In trying to offend no one, Disney seems to have lost everyone.
Since it was founded in 1923, The Walt Disney Co. was the only one in Hollywood that had family-friendly movies and television shows that have always been aimed at everybody, avoiding political and social issues.
The Disney media has always been about wishing on the night stars and finding the one true love, and living happily ever after. In case the fairy tale castles seem too subtle, Disney theme parks outrightly offer and promise an escape from reality with welcome signs that read, “Here you leave today entering the world of fantasy.”
Lately, however, the real-world ugliness seems to have made it into the Magic Kingdom. In this hyper-partisan moment, both sides of the political divide seemed to have been pounding on Disney, endangering itself, one of the world’s best-known brands.
The company took so many years, and then in 2009, it finally introduced a Black princess.
But the recent years have shown a noticeable change. Robert Iger, who is said to have formerly served as the CEO from 2005 to 2020, pushed this world’s most extensive entertainment company to emphasize the art of diverse casting and storytelling, as he mentioned at Disney’s 2017 shareholders’ meeting that the company can take those values, which deem important societally, and politically and which change people’s behavior.
Entertainment is advocacy.
