(Editor's Note: This article was published first in the June 2022 edition of The Stand. It was co-written by Hannah Meador and Rebecca Davis.)
“Here you leave today and enter the world of yesterday, tomorrow, and fantasy.” These words from Walt Disney are emblazoned on a plaque that welcomes guests to Disney World’s Magic Kingdom.
That was his goal. To provide a place for families to escape reality and enter into worlds unknown.
But now, the words on that plaque are becoming a lie. Instead of fantasy and escapism, Walt Disney’s world is now controlled by money, greed, and political “wokeness.”
A whole new world
A major part of this shift came in mid-March after Disney CEO Bob Chapek decided not to weigh in on Florida’s Parental Rights in Education bill. Signed into law on March 28, the bill gives parents more knowledge about what is going on in classrooms and prohibits “classroom discussion about sexual orientation or gender identity in certain grade levels.” (Specifically, kindergarten through third grade.)
The Left strategically nicknamed it the “Don’t Say Gay” bill because they knew if they promoted the bill as an attack on gay people, it would be met with scorn and outrage. And it was.
So when Chapek initially decided to remain neutral and avoid the controversy, left-wingers whined with vengeance. They demanded that the Walt Disney Company stand up for the LGBTQ community and do something about “underrepresented groups.”
But instead of sticking to their guns and staying out of it, Disney executives ran full force into the arms of the radical advocates. They fell head over heels for this “Trojan horse,” as Gary Lucia, an openly gay Disney employee calls it.
“The public was being played, and gay people were being used as pawns,” Lucia told Fox News.
And Chapek said, “Game on!” … But not everyone is playing along.
It’s a ‘woke’ world after all
Ray Keating, editor of DisneyBizJournal.com and a shareholder in the company, explained to Fox News Digital that “when companies dive into politics, it rarely turns out well.”
He added, “Here’s a suggestion for Disney CEO Bob Chapek: Get back to business, that is, excellence in storytelling, and stop wasting shareholders’ money on political crusades that have nothing to do with Disney’s business.”
However, at press time, Chapek and his corporate Mouseketeers refused to heed such advice. Instead, the company created a task force to “ensure that more LGBTQ+ awareness content is available for children.” Following that decision, they chose to restore a lesbian kiss that had been edited out of Disney’s upcoming animated (and supposedly family-friendly) film Lightyear. Then they vowed that going forward, “50% of regular and recurring characters will come from underrepresented groups.”
A small group of people pitched a fit, and now 50% of every Disney production will have characters promoting an agenda.
It’s sad but true, although the company has been moving in this direction for a while now. Think about it. Lefou’s admiring look at another man in the live-action remake of Beauty and the Beast (2017); the subtle inclusion of a same-sex couples in Finding Dory (2016) and Toy Story 4 (2019); Officer Spector’s mention of her girlfriend in Onward (2020); McGregor’s subtle but clear admission to being gay in Jungle Cruise (2021); now the more obvious nods to the LGBTQ lifestyle in Better Nate Than Never (2022) and Turning Red (2022), which contains a plethora of problematic content. And those are just some of the movies. That doesn’t even include TV shows on The Disney Channel and other content on the streaming platform Disney+.
How far they’ll go
It’s sad to say, but the magical world of Disney is dying; the pixie dust is trampled on the ground, and a world of woke ideology has taken flight.
Why? Because Disney executives refuse to stay neutral in the culture war and, instead, are adamant about:
- indoctrinating children rather than creating tales of hope and triumph.
- characterizing traditional family members as the villains in stories. (e.g. Encanto and Turning Red).
- slipping inappropriate content onto their streaming platform hoping parents won’t notice.
- disrespecting the morals and values of the company’s founder.
- insulting the majority to appease a minority, that is less than 6% of the population.
But this minority has a loud voice that Disney thinks is worth listening to, and as a result, Disney is no longer the Disney that it used to be.
Unfortunately, there is no escaping this reality unless conservative families speak up, stand firm, and take back what was once their “happiest place on earth.”
Because there is no doubt that Walt Disney would want his company to leave where it is today and enter his family-friendly world of yesterday!
