrons away, particularly in the first weeks after the park opens, during spring break and again in the summer." The actual attendance was not close to the size that Disney expected for the park back in 2001.[147]

The reasons for this has been speculated as:

  • Bad word-of-mouth from early visitors discouraged future visitors, stating the park was lacking in Disney-quality attractions.[148]
  • Hollywood Pictures Backlot had a lack of focus on the restaurants, shops, and attractions.
  • Lack of rides for young children.
  • The park's Californian theme was criticized as being redundant, seeing as the park itself was located in the same state that it represented. Various tourist attractions and landmarks such as the Hollywood Sign and the beaches were located less than an hour away from the park.
  • Fans criticized the Paradise Pier area of the park because many of the attractions in this area were generic rides that guests do not expect to find at a Disney park. This was ironic because Walt Disney originally created the neighboring Disneyland to provide a theme park experience unlike boardwalk piers and amusement parks of the era, and instead wanted to create a park where the entire family could enjoy themselves.
  • With an estimated price tag of $600 million, the park was criticized for being built "on the cheap", with a small number of attractions and minimal theming.[149]
  • Many guests complained that a single day admission ticket to Disney's California Adventure cost the same as a single day admission ticket to Disneyland, yet contained fewer attractions, shows, and entertainment.[150]

Disney's chief executive officer, Robert Iger, went on record during the company's annual stockholder meeting on March 10, 2006, when someone asked about a potential third park being built in Anaheim. "We're still working to assure the second gate is successful", Iger said, referring to California Adventure. "In the spirit of candor, we have been challenged."[151]

On October 17, 2007, The Walt Disney Company announced a multi-year, $1.1 billion expansion plan for Disney's California Adventure Park.[152][153] Plans for the renovation and expansion were put on display for park visitors inside the Blue Sky Cellar at the Golden Vine Winery. Disney listened to the public and several of the attractions which drew criticism from the public were removed in the multi-year, multibillion-dollar redesign and expansion of Disney's California Adventure. Other rides were redesigned or replaced with a larger focus on Disney characters and stories.

On May 28, 2010, it was announced through the Disney Parks Blog that the park would also be receiving a name change, to Disney California Adventure, as well as a new logo. The new name took effect on June 11, 2010, appearing on park maps and banners, but it was first used in a commercial promoting Disney's World of Color a few days prior. World of Color premiered on June 11, 2010, as part of Disney's Summer Nighttastic.[154]

Walt Disney World Resort edit

Disney's Animal Kingdom edit

Main article: Disney's Animal Kingdom

Even in the planning stages, various Florida based animal rights groups and PETA did not like the idea of Disney creating a theme park where animals were held in captivity. The groups protested, and PETA tried to convince travel agents not to book trips to the park.[155] A few weeks before the park opened, a number of animals died due to accidents. The United States Department of Agriculture viewed most of the cases and found no violations of animal-welfare regulations.[156] On opening day, the Orange County Sheriff's office sent about 150 deputies in fear that there might be a large protest, but only 24 protesters showed up. The protest lasted two hours, and there were no arrests.[157]

One year after the park opened and before the Disney World Millennium Celebration, The Animal Rights Foundation of Florida complained that a New Millennium's Eve fireworks show could upset the animals. A USDA inspector came to the park to find no problems with launching low-noise fireworks half a mile away.[158]

Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex edit

Main article: ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex

A former baseball umpire and an architect alleged that they approached The Walt Disney Company in 1987 with plans for a sports complex and that Wide World of Sports, which opened 10 years later, was heavily based on their designs. Disney claimed that, while the designs had some similarities, the complex was also similar to numerous other sporting facilities, and the concept of a sports park was too generic for any one group to claim ownership. The two men, represented in part by noted attorney Johnnie Cochran, sued Disney in Orange County civil court. In August 2000, a jury returned a verdict for the plaintiffs with damages in the amount of $240 million, a fraction of the $1.5 billion sought.[159] Disney appealed the judgment, and settled out of court in September 2002 for undisclosed terms.[160]

Walt Disney World College Program edit

The Walt Disney World College Program is a U.S. national internship program operated by The Walt Disney Company, located at the Walt Disney World Resort. The Walt Disney World College Program recruits students (18 years and older) and all majors for a semester-long paid internship program working at the Walt Disney World Resort.

Critics argue that Disney is using the program as a source of cheap labor, as interns do the same work as veteran employees, but at a significantly lower pay rate.[161] In late 2007, a permanent Cast Member ran for president of the local union in Orlando. Part of his platform intended to get rid of the Disney College Program, claiming that the program "imports thousands of low-wage earners every year to work for Disney, depressing the local employment market and keeping wages down." Disney responded that the program is beneficial in the recruitment of cast members and that 8,000 workers out of 62,000 do not greatly impact operations.[162] It has been criticized also for its lack of union representation and denial of insurance benefits by the company.

Miscellaneous edit

In 2017, The Walt Disney Company and two of its subsidiaries reached an agreement with the U.S. Department of Labor to pay $3.8M to 16,339 employees of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts U.S. Inc and Disney Vacation Club Management Corp. After Disney had started charging employees for their costumes, the income of many employees fell below the federal minimum wage. The resorts were also found to be in violation of overtime and payroll recordkeeping regulations.[163]

Disneyland Paris edit

In May 1992, entertainment magazine The Hollywood Reporter reported that about 25% of Euro Disney's workforce – approximately 3,000 men and women[citation needed] – had resigned their jobs due to unacceptable working conditions. It also reported that the park's attendance was far behind expectations[citation needed]. Euro Disney S.C.A., the company that operates Disneyland Paris, responded in an interview with The Wall Street Journal, in which the company's president, Robert Fitzpatrick, claimed that only 1,000 people had left their jobs.[citation needed]

In response to the financial situation, Fitzpatrick ordered that the Disney-MGM Studios Europe project would be put on hiatus until a further decision could be made. Prices at the resort's hotels were also reduced significantly.

Despite these efforts, in May 1992 daily park attendance was around 25,000 (some reports give a figure of 30,000) instead of the predicted 60,000. Euro Disney's stock price spiraled downwards and on July 23, 1992, the Resort announced an expected net loss in its first year of operation of approximately 300 million French francs. During Euro Disney's first winter, hotel occupancy was such that it was decided to close Disney's Newport Bay Club hotel for the season. Initial hopes were that each visitor would spend around US$33 per day, but near the end of 1992, analysts reckoned spending to be around 12% lower.[citation needed]

Efforts to improve attendance included serving alcoholic beverages with meals inside the Euro Disneyland theme park, in response to a presumed European demand, which began June 12, 1993.[164]

In January 1994, Sanford Litvack, an attorney from New York City and former Assistant Attorney General during the Jimmy Carter presidency, was assigned to be Disney's lead negotiator regarding Euro Disney's future. On February 28, Litvack made an offer (without the consent of Eisner or Frank Wells) to split the debts between Euro Disney creditors and Disney. After the banks showed interest, Litvack informed Eisner and Wells. On March 14, the day before the annual shareholders meeting, the banks capitulated to Disney's demands. The creditor banks bought US$500 million worth of Euro Disney shares, forgave 18 months of interest and deferred interest payments for three years. The Walt Disney Company invested US$750 million into Euro Disney and granted a five-year suspension of royalty payments. In June that same year, Saudi Arabian Prince Al-Waleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud cut a deal whereby The Walt Disney Company bought 51% of a new US$1.1 billion share issue, the rest being offered to existing shareholders at below-market rates, with the Prince buying any that were not taken up by existing shareholders (up to a 24.5% holding). Prince Al-Waleed Bin Talal was alleged to be a financier of Al Qaeda by The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, also known as the 9/11 Commission.[165]

Walt Disney Studios Park, which was built in a desperate and rushed attempt to increase the resort's attendance, was also criticized for its lackluster theming, lack of quality attractions and bland environment since its opening. It was also Disney's smallest and least attended theme park. Efforts made to improve the park included the addition of several new attractions, a new themed land Toy Story Playland and re-theming of other areas. One of the new attractions, Crush's Coaster, was also criticized for its long lines and wait times reaching up to two hours even on non-crowded days due to its popularity, despite being not capable of handling riders at a fast rate. About one hour before the official opening time of the park, guests were able to enter the park to wait in line for the ride, which had not been done before in any other Disney ride. Attempts to apply a Fastpass line in the ride have been proved to be more inefficient.

Hong Kong Disneyland Resort edit

Main article: Hong Kong Disneyland

Overcrowding problems edit

Just before the grand opening, the park was criticized for overestimating the daily capacity limit.[166] The problem became apparent on the charity preview day on September 4, 2005, when 30,000 locals visited the park. This event turned out to be a disaster, because there were too many guests for the park to accommodate. Wait times at fast food outlets were at least 45 minutes in length, and wait times at rides were two hours in length.

Although the community, and the park's biggest shareholder, the Hong Kong government, put pressure on the park to lower the capacity, the park insisted on keeping the limit and only agreed to relieve the capacity problem by extending the opening time by one hour or introducing more discounts during weekdays. However, the park said that local visitors tend to stay in the park for about nine hours per visit, implying that the mentioned practices would do little to solve the problem.[citation needed]

During the Chinese New Year 2006, many visitors arrived at the park in the morning bearing valid tickets but were refused entry, because the park was already at capacity. Disgruntled visitors attempted to force their way into the park or gain access by climbing over the barrier gates.[167] Disneyland management was forced to revise their ticketing policy and designated future periods close to Chinese public holidays as 'special days' during which admission would only be allowed through a date-specific ticket.

Food safety panel edit

Officers from the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, who were asked by Disney staff to take off their badges and caps in order to enter the park, left park visitors feeling very uneasy. The officers investigated a food-poisoning case in the park's restaurants.[168] The chairman of Legco's food Safety panel, Fred Li, described the incident as shocking and called on the director of the department to take follow-up action against Disney. Hong Kong Disneyland says that what happened was inappropriate and has apologized for the incident. The Secretary for Justice has since said that the government did not have enough evidence to make a prosecution, thus dropping the case.

Fingerprinting edit

As at other Disney theme parks, visitors to Hong Kong Disneyland have their finger biometrics scanned at the entry gate. Visitors are not warned of the policy beforehand. Scanning is done of all visitors older than 10 years of age, and is used to associate ticket media with the person using it. The company claims that "the 50 sample points from the surface of a guest's finger ... do not contain sufficient information to recreate a fingerprint image." Nonetheless, forensic specialists note that the data collected are more than adequate to establish a positive identification.[169]

Shark fin soup controversy edit

Disney originally planned to serve shark fin soup, a traditional Chinese delicacy, at wedding banquets.[170] Animal rights groups protested in June 2005, citing the declining shark population in global waters and the cruel methods sometimes used of cutting the fin and discarding live sharks back into the sea.

At first, Disney removed shark fin soup from its menu, but said that it would still offer the soup if their clients insisted on having it served at their wedding. They said they would distribute leaflets about shark conservation in order to discourage the choice.[171]

However, after constant and continuous pressure from both environmental groups and animal welfare groups,[172] shareholders concerned about the company's image, Disney announced on June 24, 2005, that shark fin soup will not be served at all, because, according to their press release, "After careful consideration and a thorough review process, we were not able to identify an environmentally sustainable fishing source, leaving us no alternative except to remove shark fin soup from our wedding banquet menu".[173]

Other controversies edit

Fish around Ma Wan died as a result of land reclamation.[174]

Disney's PhotoPass edit

Disney's PhotoPass is a professional photography service offered at Disney theme parks, water parks, and resorts. Photographers positioned at locations in the theme parks, dining events at the resorts, and at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique at Downtown Disney are linked to a free card containing a unique serial number. Guests can view or purchase PhotoPass pictures at locations in the parks (generally near the park entrance) or online by registering the card's number.[175][176]

Customers have complained about the difference in advertised prices, particularly of Photo CD products, and the actual cost. Disney has responded that advertised specials apply only to products purchased at the parks and do not apply to the website.[177]

Disney Consumer Products edit

Disney Princess edit

On December 24, 2006, Peggy Orenstein published "What's Wrong With Cinderella?" in The New York Times. In her article, Orenstein discussed her concerns about the effects of princess figures on young girls. Orenstein used the Disney Princesses specifically to present many of her points. Orenstein also noted the pervasive nature of princess-related merchandise and that every facet of play has its princess equivalent.[178]

Other sources have also voiced concern that the franchise could possibly give young girls the wrong message. However, other parents who have young daughters say that they would eventually grow out of this phase.[179]

Marvel Comics edit

Page 16 of Captain America #602 (March 2010) depicted an anti-tax protest march in Idaho in which one participant held a sign reading "Tea Bag the Libs Before They Tea Bag You", with a caption containing the words of an off-screen African-American superhero, the Falcon, telling Captain America, "I don't exactly see a black man from Harlem fitting in with a bunch of angry white folks."[180][181][182] The cartoon drew the condemnation of Michael Johns, a board member of the Nationwide Tea Party Coalition.[181]

Marvel Comics Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada characterized the sign as inadvertent and as "something that we need to apologize for and own up to."[183] Quesada explained that with a printing deadline looming, the comic's editor noticed that the protest group's signs on the original art were empty, and the editor "asked the letterer on the book to just fudge in some quick signs. The letterer in his rush ... looked on the 'net and started pulling slogans from actual signs", including a "Tea Bag" sign.

Following the issue's printing, Marvel staff "caught the mistake" and "spoke to the letterer, [who] was mortified at his mistake and was truly sorry as he had no political agenda." Quesada said Marvel "removed the sign from the art files so that it no longer appears in future reprints of the title or collections. So, while the crowd protesting has nothing to do with the villains in the story, we in no way meant to say they were associated with the Tea Party movement."[183]

Transition of ownership regarding Star Wars edit

On December 21, 2012, Disney acquired Lucasfilm (and as a result, the rights to the Star Wars franchise; Skywalker Sound; and Industrial Light and Magic) as a subsidiary for the price of $4 billion.[184] Lucasfilm and Star Wars in general were evaluated to decide upon how each area was to be approached.

After Dark Horse Comics lost the rights to create Star Wars comics, Marvel Comics gained the rights as a subsidiary in the area of expertise.[185] The way the movies are being handled is still in flux with possible spin-offs in talks as well as the planned new trilogy.[when?] The decisions regarding the other sectors like games, books and animated media can be interpreted as anti-consumer.[citation needed][opinion]

With the elimination of the LucasArts developing arm, EA Games is being entrusted to make Star Wars video games in the future.[186] The well-regarded animated TV series Star Wars: The Clone Wars was cancelled a few seasons from the end of its run,[187] in order to shift the series' team to Star Wars Rebels, a new animated TV series created for Disney XD, set approximately five years before the events of Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope.[188] This was done in the knowledge that many people loved the series and that it was quite profitable.[opinion] They eventually revived Clone Wars for a final season.[187]

Furthermore, book consumers were not given the option of two universes to read from, the first of which is what many of them have been reading about for over 40 years and have grown to love and the second of which is Disney's attempt to unify things under one controllable banner;[189][opinion] as a result, this left fans of these books to only read new entries in the Unified Canon, and if they wish to see the continued growth of the Star Wars universe, the previous universe is now stuck in limbo.

On June 20, 2017, Phil Lord and Chris Miller, the directors of the film Solo: A Star Wars Story, left the production of the film five weeks before filming ended. Lord and Miller cited "creative differences" for their reason to part ways with the film. Many compared this to Edgar Wright stepping down as director of Ant-Man due to creative differences with Marvel Studios.[190] Three months later, Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker director Colin Trevorrow stepped down as director under similar circumstances and was replaced with Star Wars: The Force Awakens director J. J. Abrams.[191]

In November 2020, Alan Dean Foster, an author who wrote several novelizations of Star Wars, said that Disney was refusing to pay royalties on the novels, or even recognize that contractual obligations existed. Disney was censured by the president of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, Mary Robinette Kowal, as well as other prominent authors.[192][193][194]

Sweatshop controversies edit

Disney has been accused of human rights violations regarding the working conditions in factories that produce their merchandise.[195]

In 1996, the New York-based National Labor Committee released a 12-page report that severely criticized Sears, Walmart, and The Walt Disney Company.[196] Haitian contractors producing Mickey Mouse and Pocahontas pajamas for U.S. companies under license with the Walt Disney Corporation are in some cases paying workers as little as 15 gourdes (US$1) per day–12 cents an hour– in clear violation of Haitian law, said the NLC. One factory owner testified that workers underperform because they cannot eat enough. Besides living on starvation wages, Haitian factory workers face sexual harassment and exceptionally long working days. The report claimed it would take a seamstress 1,040 years to earn what then-CEO Michael Eisner earned in one day.

In 2012, the Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights released the report "Toys From Hell".[197] It describes how workers at Dream International factory in Shenzhen, China work 117-hour weeks in a filthy, hot, ratty environment where they are constantly screamed at by supervisors, and only earn $1.39 per hour. The report also describes workers as expected to lodge in dirty and overcrowded dormitories, where they are served below-par food. The Dream International factory was also considered to be a fire hazard.

Cruelty to animals edit

Animal welfare groups have criticized Disney for their care of, and procedures for, wild animals at the Animal Kingdom theme park.[198]

In 1989, Disney was charged with sixteen state and federal counts of animal cruelty relating to the abuse of vultures and other birds at its Discovery Island zoological park.[199] According to investigators, employees shot at hawks, clubbed vultures to death with a stick, and destroyed nests and eggs. The park's supervisor supposedly sanctioned the abuses. Most striking were the deaths of fifteen vultures crammed into a tiny, overheated shed for days with limited food and water. Authorities also discovered 72 vultures confined in a windowless, airless shed, which legally speaking was only big enough for three vultures. Disney made a deal and in exchange for the dismissal of three federal charges, it pleaded guilty to a simple misdemeanor and agreed to pay a total of $95,000 to various institutions.[200]

Disney has been criticized for using purebred dogs in movies such as 101 Dalmatians. Animal rights groups claim movies with purebreds create an artificial demand for purebreds from people who may not be prepared or temperamentally suited for the animals, many of whom end up abandoned or surrendered to animal shelters or rescue groups.[201][202][203]

Acquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney edit

Further information: Acquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney § Criticism

On December 14, 2017,[204][205] Disney agreed to acquire 21st Century Fox's motion picture business, cable and direct satellite entertainment networks, that was completed on March 20, 2019.[206] Under the terms of the agreement, Disney acquired the 20th Century Fox film and TV studios and related assets; cable and satellite networks including FX Networks, Fox Networks Group; Indian TV broadcasting company Star India; stakes in National Geographic Partners and Hulu, and other assets. Prior to the completion of the deal, Fox spun-off its news and broadcast businesses, including Fox News, Fox Business, FS1, FS2, Fox Deportes, and the Big Ten Network, the Fox Broadcasting Company, and MyNetworkTV into the newly-formed Fox Corporation.[206][207]

This merger was subject to widespread criticism among critics, consumers, and businesses due to antitrust concerns. One of the biggest concerns is that unlike Disney's acquisition of Pixar, Marvel Entertainment, and Lucasfilm, the Disney/Fox deal was a horizontal integration (in which a company owns a direct competitor) in contrast to a vertical integration (in which two companies operate different stages for a specific finished product) like the mergers of AT&T-Time Warner and Comcast-NBCUniversal. Given Disney's already powerful box market shares, a combined Disney/Fox would give it a 39% theatrical market share and would strengthen Disney's already leveraging power over theater owners in its favor without regard to the negative effects on their businesses.[208][209]

Criticism for Blue Sky Studios shut-down edit

Ownership of Blue Sky Studios was assumed by The Walt Disney Company as part of the acquisition of 21st Century Fox. 2 years later on February 9, 2021, Disney announced that it was closing Blue Sky Studios that April after 35 years of existence. A spokesperson for the company explained that in light of the COVID-19 pandemic's continued economic impact on all of the company's businesses, it was no longer sustainable for them to run a third feature animation studio. This included the studio's film library and intellectual properties aetained by Disney. In addition, production on the film adaptation of the webcomic Nimona was canceled with other future films in development or early in production.

On April 11, 2022, it was announced that Annapurna Pictures had picked up Nimona earlier in the year, and would be releasing it on Netflix in 2023. DNEG Animation was announced as the project's animation partner, and the film would end up being nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.[210]

Criticism includes that Disney just acquired a once-competitor animation studio only to shut it down two years later as a way of eliminating their competition, with the majority of the employees fired without being absorbed into other Disney animation units. Another criticism has revolved around using the Blue Sky Studios IPs and characters for low-budget productions like The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild.[211][212][213]

South Park controversy edit

See also: Band in China and South Park: Joining the Panderverse

The Jonas Brothers and Disney Channel are parodied in the South Park episode entitled "The Ring" and play a prominent role in the episode's plot. In a television column written before "The Ring" aired, Lisa de Moraes of The Washington Post suggested that creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone were using the Jonas Brothers in the 13th season debut as a means of improving the show's ratings; Comedy Central executives, however, insisted that the Jonas Brothers fans do not fit into South Park's demographic of males aged from 18 to 49.[214]

The Walt Disney Company, Disney Channel and the Mickey Mouse cartoon character are also prominently featured and spoofed in the episode;[215] even when Mickey Mouse says callous things or physically assaults people, he follows up most statements with the character's trademark high-pitched "Ha ha!" laugh, which in context comes off like a nervous tic.[216]

Reviewers and commentators have described "The Ring" as not just a parody of the Jonas Brothers, but also of the ethos of The Walt Disney Company.[215][216][217] The episode portrays Disney as a corporation using the ruse of family-friendly morals to disguise their primary motive, which is profit; reviewers and articles said this point is further illustrated by the use of Mickey Mouse, a cartoon symbol for the wholesome Disney image, as a foul-mouthed, contemptuous, greedy, all-powerful and violent character.[215][216]

Specifically, the episode targets Disney's marketing tactic of the band members pledging abstinence through purity rings, which the script suggests is used to subliminally sell sex to young girls, while simultaneously appeasing their parents' ethical standards and taking advantage of their fearful desire to protect their daughters, as Mickey had said.

Due to other speculation on the orientation and personal activities of the Jonas brothers, the episode continued to create a running gag on the effect of the Jonas brothers on young girls of the "tween" period, often provoking the image that they too would become like Mickey Mouse, in most unwanted characteristics. The episode further illustrates the greed of corporate culture by portraying Mickey as capitalizing on religion for profit, while secretly mocking it in a particularly cruel tone: "Even the Christians are too fucking stupid to figure out I'm selling sex to their daughters! I've made billions off of Christian ignorance for decades now! And do you know why? Because Christians are retarded! They believe in a talking dead guy!"[215]

Collusion to replace employees with H-1B holders edit

In January 2016, two former employees filed suit against Disney, HCL Technologies, and Cognizant, alleging the companies broke the law by colluding to bring in holders of H-1B visas to replace American workers. In October 2016, federal Judge Gregory A. Presnell of the United States District Court in Orlando dismissed the lawsuits, stating: "none of the allegedly false statements put at issue in the complaint are adequate".[218]

Funding of Florida's Parental Rights in Education Act edit

Main article: Disney and Florida's Parental Rights in Education Act

In late February 2022, it was reported that Disney donated an estimated $200,000 to sponsors and cosponsors of Florida's Parental Rights in Education Act (known by its critics as the Don't Say Gay law).[219][220] On March 7, 2022, Disney CEO Bob Chapek said that the company would not take a public stance on the bill, focusing instead on effecting change through its content.[219][221] After criticism of their stance by those affiliated with Disney, including the company's employees, Disney affirmed that they would challenge the bill.[222] In a possible act of retaliation, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Florida lawmakers threatened to repeal the 1967 Reedy Creek Improvement Act, which established the area surrounding the Walt Disney World Resort, the Reedy Creek Improvement District, as its own city.[223] On April 22, 2022, DeSantis signed a bill to dissolve the Reedy Creek Improvement District by June 2023.[224]

Copyright extension edit

From 1990 to 2024, The Walt Disney Company had lobbied for copyright extension.[225][226] The Copyright Term Extension Act delayed the entry into the public domain of the earliest Mickey Mouse movies, leading detractors to nickname it "The Mickey Mouse Protection Act".[227] Opponents of the legislation consider it to be corporate welfare and have tried (but failed) to have it declared unconstitutional, claiming that such an act is not "necessary and proper" to accomplishing the Constitution's stated purpose of "promot[ing] the progress of science and useful arts".[228] They argue that, since most works bring the majority of their profits during the first few years after publication, extending the terms of copyrights provides little economic incentive except to a few owners of wildly-successful franchises.

Copyright violation trial edit

Disney later faced legal criticism from Rearden LLC, which sued Disney after it was alleged that Disney used its MOVA Contour software without permission.[229] On December 21, 2023, a US jury based in Oakland ordered for Disney to pay Rearden $600,000 in copyright damages after finding that the software was used to render the face of the Beast in the 2017 remake of Beauty and the Beast.[230] However, this was considered to be a minimal payout, as Rearden sought $100 million in damages and alleged the software was used without permission for more films, including Guardians of the Galaxy and multiple Avengers installments.[229]

Miscellaneous criticisms and complaints edit

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ Best, Joel; Lowney, Kathleen S. (Summer 2009). "The Disadvantage of a Good Reputation: Disney as a Target for Social Problems Claims". The Sociological Quarterly. 30 (3): 431–449. doi:10.1111/j.1533-8525.2009.01147.x. JSTOR 40220139. S2CID 146425241.
  2. ^ Schneider, Mike (November 4, 1999). "Nephew Is Disney's Last Disney". The Seattle Times. Archived from the original on April 2, 2022. Retrieved April 1, 2022.
  3. ^ Shafer, Ellise (July 13, 2023). "Disney CEO Bob Iger Says Writers and Actors Are Not Being 'Realistic' With Strikes: 'It's Very Disturbing to Me'". Variety. from the original on July 13, 2023. Retrieved July 13, 2023.
  4. ^ Sharf, Zack (July 14, 2023). "Fran Drescher Slams Bob Iger's 'Repugnant' and 'Tone Deaf' Strike Comments: If I Were Disney, 'I Would Lock Him Behind Doors'". Variety. from the original on July 19, 2023. Retrieved July 16, 2023.
  5. ^
    • "Disney Legend Floyd Norman Defends "Dumbo" Crow Scene Amid Rumors of Potential Censorship". The Laughing Place. April 20, 2019. from the original on March 5, 2022. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
    • Norman, Floyd (April 27, 2019). . MrFun's Journal. Archived from the original on June 29, 2020. Retrieved November 25, 2019.
    • Amidi, Amid (July 15, 2017). "In Her First Act As A Disney Legend, Whoopi Goldberg Tells Disney To Stop Hiding Its History". Cartoon Brew. Archived from the original on June 10, 2020. Retrieved August 7, 2017.
    • Wilmington, Michael (1980). "Dumbo". In Peary, Danny; Peary, Gerald (eds.). The American Animated Cartoon: A Critical Anthology. New York: E.P. Dutton. pp. 80–81. ISBN 978-0-525-47639-9.
    • Maltin, Leonard (1973). The Disney Films. New York: Bonanza Books. p. 52. ISBN 978-0-517-17741-9.
  6. ^ (Bonus feature). Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment. 2011. Archived from the original on August 23, 2021 – via YouTube.
  7. ^ . YouTube. Archived from the original on March 5, 2022. Retrieved March 5, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  8. ^ a b c d e f Gabler, Neal (2007). Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination. Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN 9780679438229.
  9. ^ Cohen, Karl F. (2004). Forbidden Animation: Censored Cartoons and Blacklisted Animators in America. McFarland. p. 60. ISBN 9780786420322.
  10. ^ Korkis, Jim (2012). Who's Afraid of the Song of the South? And Other Forbidden Disney Stories. Theme Park Press. pp. xi. ISBN 9780984341559.
  11. ^ a b c d e Fox, David J. (July 10, 1993). "Disney Will Alter Song in 'Aladdin'". Los Angeles Times. p. 1. Archived from the original on October 15, 2019. Retrieved May 28, 2019.
  12. ^ Wingfield, Marvin; Karaman, Bushra (March 1995). . American-Arab Anti-Discrimination League. Archived from the original on April 5, 2007. Retrieved May 28, 2019. The film's light-skinned lead characters, Aladdin and Jasmine, have Anglicized features and Anglo-American accents. This is in contract to the other characters who are dark-skinned, swarthy and villainous-cruel palace guards or greedy merchants with Arabic accents and grotesque facial features.
  13. ^ a b Smith Galer, Sophia (July 14, 2017). "The Aladdin controversy Disney can't escape". BBC.
  14. ^ "A letter from Disney 70 years ago ... It is impossible for women to make animation and refuse to hire". labaq.com (in Japanese). January 13, 2009. Retrieved June 15, 2017.
  15. ^ Bahadur, Nina (April 30, 2013). "Disney Rejection Letter From 1938 Tells Candidate, 'Girls Are Not Considered'". HuffPost. Archived from the original on April 2, 2022. Retrieved June 15, 2017.
  16. ^ Acuna, Kirsten (January 8, 2014). "This 1938 Disney Rejection Letter Denies Woman Job Because Of Her Gender". Business Insider. Retrieved June 15, 2017.
  17. ^ a b Zahed, Ramin (January 9, 2014). "Meryl Streep's Anti-Disney Speech Sparks Controversy". Animation Magazine. Retrieved June 15, 2017.
  18. ^ a b Vineyard, Jennifer (January 8, 2014). "Read Meryl Streep's Walt Disney–Dissing NBR Speech in Its Entirety". Vulture. Retrieved June 15, 2017.
  19. ^ Weisman, Aly (January 8, 2014). "Meryl Streep Slams Walt Disney As 'Anti-Semitic Gender [sic] Bigot' In Awards Speech". Business Insider. Retrieved June 15, 2017. Perhaps Streep forgot she just filmed "Into the Woods"for the studio?
  20. ^ "Debunking Meryl Streep, Part Two". mouseplanet.com. February 26, 2014. Retrieved April 26, 2020.
  21. ^ a b Maslin, Janet (July 19, 1987). "Film View; Snow White Is No Feminist". The New York Times. Retrieved May 4, 2018.
  22. ^ a b c d e Stover, Cassandra (Spring 2013). "Damsels and Heroines: The Conundrum of the Post-Feminist Disney Princess". LUX: A Journal of Transdisciplinary Writing and Research from Claremont Graduate University. 2 (1): 1–4. doi:10.5642/lux.201301.29.
  23. ^ a b c Malfroid, Kirsten (Summer 2008). "Gender, Class, and Ethnicity in the Disney Princess Series" (PDF). Universiteit Gent: 23–71.
  24. ^ a b "How Kimba Came To Be". kimbawlion.kimba.biz.
  25. ^ a b c Patten, Fred (2004). Watching Anime, Reading Manga: 25 Years of Essays and Reviews. Stone Bridge Press. ISBN 9781611725100.
  26. ^ a b c d Welkos, Robert W. (July 13, 1994). "A 'Kimba' Surprise for Disney: Movies: 'The Lion King' is a hit, but reported similarities to the Japanese-created American cartoon of the '60s are raising some questions". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 30, 2015.
  27. ^ a b c Bradley, Bill (January 27, 2015). "Was 'The Lion King' Copied From A Japanese Cartoon? Here's The Real Story". HuffPost. Retrieved February 21, 2015. (updated December 6, 2017)
  28. ^ Schweizer, Peter; Schweizer, Rochelle (1998). Disney The Mouse Betrayed: Greed, Corruption, and Children at Risk. Regnery. pp. 167–168. ISBN 9780895263872.
  29. ^ Ledoux, Trish; Ranney, Doug. The Complete Anime Guide: Japanese Animation Video Directory and Resource Guide. p. 16.
  30. ^ Buress, Charles (July 11, 1994). "Uproar Over 'The Lion King'". San Francisco Chronicle. pp. A1, A13.
  31. ^ "Did Japanese Animator Inspire 'Lion King'?". The Washington Times. July 15, 1994. p. C15.
  32. ^ Arar, Yardena (June 15, 1994). "Disney studios roar into action for 'Lion King'". Austin American-Statesman. Retrieved November 28, 2012.
  33. ^ "It Turns Out That 'The Lion King' Is A Complete Rip-Off". Hollywood.com. Retrieved July 19, 2018. It's also super suspicious since a 1993 memo from Roy Disney mentions Kimba appearing in The Lion King and Kimba artist Osamu Tezuka passed away the same year production began on the Disney flick.
  34. ^ Mizoguchi, Kozo (August 10, 1994). "'Lion King' sparks debate in Japan". The Daily Gazette. Tokyo, Japan. Retrieved January 6, 2015.
  35. ^ Hornyak, Tim (August 19, 2007). "Osamu Tezuka: Fighting for peace with the Mighty Atom". The Japan Times. Retrieved January 6, 2015.
  36. ^ Fiamma, Andrea (December 12, 2014). "Intervista a Roger Allers, il regista de Il Re Leone". Fumettologica (in Italian). Retrieved March 30, 2015.
  37. ^ Zion, Lee (May 15, 2001). "Probing the Atlantis Mystery". Anime News Network. from the original on June 29, 2011. Retrieved July 15, 2012.
  38. ^ Takeda, Yasuhiro (March 25, 2019). "The Notenki Memoirs: Studio Gainax and The Men Who Created Evangelion". Gwern. from the original on November 21, 2019. Retrieved October 29, 2019.
  39. ^ Zion, Lee (July 19, 2001). "Nadia vs. Atlantis, Revisited!". Anime News Network. from the original on June 29, 2011. Retrieved July 15, 2012.
  40. ^ Reuben, Adrián Arriba (April 3, 2015). "La Gran Mentira de Disney (2): Atlantis es un Plagio". Comic Book Resources (in Spanish). from the original on November 12, 2020. Retrieved October 29, 2019.
  41. ^ Ashcraft, Brian (March 21, 2014). "Some Say Frozen Ripped Off a Japanese Anime. Here's Why". Kotaku. from the original on October 31, 2019. Retrieved October 29, 2019.
  42. ^ Baron, Reuben (July 17, 2018). "10 Times Hollywood Ripped Off Anime (And 10 Times It Was Vice Versa)". Comic Book Resources. from the original on November 12, 2020. Retrieved October 29, 2019.
  43. ^ Donahue, S. (June 26, 2015). "Disney finally settles plagiarism lawsuit over 'Frozen' teaser". Celebrity Cafe. TheCelebrityCafe.com. Retrieved July 19, 2018.
  44. ^ Li, Shirley (June 25, 2015). "Disney settles Frozen copyright lawsuit over short film The Snowman". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved July 19, 2018.
  45. ^ Shepherd, Ken (March 21, 2017). "Disney sued for 'Zootopia' copyright infringement: Report". The Washington Times. Washington, D.C.
  46. ^ Lang, Jamie (August 10, 2023). "An Early Look At This Year's Wide Open Animated Feature Oscar Race". Cartoon Brew. Retrieved September 23, 2023.
  47. ^ Amidi, Amid (February 25, 2015). "One Corporation Cannot Own the Animated Feature Oscar". Cartoon Brew. Retrieved September 23, 2023.
  48. ^ Amidi, Amid (March 28, 2022). "During The Biggest Oscar Trainwreck In History, 'Encanto' And 'The Windshield Wiper' Won Oscars (Commentary)". Cartoon Brew. Retrieved September 23, 2023.
  49. ^ Jacobs, Matthew (March 17, 2017). "The Controversy Surrounding The Gay 'Beauty And The Beast' Reeks Of Hypocrisy". HuffPost.
  50. ^ Trush, Brandon (February 21, 2020). "Disney-Pixar's "Onward" Will Feature the First Openly LGBTQ Character". Inside the Magic. from the original on February 22, 2020. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
  51. ^ Frishberg, Hannah (February 24, 2020). "Pixar's first out gay character to be voiced by Lena Waithe in 'Onward'". New York Post. from the original on February 25, 2020. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
  52. ^ Wiseman, Andreas (March 6, 2020). "Disney/Pixar's 'Onward' Banned In Multiple Middle East Countries Due To Lesbian Reference". Deadline. from the original on March 7, 2020.
  53. ^ McNary, Dave (March 6, 2020). . Variety. Archived from the original on March 7, 2020.
  54. ^ Lattanzio, Ryan (March 6, 2020). "'Onward' Banned in Multiple Middle Eastern Countries, Censored in Russia for Gay Reference". Indie Wire. from the original on March 19, 2020.
  55. ^ "Disney criticised for filming Mulan in China's Xinjiang province". BBC News. September 7, 2020. Retrieved August 23, 2023.
  56. ^ Ward, Alex (September 9, 2020). "The international controversy over Disney's Mulan, explained". Vox. Retrieved August 23, 2023.
  57. ^ Wintour, Patrick (April 28, 2021). "Disney unapologetic over Mulan credit thanking Chinese Communist party". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved August 23, 2023.
  58. ^ "Entity List". Bureau of Industry and Security.
  59. ^ Brooks, Xan (September 14, 2005). "Interview: Hayao Miyazaki". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved December 22, 2019.
  60. ^ "LRM – Apparently, Harvey Weinstein Lost His S**t Over Hayao Miyazaki's Princess Mononoke". LRM. June 2, 2020. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
  61. ^ Epstein, Edward Jay (October 10, 2005). "The great illusionist". Slate. Retrieved January 11, 2007.
  62. ^ "Studio Warns Kung Fu Site". Wired. December 15, 2003.
  63. ^ Mason, Ian Garrick (October 11, 2004). . New Statesman. Archived from the original on February 16, 2012. Retrieved October 16, 2009.
  64. ^ . Archived from the original on March 7, 2009. Retrieved October 16, 2009.
  65. ^ Rosenbaum, Jonathan (2008). Dead Man. BFI Modern Classics. British Film Institute. ISBN 978-0-85170-806-5.
  66. ^ a b c Donnelly, Matt; Vary, Adam B. (March 22, 2023). "Inside Victoria Alonso's Shocking Exit From Marvel Studios". Variety. from the original on March 23, 2023. Retrieved March 23, 2023.
  67. ^ a b Lee, Chris (January 13, 2023). "Inside the VFX Union Brewing in Hollywood". Vulture. from the original on January 25, 2023. Retrieved February 1, 2023.
  68. ^ a b Patten, Dominic; D'Alessandro, Anthony (March 24, 2023). "Victoria Alonso Weighing Legal Action Against Disney, Marvel Over Sudden Firing; "Serious Consequences" Promises Lawyer Patty Glaser As Mouse House Points At "Indisputable Breach of Contract"". Deadline Hollywood. from the original on March 26, 2023. Retrieved March 27, 2023.
  69. ^ Freitag, Lee (March 21, 2023). "Report: MCU Co-Founder Created Marvel's Toxic VFX Work Environment". Comic Book Resources. from the original on March 22, 2023. Retrieved March 23, 2023.
  70. ^ Karthik Prasad, R.A (March 21, 2023). "'Making Victoria Alonso the fall guy'- Marvel fans react to former post-production president being blamed for MCU's toxic treatment of VFX workers". Pursue News. from the original on March 21, 2023. Retrieved March 23, 2023.
  71. ^ Kit, Borys (March 24, 2023). "Inside the Firing of Victoria Alonso: Her Oscar-Nominated Movie 'Argentina, 1985' at Center of Exit (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. from the original on March 24, 2023. Retrieved March 24, 2023.
  72. ^ Lee, Chris (August 7, 2023). "Overworked and Underpaid, VFX Workers Vote to Unionize at Marvel". Vulture. Retrieved August 7, 2023.
  73. ^ Millman, Zosha (June 21, 2023). "Yes, Secret Invasion's opening credits scene is AI-made — here's why". Polygon. Retrieved June 21, 2023.
  74. ^ Campione, Katie (June 21, 2023). "'Secret Invasion' Opening Credits Generated By AI, Prompting Backlash From Audiences". Deadline. Retrieved June 21, 2023.
  75. ^ "'Secret Invasion's AI-Generated Opening Credits Are Hugely Disappointing". Collider. June 21, 2023. Retrieved June 21, 2023.
  76. ^ "'Secret Invasion's' A.I.-Generated Opening Credits Create Controversy". www.animationmagazine.net. Retrieved June 21, 2023.
  77. ^ Stedman, Alex (August 3, 2023). "WandaVision Background Actor Says Extras Had 'Digital Replicas' Created Without Additional Payment". IGN. Retrieved October 12, 2023.
  78. ^ "Disney's "Prom Pact" Sparks Debate Over The Use Of AI Background Actors". Retrieved October 12, 2023.
  79. ^ Dick, Jeremy (October 12, 2023). "Disney Gets Roasted for 'Creepy' AI Extras in Disney+ Movie Prom Pact". CBR. Retrieved October 12, 2023.
  80. ^ Bentz, Adam (October 12, 2023). "This Disney+ Movie With AI Actors Is Horrendous, & Exactly What Striking Actors Are Fighting Against". ScreenRant. Retrieved October 12, 2023.
  81. ^ "Daytime Drama Pulls Episodes Involving High School Hostage Situation". ABC News.
  82. ^ "Rumor no more: All My Children relocating to Los Angeles". Soapcentral. August 4, 2009. Retrieved August 4, 2009.
  83. ^ . Archived from the original on August 7, 2009.
  84. ^ . Archived from the original on May 17, 2010.
  85. ^ . The New York Observer. Archived from the original on May 14, 2010.
  86. ^ Hogan, Mike (May 14, 2010). "Co-Workers Bid Outgoing ABC News Producer Adieu With Barrage of Hateful Anonymous Comments". Vanity Fair.
  87. ^ . Mediabistro. Archived from the original on May 18, 2010.
  88. ^ "Official ABC Statement on The Path to 9/11". WZZM13.com. September 7, 2006. Retrieved November 9, 2008.
  89. ^ "Think Progress " Conservative Author Richard Miniter: 'There's Zero Factual Basis' For Key Scene In Path To 9/11". Thinkprogress.org. Retrieved November 9, 2008.
  90. ^ McKinley, Jesse (September 7, 2006). "Ex-Clinton Officials Slam 9/11 Mini-Series". The New York Times. Retrieved November 9, 2008.
  91. ^ a b c Kurtz, Howard (September 13, 2007). "Consultant Probed in Bogus Interview". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved December 29, 2022.
  92. ^ Riché, Pascal (September 5, 2007). [A fake interview with Obama in Politique internationale]. Rue89 (in French). Archived from the original on January 24, 2008.
  93. ^ Riché, Pascal (September 13, 2007). [After the fake Obama interview, the Greenspan one]. Rue89 (in French). Archived from the original on September 17, 2007.
  94. ^ Alexis Debat, Crackdown on the Secret War Against Iran, ABC News, April 13, 2007
  95. ^ "Disney may pull ABC signal from N.Y. Cablevision systems". MarketWatch.com. March 2, 2010. Retrieved March 2, 2010.
  96. ^ "Cablevision offers free 'Movies On Demand' On Sunday, March 7th". Cablevision. Retrieved March 7, 2010.
  97. ^ . Saban. July 23, 2001. Archived from the original on April 21, 2009. Retrieved February 19, 2009.
  98. ^ DiOrio, Carl (October 24, 2001). "Fox Family costs Mouse less cheese in final deal". Variety. Archived from the original on September 15, 2012. Retrieved August 13, 2009.
  99. ^ . Saban. Archived from the original on March 2, 2009. Retrieved February 19, 2009.
  100. ^ July 23, 2001 September 30, 2007, at the Wayback Machine Disney buying Fox Family Channel
  101. ^ Levin, Gary (December 3, 2001). "Disney refocusing Family channel". USA Today.
  102. ^ . Archived from the original on June 22, 2004.
  103. ^ . Archived from the original on December 5, 2008.
  104. ^ Atlas, Amelia (February 2009). "Teen Sex on ABC Family Sparks Debate". Newser.
  105. ^ . The Walt Disney Company. Archived from the original on November 12, 2004. Retrieved June 20, 2011.
  106. ^ . Archived from the original on November 12, 2004. Retrieved October 16, 2009.
  107. ^ . Archived from the original on June 13, 2010.
  108. ^ Verrier, Richard (May 9, 2002). "Closing the 'Vault' leaves channel with no Disney". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved November 20, 2018.
  109. ^ a b . Portfolio.com. September 11, 2008. Archived from the original on April 20, 2008. Retrieved June 20, 2011.
  110. ^ Huff, Richard (September 9, 2009). "'Hannah Montana' episode on diabetes set to air on Disney Channel". Daily News. New York.
  111. ^ Marcus, Stephanie (December 23, 2011). "Demi Lovato Slams Disney For Eating Disorder Joke On 'Shake It Up' (UPDATE)". HuffPost.
  112. ^ Disney Channel PR [@DisneyChannelPR] (December 24, 2011). "@ddlovato – we hear you & are pulling both episodes as quickly as possible & reevaluating them (1 of 2 messages)" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  113. ^ "Demi Lovato Slams Disney Channel – Eating Disorder Joke". Gossip Cop. December 23, 2011. Retrieved September 4, 2012.
  114. ^ . Disney Infonet. August 18, 2011. Archived from the original on April 29, 2012. Retrieved May 5, 2013.
  115. ^ "Mom: Disney show 'Jessie' ridicules kids with celiac disease". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. May 20, 2013.
  116. ^ Longeretta, Emily (March 13, 2024). "Drake Bell Details Sexual Assault and 'Extensive' Abuse at 15 by Brian Peck, Explains 'Self-Destructive Behavior' That Followed". Variety. Retrieved March 21, 2024.
  117. ^ Fox, Megan (May 31, 2018). "Disney Under Fire for Hiring Convicted Pedophiles to Work on Kids Shows". pjmedia.com. Retrieved March 21, 2024.
  118. ^ Lang, Jamie (June 15, 2023). "Disney Presents Packed TV Slate With Loads Of New Trailers And Images". Cartoon Brew. from the original on June 15, 2023. Retrieved June 17, 2023.
  119. ^ Dar, Taimar (June 13, 2023). "Disney unveils details and theme song for PRIMOS cartoon". ComicsBeat. from the original on June 13, 2023. Retrieved June 17, 2023.
  120. ^ Rodríguez, Andrés (June 16, 2023). ""Racista" y "llena de estereotipos": 'Primos', la serie animada de Disney que ha molestado al público latinoamericano" ["Racist" and "full of stereotypes": 'Primos', the Disney animated series that has upset the Latin American public]. El Pais Mexico (in Spanish). Archived from the original on June 16, 2023. Retrieved June 17, 2023.
  121. ^ "Disney hace enojar a mexicanos con su nueva serie 'Primos'; acusan racismo" [Disney makes Mexicans angry with its new series 'Primos'; accuse racism]. Aristegui Noticas (in Spanish). June 15, 2023. Archived from the original on June 17, 2023. Retrieved June 17, 2023.
  122. ^ Martínez, Valerie (June 16, 2023). "El bochorno que Disney pudo evitar y tiene indignados a los latinoamericanos" [The embarrassment that Disney was able to avoid and has Latin Americans outraged]. Yahoo! vida y estello (in Spanish). Yahoo!. from the original on June 17, 2023. Retrieved June 17, 2023.
  123. ^ ""Primos" la nueva serie de Disney que Latinoamérica NO quiere" ["Primos" the new Disney series that Latin America does NOT want]. El Capitalino (in Spanish). June 16, 2023. from the original on June 17, 2023. Retrieved June 17, 2023.
  124. ^ Arrieta, José (June 14, 2023). [Why is "Primos", the new Disney series, causing controversy?]. El Heraldo de México (in Spanish). Archived from the original on June 15, 2023. Retrieved June 17, 2023.
  125. ^ Bermudez, Justin (June 17, 2023). "Disney's 'Primos' Gets Un-Warm Welcome To The Family". Latin Times. from the original on June 17, 2023. Retrieved June 17, 2023.
  126. ^ Crum, Rex (June 29, 2015). "Why Cash-Cow ESPN Is Becoming a Drag on Disney". TheStreet. Retrieved December 29, 2022.
  127. ^ Bonesteel, Matt (October 22, 2015). "ESPN layoffs will gut the network's production staff". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved December 20, 2023.
  128. ^ Watch a supercut of ESPN shilling for Disney+. on YouTube
  129. ^ Koster, Kyle (November 12, 2019). "Were ESPN stars forced to plug Disney+ this morning?". The Big Lead.
  130. ^ Wagner, Laura (November 13, 2019). "ESPN's tongue bath for Disney+ is a fatal blow to the network's vanishing integrity". Slate.
  131. ^ Bogage, Jacob (November 13, 2019). "There's nothing subtle about how ESPN personalities are promoting Disney's new streaming service". The Washington Post.
  132. ^ Chalk, Andy (April 22, 2022). "The Kardashian-Roblox scandal continues to be messy and dumb". PC Gamer.
  133. ^ Dinsdale, Ryan (April 20, 2022). "Kim Kardashian Threatened to Sue Roblox Over a Fake Sex Tape Game". IGN SEA.
  134. ^ Tidy, Joe (April 22, 2022). "Kardashians deny faking Roblox sex tape scene". BBC.
  135. ^ White, Jessica (April 22, 2022). "Home Reality TV Kardashians Reportedly Deny Roblox Incident Was Fake Amid Accusations". Screen Rant.
  136. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (May 18, 2023). "Disney Removes Dozens Of Series From Disney+ & Hulu, Including 'Big Shot', 'Willow', 'Y' & 'Dollface'". Deadline. Retrieved July 4, 2023.
  137. ^ Spangler, Todd (June 2, 2023). "Disney to Take $1.5 Billion Content Write-Off Charge in June Quarter After Pulling Dozens of Titles From Streaming Services". Variety. Retrieved July 4, 2023.
  138. ^ Andreeva, Denise Petski,Nellie; Petski, Denise; Andreeva, Nellie (May 19, 2023). "'Howard' Documentary Will Remain On Disney+; List Of Disney Streaming Removals Still Being Finalized – Update". Deadline. Retrieved July 4, 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  139. ^ a b Bajko, Matthew S. (September 28, 2021). "Until legal ruling, Disneyland banned same-sex dancers". Philadelphia Gay News. Retrieved October 4, 2022.
  140. ^ Villarreal, Daniel (April 11, 2022). "5 times Disney has tried to do better by its LGBTQ fans". Queerty. Retrieved October 4, 2022.
  141. ^ La Ganga, Maris L. (August 14, 1985). "Disneyland Drops Policy Prohibiting Same-Sex Dancing". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 4, 2022.
  142. ^ "Dancing at Disneyland: Gays in the Fast Lane · Queer Youth: On Campus and in the Media by Sharon Ullman · OutHistory: It's About Time". outhistory.org. Retrieved October 4, 2022.
  143. ^ Dickerson, Marla: "Self-Styled Keepers of the Magic Kingdom", Los Angeles Times, September 12, 1996
  144. ^ . Archived from the original on December 5, 1998.
  145. ^ . Archived from the original on July 18, 2006.
  146. ^ "Lohan Slams Bad Birthday Behavior Reports March 28, 2016, at the Wayback Machine", World Entertainment News Network, July 24, 2006
  147. ^ Reckard, E. Scott (January 14, 2001). "The Most Jam-Packed Theme Park on Earth?". Los Angeles Times.
  148. ^ "Al's ARCHIVE – D-I-G Update". Archived from the original on September 7, 2012.
  149. ^ "Will Disney Keep Us Amused?". The New York Times. February 10, 2008.
  150. ^ "MousePlanet Article Search". August 3, 2001. Archived from the original on September 5, 2012.[full citation needed]
  151. ^ Britt, Russ. "Shareholders content at Disney meet". MarketWatch.
  152. ^ "Disney looks home for renewal". Los Angeles Times. October 18, 2007. Archived from the original on February 28, 2009. The company moves to transform Anaheim's resort district in the image of the popular Walt Disney World. But critics remain skeptical.
  153. ^ Verrier, Richard; Mckibben, Dave (October 17, 2007). "Disney to fix a major misstep". Los Angeles Times.
  154. ^ Rivera, Heather Hurst (May 28, 2010). "First Look: New 'World of Color' TV Spot". Disney Parks Blog.
  155. ^ Shenot, Christine (December 10, 1995). "The Captivity Question Disney's Proposed Park Makes an Attractive Target For Animal-Rights Groups". Orlando Sentinel (Newspaper). p. 9.
  156. ^ "Death of Wildlife At New Disney Park Is a Worry to Experts --- Four Cheetah Cubs Succumb To a Chemical, and Cranes Are Killed by Tour Buses". The Wall Street Journal (Newspaper). New York, N.Y. April 7, 1998.
  157. ^ Lancaster, Cory (April 24, 1998). "Protesters at Disney Had Sheriff on Guard Talk of A Major Animal-Rights Demonstration Brought Almost 150 Specially Trained Deputies to the Opening of Animal Kingdom". Orlando Sentinel (Newspaper). p. 9.
  158. ^ Lancaster, Cory (January 18, 1999). "Tragedy at Disneyland Leads to Beefed-up Checks Here". Orlando Sentinel (Newspaper). p. 9.
  159. ^ . CNN. August 11, 2000. Archived from the original on March 27, 2008. Retrieved September 3, 2008.
  160. ^ "Disney Settles Suit Over Sports Complex". Los Angeles Times. September 26, 2002. Retrieved September 3, 2008.
  161. ^ "Disney internships draw students, criticism". NBC News. Associated Press. July 5, 2005. Retrieved March 5, 2009.
  162. ^ Billman, Jeffrey (December 27, 2007). "Of Mouse and Man". Orlando Weekly. Retrieved March 6, 2009.
  163. ^ "Disney reaches agreement on pay practices with US Department of Labor | U.S. Department of Labor". www.dol.gov. Retrieved February 14, 2022.
  164. ^ "Euro Disney Adding Alcohol". The New York Times. Associated Press. June 12, 1993. Retrieved September 23, 2009.
  165. ^ Hubbard, Ben; Shane, Scott (February 4, 2015). "Pre-9/11 Ties Haunt Saudis as New Accusations Surface". The New York Times.
  166. ^ "It's a small park: Hong Kong Disneyland faces overcrowding". International Herald Tribune. 2005. Retrieved December 31, 2008.
  167. ^ Fan, Maureen (November 22, 2006). . The Standard. Archived from the original on October 15, 2007. Retrieved March 19, 2007.
  168. ^ Leung, Wendy (November 10, 2005). . The Standard. Archived from the original on October 15, 2007. Retrieved March 19, 2007.
  169. ^ Doctorow, Cory (September 1, 2006). "Walt Disney World fingerprints visitors". BoingBoing.net. Retrieved August 27, 2009.
  170. ^ Yung, Chester. "End this 'barbaric and cruel waste'" June 11, 2009, at the Wayback Machine, The Standard, May 31, 2005. Retrieved May 5, 2007.
  171. ^ Hui, Sylvia. "Disney takes shark's fin off menu " January 9, 2009, at the Wayback Machine, The Standard, June 10, 2005. Retrieved May 5, 2007.
  172. ^ Crets & Hui. New shark slap at Disney April 27, 2010, at the Wayback Machine, The Standard, June 13, 2005. Retrieved May 5, 2007.
  173. ^ Under-fire Disney takes shark's fin off menu at Hong Kong park November 30, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, Monster and Critics, June 24, 2005. Retrieved May 5, 2007.
  174. ^ Kan, Wendy (December 25, 2000). . TIME asia. Vol. 156, no. 25. Archived from the original on January 27, 2001.
  175. ^ Andrew, Ryan (March 13, 2009). "Finding the magic in Disney World". The Globe and Mail. Toronto. Retrieved July 20, 2009.
  176. ^ Sehlinger, Bob; Len Testa (August 27, 2007). The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World 2008. Wiley. pp. 401. ISBN 978-0-470-08963-7. Photopass.
  177. ^ "Magic Kingdom holds photos hostage". Minneapolis Star Tribune. December 30, 2007.
  178. ^ Orenstein, Peggy (December 24, 2006). "What's Wrong With Cinderella?". The New York Times. Retrieved September 4, 2007.
  179. ^ "What's Wrong With Being a Princess?". ABC News. April 22, 2007. Retrieved September 4, 2007.
  180. ^ Rhett, Joshua (February 10, 2010). ""Tea Party Jab to Be Zapped from Captain America Comic, Writer Says", Fox News, February 10, 2010". Fox News. Retrieved April 27, 2010.
  181. ^ a b Itzkoff, Dave (February 10, 2010). "Stars and Gripes: Tea Party Protests Captain America Comic". The New York Times. Retrieved April 27, 2010.
  182. ^ Captain America #602 (March 2010). Writer Ed Brubaker, penciler Luke Ross, colorist Dean White, letterer Joe Caramagna, editor Tom Brevoort, editor-in-chief Joe Quesada
  183. ^ a b Quesada, Joe (February 10, 2010). "Cup O' Joe: Political Controversy & the Heroic Age". CBR.com. Retrieved February 11, 2010.
  184. ^ "Disney buys Lucasfilm for $4 billion". USA Today. October 30, 2012.
  185. ^ . Archived from the original on February 27, 2015. Retrieved February 7, 2015.
  186. ^ Goldfarb, Andrew (May 6, 2013). "EA Acquires Exclusive Star Wars Game License". IGN.
  187. ^ a b "'Star Wars' TV: 'Clone Wars' canceled, 'Detours' postponed". Entertainment Weekly.
  188. ^ "Star Wars Rebels Producer Dave Filoni Talks Easter Eggs, Canon, Episode 7, How Many Seasons". Collider. October 4, 2014.
  189. ^ "Disney and Del Rey Announce New 'Unified Canon' for Upcoming Star Wars Expanded Universe Novels". Tor.com. April 25, 2014.
  190. ^ "Why the Star Wars Han Solo Film Just Lost Its Directors at the Last Minute". Vanity Fair. June 20, 2017.
  191. ^ Sims, David (September 12, 2017). "Why Colin Trevorrow Lost His Job Directing 'Star Wars: Episode IX'". The Atlantic. Retrieved January 26, 2019.
  192. ^ "Star Wars author appeals to Disney in fight over royalties". The Guardian. November 19, 2020. Retrieved November 22, 2020.
  193. ^ "Star Wars Novelist Says Disney Won't Pay Him Royalties it Owes Him". The Verge. Vox media. November 19, 2020. Retrieved November 22, 2020.
  194. ^ "#DisneyMustPay Alan Dean Foster". November 18, 2020. from the original on November 18, 2020. Retrieved November 18, 2020.
  195. ^ . Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations. February 10, 2007. Archived from the original on February 10, 2007. Retrieved August 30, 2008.
  196. ^ "Disney's Hell in Haiti". hartford-hwp.com. Retrieved February 15, 2022.
  197. ^ "Wal-Mart and Disney Toys from Hell by Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights - Issuu". March 4, 2014 – via Issuu.
  198. ^ Drummond, Tammerlin (April 20, 1998). . Time. Archived from the original on March 7, 2008. Retrieved August 30, 2008.
  199. ^ "Disney abused, killed birds". United Press International. Retrieved February 14, 2022.
  200. ^ "Road Kill in the Circle of Life". Chicago Tribune. April 26, 1998. Retrieved February 14, 2022.
  201. ^ "CNN.com – 'Nemo' fans net fish warning – Jun. 30, 2003". CNN. Retrieved March 11, 2022.
  202. ^ Navarro, Mireya (September 14, 1997). "After Movies, Unwanted Dalmatians". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 11, 2022.
  203. ^ "102 Dalmatians Controversy". Empire. October 2000. Retrieved March 11, 2022.
  204. ^ "The Walt Disney Company To Acquire Twenty-First Century Fox, Inc., After Spinoff Of Certain Businesses, For $52.4 Billion In Stock" (Press release). The Walt Disney Company. December 14, 2017. Retrieved December 15, 2017.
  205. ^ (Press release). 21st Century Fox. December 14, 2017. Archived from the original on December 15, 2017. Retrieved December 15, 2017.
  206. ^ a b Szalai, Georg; Bond, Paul (March 20, 2019). "Disney Closes $71.3 Billion Fox Deal, Creating Global Content Powerhouse". The Hollywood Reporter. from the original on March 20, 2019. Retrieved March 20, 2019.
  207. ^ Nolter, Chris (December 14, 2017). "Disney Acquires Most of Fox's Assets in Blockbuster $52.4 Billion Stock Deal". TheStreet.com. Retrieved December 15, 2017.
  208. ^ Johnson, Ted (December 14, 2017). "Disney-Fox Deal Lands at Uncertain Time for Antitrust Enforcement". Variety. Retrieved December 14, 2017.
  209. ^ James, Meg; Peltz, James F. (December 14, 2017). "Massive Disney-Fox deal expected to get close antitrust scrutiny". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on July 4, 2018. Retrieved December 15, 2017.
  210. ^ April 11, Nick Romano; EDT, 2022 at 10:09 AM. "Netflix saves 'Nimona' after Disney scrapped LGBTQ-friendly film". EW.com. Retrieved July 28, 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  211. ^ Amidi, Amid (February 9, 2021). "Breaking: Disney Is Shutting Down Blue Sky Studios, 'Nimona' Production Halted, 450 Employees To Be Impacted". Cartoon Brew. Retrieved June 16, 2023.
  212. ^ Hurler, Jen (February 11, 2021). "Five Things I'll Miss About Blue Sky Studios: Recollections Of A Former Employee". Cartoon Brew. Retrieved June 16, 2023.
  213. ^ Amidi, Amid (October 2, 2021). "Disney Gets An Ice-Cold Reaction After Trying To Promote 'Ice Age'". Cartoon Brew. Retrieved June 16, 2023.
  214. ^ de Moraes, Lisa (March 10, 2009), "The TV Column: Will 'South Park' Get a Population Boost When the Jonas Brothers Come to Town?", The Washington Post, p. C07
  215. ^ a b c d Poniewozik, James (March 12, 2009), "Is South Park the Most Moral Show on TV?", Time, retrieved March 12, 2009
  216. ^ a b c Fickett, Travis (March 12, 2009), "South Park: 'The Ring' Review – The Jonas Bros. come to Colorado, ruin Kenny's would-be sex life", IGN, retrieved March 12, 2009
  217. ^ Flanagan, Ben (May 1, 2009). . The Tuscaloosa News. Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Archived from the original on June 6, 2011. Retrieved May 3, 2009.
  218. ^ "Judge Says Disney Didn't Violate Visa Laws in Layoffs". The New York Times. Retrieved October 13, 2016.
  219. ^ a b Watercutter, Angela (March 12, 2022). "The Hypocrisy of Disney's Response to Florida's 'Don't Say Gay' Bill". Wired. from the original on March 12, 2022. Retrieved March 12, 2022.
  220. ^ Pulliam-Moore, Charles (March 11, 2022). "Disney's queer characters won't hide its funding of real villains". The Verge. from the original on March 11, 2022. Retrieved March 12, 2022.
  221. ^ Vary, Adam B.; Jackson, Angelique (March 9, 2022). "Disney Censors Same-Sex Affection in Pixar Films, According to Letter From Employees". Variety. from the original on March 11, 2022. Retrieved March 12, 2022.
  222. ^ Durkee, Alison (March 28, 2022). "Disney Says Striking Down 'Don't Say Gay' Law Is Company's 'Goal' After DeSantis Signs Bill". Forbes. Integrated Whale Media Investments. from the original on April 3, 2022. Retrieved April 4, 2022.
  223. ^ Durke, Alison (April 1, 2022). "Here's How Florida Republicans Could Punish Disney For 'Don't Say Gay' Opposition". Forbes. Retrieved April 5, 2022.
  224. ^ Whitten, Sarah (April 22, 2022). "Florida Gov. DeSantis signs bill revoking Disney's special district status". CNBC. Retrieved April 23, 2022.
  225. ^ Greenhouse, Linda (February 20, 2002). "Justices to Review Copyright Extension". The New York Times. Retrieved February 12, 2016. The 1998 extension was a result of intense lobbying by a group of powerful corporate copyright holders, most visibly Disney, which faced the imminent expiration of copyrights on depictions of its most famous cartoon characters.
  226. ^ Ota, Alan K. (August 10, 1998). "Disney In Washington: The Mouse That Roars". CNN. Retrieved February 12, 2016.
  227. ^ Lawrence Lessig, Copyright's First Amendment, 48 UCLA L. Rev. 1057, 1065 (2001)
  228. ^ "BRIEF OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAW PROFESSORS AS AMICI CURIAE SUPPORTING PETITIONERS" (PDF). Retrieved January 21, 2011.
  229. ^ a b Cho, Winston (December 21, 2023). "Disney Loses 'Beauty and the Beast' Profits Trial Over Stolen VFX Tech But Payout Is Minimal". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved December 21, 2023.
  230. ^ Brittain, Blake (December 21, 2023). "US jury says Disney owes $600k in motion-capture copyright trial". Reuters. Retrieved December 21, 2023.
  231. ^ "Animation Absorption: Credit the Crew of Mercury Filmworks - Disney TV's Vendor Studio Credit Policy Has to Change". Animation Absorption. April 27, 2021. Retrieved September 1, 2023.
  232. ^ "'Gravity Falls' Creator Alex Hirsch Shares Notes from Disney S&P". June 17, 2022.
  233. ^ "'Gravity Falls' Creator Alex Hirsch Slams Disney over Pride Month Hypocrisy". June 3, 2021.
  234. ^ Hirsch, Alex [@AlexHirsch] (May 25, 2021). "We had a Gravity Falls art book all lined up w Dark Horse in 2020, it was going to be amazing, hardcover, filled w exclusive never before seen art. Diz Publishing approved the contract. Then Diz Channel canned it with zero explanation. I still have no idea why. We were all ready" (Tweet). Retrieved December 20, 2023 – via Twitter.
  235. ^ "Alex Hirsch, creador de Gravity Falls, revela sus secretos para el éxito".
  236. ^ . lacourt.org. Archived from the original on May 24, 2019. Retrieved December 22, 2019.
  237. ^ a b . Catalyst Online. Catholic League. May 29, 2001. Archived from the original on December 26, 2007. Retrieved August 29, 2008.
  238. ^ . Catalyst. Catholic League. October 1996. Archived from the original on December 26, 2007. Retrieved August 29, 2008.
  239. ^ . Catalyst Online. Catholic League. October 1997. Archived from the original on December 26, 2007. Retrieved August 29, 2008.
  240. ^ Johnson, M. Alex (June 22, 2005). "Southern Baptists end 8-year Disney boycott". NBC News. Retrieved September 10, 2021.
  241. ^ Sullivan-Sealey, K; Cushion, N.; Semon, K.; Constantine, S. (2005). "Environmental Management Program for Baker's Bay Club. Great Guana Cay, Abaco, Bahamas" (PDF). University of Miami. Retrieved August 30, 2008.

External links edit

  •   Media related to Criticism of The Walt Disney Company at Wikimedia Commons

January 01, 1970
criticism, walt, disney, company, this, page, currently, being, split, after, discussion, consensus, split, this, page, found, help, implement, split, following, instructions, help, splitting, resolution, discussion, process, started, 2024, this, article, mult. This page is currently being split After a discussion consensus to split this page was found You can help implement the split by following the instructions at Help Splitting and the resolution on the discussion Process started in Mar 2024 This article has multiple issues Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page Learn how and when to remove these template messages This article s lead section may be too short to adequately summarize the key points Please consider expanding the lead to provide an accessible overview of all important aspects of the article September 2016 This article needs to be updated Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information February 2022 Learn how and when to remove this message The Walt Disney Company one of the largest media corporations in the world has been the subject of a wide variety of criticisms of its business practices executives and content In particular the Walt Disney Studios has been criticized for including stereotypical portrayal of non white characters sexism and alleged plagiarism Several of Disney s business ventures which include television networks theme parks and product lines have also sparked controversy amongst groups of consumers and media outlets 1 Contents 1 Company officials 1 1 Michael Eisner 1 2 Bob Iger 2 Walt Disney Studios 2 1 Walt Disney Animation Studios 2 1 1 Ethnic and racial stereotyping 2 1 2 Sexism 2 1 3 Plagiarism 2 2 Accusations of bribing on The Academy Awards for Best Animated Film 2 3 LGBT references in Disney films 2 4 Filming in Xinjiang 2 5 Miramax and its handling of foreign films 2 6 Marvel Studios relationship with VFX workers 2 7 Secret Invasion A I opening credits sequence controversy 2 8 Using deepfake and A I on background actors without their consent 3 Disney General Entertainment Content 3 1 American Broadcasting Company 3 1 1 ABC Daytime 3 1 2 ABC News 3 1 3 The Path to 9 11 3 1 4 Alexis Debat 3 1 5 ABC contract dispute affecting WABC TV and WPVI 3 2 Freeform 3 3 National Geographic Partners 3 4 Disney Channel 3 4 1 Brian Peck Blackash 3 4 2 Primos controversy 3 5 ESPN 4 Disney Entertainment 4 1 Hulu 4 1 1 Kardashian Roblox scandal 4 2 Disney 4 2 1 Criticism over removing titles from streaming 5 Walt Disney Parks Experiences and Products 5 1 Disneyland Resort 5 1 1 Ban on same sex dancing 5 1 2 Al Lutz s Disneyland reports 5 1 3 Disney California Adventure 5 2 Walt Disney World Resort 5 2 1 Disney s Animal Kingdom 5 2 2 Disney s Wide World of Sports Complex 5 2 3 Walt Disney World College Program 5 2 4 Miscellaneous 5 3 Disneyland Paris 5 4 Hong Kong Disneyland Resort 5 4 1 Overcrowding problems 5 4 2 Food safety panel 5 4 3 Fingerprinting 5 4 4 Shark fin soup controversy 5 4 5 Other controversies 5 5 Disney s PhotoPass 6 Disney Consumer Products 6 1 Disney Princess 6 2 Marvel Comics 6 3 Transition of ownership regarding Star Wars 7 Sweatshop controversies 8 Cruelty to animals 9 Acquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney 9 1 Criticism for Blue Sky Studios shut down 10 South Park controversy 11 Collusion to replace employees with H 1B holders 12 Funding of Florida s Parental Rights in Education Act 13 Copyright extension 14 Copyright violation trial 15 Miscellaneous criticisms and complaints 16 See also 17 References 18 External linksCompany officials editMichael Eisner edit Main article Michael Eisner Save Disney campaign and retirement In 1977 Roy E Disney the son of Disney co founder Roy O Disney and nephew of Walt Disney resigned as an executive due to disagreements with his colleagues decisions at the time As he claimed later I just felt creatively the company was not going anywhere interesting It was very stifling 2 However he retained a seat on the board of directors His resignation from the board in 1984 which occurred in the midst of a corporate takeover battle was the beginning of a series of developments that led to the replacement of company president and CEO Ronald William Miller married to Walt s daughter Diane Marie Disney by Michael Eisner Frank Wells amp Jeffrey Katzenberg Roy soon returned to the company as vice chairman of the board of directors and head of the animation department Eisner has been criticized for his management style The book DisneyWar by James B Stewart is an expose of Eisner s 20 year tenure as chairman and CEO at The Walt Disney Company Stewart describes some of the following The struggle to get Who Framed Roger Rabbit made in time and on budget despite the ambitions of Robert Zemeckis and Richard Williams to make the film bigger and bolder Eisner s tension with Frank Wells before Wells death Eisner s friendship turned rivalry with Jeffrey Katzenberg Eisner s tension with Michael Ovitz during Ovitz s short lived presidency The purchase of the ABC Family channel and its content and the fallout resulting from Disney s inability to revive it Hilary Duff s decision to quit the Disney Channel because of low salary Financing of the film Fahrenheit 9 11 Pixar s decision not to renew its relationship with Disney The hostile takeover attempt by Comcast In 2003 Roy resigned from his positions as Disney vice chairman and chairman of Walt Disney Feature Animation accusing Eisner of micromanagement flops with the ABC television network timidity in the theme park business turning The Walt Disney Company into a rapacious soul less company and refusing to establish a clear succession plan as well as a string of box office movie flops starting in the year 2000 On March 3 2004 at Disney s annual shareholders meeting a surprising 43 of Disney s shareholders predominantly rallied by former board members Roy Disney and Stanley Gold withheld their proxies to re elect Eisner to the board Disney s board then gave the chairmanship position to George J Mitchell However the board did not immediately remove Eisner as chief executive On March 13 2005 Eisner announced that he would step down as CEO one year before his contract expired On September 30 Eisner resigned both as an executive and as a member of the board of directors and severing all formal ties with the company he waived his contractual rights to perks such as the use of a corporate jet and an office at the company s Burbank headquarters Eisner s replacement was his longtime assistant Bob Iger Bob Iger edit In reaction to the 2023 SAG AFTRA strike Bob Iger the CEO of The Walt Disney Company said the actors demands were not realistic adding they are adding to the set of the challenges that this business is already facing Iger has been criticized for these remarks in light of his contract with Disney allowing him to earn as much as 27 million for 2023 between his salary and bonuses 3 SAG AFTRA president Fran Drescher called Iger s remarks repugnant and tone deaf 4 Walt Disney Studios editWalt Disney Animation Studios edit Ethnic and racial stereotyping edit Over the years many scholars film critics and parent groups have been critical of Disney for the stereotypical portrayal of non white characters Examples cited included the short Mickey s Mellerdrammer where Mickey Mouse dresses in blackface the stereotypical Black Bird in the short Who Killed Cock Robin Sunflower the half zebra half African servant centaurette in Fantasia the film Song of the South which depicts an idealized version of the lives of former slaves the depiction of Native American Indians as savages in Peter Pan the cunning and manipulative Siamese cats Si and Am in Lady and the Tramp and the jive talking crows in Dumbo however in the latter instance some critics have defended the crows as being one of the few characters in the film sympathetic to Dumbo s plight since being a marginalized group they understand what it s like to be ostracized themselves 5 6 7 8 433 Some people have used these stereotypes to accuse Walt Disney of being racist 8 XVIII During a story meeting on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs he referred to the scene when the dwarfs pile on top of each other as a nigger pile and during casting of Song of the South he used the term pickaninny 8 433 However Disney biography Gabler argues that Walt Disney was no racist He never either publicly or privately made disparaging remarks about blacks or asserted white superiority Like most white Americans of his generation however he was racially insensitive 8 433 The feature film Song of the South was criticized by contemporary film critics the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and others for its perpetuation of black stereotypes 9 but Disney became close friends with its star James Baskett describing him as the best actor I believe to be discovered in years 8 438 39 Disney later campaigned successfully for Baskett to receive an Honorary Academy Award for his performance the first black male actor so honored Baskett died shortly afterward and his widow wrote Disney a letter of gratitude for his support 8 438 39 Floyd Norman the studio s first black animator who worked closely with Disney during the 1950s and 1960s said Not once did I observe a hint of the racist behavior Walt Disney was often accused of after his death His treatment of people and by this I mean all people can only be called exemplary 10 Since its release in 1992 Disney s Aladdin has been accused of perpetuating racial and ethnic stereotypes of Arabs In July 1993 Disney announced that it would alter a line in the film s opening song Arabian Nights written by Howard Ashman and Alan Menken 11 In the original film the song featured the lyrics Where they cut off your ear if they don t like your face It s barbaric but hey it s home 11 After Arab American groups complained that the line was derogatory to Middle Easterners Disney amended the lyrics in later editions of the film to an alternate lyric written by Ashman Where it s flat and immense and the heat is intense It s barbaric but hey it s home 11 Menken approved the change before its adoption as did the estate of Ashman who had died before the film s completion The American Arab Anti Discrimination Committee further requested that the word barbaric be removed however Disney refused this claiming that the word appeared in all versions of Ashman s text and it referred to the film s desert setting in the altered lyrics 11 Don Bustany president of the ADC s Los Angeles chapter argued that the existing alterations were nowhere near adequate considering the racism depicted in Aladdin there still remains the very sleazy burlesque character in the prologue and the scene where a merchant is going to cut off the hand of Princess Jasmine because she took an apple from his stand to give to a hungry child 11 A March 1995 article published on the ADC s website further criticized Aladdin for depicting the film s protagonists Aladdin and Jasmine with light skin and Anglicized features in contrast to dark skinned merchants and palace guards who were cruel greedy and vicious while featuring Arab accents and distorted facial features 12 13 Shortly after the film s release Jack Shaheen a professor of mass communications at Southern Illinois University said that Aladdin is not an entertaining Arabian Nights fantasy as film critics would have us believe but rather a painful reminder to 3 million Americans of Arab heritage as well as 300 million Arabs and others that the abhorrent Arab stereotype is as ubiquitous as Aladdin s lamp 13 Sexism edit In 1938 The Walt Disney Company sent a rejection letter to Mary Ford stating that girls are not considered for creative positions The letter was rediscovered in 2009 when Ford s grandson uploaded the image on Flickr 14 15 The letter received greater attention on January 7 2014 when after congratulating Emma Thompson for her Best Actress win at the National Board of Review Awards Meryl Streep referenced the letter 16 Referencing Thompson s film Saving Mr Banks Streep responded It must have killed Disney to encounter a woman an equally disdainful and superior creature a person dismissive of his own considerable gifts and prodigious output and imagination 17 18 In response to Streep s statements many Disney scholars and artists defended Disney including Disney Legend Floyd Norman who said Much has changed and changed for the better 17 Other journalists found the speech ironic noting that Streep just finished filming the then upcoming Disney film Into the Woods 18 19 20 The Walt Disney Company has also been criticized for the lack of feminist values seen in the older original Disney Princesses Snow White in particular is under constant criticism for her lack of feminist ideals 21 The film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs 1937 features a main protagonist who at the time fit the domestic and docile expectations of women in the pre World War II era 21 22 Snow White is displayed on screen covered in a long dress embellished with a white collar puffy sleeves red cape and a red bow constraining her hair a traditional modest feminine look that reveals minimal skin 23 Through her actions portrayed in the movie she draws on the traditional femininity that was encouraged in 1930s American culture 22 In the midst of the Great Depression women were encouraged to return to the home and care for the household a theme that is widely displayed in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs 22 However with the second resurgence of Disney movies known as the Disney Renaissance beginning in 1989 and ending in 1999 Disney transformed the damsel in distress into a strong woman with a desire for adventure 22 23 This new approach ushered in a decade of go getting proactive heroines who possessed character traits that coincided with the new era of acceptable roles in a society where women hold the same jobs as men 22 This is evident in princesses such as Ariel from The Little Mermaid 1989 Belle from Beauty and the Beast 1991 and Jasmine from Aladdin 1992 23 Plagiarism edit Several of Disney s animated feature films have been accused of plagiarizing existing works The most notable and controversial example is The Lion King which critics allege was plagiarized from Osamu Tezuka s Japanese manga ジャングル大帝 Janguru Taitei i e Jungle Emperor ジャングル大帝 ja and its anime adaptation of the same name in Japan This TV series was in turn dubbed and retitled Kimba the White Lion for English speaking audiences by Titan Productions for NBC from 1965 to 1966 and it premiered on Los Angeles KHJ TV in September 1966 24 After Kimba s original run in the United States ended in the autumn of 1967 the series was shown in syndication on TV stations across the U S through September 30 1978 24 As a number of media journalists and fans watched The Lion King after its initial release in 1994 they noticed characters and events in the story resembling those of Kimba Although the two works follow different screenplays there are strong artistic similarities and The Lion King contains numerous sequences that closely match up with Kimba s 25 159 161 Other similarities are thematically deeper and more pronounced such as that both feature the theme of the circle of life Alleged similarities in the characters beginning with the protagonist lion cubs Kimba and Simba include the evil lions the one eyed Claw and Scar the sage baboons Dan l Baboon and Rafiki the animated birds Pauley Cracker and Zazu and the pair of hyena sidekicks it was a trio in the Disney film 26 The Lion King co director Rob Minkoff deflected criticism of similarities in the characters by stating it was not unusual to have characters like a baboon a bird or hyenas in films set in Africa 26 Both films feature the protagonist looking up at cloudbursts in the shape of his father lion as pointed out by Frederick L Schodt 26 The similarity is alluded to in a scene from The Simpsons episode Round Springfield where a parody of Mufasa voiced by Harry Shearer in the clouds tells Lisa Simpson You must avenge my death Kimba dah I mean Simba 25 159 27 Matthew Broderick has said that when he was hired as the voice of adult Simba in The Lion King he presumed the project was related to Kimba the White Lion 28 29 30 31 I thought he meant Kimba who was a white lion in a cartoon when I was a little kid said Broderick So I kept telling everybody I was going to play Kimba I didn t really know anything about it but I didn t really care 32 In addition a memo written by Roy E Disney in July 1993 refers to Simba as Kimba causing critics to claim that Disney was aware of the similarities 33 Upon the release of The Lion King in Japan multiple Japanese cartoonists including Machiko Satonaka signed a letter urging the Walt Disney Company acknowledge due credit to Jungle Emperor Leo in the making of The Lion King 34 27 As Tim Hornyak wrote in The Japan Times The Tezuka Disney connection extends back decades before the movie Tezuka met Walt Disney at the 1964 New York World s Fair and Disney said he hoped to make something just like Tezuka s Astro Boy 35 The Lion King director Roger Allers claimed he remained unfamiliar with Kimba throughout production until his movie was nearly completed 36 co director Rob Minkoff also said he was unfamiliar with Kimba 26 27 The other Disney film Atlantis The Lost Empire 2001 was alleged for plagiarizing the Japanese animated series as well many critics and viewers alike claimed it was plagiarized from one of the popular anime television shows ふしぎの海のナディア Fushigi no Umi no Nadia i e Nadia of the Mysterious Seas Nadia The Secret of Blue Water ふしぎの海のナディア ja more specifically in its character designs setting and storyline 37 As noted by the viewers in Japan and America the similarities became strong enough to call its production company Gainax to sue for plagiarism They only refrained from doing so according to Gainax member Yasuhiro Takeda because the decision belonged to parent companies NHK and Toho Hiroyuki Yamaga another Gainax worker was quoted in an interview in 2000 as We actually tried to get NHK to pick a fight with Disney but even the National Television Network of Japan didn t dare to mess with Disney and their lawyers We actually did say that but we wouldn t actually take them to court We would be so terrified about what they would do to them in return that we wouldn t dare 38 Although Disney never responded formally to those claims co director Kirk Wise posted on a Disney animation newsgroup in May 2001 Never heard of Nadia till it was mentioned in this newsgroup Long after we d finished production I might add He claimed both Atlantis and Nadia were inspired in part by Jules Verne s 1870 novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas 25 187 Speaking about the clarification however Lee Zion of Anime News Network wrote There are too many similarities not connected with 20 000 Leagues for the whole thing to be coincidence 39 As such the whole affair ultimately entered popular culture as a convincing case of plagiarism 40 41 In 2018 Reuben Baron of Comic Book Resources added to Zion s comment stating Verne didn t specifically imagine magic crystal based technology something featured in both the Disney movie and the two similar anime The Verne inspiration also doesn t explain the designs being suspiciously similar to Nadia s 42 In March 2014 animator Kelly Wilson sued Disney for plagiarism alleging that the teaser trailer for Frozen was similar to her short film The Snowman After four months of legal battling federal judge Vince Chhabria ruled in Wilson s favor citing evidence that Disney was aware of The Snowman and the sequence of both works from start to finish is too parallel to conclude that no reasonable juror could find the works substantially similar In April 2015 Chhabria explained that several Pixar employees had attended the 2011 San Francisco International Film Festival in which The Snowman was screened four times alongside the Pixar short Play by Play 43 In June 2015 Entertainment Weekly reported that Disney had agreed to settle the case 44 In March 2017 a year after the release of Disney s animated film Zootopia screenwriter and producer Gary Goldman sued Disney claiming that he had pitched a similar idea to the studio in 2000 and again in 2009 According to a story in The Hollywood Reporter Goldman alleged that Disney had stolen the film s title and various artwork from him after he offered the project A Disney spokesperson dismissed the accusations declaring that Mr Goldman s lawsuit is riddled with patently false allegations It is an unprincipled attempt to lay claim to a successful film he didn t create and we will vigorously defend against it in court 45 Accusations of bribing on The Academy Awards for Best Animated Film edit Disney has been accused by many animation communities and spaces of supposedly bribing The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences into giving films from Walt Disney Animation and Pixar the award for Best Animated Film Much of the criticism for this has been based off how since 2008 the award has been dominated mostly by films made by Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar with films from other studios almost exclusively being nominated Directors of the nominated films have claimed that is actually better to be nominated because they know they will lose against Disney The only exceptions to this have been Nickelodeon Movies Rango in 2012 Sony Pictures Animation s Spider Man Into the Spider Verse in 2019 Netflix Animation s Guillermo del Toro s Pinocchio in 2023 and Studio Ghibli s The Boy and the Heron in 2024 Other criticism has been that some films of both studios didn t deserve the award with a notable example being when Toy Story 4 won the award over SPA Animation s Klaus in 2020 46 47 48 LGBT references in Disney films edit Main article Disney and LGBT representation in animation Disney has been criticized for limiting and stereotyping LGBT representation in its media with LGBT topics previously being deemed not family friendly to address directly by Disney while villains were often portrayed as queer coded through gender non conformance Controversy was stirred in the live action remake Beauty and the Beast 2017 when director Bill Condon announced that Lefou would come out as a gay character and dance with a man named Stanley As a result a theater in Henagar Alabama refused to screen the film 49 In March 2020 the Pixar animated film Onward introduced the first openly lesbian character in Disney media named Officer Specter voiced by the real life lesbian actress Lena Waithe who discusses that her girlfriend s daughter gets her pulling her hair out 50 51 This resulted to the film receiving backlash in several Middle Eastern countries such as Kuwait Oman Qatar and Saudi Arabia 52 53 The film is also censored in Russia where the gay propaganda law officially criminalizes the dissemination of LGBT related content to children under 18 54 Filming in Xinjiang edit Main articles Persecution of Uyghurs in China and Xinjiang internment camps In 2020 Disney was criticised for filming in the autonomous region of Xinjiang where human rights abuses are taking place and thanking the publicity department of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region Chinese Communist Party Committee and the public security bureau in Turpan in the credits of the movie Mulan 55 56 In a statement released Disney said it was not responsible for the credit and attributed it to a 3rd party involved in the filming 57 The public security bureau in Turpan was added to the U S Bureau of Industry and Security s Entity List in October 2019 58 Miramax and its handling of foreign films edit Formerly a subsidiary of Disney from 1993 to 2010 Miramax came under criticism for its editing dubbing and replacing the soundtracks of various foreign films that it releases One notable example is Iron Monkey which though released subtitled had its subtitles altered to remove the political context of the story had scenes trimmed and changed for violence and pacing and had the soundtrack changed removing the famous Wong Fei Hung theme Other films that they have altered in this way include Shaolin Soccer Farewell My Concubine theatrical release The Thief and the Cobbler and Jet Li s Fist of Legend Peter Biskind s book Down and Dirty Pictures details many of the Weinsteins dishonest dealings with filmmakers Under the Weinsteins Miramax had a history of buying the rights to Asian films only to sit on them without releasing them for years One example of this is Hero a 2002 Chinese martial arts film It languished in Miramax s vaults for two years before it was salvaged with the intervention of Quentin Tarantino the Government of China and even Disney s executives Another example is Tears of the Black Tiger a Thai film originally released in 2000 After changing the film s ending Tears of the Black Tiger sat in Miramax s vaults for five years until its rights were purchased by Magnolia Pictures in 2006 where the film was released unedited A no cuts policy was highlighted when Miramax co chairman Harvey Weinstein demanded edits to the Japanese anime film Princess Mononoke to make it more marketable In response Toshio Suzuki a producer at Studio Ghibli sent an authentic katana with a simple message No cuts 59 According to promotion manager Steve Alpert when Weinstein initially found out about this he flew into a rage threatening Alpert that he would never work in this industry again 60 He eventually gave in however and the film was released uncut One reason for the delays and non releases of films was an accounting scheme that the Weinsteins used to shift potential money losing films to future fiscal years and ensure they would receive annual bonuses from Disney 61 while trying to bar retailers from legally exporting authentic DVDs of the films 62 Defenders of the company point out that prior to Miramax most of the films purchased by the company would have had little to no chance of achieving U S distribution other than by very small distributors with minimal marketing expertise and funds They also state that the purpose of the company s aggressive re editing technique was always to try to help the films find a broader American audience than they might otherwise find I m not cutting for fun Harvey Weinstein said in an interview I m cutting for the shit to work All my life I served one master the film I love movies 63 Miramax is also accused of ignoring their more artistic less audience friendly films especially when directors refuse to re cut them to make them less challenging Dead Man which director Jim Jarmusch refused to re cut got a very limited release and critics have accused the Weinsteins of burying the film 64 65 Miramax was parodied in the Kevin Smith film Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back 2001 in which the studio attempted to adapt Jay and Silent Bob s comic book characters Bluntman and Chronic into a movie thus resulting in the duo traveling to Hollywood to stop them from making the movie According to Kevin Smith this film is a direct response to the controversy surrounding his previous film Dogma citation needed Marvel Studios relationship with VFX workers edit In the wake of Marvel Studios firing executive vice president of film production Victoria Alonso for breach of contract in March 2023 criticism from VFX workers were noted 66 who had raised complaints of Marvel s demanding post production schedules Alonso was described by some as a kingmaker 66 67 and challenging to work with 68 with Chris Lee at Vulture reporting that Alonso was singularly responsible for Marvel s toxic work environment with VFX workers 69 67 Alonso reportedly took days off to produce Argentina 1985 instead of her post production commitments for the various Marvel Cinematic Universe projects which in turn resulted in the need to delay several projects in 2022 and 2023 68 However Alonso was also described as the epitome of professional and supportive on set with Joanna Robinson of The Ringer describing the reports as a gross mischaracterization and the opposite of Alonso s work 66 70 Following Alonso s firing visual effects vendors for the various MCU projects were working with producer Jen Underdahl 71 In August 2023 more than 50 of Marvel s on set VFX production crew filed a petition for an election to be represented by the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees with the National Labor Relations Board 72 Secret Invasion A I opening credits sequence controversy edit In 2023 it was revealed that the series opening credits sequence of the Marvel Studios series Secret Invasion was created using generative artificial intelligence to showcase the shapeshifting tone of the series according to Ali Selim 73 Reception to the sequence was met with backlash and disappointment from audiences and the animation industry Major criticism includes that the argument was especially timely since the Writers Guild of America voted to strike after failed negotiations with the Association of Motion Picture and Television Producers which included language about protecting writers against the use of AI in the writing process Over the past eight weeks the use of AI to replace laborers has come to the forefront of many discussions about the strike 74 75 Storyboard artists and animators on the series expressed disappointment on the opening sequence 76 Using deepfake and A I on background actors without their consent edit During the 2023 SAG AFTRA strike it was revealed that several background actors for several Marvel Studios Walt Disney Studios Lucasfilm and Disney Branded Television productions were scanned to train a generative artificial intelligence to use their image on several episodes or films without their consent or additional payment The major productions where this case was exposed were WandaVision and the Disney Channel Original Movie Prom Pact Criticism includes that the union has highlighted how the studios have been scanning the faces and bodies of background actors to help with VFX work however the studios have been trying to get actors to sign over their likenesses for future films and shows which many have described as disgusting and soulless 77 78 79 80 Disney General Entertainment Content editAmerican Broadcasting Company edit On February 9 1996 The Walt Disney Company acquired Capital Cities ABC and renamed the broadcasting group ABC Inc although the network also continues to use American Broadcasting Companies such as on TV productions it owns ABC s relationship with Disney dates back to 1953 when Leonard Goldenson pledged enough money so that the Disneyland theme park could be completed ABC continued to hold Disney notes and stock until 1960 and also had first call on the Disneyland television series in 1954 With this new relationship came an attempt at cross promotion with attractions based on ABC shows at Disney parks and an annual soap festival at Walt Disney World the former president of ABC Inc Robert Iger now heads Disney In 1997 ABC aired a Saturday morning block called One Saturday Morning which changed to ABC Kids in 2002 It featured a five hour line up of children s shows mostly cartoons for children ages 5 12 but it was changed to a four hour line up in 2005 Since then it was aimed for children more in the 10 16 age range Despite intense micro managing on the part of Disney management the flagship television network was slow to turn around In 1999 the network was able to experience a brief bolster in ratings with the hit game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire A new national phenomenon Survivor on CBS persuaded the schedulers at ABC to change Millionaire s slot over to the Wednesday time slot at 8 00 to kill Survivor before it got ratings to hold The first results were promising for CBS they lost by only a few rating points ABC tried to keep the strength running so they tried an unprecedented strategy for Millionaire by airing the show four times a week during the next fall season in the process overexposing the show as it appeared on the network sometimes five or six nights during a week ABC s ratings fell dramatically as competitors introduced their own game shows and the public grew tired of the format Alex Wallau took over as president in 2000 Despite the repeated overexposure of Millionaire and its switch to syndication ABC continued to find some success in dramas such as The Practice which gave birth to a successful spinoff Boston Legal in 2004 Alias and Once and Again ABC also had some moderately successful comedies including The Drew Carey Show Spin City Dharma amp Greg According to Jim My Wife and Kids and George Lopez Still one asset that ABC lacked in the early 2000s that most other networks had was popularity in reality television ABC s briefly lived reality shows Are You Hot and I m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here proved to be an embarrassment for the network By the end of the 2003 2004 television season ABC slumped to fourth place becoming the first of the original Big Three networks to fall into such ratings ABC Daytime edit Main article ABC Daytime When Megan McTavish returned as head writer of All My Children in July 2003 she faced criticism for a story that depicted the rape of a lesbian character Bianca Montgomery citation needed The show also faced opposition to its story of a transgender character in 2006 ABC Daytime scrapped a One Life to Live storyline which was to depict a school shooting rampage on the day the Virginia Tech massacre occurred on April 16 2007 81 The Writers Guild of America East filed arbitration suits against ABC Daytime claiming that they violated the strike termination agreement by retaining replacement writers those who choose Financial Core Status who filled in during the strike on All My Children instead of bringing back the writers who had been on strike The ABC Network as a whole has been criticized for the cancellations of both One Life to Live and All My Children as well as the near cancellation of its one remaining soap opera General Hospital The strike termination agreement does not allow the retention of replacement writers in lieu of allowing striking writers to return to their jobs ABC Daytime are clearly violating this agreement said Ira Cure senior counsel for the WGA East in a statement They have left us no other option but to file arbitrations to ensure that our members will be afforded their rights outlined under this agreement Broadcasting amp Cable Arbitration Suit Against ABC D In December 2008 Soap Opera Weekly Soap Opera Digest critic Marlena De Lacroix called ABC Daytime a chauvinistic hellhole In August 2009 Frons announced that the production of All My Children would move from New York City to Los Angeles by the end of the year 82 83 ABC News edit Main article ABC News On April 30 2004 Nightline host Ted Koppel read the names of the members of the United States Armed Forces who were killed in Iraq This prompted controversy from conservatives who believed that Koppel was making a political statement and from Sinclair Broadcasting Group which felt that ABC was undermining the Iraq war effort Others including a The Washington Post television columnist thought it was a ratings stunt for sweeps and indeed Nightline was the highest rated program during that time period and had about 30 more viewers than other Nightline programs that week Sinclair stations did not air the program Koppel repeated the format on May 28 2004 reading the names of service members killed in Afghanistan and on May 30 2005 reading the names of all service members killed in Afghanistan or Iraq between the last program and the preparation of the program This time Sinclair stations aired the program as scheduled In the wake of the job cuts a significant controversy erupted online in May 2010 after it was announced the former VP of news coverage Mimi Gurbst was leaving the network to become a guidance counselor 84 A story in the New York Observer reported that Gurbst was a cherished mentor inside the news division 85 Reporters who closely follow TV news observed that a large number of current and former ABC News staffers went online to vigorously respond that Gurbst had helped perpetuate a negative culture with ABC News 86 87 The Path to 9 11 edit nbsp Wikinews has related news ABC comes under fire for alleged partisan slant in 9 11 miniseries ABC aired the controversial two part miniseries The Path to 9 11 in the US on September 10 2006 at 8 p m EDT and September 11 2006 at 8 p m EDT The extensive pre broadcast controversy over the film has included disputes over the accuracy of its dramatization of key events as well as calls by historians and from former Clinton and Bush administration officials for ABC to re edit part of the film or to not broadcast it at all According to the official statement released by ABC on September 7 2006 the film is a dramatization not a documentary drawn from a variety of sources including the 9 11 Commission Report other published materials and personal interviews 88 The main source of the controversy stems from portions of the film concerned with the Clinton administration in the 1990s Critics say that certain dramatized scenes tend to suggest that blame for the events that took place on September 11 2001 lies with Clinton and his cabinet One example cited is a scene in which then National Security Advisor Sandy Berger does not approve of the order to take out a surrounded Osama bin Laden tells the squad in Afghanistan that they will have to do the job without official authorization and then hangs up the phone According to Sandy Berger and others including conservative author and Clinton critic Richard Miniter this never happened 89 Screenwriter Cyrus Nowrasteh has now admitted that the abrupt hang up was not in the script and was improvised 90 American Airlines reportedly threatened to pull its advertising from ABC after this program aired The liberal watchdog group Media Matters for America named ABC its third annual Misinformer of the Year award in 2006 not only for the miniseries but for the alleged conservative pandering of ABC News director Mark Halperin and for biased claims on news programs such as ABC World News and Good Morning America Alexis Debat edit Alexis Debat a consultant for ABC for years and also a writer for The National Interest resigned from ABC in June 2007 after the broadcasting company discovered that he did not have a Ph D from the Sorbonne as he pretended 91 Furthermore in September 2007 the French news media Rue 89 revealed that he had made at least two bogus interviews one of Barack Obama and another of Alan Greenspan both published in the French magazine Politique internationale 92 93 This in turn also led to his resignation from The National Interest 91 Debat had specialized in reports on terrorism and national security for the past six years writing for example on the Jundallah Balochi and Sunni organization 91 94 ABC contract dispute affecting WABC TV and WPVI edit On March 2 2010 WABC TV in New York along with Philadelphia sister station WPVI carried in Mercer Monmouth and Ocean counties stated that they would pull their programming from Cablevision on March 7 2010 at midnight unless a new payment structure was implemented for its network programming Cablevision responded by citing WABC TV and WPVI s free over the air accessibility Cablevision spokesman Charles Schueler stated It is not fair for ABC Disney to hold Cablevision customers hostage by forcing them to pay what amounts to a new TV tax 95 The removal of both stations occurred on the weekend of the 82nd Academy Awards which was scheduled to be one of ABC s largest yearly specials and was projected to cause a devastating blow to advertisers for the Oscars and to Cablevision itself On Sunday March 7 2010 at 12 01 a m ET both WABC and WPVI were removed from Cablevision leaving a black screen in their place confirming the rumors that if a deal with Cablevision and ABC was not reached by midnight the network and other Disney owned channels would go off the air Cablevision began looping a public service announcement on each affected channel and forcing all of its customers set top boxes to channel 1999 which was looping the same announcement much like was done when Scripps Networks pulled their cable channels programming Besides providing certain details of the disagreement they stated that ABC shows could be watched online through TV websites such as Hulu Also that day Cablevision announced through e mail that their entire film catalog of on demand movies would be available without charge until midnight that evening as an apology to their customers 96 At 8 50 p m that day WABC and WPVI returned to Cablevision s programming after notification during the 82nd Academy Awards announced progression in Work to complete our negotiations and the return of ABC s programming during the negotiations Freeform edit Fox Family Worldwide Inc was sold from News Corporation s Fox Entertainment Group to Disney for 2 9 billion on October 24 2001 The sale to Disney also included TV channel Fox Kids and Saban Entertainment renamed BVS Entertainment now Hasbro The entire network was officially renamed ABC Family on November 10 2001 97 98 99 100 The sale to Disney was considered one of the largest mistakes or problems occurring during the tenure of Michael Eisner The failure was primarily due to the acquisition being done by the strategic planning department of Disney without consulting anyone at ABC The original plan was to use the channel to essentially show re runs of ABC programming but this plan was completely impossible since ABC had no syndication rights to the majority of their own programs During this time the network did air same season repeats of Alias Less Than Perfect Life with Bonnie and The Bachelor almost all of which were Touchstone Television productions The Bachelor is distributed by Time Warner s Telepictures But in trying to change the focus of the channel Disney also canceled several Fox Family series like State of Grace and cut back on the network s TV movies which were among the few programs Fox Family was doing well with The ratings tumbled further as the network became dependent on syndicated reruns and no original programs save for original wrap around segments around Bachelor repeats and children s programming 101 The next major plan was to reposition the channel to market it to college students young women or to a more hip audience under the name XYZ a reverse reference to ABC Disney soon found that the channel could never be renamed as such The original sale from CBN to Fox Saban contained a now disputed stipulation that the channel contains the word Family in the name forever no matter who owns the network To create XYZ the Family Channel would have had to cease to exist terminating all existing cable TV contracts and XYZ would have to be created as a completely new network Cable companies would not be obligated to put XYZ in the spot vacated by the Family Channel ABC scrapped the idea after discovering this clause 102 The name was revisited at one point in 2003 serving as a program block entitled The XYZ showing programs and movies aimed at the above groups The network was also used as a buffer to burn off failed ABC series such as All American Girl which featured former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell 103 Since 2006 the critics have gone after programming on ABC Family Most critics of the network feel it has gone from a family friendly to too risque and shows like Greek and The Secret Life of the American Teenager are far too racy for family viewers Critics feel that the executives at ABC Family are only after viewership numbers and are unconcerned about showing younger generations in questionable scenarios in series and films The main focus of criticism is on teenage pregnancy or underage drinking 104 Despite the channel s name including the word Family the channel s programming content standards had changed several years earlier after the sale of the channel by International Family Entertainment and the channel had been airing even some acquired series and movies that contain profanity violence and sexual content or dialogue after the sale particularly since being purchased by The Walt Disney Company ABC Family did air parental advisory tags at the beginning of some TV 14 rated programs such as That 70s Show and some episodes of The Secret Life of the American Teenager In 2015 a survey revealed that viewers who only watched the channel occasionally thought that the channel was entirely family friendly As a result the channel was rebranded as Freeform on January 12 2016 This change was made in order to establish the network as a general entertainment channel Despite this family oriented shows and movies continue to air on the network National Geographic Partners edit The enterprise was originally established by 21st Century Fox and the National Geographic Society Following the completion of Disney s acquisition of 21st Century Fox on March 20 2019 Disney assumed 21CF s 73 share in the joint venture Disney Channel edit Some critics disapprove of the Disney Channel marketing strategy led by Anne Sweeney 105 president of the Disney Channel from 1996 to 2014 106 Under Sweeney the Disney Channel s programming was geared mainly towards preteen and teenage girls with a decrease in animated programming 107 Criticism was also aimed at removing almost all Walt era and pre 1990s material from the channel in 2002 with the removal of the late night Vault Disney block devoted to this material which used to make up the majority of the channel s programming since its inception in 1983 108 109 In 2008 Sweeney explained that Disney Channel resulting from its multi platform marketing strategy using television and music would become the major profit driver for the Walt Disney Company 109 The channel has also pulled and sometimes re shot episodes that have featured subject matter deemed inappropriate for its target audience due either to humor or to timing of real life events In November 2008 the episode No Sugar Sugar Hannah Montana in which Mitchel Musso s character Oliver Oken is revealed to have Type 1 diabetes was pulled before its broadcast due to parent complaints about its portrayal of diabetics and sugar intake 110 In December 2011 Disney Channel pulled episodes of two of its original series due to complaints on Twitter from Demi Lovato about their portrayal of eating disorders Pulled episodes included Party It Up Shake It Up and Colbie Caillat So Random 111 112 113 114 In May 2013 Disney Channel pulled Quitting Cold Koala Jessie due to parental concerns over a scene in which a character s gluten free diet leads to ridicule 115 Brian Peck Blackash edit See also Quiet on Set The Dark Side of Kids TV Disney Channel faced backlash for hiring Brian Peck on the series The Suite Life of Zack amp Cody after being accused of being a sex offender Disney Channel executives fired Peck after learning about his conviction Peck s voice lines and on screen credits on the series were replaced or removed Disney Channel representatives have stated that Peck was never on set nor interacted with the show s cast or crew 116 117 Primos controversy edit On June 13 2023 the opening sequence of the series Primos was released by Disney Branded Television 118 119 with a mixed reception to the sequence on social media including from Latinos and Mexicans 120 121 122 Some viewers argued that the sequence had various negative stereotypes complained about names of some characters and claimed the Spanish pronunciation of some characters in the sequence was incorrect 123 124 125 ESPN edit Main article Criticism of ESPN Criticism of ESPN is mostly concerning the journalistic standards of the network versus the entertainment division One such event came in 2010 when ESPN gave one hour of time and the advertising money that goes with it to NBA superstar LeBron James so he could announce where he would play during the 2010 11 NBA season This program was called The Decision and received criticism because ESPN ceded control of the hour to an outside source and the person doing the interview was Jim Gray who was not an ESPN employee This is in addition to the hours of hype preceding the special which was in the form of a three hour SportsCenter telecast There was a Texas Tech scandal which involved ESPN College Football analyst Craig James Through James ESPN used its power to get head coach Mike Leach fired because of how James s son Adam was treated following a concussion ESPN has also been accused of overpaying for sports broadcasting rights and that Wall Street analysts have raised concerns that this could be a major drain on Disney as a whole since the amount of money that can be recuperated from retransmission consent fees and advertising is limited Disney still profits from the ESPN division but as of 2015 was cutting the network s higher priced content to ensure long term profitability 126 In October 2015 ESPN laid off about 300 employees citing the rights costs combined with the increasing trend of cord cutting 127 In November 2019 ESPN s owner The Walt Disney Company launched the streaming service called Disney ESPN heavily promoted the Disney launch leading to accusations that the network was sacrificing its journalistic integrity 128 129 Examples cited by critics included a Simpsons themed edition of SportsCenter Top 10 as well as NFL reporter Adam Schefter tweeting that Disney will change lives Writing in Slate Laura Wagner 130 said that the tongue bath for Disney represents a new inflection point in ESPN s decline from journalistic institution to entertainment company Wagner added This clumsy marketing blitz is an embarrassing exercise that turns ostensible reporters into stooges It s also a stark example of just how flimsy ESPN s editorial vision has become Meanwhile Kelly McBride of the nonprofit journalism organization the Poynter Institute in an interview with The Washington Post 131 said You re turning the journalist into a salesperson and asking them to upsell the product That s not the relationship you want the journalist to have with the audience member You want that relationship to be about trust in the journalist s expertise Disney Entertainment editHulu edit Kardashian Roblox scandal edit The series premiere of The Kardashians which debuted on April 14 2022 titled Burn Them All to the F cking Ground led to a public feud between Kim Kardashian and Roblox In the episode Kim s son Saint West shows his mother an experience on the platform from a tablet that depicts an image of Kim crying across the skybox and baseplate She claimed however that the person who uploaded the experience had also obtained footage of her and Ray J s sex tape and that she reacted by crying and claiming to later sue the company Despite this allegation the incident has been seen by many as a hoax and was deceptively edited and staged as a way to cause uproar and false drama 132 A spokesperson for Roblox responded by saying The referenced video was never available on our platform We have strict moderation and policies to protect our community including zero tolerance for sexual content of any kind which violates our community rules and The text reference to the tape that got around our filters was quickly taken down and fortunately visible only to an extremely small number of people on the platform We also swiftly took down the associated experience and banned the community developer involved with the incident 133 An individual close to the Kardashian family denied accusations of faking the event 134 135 The series is distributed by Disney Platform Distribution and was released in the United States on Hulu Disney internationally via Star and Star in Latin America Disney edit Criticism over removing titles from streaming edit On Disney s earnings call from May 10 2023 CFO Christine McCarthy had said the company expected to take a write down in the June quarter of 1 5 billion 1 8 billion from removing content from its streaming platforms The move comes with a content impairment charge of 1 5 billion to 1 8 billion The company faced backlash from various cast and crew members from the following removed series Big Shot Turner amp Hooch Willow The Mysterious Benedict Society and removed films such as The One and Only Ivan Flora amp Ulysses Better Nate Than Ever Cheaper By The Dozen Magic Camp Stargirl and its sequel Hollywood Stargirl Criticism includes that Disney removed many content featuring many positive POC and LGTBQ representation and that said titles where even barely advertised as opposed to other popular titles from the service mostly made by Marvel Studios and LucasFilm within the Star Wars franchise The latter criticism came with the removal of the film Crater which was removed two months after being dropped on Disney Disney received backlash over the potential removal of Howard a documentary about famous lyricist Howard Ashman a gay man who co wrote the songs for Disney s Little Mermaid animated classic and its timing on the eve of the release of the live action Little Mermaid film and LGBTQ Pride Month Several other Disney titles that had been earmarked for removal like A Spark Story Marvel s MPower and Marvel s Voices Rising The Music of Wakanda Forever stayed due a similar backlash 136 137 138 Walt Disney Parks Experiences and Products editDisneyland Resort edit Ban on same sex dancing edit Between 1957 when the park first allowed dancing and 1989 Disneyland only allowed pairs of men and women to dance on stage barring single and group dancers with the exception of children as well as same sex couples 139 Disney claimed the policy had been put in place for crowd control and to avoid harassment of women but also stated that it was because some patrons might have found dance partners of the same sex offensive 140 141 Teenage gay rights activist Andrew Exler now known as Crusader decided to dance with his friend Shawn Elliott in 1980 to protest the policy after his lesbian roommate was told she couldn t dance with other girls the security guards responded to their homosexual fast dancing by kicking them out claiming that as a family park We do not put up with alternative lifestyles here Exeler who had already notified the media sued Disney in court for discrimination and won the suit in 1984 however Disney later claimed that the ruling only applied to Exler and Elliott and continued to enforce the ban particularly for same sex slow or touch dancing resulting in another lawsuit later in the decade that forced Disney to rescind the policy in 1989 142 139 Al Lutz s Disneyland reports edit Al Lutz who has written about Disney since the 1990s often writes about a perceived decline in value and quality at Disney s theme parks chiefly Disneyland and its neighboring park Disney California Adventure that opened in 2001 143 citation needed Much of his criticism was directed at Paul Pressler the one time president of Disneyland who later was named chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts and Cynthia Harriss Pressler s successor as Disneyland s president From 1996 2002 Lutz maintained a set of sarcastic Web pages called Promote Paul Pressler 144 with the stated goal of getting current Disneyland Resort President Paul Pressler promoted to a new job somewhere else within The Walt Disney Company Lutz s July 2006 report on the alleged antics of Lindsay Lohan during a private party held at Disneyland for her 20th birthday 145 drew a rebuke from a representative for the actress who said that reports of bad behavior were complete bull 146 This report brought Lutz s website MiceAge briefly into the spotlight and established Lutz as a Disney watchdog in the mainstream media Disney California Adventure edit Disney California Adventure originally named Disney s California Adventure Park until a name change in June 2010 was expected to draw large crowds when it opened in 2001 A January 14 2001 Los Angeles Times article titled The most Jam Packed Theme Park on Earth stated Senior Disney officials acknowledge that there will be days when California Adventure will have to turn patrons away particularly in the first weeks after the park opens during spring break and again in the summer The actual attendance was not close to the size that Disney expected for the park back in 2001 147 The reasons for this has been speculated as Bad word of mouth from early visitors discouraged future visitors stating the park was lacking in Disney quality attractions 148 Hollywood Pictures Backlot had a lack of focus on the restaurants shops and attractions Lack of rides for young children The park s Californian theme was criticized as being redundant seeing as the park itself was located in the same state that it represented Various tourist attractions and landmarks such as the Hollywood Sign and the beaches were located less than an hour away from the park Fans criticized the Paradise Pier area of the park because many of the attractions in this area were generic rides that guests do not expect to find at a Disney park This was ironic because Walt Disney originally created the neighboring Disneyland to provide a theme park experience unlike boardwalk piers and amusement parks of the era and instead wanted to create a park where the entire family could enjoy themselves With an estimated price tag of 600 million the park was criticized for being built on the cheap with a small number of attractions and minimal theming 149 Many guests complained that a single day admission ticket to Disney s California Adventure cost the same as a single day admission ticket to Disneyland yet contained fewer attractions shows and entertainment 150 Disney s chief executive officer Robert Iger went on record during the company s annual stockholder meeting on March 10 2006 when someone asked about a potential third park being built in Anaheim We re still working to assure the second gate is successful Iger said referring to California Adventure In the spirit of candor we have been challenged 151 On October 17 2007 The Walt Disney Company announced a multi year 1 1 billion expansion plan for Disney s California Adventure Park 152 153 Plans for the renovation and expansion were put on display for park visitors inside the Blue Sky Cellar at the Golden Vine Winery Disney listened to the public and several of the attractions which drew criticism from the public were removed in the multi year multibillion dollar redesign and expansion of Disney s California Adventure Other rides were redesigned or replaced with a larger focus on Disney characters and stories On May 28 2010 it was announced through the Disney Parks Blog that the park would also be receiving a name change to Disney California Adventure as well as a new logo The new name took effect on June 11 2010 appearing on park maps and banners but it was first used in a commercial promoting Disney s World of Color a few days prior World of Color premiered on June 11 2010 as part of Disney s Summer Nighttastic 154 Walt Disney World Resort edit Disney s Animal Kingdom edit Main article Disney s Animal Kingdom Even in the planning stages various Florida based animal rights groups and PETA did not like the idea of Disney creating a theme park where animals were held in captivity The groups protested and PETA tried to convince travel agents not to book trips to the park 155 A few weeks before the park opened a number of animals died due to accidents The United States Department of Agriculture viewed most of the cases and found no violations of animal welfare regulations 156 On opening day the Orange County Sheriff s office sent about 150 deputies in fear that there might be a large protest but only 24 protesters showed up The protest lasted two hours and there were no arrests 157 One year after the park opened and before the Disney World Millennium Celebration The Animal Rights Foundation of Florida complained that a New Millennium s Eve fireworks show could upset the animals A USDA inspector came to the park to find no problems with launching low noise fireworks half a mile away 158 Disney s Wide World of Sports Complex edit Main article ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex A former baseball umpire and an architect alleged that they approached The Walt Disney Company in 1987 with plans for a sports complex and that Wide World of Sports which opened 10 years later was heavily based on their designs Disney claimed that while the designs had some similarities the complex was also similar to numerous other sporting facilities and the concept of a sports park was too generic for any one group to claim ownership The two men represented in part by noted attorney Johnnie Cochran sued Disney in Orange County civil court In August 2000 a jury returned a verdict for the plaintiffs with damages in the amount of 240 million a fraction of the 1 5 billion sought 159 Disney appealed the judgment and settled out of court in September 2002 for undisclosed terms 160 Walt Disney World College Program edit The Walt Disney World College Program is a U S national internship program operated by The Walt Disney Company located at the Walt Disney World Resort The Walt Disney World College Program recruits students 18 years and older and all majors for a semester long paid internship program working at the Walt Disney World Resort Critics argue that Disney is using the program as a source of cheap labor as interns do the same work as veteran employees but at a significantly lower pay rate 161 In late 2007 a permanent Cast Member ran for president of the local union in Orlando Part of his platform intended to get rid of the Disney College Program claiming that the program imports thousands of low wage earners every year to work for Disney depressing the local employment market and keeping wages down Disney responded that the program is beneficial in the recruitment of cast members and that 8 000 workers out of 62 000 do not greatly impact operations 162 It has been criticized also for its lack of union representation and denial of insurance benefits by the company Miscellaneous edit In 2017 The Walt Disney Company and two of its subsidiaries reached an agreement with the U S Department of Labor to pay 3 8M to 16 339 employees of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts U S Inc and Disney Vacation Club Management Corp After Disney had started charging employees for their costumes the income of many employees fell below the federal minimum wage The resorts were also found to be in violation of overtime and payroll recordkeeping regulations 163 Disneyland Paris edit In May 1992 entertainment magazine The Hollywood Reporter reported that about 25 of Euro Disney s workforce approximately 3 000 men and women citation needed had resigned their jobs due to unacceptable working conditions It also reported that the park s attendance was far behind expectations citation needed Euro Disney S C A the company that operates Disneyland Paris responded in an interview with The Wall Street Journal in which the company s president Robert Fitzpatrick claimed that only 1 000 people had left their jobs citation needed In response to the financial situation Fitzpatrick ordered that the Disney MGM Studios Europe project would be put on hiatus until a further decision could be made Prices at the resort s hotels were also reduced significantly Despite these efforts in May 1992 daily park attendance was around 25 000 some reports give a figure of 30 000 instead of the predicted 60 000 Euro Disney s stock price spiraled downwards and on July 23 1992 the Resort announced an expected net loss in its first year of operation of approximately 300 million French francs During Euro Disney s first winter hotel occupancy was such that it was decided to close Disney s Newport Bay Club hotel for the season Initial hopes were that each visitor would spend around US 33 per day but near the end of 1992 analysts reckoned spending to be around 12 lower citation needed Efforts to improve attendance included serving alcoholic beverages with meals inside the Euro Disneyland theme park in response to a presumed European demand which began June 12 1993 164 In January 1994 Sanford Litvack an attorney from New York City and former Assistant Attorney General during the Jimmy Carter presidency was assigned to be Disney s lead negotiator regarding Euro Disney s future On February 28 Litvack made an offer without the consent of Eisner or Frank Wells to split the debts between Euro Disney creditors and Disney After the banks showed interest Litvack informed Eisner and Wells On March 14 the day before the annual shareholders meeting the banks capitulated to Disney s demands The creditor banks bought US 500 million worth of Euro Disney shares forgave 18 months of interest and deferred interest payments for three years The Walt Disney Company invested US 750 million into Euro Disney and granted a five year suspension of royalty payments In June that same year Saudi Arabian Prince Al Waleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud cut a deal whereby The Walt Disney Company bought 51 of a new US 1 1 billion share issue the rest being offered to existing shareholders at below market rates with the Prince buying any that were not taken up by existing shareholders up to a 24 5 holding Prince Al Waleed Bin Talal was alleged to be a financier of Al Qaeda by The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States also known as the 9 11 Commission 165 Walt Disney Studios Park which was built in a desperate and rushed attempt to increase the resort s attendance was also criticized for its lackluster theming lack of quality attractions and bland environment since its opening It was also Disney s smallest and least attended theme park Efforts made to improve the park included the addition of several new attractions a new themed land Toy Story Playland and re theming of other areas One of the new attractions Crush s Coaster was also criticized for its long lines and wait times reaching up to two hours even on non crowded days due to its popularity despite being not capable of handling riders at a fast rate About one hour before the official opening time of the park guests were able to enter the park to wait in line for the ride which had not been done before in any other Disney ride Attempts to apply a Fastpass line in the ride have been proved to be more inefficient Hong Kong Disneyland Resort edit Main article Hong Kong Disneyland Overcrowding problems edit Just before the grand opening the park was criticized for overestimating the daily capacity limit 166 The problem became apparent on the charity preview day on September 4 2005 when 30 000 locals visited the park This event turned out to be a disaster because there were too many guests for the park to accommodate Wait times at fast food outlets were at least 45 minutes in length and wait times at rides were two hours in length Although the community and the park s biggest shareholder the Hong Kong government put pressure on the park to lower the capacity the park insisted on keeping the limit and only agreed to relieve the capacity problem by extending the opening time by one hour or introducing more discounts during weekdays However the park said that local visitors tend to stay in the park for about nine hours per visit implying that the mentioned practices would do little to solve the problem citation needed During the Chinese New Year 2006 many visitors arrived at the park in the morning bearing valid tickets but were refused entry because the park was already at capacity Disgruntled visitors attempted to force their way into the park or gain access by climbing over the barrier gates 167 Disneyland management was forced to revise their ticketing policy and designated future periods close to Chinese public holidays as special days during which admission would only be allowed through a date specific ticket Food safety panel edit Officers from the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department who were asked by Disney staff to take off their badges and caps in order to enter the park left park visitors feeling very uneasy The officers investigated a food poisoning case in the park s restaurants 168 The chairman of Legco s food Safety panel Fred Li described the incident as shocking and called on the director of the department to take follow up action against Disney Hong Kong Disneyland says that what happened was inappropriate and has apologized for the incident The Secretary for Justice has since said that the government did not have enough evidence to make a prosecution thus dropping the case Fingerprinting edit As at other Disney theme parks visitors to Hong Kong Disneyland have their finger biometrics scanned at the entry gate Visitors are not warned of the policy beforehand Scanning is done of all visitors older than 10 years of age and is used to associate ticket media with the person using it The company claims that the 50 sample points from the surface of a guest s finger do not contain sufficient information to recreate a fingerprint image Nonetheless forensic specialists note that the data collected are more than adequate to establish a positive identification 169 Shark fin soup controversy edit Disney originally planned to serve shark fin soup a traditional Chinese delicacy at wedding banquets 170 Animal rights groups protested in June 2005 citing the declining shark population in global waters and the cruel methods sometimes used of cutting the fin and discarding live sharks back into the sea At first Disney removed shark fin soup from its menu but said that it would still offer the soup if their clients insisted on having it served at their wedding They said they would distribute leaflets about shark conservation in order to discourage the choice 171 However after constant and continuous pressure from both environmental groups and animal welfare groups 172 shareholders concerned about the company s image Disney announced on June 24 2005 that shark fin soup will not be served at all because according to their press release After careful consideration and a thorough review process we were not able to identify an environmentally sustainable fishing source leaving us no alternative except to remove shark fin soup from our wedding banquet menu 173 Other controversies edit Fish around Ma Wan died as a result of land reclamation 174 Disney s PhotoPass edit Disney s PhotoPass is a professional photography service offered at Disney theme parks water parks and resorts Photographers positioned at locations in the theme parks dining events at the resorts and at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique at Downtown Disney are linked to a free card containing a unique serial number Guests can view or purchase PhotoPass pictures at locations in the parks generally near the park entrance or online by registering the card s number 175 176 Customers have complained about the difference in advertised prices particularly of Photo CD products and the actual cost Disney has responded that advertised specials apply only to products purchased at the parks and do not apply to the website 177 Disney Consumer Products editDisney Princess edit On December 24 2006 Peggy Orenstein published What s Wrong With Cinderella in The New York Times In her article Orenstein discussed her concerns about the effects of princess figures on young girls Orenstein used the Disney Princesses specifically to present many of her points Orenstein also noted the pervasive nature of princess related merchandise and that every facet of play has its princess equivalent 178 Other sources have also voiced concern that the franchise could possibly give young girls the wrong message However other parents who have young daughters say that they would eventually grow out of this phase 179 Marvel Comics edit Page 16 of Captain America 602 March 2010 depicted an anti tax protest march in Idaho in which one participant held a sign reading Tea Bag the Libs Before They Tea Bag You with a caption containing the words of an off screen African American superhero the Falcon telling Captain America I don t exactly see a black man from Harlem fitting in with a bunch of angry white folks 180 181 182 The cartoon drew the condemnation of Michael Johns a board member of the Nationwide Tea Party Coalition 181 Marvel Comics Editor in Chief Joe Quesada characterized the sign as inadvertent and as something that we need to apologize for and own up to 183 Quesada explained that with a printing deadline looming the comic s editor noticed that the protest group s signs on the original art were empty and the editor asked the letterer on the book to just fudge in some quick signs The letterer in his rush looked on the net and started pulling slogans from actual signs including a Tea Bag sign Following the issue s printing Marvel staff caught the mistake and spoke to the letterer who was mortified at his mistake and was truly sorry as he had no political agenda Quesada said Marvel removed the sign from the art files so that it no longer appears in future reprints of the title or collections So while the crowd protesting has nothing to do with the villains in the story we in no way meant to say they were associated with the Tea Party movement 183 Transition of ownership regarding Star Wars edit On December 21 2012 Disney acquired Lucasfilm and as a result the rights to the Star Wars franchise Skywalker Sound and Industrial Light and Magic as a subsidiary for the price of 4 billion 184 Lucasfilm and Star Wars in general were evaluated to decide upon how each area was to be approached After Dark Horse Comics lost the rights to create Star Wars comics Marvel Comics gained the rights as a subsidiary in the area of expertise 185 The way the movies are being handled is still in flux with possible spin offs in talks as well as the planned new trilogy when The decisions regarding the other sectors like games books and animated media can be interpreted as anti consumer citation needed opinion With the elimination of the LucasArts developing arm EA Games is being entrusted to make Star Wars video games in the future 186 The well regarded animated TV series Star Wars The Clone Wars was cancelled a few seasons from the end of its run 187 in order to shift the series team to Star Wars Rebels a new animated TV series created for Disney XD set approximately five years before the events of Star Wars Episode IV A New Hope 188 This was done in the knowledge that many people loved the series and that it was quite profitable opinion They eventually revived Clone Wars for a final season 187 Furthermore book consumers were not given the option of two universes to read from the first of which is what many of them have been reading about for over 40 years and have grown to love and the second of which is Disney s attempt to unify things under one controllable banner 189 opinion as a result this left fans of these books to only read new entries in the Unified Canon and if they wish to see the continued growth of the Star Wars universe the previous universe is now stuck in limbo On June 20 2017 Phil Lord and Chris Miller the directors of the film Solo A Star Wars Story left the production of the film five weeks before filming ended Lord and Miller cited creative differences for their reason to part ways with the film Many compared this to Edgar Wright stepping down as director of Ant Man due to creative differences with Marvel Studios 190 Three months later Star Wars Episode IX The Rise of Skywalker director Colin Trevorrow stepped down as director under similar circumstances and was replaced with Star Wars The Force Awakens director J J Abrams 191 In November 2020 Alan Dean Foster an author who wrote several novelizations of Star Wars said that Disney was refusing to pay royalties on the novels or even recognize that contractual obligations existed Disney was censured by the president of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Mary Robinette Kowal as well as other prominent authors 192 193 194 Sweatshop controversies editDisney has been accused of human rights violations regarding the working conditions in factories that produce their merchandise 195 In 1996 the New York based National Labor Committee released a 12 page report that severely criticized Sears Walmart and The Walt Disney Company 196 Haitian contractors producing Mickey Mouse and Pocahontas pajamas for U S companies under license with the Walt Disney Corporation are in some cases paying workers as little as 15 gourdes US 1 per day 12 cents an hour in clear violation of Haitian law said the NLC One factory owner testified that workers underperform because they cannot eat enough Besides living on starvation wages Haitian factory workers face sexual harassment and exceptionally long working days The report claimed it would take a seamstress 1 040 years to earn what then CEO Michael Eisner earned in one day In 2012 the Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights released the report Toys From Hell 197 It describes how workers at Dream International factory in Shenzhen China work 117 hour weeks in a filthy hot ratty environment where they are constantly screamed at by supervisors and only earn 1 39 per hour The report also describes workers as expected to lodge in dirty and overcrowded dormitories where they are served below par food The Dream International factory was also considered to be a fire hazard Cruelty to animals editAnimal welfare groups have criticized Disney for their care of and procedures for wild animals at the Animal Kingdom theme park 198 In 1989 Disney was charged with sixteen state and federal counts of animal cruelty relating to the abuse of vultures and other birds at its Discovery Island zoological park 199 According to investigators employees shot at hawks clubbed vultures to death with a stick and destroyed nests and eggs The park s supervisor supposedly sanctioned the abuses Most striking were the deaths of fifteen vultures crammed into a tiny overheated shed for days with limited food and water Authorities also discovered 72 vultures confined in a windowless airless shed which legally speaking was only big enough for three vultures Disney made a deal and in exchange for the dismissal of three federal charges it pleaded guilty to a simple misdemeanor and agreed to pay a total of 95 000 to various institutions 200 Disney has been criticized for using purebred dogs in movies such as 101 Dalmatians Animal rights groups claim movies with purebreds create an artificial demand for purebreds from people who may not be prepared or temperamentally suited for the animals many of whom end up abandoned or surrendered to animal shelters or rescue groups 201 202 203 Acquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney editFurther information Acquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney Criticism On December 14 2017 204 205 Disney agreed to acquire 21st Century Fox s motion picture business cable and direct satellite entertainment networks that was completed on March 20 2019 206 Under the terms of the agreement Disney acquired the 20th Century Fox film and TV studios and related assets cable and satellite networks including FX Networks Fox Networks Group Indian TV broadcasting company Star India stakes in National Geographic Partners and Hulu and other assets Prior to the completion of the deal Fox spun off its news and broadcast businesses including Fox News Fox Business FS1 FS2 Fox Deportes and the Big Ten Network the Fox Broadcasting Company and MyNetworkTV into the newly formed Fox Corporation 206 207 This merger was subject to widespread criticism among critics consumers and businesses due to antitrust concerns One of the biggest concerns is that unlike Disney s acquisition of Pixar Marvel Entertainment and Lucasfilm the Disney Fox deal was a horizontal integration in which a company owns a direct competitor in contrast to a vertical integration in which two companies operate different stages for a specific finished product like the mergers of AT amp T Time Warner and Comcast NBCUniversal Given Disney s already powerful box market shares a combined Disney Fox would give it a 39 theatrical market share and would strengthen Disney s already leveraging power over theater owners in its favor without regard to the negative effects on their businesses 208 209 Criticism for Blue Sky Studios shut down edit Ownership of Blue Sky Studios was assumed by The Walt Disney Company as part of the acquisition of 21st Century Fox 2 years later on February 9 2021 Disney announced that it was closing Blue Sky Studios that April after 35 years of existence A spokesperson for the company explained that in light of the COVID 19 pandemic s continued economic impact on all of the company s businesses it was no longer sustainable for them to run a third feature animation studio This included the studio s film library and intellectual properties aetained by Disney In addition production on the film adaptation of the webcomic Nimona was canceled with other future films in development or early in production On April 11 2022 it was announced that Annapurna Pictures had picked up Nimona earlier in the year and would be releasing it on Netflix in 2023 DNEG Animation was announced as the project s animation partner and the film would end up being nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature 210 Criticism includes that Disney just acquired a once competitor animation studio only to shut it down two years later as a way of eliminating their competition with the majority of the employees fired without being absorbed into other Disney animation units Another criticism has revolved around using the Blue Sky Studios IPs and characters for low budget productions like The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild 211 212 213 South Park controversy editSee also Band in China and South Park Joining the Panderverse The Jonas Brothers and Disney Channel are parodied in the South Park episode entitled The Ring and play a prominent role in the episode s plot In a television column written before The Ring aired Lisa de Moraes of The Washington Post suggested that creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone were using the Jonas Brothers in the 13th season debut as a means of improving the show s ratings Comedy Central executives however insisted that the Jonas Brothers fans do not fit into South Park s demographic of males aged from 18 to 49 214 The Walt Disney Company Disney Channel and the Mickey Mouse cartoon character are also prominently featured and spoofed in the episode 215 even when Mickey Mouse says callous things or physically assaults people he follows up most statements with the character s trademark high pitched Ha ha laugh which in context comes off like a nervous tic 216 Reviewers and commentators have described The Ring as not just a parody of the Jonas Brothers but also of the ethos of The Walt Disney Company 215 216 217 The episode portrays Disney as a corporation using the ruse of family friendly morals to disguise their primary motive which is profit reviewers and articles said this point is further illustrated by the use of Mickey Mouse a cartoon symbol for the wholesome Disney image as a foul mouthed contemptuous greedy all powerful and violent character 215 216 Specifically the episode targets Disney s marketing tactic of the band members pledging abstinence through purity rings which the script suggests is used to subliminally sell sex to young girls while simultaneously appeasing their parents ethical standards and taking advantage of their fearful desire to protect their daughters as Mickey had said Due to other speculation on the orientation and personal activities of the Jonas brothers the episode continued to create a running gag on the effect of the Jonas brothers on young girls of the tween period often provoking the image that they too would become like Mickey Mouse in most unwanted characteristics The episode further illustrates the greed of corporate culture by portraying Mickey as capitalizing on religion for profit while secretly mocking it in a particularly cruel tone Even the Christians are too fucking stupid to figure out I m selling sex to their daughters I ve made billions off of Christian ignorance for decades now And do you know why Because Christians are retarded They believe in a talking dead guy 215 Collusion to replace employees with H 1B holders editIn January 2016 two former employees filed suit against Disney HCL Technologies and Cognizant alleging the companies broke the law by colluding to bring in holders of H 1B visas to replace American workers In October 2016 federal Judge Gregory A Presnell of the United States District Court in Orlando dismissed the lawsuits stating none of the allegedly false statements put at issue in the complaint are adequate 218 Funding of Florida s Parental Rights in Education Act editMain article Disney and Florida s Parental Rights in Education Act In late February 2022 it was reported that Disney donated an estimated 200 000 to sponsors and cosponsors of Florida s Parental Rights in Education Act known by its critics as the Don t Say Gay law 219 220 On March 7 2022 Disney CEO Bob Chapek said that the company would not take a public stance on the bill focusing instead on effecting change through its content 219 221 After criticism of their stance by those affiliated with Disney including the company s employees Disney affirmed that they would challenge the bill 222 In a possible act of retaliation Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Florida lawmakers threatened to repeal the 1967 Reedy Creek Improvement Act which established the area surrounding the Walt Disney World Resort the Reedy Creek Improvement District as its own city 223 On April 22 2022 DeSantis signed a bill to dissolve the Reedy Creek Improvement District by June 2023 224 Copyright extension editFrom 1990 to 2024 The Walt Disney Company had lobbied for copyright extension 225 226 The Copyright Term Extension Act delayed the entry into the public domain of the earliest Mickey Mouse movies leading detractors to nickname it The Mickey Mouse Protection Act 227 Opponents of the legislation consider it to be corporate welfare and have tried but failed to have it declared unconstitutional claiming that such an act is not necessary and proper to accomplishing the Constitution s stated purpose of promot ing the progress of science and useful arts 228 They argue that since most works bring the majority of their profits during the first few years after publication extending the terms of copyrights provides little economic incentive except to a few owners of wildly successful franchises Copyright violation trial editDisney later faced legal criticism from Rearden LLC which sued Disney after it was alleged that Disney used its MOVA Contour software without permission 229 On December 21 2023 a US jury based in Oakland ordered for Disney to pay Rearden 600 000 in copyright damages after finding that the software was used to render the face of the Beast in the 2017 remake of Beauty and the Beast 230 However this was considered to be a minimal payout as Rearden sought 100 million in damages and alleged the software was used without permission for more films including Guardians of the Galaxy and multiple Avengers installments 229 Miscellaneous criticisms and complaints editSeveral animation industry members from different overseas animation studios have spoken how Disney Television Animation doesn t credit the animators of overseas studios who animate their shows explaining that they only credit the name of the animation studio as Animation Services by with the only productions who have credited the animators of the animation houses have been The Lion Guard Monsters at Work Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur and Kiff 231 By request of the series creators the animated series Amphibia The Owl House The Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse and The Ghost and Molly McGee were able to credit their animators on the last episodes respectively The Hardest Thing Watching and Dreaming Steamboat Silly and The End Gravity Falls creator Alex Hirsch has been a vocal critic of many Disney practices with multiple jokes at Disney s expense appearing in the Netflix Animation series Inside Job for which Hirsch served as executive producer Hirsch s criticisms include the censorship and removal of LGBTQ content to appeal to conservative audiences insufficient quality care for Disney merchandise the small amount of merchandise for various Disney Television Animation productions compared to other Disney franchises such as the Disney Princesses the lack of creative freedom in Disney s animation studios especially frequent ridiculous notes from Disney s Standards and Practices department during the production of Gravity Falls 232 233 234 235 In August 2014 Disney and Disney English were sued in an American court for subjecting workers young children and infants to highly polluted air in classrooms resulting in illness Disney chose to settle out of court 236 Religious welfare groups such as the Catholic League have spoken out against the release of material which they and others found offensive including vehement protests of the Miramax Films features Priest 1994 and Dogma 1999 237 Disney pushed back Dogma s release date due to the controversy surrounding the movie and eventually sold the distribution rights to Lions Gate Films The ABC show Nothing Sacred about a Jesuit priest a book called Growing Up Gay published by Disney owned Hyperion Press the unofficial annual Gay and Lesbian Days at Disney theme parks and similar issues spurred boycotts of Disney and its advertisers by the Catholic League the Assemblies of God and other conservative Christian groups 237 238 239 The Southern Baptist Convention SBC and the American Family Association voted to boycott Disney over opposition to Disney offering domestic partnership benefits to gay employees and over opposition to the ABC show Ellen in which the show s star Ellen DeGeneres came out as lesbian Both boycotts were withdrawn in 2005 240 An environmental management plan for a zone of Great Guana Cay in the Abaco Islands criticized Disney for poor management of a 90 acre 36 4 ha tract of the island Disney partially developed but then abandoned the place which was to have been a cruise ship resort called Treasure Island The report by the University of Miami and the College of the Bahamas blamed Disney for leaving hazardous materials electrical transformers and fuel tanks as well as introducing invasive alien plants and insects that threaten the island s natural flora and fauna 241 See also editCriticism of ESPN Incidents at Disney Parks Walt Disney Hollywood s Dark PrinceReferences edit Best Joel Lowney Kathleen S Summer 2009 The Disadvantage of a Good Reputation Disney as a Target for Social Problems Claims The Sociological Quarterly 30 3 431 449 doi 10 1111 j 1533 8525 2009 01147 x JSTOR 40220139 S2CID 146425241 Schneider Mike November 4 1999 Nephew Is Disney s Last Disney The Seattle Times Archived from the original on April 2 2022 Retrieved April 1 2022 Shafer Ellise July 13 2023 Disney CEO Bob Iger Says Writers and Actors Are Not Being Realistic With Strikes It s Very Disturbing to Me Variety Archived from the original on July 13 2023 Retrieved July 13 2023 Sharf Zack July 14 2023 Fran Drescher Slams Bob Iger s Repugnant and Tone Deaf Strike Comments If I Were Disney I Would Lock Him Behind Doors Variety Archived from the original on July 19 2023 Retrieved July 16 2023 Disney Legend Floyd Norman Defends Dumbo Crow Scene Amid Rumors of Potential Censorship The Laughing Place April 20 2019 Archived from the original on March 5 2022 Retrieved May 27 2020 Norman Floyd April 27 2019 Black Crows and Other PC Nonsense MrFun s Journal Archived from the original on June 29 2020 Retrieved November 25 2019 Amidi Amid July 15 2017 In Her First Act As A Disney Legend Whoopi Goldberg Tells Disney To Stop Hiding Its History Cartoon Brew Archived from the original on June 10 2020 Retrieved August 7 2017 Wilmington Michael 1980 Dumbo In Peary Danny Peary Gerald eds The American Animated Cartoon A Critical Anthology New York E P Dutton pp 80 81 ISBN 978 0 525 47639 9 Maltin Leonard 1973 The Disney Films New York Bonanza Books p 52 ISBN 978 0 517 17741 9 Taking Flight The Making of Dumbo Bonus feature Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment 2011 Archived from the original on August 23 2021 via YouTube Taking Flight The Making of Dumbo 1941 YouTube Archived from the original on March 5 2022 Retrieved March 5 2022 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint bot original URL status unknown link a b c d e f Gabler Neal 2007 Walt Disney The Triumph of the American Imagination Alfred A Knopf ISBN 9780679438229 Cohen Karl F 2004 Forbidden Animation Censored Cartoons and Blacklisted Animators in America McFarland p 60 ISBN 9780786420322 Korkis Jim 2012 Who s Afraid of the Song of the South And Other Forbidden Disney Stories Theme Park Press pp xi ISBN 9780984341559 a b c d e Fox David J July 10 1993 Disney Will Alter Song in Aladdin Los Angeles Times p 1 Archived from the original on October 15 2019 Retrieved May 28 2019 Wingfield Marvin Karaman Bushra March 1995 Arab Stereotypes and American Educators American Arab Anti Discrimination League Archived from the original on April 5 2007 Retrieved May 28 2019 The film s light skinned lead characters Aladdin and Jasmine have Anglicized features and Anglo American accents This is in contract to the other characters who are dark skinned swarthy and villainous cruel palace guards or greedy merchants with Arabic accents and grotesque facial features a b Smith Galer Sophia July 14 2017 The Aladdin controversy Disney can t escape BBC A letter from Disney 70 years ago It is impossible for women to make animation and refuse to hire labaq com in Japanese January 13 2009 Retrieved June 15 2017 Bahadur Nina April 30 2013 Disney Rejection Letter From 1938 Tells Candidate Girls Are Not Considered HuffPost Archived from the original on April 2 2022 Retrieved June 15 2017 Acuna Kirsten January 8 2014 This 1938 Disney Rejection Letter Denies Woman Job Because Of Her Gender Business Insider Retrieved June 15 2017 a b Zahed Ramin January 9 2014 Meryl Streep s Anti Disney Speech Sparks Controversy Animation Magazine Retrieved June 15 2017 a b Vineyard Jennifer January 8 2014 Read Meryl Streep s Walt Disney Dissing NBR Speech in Its Entirety Vulture Retrieved June 15 2017 Weisman Aly January 8 2014 Meryl Streep Slams Walt Disney As Anti Semitic Gender sic Bigot In Awards Speech Business Insider Retrieved June 15 2017 Perhaps Streep forgot she just filmed Into the Woods for the studio Debunking Meryl Streep Part Two mouseplanet com February 26 2014 Retrieved April 26 2020 a b Maslin Janet July 19 1987 Film View Snow White Is No Feminist The New York Times Retrieved May 4 2018 a b c d e Stover Cassandra Spring 2013 Damsels and Heroines The Conundrum of the Post Feminist Disney Princess LUX A Journal of Transdisciplinary Writing and Research from Claremont Graduate University 2 1 1 4 doi 10 5642 lux 201301 29 a b c Malfroid Kirsten Summer 2008 Gender Class and Ethnicity in the Disney Princess Series PDF Universiteit Gent 23 71 a b How Kimba Came To Be kimbawlion kimba biz a b c Patten Fred 2004 Watching Anime Reading Manga 25 Years of Essays and Reviews Stone Bridge Press ISBN 9781611725100 a b c d Welkos Robert W July 13 1994 A Kimba Surprise for Disney Movies The Lion King is a hit but reported similarities to the Japanese created American cartoon of the 60s are raising some questions Los Angeles Times Retrieved March 30 2015 a b c Bradley Bill January 27 2015 Was The Lion King Copied From A Japanese Cartoon Here s The Real Story HuffPost Retrieved February 21 2015 updated December 6 2017 Schweizer Peter Schweizer Rochelle 1998 Disney The Mouse Betrayed Greed Corruption and Children at Risk Regnery pp 167 168 ISBN 9780895263872 Ledoux Trish Ranney Doug The Complete Anime Guide Japanese Animation Video Directory and Resource Guide p 16 Buress Charles July 11 1994 Uproar Over The Lion King San Francisco Chronicle pp A1 A13 Did Japanese Animator Inspire Lion King The Washington Times July 15 1994 p C15 Arar Yardena June 15 1994 Disney studios roar into action for Lion King Austin American Statesman Retrieved November 28 2012 It Turns Out That The Lion King Is A Complete Rip Off Hollywood com Retrieved July 19 2018 It s also super suspicious since a 1993 memo from Roy Disney mentions Kimba appearing in The Lion King and Kimba artist Osamu Tezuka passed away the same year production began on the Disney flick Mizoguchi Kozo August 10 1994 Lion King sparks debate in Japan The Daily Gazette Tokyo Japan Retrieved January 6 2015 Hornyak Tim August 19 2007 Osamu Tezuka Fighting for peace with the Mighty Atom The Japan Times Retrieved January 6 2015 Fiamma Andrea December 12 2014 Intervista a Roger Allers il regista de Il Re Leone Fumettologica in Italian Retrieved March 30 2015 Zion Lee May 15 2001 Probing the Atlantis Mystery Anime News Network Archived from the original on June 29 2011 Retrieved July 15 2012 Takeda Yasuhiro March 25 2019 The Notenki Memoirs Studio Gainax and The Men Who Created Evangelion Gwern Archived from the original on November 21 2019 Retrieved October 29 2019 Zion Lee July 19 2001 Nadia vs Atlantis Revisited Anime News Network Archived from the original on June 29 2011 Retrieved July 15 2012 Reuben Adrian Arriba April 3 2015 La Gran Mentira de Disney 2 Atlantis es un Plagio Comic Book Resources in Spanish Archived from the original on November 12 2020 Retrieved October 29 2019 Ashcraft Brian March 21 2014 Some Say Frozen Ripped Off a Japanese Anime Here s Why Kotaku Archived from the original on October 31 2019 Retrieved October 29 2019 Baron Reuben July 17 2018 10 Times Hollywood Ripped Off Anime And 10 Times It Was Vice Versa Comic Book Resources Archived from the original on November 12 2020 Retrieved October 29 2019 Donahue S June 26 2015 Disney finally settles plagiarism lawsuit over Frozen teaser Celebrity Cafe TheCelebrityCafe com Retrieved July 19 2018 Li Shirley June 25 2015 Disney settles Frozen copyright lawsuit over short film The Snowman Entertainment Weekly Retrieved July 19 2018 Shepherd Ken March 21 2017 Disney sued for Zootopia copyright infringement Report The Washington Times Washington D C Lang Jamie August 10 2023 An Early Look At This Year s Wide Open Animated Feature Oscar Race Cartoon Brew Retrieved September 23 2023 Amidi Amid February 25 2015 One Corporation Cannot Own the Animated Feature Oscar Cartoon Brew Retrieved September 23 2023 Amidi Amid March 28 2022 During The Biggest Oscar Trainwreck In History Encanto And The Windshield Wiper Won Oscars Commentary Cartoon Brew Retrieved September 23 2023 Jacobs Matthew March 17 2017 The Controversy Surrounding The Gay Beauty And The Beast Reeks Of Hypocrisy HuffPost Trush Brandon February 21 2020 Disney Pixar s Onward Will Feature the First Openly LGBTQ Character Inside the Magic Archived from the original on February 22 2020 Retrieved March 23 2020 Frishberg Hannah February 24 2020 Pixar s first out gay character to be voiced by Lena Waithe in Onward New York Post Archived from the original on February 25 2020 Retrieved March 23 2020 Wiseman Andreas March 6 2020 Disney Pixar s Onward Banned In Multiple Middle East Countries Due To Lesbian Reference Deadline Archived from the original on March 7 2020 McNary Dave March 6 2020 Onward Banned in Several Middle East Countries Due to Lesbian Reference Variety Archived from the original on March 7 2020 Lattanzio Ryan March 6 2020 Onward Banned in Multiple Middle Eastern Countries Censored in Russia for Gay Reference Indie Wire Archived from the original on March 19 2020 Disney criticised for filming Mulan in China s Xinjiang province BBC News September 7 2020 Retrieved August 23 2023 Ward Alex September 9 2020 The international controversy over Disney s Mulan explained Vox Retrieved August 23 2023 Wintour Patrick April 28 2021 Disney unapologetic over Mulan credit thanking Chinese Communist party The Guardian ISSN 0261 3077 Retrieved August 23 2023 Entity List Bureau of Industry and Security Brooks Xan September 14 2005 Interview Hayao Miyazaki The Guardian ISSN 0261 3077 Retrieved December 22 2019 LRM Apparently Harvey Weinstein Lost His S t Over Hayao Miyazaki s Princess Mononoke LRM June 2 2020 Retrieved August 17 2020 Epstein Edward Jay October 10 2005 The great illusionist Slate Retrieved January 11 2007 Studio Warns Kung Fu Site Wired December 15 2003 Mason Ian Garrick October 11 2004 When Harvey met Mickey New Statesman Archived from the original on February 16 2012 Retrieved October 16 2009 Acid Western Jonathan Rosenbaum on Dead Man Archived from the original on March 7 2009 Retrieved October 16 2009 Rosenbaum Jonathan 2008 Dead Man BFI Modern Classics British Film Institute ISBN 978 0 85170 806 5 a b c Donnelly Matt Vary Adam B March 22 2023 Inside Victoria Alonso s Shocking Exit From Marvel Studios Variety Archived from the original on March 23 2023 Retrieved March 23 2023 a b Lee Chris January 13 2023 Inside the VFX Union Brewing in Hollywood Vulture Archived from the original on January 25 2023 Retrieved February 1 2023 a b Patten Dominic D Alessandro Anthony March 24 2023 Victoria Alonso Weighing Legal Action Against Disney Marvel Over Sudden Firing Serious Consequences Promises Lawyer Patty Glaser As Mouse House Points At Indisputable Breach of Contract Deadline Hollywood Archived from the original on March 26 2023 Retrieved March 27 2023 Freitag Lee March 21 2023 Report MCU Co Founder Created Marvel s Toxic VFX Work Environment Comic Book Resources Archived from the original on March 22 2023 Retrieved March 23 2023 Karthik Prasad R A March 21 2023 Making Victoria Alonso the fall guy Marvel fans react to former post production president being blamed for MCU s toxic treatment of VFX workers Pursue News Archived from the original on March 21 2023 Retrieved March 23 2023 Kit Borys March 24 2023 Inside the Firing of Victoria Alonso Her Oscar Nominated Movie Argentina 1985 at Center of Exit Exclusive The Hollywood Reporter Archived from the original on March 24 2023 Retrieved March 24 2023 Lee Chris August 7 2023 Overworked and Underpaid VFX Workers Vote to Unionize at Marvel Vulture Retrieved August 7 2023 Millman Zosha June 21 2023 Yes Secret Invasion s opening credits scene is AI made here s why Polygon Retrieved June 21 2023 Campione Katie June 21 2023 Secret Invasion Opening Credits Generated By AI Prompting Backlash From Audiences Deadline Retrieved June 21 2023 Secret Invasion s AI Generated Opening Credits Are Hugely Disappointing Collider June 21 2023 Retrieved June 21 2023 Secret Invasion s A I Generated Opening Credits Create Controversy www animationmagazine net Retrieved June 21 2023 Stedman Alex August 3 2023 WandaVision Background Actor Says Extras Had Digital Replicas Created Without Additional Payment IGN Retrieved October 12 2023 Disney s Prom Pact Sparks Debate Over The Use Of AI Background Actors Retrieved October 12 2023 Dick Jeremy October 12 2023 Disney Gets Roasted for Creepy AI Extras in Disney Movie Prom Pact CBR Retrieved October 12 2023 Bentz Adam October 12 2023 This Disney Movie With AI Actors Is Horrendous amp Exactly What Striking Actors Are Fighting Against ScreenRant Retrieved October 12 2023 Daytime Drama Pulls Episodes Involving High School Hostage Situation ABC News Rumor no more All My Children relocating to Los Angeles Soapcentral August 4 2009 Retrieved August 4 2009 Huge All My Children and One Life to Live News SOAPnet Archived from the original on August 7 2009 Mimi Gurbst Career Counselor or Cruella Deville mediabistro com FishbowlDC Archived from the original on May 17 2010 Top ABC News Producer Leaving Network To Become High School Guidance Counselor The New York Observer Archived from the original on May 14 2010 Hogan Mike May 14 2010 Co Workers Bid Outgoing ABC News Producer Adieu With Barrage of Hateful Anonymous Comments Vanity Fair For Departing ABC News Exec Where the Story Ends Commentary Begins Mediabistro Archived from the original on May 18 2010 Official ABC Statement on The Path to 9 11 WZZM13 com September 7 2006 Retrieved November 9 2008 Think Progress Conservative Author Richard Miniter There s Zero Factual Basis For Key Scene In Path To 9 11 Thinkprogress org Retrieved November 9 2008 McKinley Jesse September 7 2006 Ex Clinton Officials Slam 9 11 Mini Series The New York Times Retrieved November 9 2008 a b c Kurtz Howard September 13 2007 Consultant Probed in Bogus Interview The Washington Post ISSN 0190 8286 Retrieved December 29 2022 Riche Pascal September 5 2007 Une fausse interview d Obama dans Politique internationale A fake interview with Obama in Politique internationale Rue89 in French Archived from the original on January 24 2008 Riche Pascal September 13 2007 Apres la fausse interview d Obama celle de Greenspan After the fake Obama interview the Greenspan one Rue89 in French Archived from the original on September 17 2007 Alexis Debat Crackdown on the Secret War Against Iran ABC News April 13 2007 Disney may pull ABC signal from N Y Cablevision systems MarketWatch com March 2 2010 Retrieved March 2 2010 Cablevision offers free Movies On Demand On Sunday March 7th Cablevision Retrieved March 7 2010 News Corp and Haim Saban Reach Agreement to Sell Fox Family Worldwide to Disney for 5 3 Billion Saban July 23 2001 Archived from the original on April 21 2009 Retrieved February 19 2009 DiOrio Carl October 24 2001 Fox Family costs Mouse less cheese in final deal Variety Archived from the original on September 15 2012 Retrieved August 13 2009 Haim Saban Saban Archived from the original on March 2 2009 Retrieved February 19 2009 July 23 2001 Archived September 30 2007 at the Wayback Machine Disney buying Fox Family Channel Levin Gary December 3 2001 Disney refocusing Family channel USA Today Mickey News o This Family Was Really Messed Up Archived from the original on June 22 2004 All American Girl TV Series Watch Trailers Find Video Clips Photos and DVD Movie Releases VSPOT VH1 Archived from the original on December 5 2008 Atlas Amelia February 2009 Teen Sex on ABC Family Sparks Debate Newser Anne Sweeney Executive Biography The Walt Disney Company Archived from the original on November 12 2004 Retrieved June 20 2011 The Walt Disney Company Archived from the original on November 12 2004 Retrieved October 16 2009 Disney Expert Uses Science to Draw Boy Viewers Archived from the original on June 13 2010 Verrier Richard May 9 2002 Closing the Vault leaves channel with no Disney Chicago Tribune Retrieved November 20 2018 a b Disneys Evolving Business Model News Markets Portfolio com September 11 2008 Archived from the original on April 20 2008 Retrieved June 20 2011 Huff Richard September 9 2009 Hannah Montana episode on diabetes set to air on Disney Channel Daily News New York Marcus Stephanie December 23 2011 Demi Lovato Slams Disney For Eating Disorder Joke On Shake It Up UPDATE HuffPost Disney Channel PR DisneyChannelPR December 24 2011 ddlovato we hear you amp are pulling both episodes as quickly as possible amp reevaluating them 1 of 2 messages Tweet via Twitter Demi Lovato Slams Disney Channel Eating Disorder Joke Gossip Cop December 23 2011 Retrieved September 4 2012 Demi Lovato Fans Upset Over Last Episode Of So Random Disney Infonet August 18 2011 Archived from the original on April 29 2012 Retrieved May 5 2013 Mom Disney show Jessie ridicules kids with celiac disease Pittsburgh Post Gazette May 20 2013 Longeretta Emily March 13 2024 Drake Bell Details Sexual Assault and Extensive Abuse at 15 by Brian Peck Explains Self Destructive Behavior That Followed Variety Retrieved March 21 2024 Fox Megan May 31 2018 Disney Under Fire for Hiring Convicted Pedophiles to Work on Kids Shows pjmedia com Retrieved March 21 2024 Lang Jamie June 15 2023 Disney Presents Packed TV Slate With Loads Of New Trailers And Images Cartoon Brew Archived from the original on June 15 2023 Retrieved June 17 2023 Dar Taimar June 13 2023 Disney unveils details and theme song for PRIMOS cartoon ComicsBeat Archived from the original on June 13 2023 Retrieved June 17 2023 Rodriguez Andres June 16 2023 Racista y llena de estereotipos Primos la serie animada de Disney que ha molestado al publico latinoamericano Racist and full of stereotypes Primos the Disney animated series that has upset the Latin American public El Pais Mexico in Spanish Archived from the original on June 16 2023 Retrieved June 17 2023 Disney hace enojar a mexicanos con su nueva serie Primos acusan racismo Disney makes Mexicans angry with its new series Primos accuse racism Aristegui Noticas in Spanish June 15 2023 Archived from the original on June 17 2023 Retrieved June 17 2023 Martinez Valerie June 16 2023 El bochorno que Disney pudo evitar y tiene indignados a los latinoamericanos The embarrassment that Disney was able to avoid and has Latin Americans outraged Yahoo vida y estello in Spanish Yahoo Archived from the original on June 17 2023 Retrieved June 17 2023 Primos la nueva serie de Disney que Latinoamerica NO quiere Primos the new Disney series that Latin America does NOT want El Capitalino in Spanish June 16 2023 Archived from the original on June 17 2023 Retrieved June 17 2023 Arrieta Jose June 14 2023 Por que esta causando polemica Primos la nueva serie de Disney Why is Primos the new Disney series causing controversy El Heraldo de Mexico in Spanish Archived from the original on June 15 2023 Retrieved June 17 2023 Bermudez Justin June 17 2023 Disney s Primos Gets Un Warm Welcome To The Family Latin Times Archived from the original on June 17 2023 Retrieved June 17 2023 Crum Rex June 29 2015 Why Cash Cow ESPN Is Becoming a Drag on Disney TheStreet Retrieved December 29 2022 Bonesteel Matt October 22 2015 ESPN layoffs will gut the network s production staff Washington Post ISSN 0190 8286 Retrieved December 20 2023 Watch a supercut of ESPN shilling for Disney on YouTube Koster Kyle November 12 2019 Were ESPN stars forced to plug Disney this morning The Big Lead Wagner Laura November 13 2019 ESPN s tongue bath for Disney is a fatal blow to the network s vanishing integrity Slate Bogage Jacob November 13 2019 There s nothing subtle about how ESPN personalities are promoting Disney s new streaming service The Washington Post Chalk Andy April 22 2022 The Kardashian Roblox scandal continues to be messy and dumb PC Gamer Dinsdale Ryan April 20 2022 Kim Kardashian Threatened to Sue Roblox Over a Fake Sex Tape Game IGN SEA Tidy Joe April 22 2022 Kardashians deny faking Roblox sex tape scene BBC White Jessica April 22 2022 Home Reality TV Kardashians Reportedly Deny Roblox Incident Was Fake Amid Accusations Screen Rant Andreeva Nellie May 18 2023 Disney Removes Dozens Of Series From Disney amp Hulu Including Big Shot Willow Y amp Dollface Deadline Retrieved July 4 2023 Spangler Todd June 2 2023 Disney to Take 1 5 Billion Content Write Off Charge in June Quarter After Pulling Dozens of Titles From Streaming Services Variety Retrieved July 4 2023 Andreeva Denise Petski Nellie Petski Denise Andreeva Nellie May 19 2023 Howard Documentary Will Remain On Disney List Of Disney Streaming Removals Still Being Finalized Update Deadline Retrieved July 4 2023 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint multiple names authors list link a b Bajko Matthew S September 28 2021 Until legal ruling Disneyland banned same sex dancers Philadelphia Gay News Retrieved October 4 2022 Villarreal Daniel April 11 2022 5 times Disney has tried to do better by its LGBTQ fans Queerty Retrieved October 4 2022 La Ganga Maris L August 14 1985 Disneyland Drops Policy Prohibiting Same Sex Dancing Los Angeles Times Retrieved October 4 2022 Dancing at Disneyland Gays in the Fast Lane Queer Youth On Campus and in the Media by Sharon Ullman OutHistory It s About Time outhistory org Retrieved October 4 2022 Dickerson Marla Self Styled Keepers of the Magic Kingdom Los Angeles Times September 12 1996 PROMOTE PAUL PRESSLER Welcome Archived from the original on December 5 1998 MiceAge com Archived from the original on July 18 2006 Lohan Slams Bad Birthday Behavior Reports Archived March 28 2016 at the Wayback Machine World Entertainment News Network July 24 2006 Reckard E Scott January 14 2001 The Most Jam Packed Theme Park on Earth Los Angeles Times Al s ARCHIVE D I G Update Archived from the original on September 7 2012 Will Disney Keep Us Amused The New York Times February 10 2008 MousePlanet Article Search August 3 2001 Archived from the original on September 5 2012 full citation needed Britt Russ Shareholders content at Disney meet MarketWatch Disney looks home for renewal Los Angeles Times October 18 2007 Archived from the original on February 28 2009 The company moves to transform Anaheim s resort district in the image of the popular Walt Disney World But critics remain skeptical Verrier Richard Mckibben Dave October 17 2007 Disney to fix a major misstep Los Angeles Times Rivera Heather Hurst May 28 2010 First Look New World of Color TV Spot Disney Parks Blog Shenot Christine December 10 1995 The Captivity Question Disney s Proposed Park Makes an Attractive Target For Animal Rights Groups Orlando Sentinel Newspaper p 9 Death of Wildlife At New Disney Park Is a Worry to Experts Four Cheetah Cubs Succumb To a Chemical and Cranes Are Killed by Tour Buses The Wall Street Journal Newspaper New York N Y April 7 1998 Lancaster Cory April 24 1998 Protesters at Disney Had Sheriff on Guard Talk of A Major Animal Rights Demonstration Brought Almost 150 Specially Trained Deputies to the Opening of Animal Kingdom Orlando Sentinel Newspaper p 9 Lancaster Cory January 18 1999 Tragedy at Disneyland Leads to Beefed up Checks Here Orlando Sentinel Newspaper p 9 Disney must pay 240 million in sports park lawsuit CNN August 11 2000 Archived from the original on March 27 2008 Retrieved September 3 2008 Disney Settles Suit Over Sports Complex Los Angeles Times September 26 2002 Retrieved September 3 2008 Disney internships draw students criticism NBC News Associated Press July 5 2005 Retrieved March 5 2009 Billman Jeffrey December 27 2007 Of Mouse and Man Orlando Weekly Retrieved March 6 2009 Disney reaches agreement on pay practices with US Department of Labor U S Department of Labor www dol gov Retrieved February 14 2022 Euro Disney Adding Alcohol The New York Times Associated Press June 12 1993 Retrieved September 23 2009 Hubbard Ben Shane Scott February 4 2015 Pre 9 11 Ties Haunt Saudis as New Accusations Surface The New York Times It s a small park Hong Kong Disneyland faces overcrowding International Herald Tribune 2005 Retrieved December 31 2008 Fan Maureen November 22 2006 Disney Culture Shock The Standard Archived from the original on October 15 2007 Retrieved March 19 2007 Leung Wendy November 10 2005 Wong under fire as Disney escapes action in FEHD case The Standard Archived from the original on October 15 2007 Retrieved March 19 2007 Doctorow Cory September 1 2006 Walt Disney World fingerprints visitors BoingBoing net Retrieved August 27 2009 Yung Chester End this barbaric and cruel waste Archived June 11 2009 at the Wayback Machine The Standard May 31 2005 Retrieved May 5 2007 Hui Sylvia Disney takes shark s fin off menu Archived January 9 2009 at the Wayback Machine The Standard June 10 2005 Retrieved May 5 2007 Crets amp Hui New shark slap at Disney Archived April 27 2010 at the Wayback Machine The Standard June 13 2005 Retrieved May 5 2007 Under fire Disney takes shark s fin off menu at Hong Kong park Archived November 30 2007 at the Wayback Machine Monster and Critics June 24 2005 Retrieved May 5 2007 Kan Wendy December 25 2000 Smells a Little Fishy TIME asia Vol 156 no 25 Archived from the original on January 27 2001 Andrew Ryan March 13 2009 Finding the magic in Disney World The Globe and Mail Toronto Retrieved July 20 2009 Sehlinger Bob Len Testa August 27 2007 The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World 2008 Wiley pp 401 ISBN 978 0 470 08963 7 Photopass Magic Kingdom holds photos hostage Minneapolis Star Tribune December 30 2007 Orenstein Peggy December 24 2006 What s Wrong With Cinderella The New York Times Retrieved September 4 2007 What s Wrong With Being a Princess ABC News April 22 2007 Retrieved September 4 2007 Rhett Joshua February 10 2010 Tea Party Jab to Be Zapped from Captain America Comic Writer Says Fox News February 10 2010 Fox News Retrieved April 27 2010 a b Itzkoff Dave February 10 2010 Stars and Gripes Tea Party Protests Captain America Comic The New York Times Retrieved April 27 2010 Captain America 602 March 2010 Writer Ed Brubaker penciler Luke Ross colorist Dean White letterer Joe Caramagna editor Tom Brevoort editor in chief Joe Quesada a b Quesada Joe February 10 2010 Cup O Joe Political Controversy amp the Heroic Age CBR com Retrieved February 11 2010 Disney buys Lucasfilm for 4 billion USA Today October 30 2012 Lucasfilm and Marvel Join Forces to Publish Star Wars Comics Archived from the original on February 27 2015 Retrieved February 7 2015 Goldfarb Andrew May 6 2013 EA Acquires Exclusive Star Wars Game License IGN a b Star Wars TV Clone Wars canceled Detours postponed Entertainment Weekly Star Wars Rebels Producer Dave Filoni Talks Easter Eggs Canon Episode 7 How Many Seasons Collider October 4 2014 Disney and Del Rey Announce New Unified Canon for Upcoming Star Wars Expanded Universe Novels Tor com April 25 2014 Why the Star Wars Han Solo Film Just Lost Its Directors at the Last Minute Vanity Fair June 20 2017 Sims David September 12 2017 Why Colin Trevorrow Lost His Job Directing Star Wars Episode IX The Atlantic Retrieved January 26 2019 Star Wars author appeals to Disney in fight over royalties The Guardian November 19 2020 Retrieved November 22 2020 Star Wars Novelist Says Disney Won t Pay Him Royalties it Owes Him The Verge Vox media November 19 2020 Retrieved November 22 2020 DisneyMustPay Alan Dean Foster November 18 2020 Archived from the original on November 18 2020 Retrieved November 18 2020 Beware of Mickey Disney s Sweatshop in South China Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations February 10 2007 Archived from the original on February 10 2007 Retrieved August 30 2008 Disney s Hell in Haiti hartford hwp com Retrieved February 15 2022 Wal Mart and Disney Toys from Hell by Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights Issuu March 4 2014 via Issuu Drummond Tammerlin April 20 1998 Caution Live Animals Time Archived from the original on March 7 2008 Retrieved August 30 2008 Disney abused killed birds United Press International Retrieved February 14 2022 Road Kill in the Circle of Life Chicago Tribune April 26 1998 Retrieved February 14 2022 CNN com Nemo fans net fish warning Jun 30 2003 CNN Retrieved March 11 2022 Navarro Mireya September 14 1997 After Movies Unwanted Dalmatians The New York Times ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved March 11 2022 102 Dalmatians Controversy Empire October 2000 Retrieved March 11 2022 The Walt Disney Company To Acquire Twenty First Century Fox Inc After Spinoff Of Certain Businesses For 52 4 Billion In Stock Press release The Walt Disney Company December 14 2017 Retrieved December 15 2017 The Walt Disney Company to Acquire Twenty First Century Fox Inc After Spinoff of Certain Businesses for 52 4 Billion in Stock Press release 21st Century Fox December 14 2017 Archived from the original on December 15 2017 Retrieved December 15 2017 a b Szalai Georg Bond Paul March 20 2019 Disney Closes 71 3 Billion Fox Deal Creating Global Content Powerhouse The Hollywood Reporter Archived from the original on March 20 2019 Retrieved March 20 2019 Nolter Chris December 14 2017 Disney Acquires Most of Fox s Assets in Blockbuster 52 4 Billion Stock Deal TheStreet com Retrieved December 15 2017 Johnson Ted December 14 2017 Disney Fox Deal Lands at Uncertain Time for Antitrust Enforcement Variety Retrieved December 14 2017 James Meg Peltz James F December 14 2017 Massive Disney Fox deal expected to get close antitrust scrutiny Los Angeles Times Archived from the original on July 4 2018 Retrieved December 15 2017 April 11 Nick Romano EDT 2022 at 10 09 AM Netflix saves Nimona after Disney scrapped LGBTQ friendly film EW com Retrieved July 28 2023 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint numeric names authors list link Amidi Amid February 9 2021 Breaking Disney Is Shutting Down Blue Sky Studios Nimona Production Halted 450 Employees To Be Impacted Cartoon Brew Retrieved June 16 2023 Hurler Jen February 11 2021 Five Things I ll Miss About Blue Sky Studios Recollections Of A Former Employee Cartoon Brew Retrieved June 16 2023 Amidi Amid October 2 2021 Disney Gets An Ice Cold Reaction After Trying To Promote Ice Age Cartoon Brew Retrieved June 16 2023 de Moraes Lisa March 10 2009 The TV Column Will South Park Get a Population Boost When the Jonas Brothers Come to Town The Washington Post p C07 a b c d Poniewozik James March 12 2009 Is South Park the Most Moral Show on TV Time retrieved March 12 2009 a b c Fickett Travis March 12 2009 South Park The Ring Review The Jonas Bros come to Colorado ruin Kenny s would be sex life IGN retrieved March 12 2009 Flanagan Ben May 1 2009 Ben Around South Park on a roll The Tuscaloosa News Tuscaloosa Alabama Archived from the original on June 6 2011 Retrieved May 3 2009 Judge Says Disney Didn t Violate Visa Laws in Layoffs The New York Times Retrieved October 13 2016 a b Watercutter Angela March 12 2022 The Hypocrisy of Disney s Response to Florida s Don t Say Gay Bill Wired Archived from the original on March 12 2022 Retrieved March 12 2022 Pulliam Moore Charles March 11 2022 Disney s queer characters won t hide its funding of real villains The Verge Archived from the original on March 11 2022 Retrieved March 12 2022 Vary Adam B Jackson Angelique March 9 2022 Disney Censors Same Sex Affection in Pixar Films According to Letter From Employees Variety Archived from the original on March 11 2022 Retrieved March 12 2022 Durkee Alison March 28 2022 Disney Says Striking Down Don t Say Gay Law Is Company s Goal After DeSantis Signs Bill Forbes Integrated Whale Media Investments Archived from the original on April 3 2022 Retrieved April 4 2022 Durke Alison April 1 2022 Here s How Florida Republicans Could Punish Disney For Don t Say Gay Opposition Forbes Retrieved April 5 2022 Whitten Sarah April 22 2022 Florida Gov DeSantis signs bill revoking Disney s special district status CNBC Retrieved April 23 2022 Greenhouse Linda February 20 2002 Justices to Review Copyright Extension The New York Times Retrieved February 12 2016 The 1998 extension was a result of intense lobbying by a group of powerful corporate copyright holders most visibly Disney which faced the imminent expiration of copyrights on depictions of its most famous cartoon characters Ota Alan K August 10 1998 Disney In Washington The Mouse That Roars CNN Retrieved February 12 2016 Lawrence Lessig Copyright s First Amendment 48 UCLA L Rev 1057 1065 2001 BRIEF OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAW PROFESSORS AS AMICI CURIAE SUPPORTING PETITIONERS PDF Retrieved January 21 2011 a b Cho Winston December 21 2023 Disney Loses Beauty and the Beast Profits Trial Over Stolen VFX Tech But Payout Is Minimal Hollywood Reporter Retrieved December 21 2023 Brittain Blake December 21 2023 US jury says Disney owes 600k in motion capture copyright trial Reuters Retrieved December 21 2023 Animation Absorption Credit the Crew of Mercury Filmworks Disney TV s Vendor Studio Credit Policy Has to Change Animation Absorption April 27 2021 Retrieved September 1 2023 Gravity Falls Creator Alex Hirsch Shares Notes from Disney S amp P June 17 2022 Gravity Falls Creator Alex Hirsch Slams Disney over Pride Month Hypocrisy June 3 2021 Hirsch Alex AlexHirsch May 25 2021 We had a Gravity Falls art book all lined up w Dark Horse in 2020 it was going to be amazing hardcover filled w exclusive never before seen art Diz Publishing approved the contract Then Diz Channel canned it with zero explanation I still have no idea why We were all ready Tweet Retrieved December 20 2023 via Twitter Alex Hirsch creador de Gravity Falls revela sus secretos para el exito LA Court lacourt org Archived from the original on May 24 2019 Retrieved December 22 2019 a b 75 Organizations Asked To Join Showtime Boycott Catalyst Online Catholic League May 29 2001 Archived from the original on December 26 2007 Retrieved August 29 2008 Disney Boycott Expands Catalyst Catholic League October 1996 Archived from the original on December 26 2007 Retrieved August 29 2008 Petitions and Boycott Stir Disney Catalyst Online Catholic League October 1997 Archived from the original on December 26 2007 Retrieved August 29 2008 Johnson M Alex June 22 2005 Southern Baptists end 8 year Disney boycott NBC News Retrieved September 10 2021 Sullivan Sealey K Cushion N Semon K Constantine S 2005 Environmental Management Program for Baker s Bay Club Great Guana Cay Abaco Bahamas PDF University of Miami Retrieved August 30 2008 External links edit nbsp Media related to Criticism of The Walt Disney Company at Wikimedia Commons Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Criticism of the Walt Disney Company amp oldid 1222094837 Collusion to replace employees with H 1B holders, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

article

, read, download, free, free download, mp3, video, mp4, 3gp, jpg, jpeg, gif, png, picture, music, song, movie, book, game, games.