Disney's Embrace of Identity Politics Destroyed Quality of Films, Says Legendary 'Little Mermaid' Director
Disney lost all of its heart in favor of promoting progressive themes.
The once-revered studio has suffered a sad fall from grace.
Walt Disney Co. no longer makes quality films, namely through their animation department. They managed to insert identity politics into their projects, leading to failure after failure.
That messaging has failed critically and in terms of the box office.
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Disney's storytellers have grown so lazy that they've injected personal, political messaging into their films to substitute creativity.
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John Musker — the legendary Disney director who helmed classics such as "Aladdin," "Hercules," and "The Little Mermaid" — spoke up about Disney's huge regression in the animation space during a speech at the Animayo International Summit in Gran Canaria, Spain.
Musker didn't hold back, acknowledging that the company's prioritization of politics and identity-based agenda continues to bury the once-revered film studio.
LOS ANGELES, CA - JUNE 22: ‘Little Mermaid’ director John Musker, juror/actor Ioan Gruffudd and juror/director Ron Clements attend the BAFTA Student Film Awards at The Ace Hotel Theater on June 22, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for BAFTA LA)
Disney's influence on box-office blunders extends to their live-action films and their Pixar and Star Wars divisions.
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"I think they need to do a course correction a bit in terms of putting the message secondary, behind entertainment and compelling story and engaging characters," Musker said, according to the Spanish outlet El País.
"The classic Disney films didn’t start out trying to have a message. They wanted you to get involved in the characters and the story and the world, and I think that’s still the heart of it," he added. "You don’t have to exclude agendas, but you have to first create characters who you sympathize with and who are compelling."
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Musker touched on the 2023 remake of his classic "Little Mermaid" animated film, pointing out the omission of the original's core themes, making it a glib remake that sought to change the skin color of the original character and offered nothing more.
"They didn’t play up the father-daughter story, and that was the heart of the movie, in a way. And the crab — you could look at live animals in a zoo and they have more expression, like with ‘The Lion King,’" Musker said.
"That’s one of the basic things about Disney, is the appeal," Musker added. "That’s what animation does best."
A company whose prominence in the media was built on emotional, simple storytelling now embraces identity politics, inserting messages about race and sex into films, thinking it'll strike a chord with audiences.
Fans of identity politics deny that identity-based messaging has flopped, but industry pioneers are speaking up, confirming that woke messaging is a catastrophic recipe for making movies.
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - MAY 22: Halle Bailey attends the Australian premiere of "The Little Mermaid" at State Theatre on May 22, 2023 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Don Arnold/WireImage)
(Can Disney recover from its disastrous streak of woke movies? Send us your thoughts: alejandro.avila@outkick.com)
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