L&T Publisher Earl Watt
As a fan of Walt Disney (the man and his vision, not the current state of the Disney corporation), I have been gravely disappointed for some time in the leadership of the company. Having bearded men dress up as princesses lasted about a day before that was halted, which at least tells me that lessons can be learned. What is at question is why the attempt was ever made in the first place.
The company that used to welcome guests with the phrase, “Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls” now simply says, “Children of all ages,” because heaven forbid we make references to anything referencing male and female.
Disney has been on a trajectory of moving to the Woke when it removed the auction scene from the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, where the scalawags were selling of the women in the recently pillaged town and instead turned the desired animatronic woman into one of the pirates so she can auction off the rum instead.
Follow that with removing one of the most popular rides at the parks — Splash Mountain — with Tiana’s Bayou Adventure. There’s nothing wrong with using the “Princess and the Frog” as the inspiration for the new ride. I enjoy the movie and rewatch it from time to time. The reason in changing the ride was the theming of Splash Mountain referencing “Song of the South,” a classic Disney movie made in the antebellum period in the South following the Civil War. Uncle Remus, played by James Baskett, was a beloved character who also voiced Br’er Rabbit, a cartoon character in the movie that represented stories that have been passed down in the African American communities for more than two centuries.
Baskett earned an honorary Oscar for his role as Uncle Remus, and he also delivered a song that was iconic and became the theme for many of us for what Disney was — “Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah.”
People who look for anything racist or anything offensive found a reason to hate the movie and finally brought it down. Disney has hidden from the movie for quite some time and has now removed the theming of the classic flume ride. The familiar sound of an uplifting song that brought smiles to faces of all generations can no longer be heard anywhere on Disney property on our last trip.
On our first trip, when we were on the Disney bus heading to our resort, “Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah” was proudly blaring on the bus as soon as we crossed under the DisneyWorld sign, and that’s when we knew we were officially on vacation at the Most Magical Place on Earth.
I still sing the words when I am feeling particularly happy ... “Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-ay, my oh my what a wonderful day. Plenty of sunshine headed my way. Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-ay.”
The slippery slope never ends until it consumes its own, and Rachel Zegler took the stage to finally deliver the death blow to Walt’s legacy by trashing the one movie that should have remained untouchable in the Disney vault — “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.”
Zegler stated that the 1937 classic had “a big focus on her love story with a guy who literally stalks her.”
Yep, Snow White was just a submissive seeking her “Prince Charming” who was stalking her.
And the movie starring Zegler has flopped. After a near $300 million budget, the film netted $42.2 million nationwide on its opening weekend.
She’s not the only reason. Disney couldn’t come to grips with how to handle the Dwarfs from the original, and after first trying to cast a bunch of diverse regular-sized people and being publicly berated, they opted to refilm scenes with CGI characters instead. Those who have watched the film said it is very detached and obviously a dub-in.
They rewrote the story from a love story to a girl power trope with Snow White seeking political power.
The reviews are bad, and perhaps this might just be what is needed for Disney to return to what built the company in the first place — a dedicated haven for family entertainment, where dreams of living happily ever after are championed, not ridiculed.
That’s why as a kid we all stopped playing outside and ran to the house when each Sunday night the Wonderful World of Disney was broadcast.
Real life can be tough, but Disney provided an escape, not a political diatribe. The good guys won, people found their true love, and we learned lessons about nature while secretly believing in a little magic along the way.
These leftist moves have been so bad that hopefully change is demanded, and these political activists can be replaced with dreamers who appeal to the aspirations of young and old alike looking to share a magical moment with their family. If we can agree on anything its in the belief that dreams can come true.
