Thursday, December 01, 2022

Links - 1st December 2022 (2 - Get Woke, Go Broke: Disney)

Disney's Woke 'The Last Duel' Bombs: Ben Affleck, Matt Damon Drama Tackles 'Mansplaining' and 'Toxic Masculinity' - "Disney’s The Last Duel, starring Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, bombed big time at the box office on its opening weekend, grossing a paltry $4.8 million in wide release. The medieval epic incorporated woke gender politics by embracing the #MeToo movement and hiring a female screenwriter to add an anachronistic feminist perspective to the Affleck-Damon-penned screenplay."

Ridley Scott Blames The Last Duel Bombing on Millennials - "Ridley Scott knows who to blame for his epic The Last Duel bombing this fall — and it’s not Disney, which he contends did a great job promoting the historical drama... Scott’s explanation for the horrible box office performance? Apathetic millennials.  “I think what it boils down to — what we’ve got today [are] the audiences who were brought up on these fucking cellphones. The millennian [sic] do not ever want to be taught anything unless you’re told it on a cellphone”...   “This is a broad stroke, but I think we’re dealing with it right now with Facebook,” Scott added. “This is a misdirection that has happened where it’s given the wrong kind of confidence to this latest generation, I think.”"

Poll: Two-Thirds of Americans Say Companies Like Disney Have Taken Political Correctness Too Far - "“nearly two-thirds of Americans agree that companies like Disney have taken political correctness too far,” 65 percent to 34 percent. Ninety percent of Republicans hold that view, as do 60 percent of independent voters and 47 percent of Democrats. A majority across every age group tested shared the belief as well... Walt Disney World opted to completely overhaul Splash Mountain, a popular ride at Orlando, Florida’s Magic Kingdom, due to the imagery associated with the 1946 Disney movie Song of the South. Critics took issue with the theme, citing the movie’s “racist tropes.”   “While the ride is considered a beloved classic, it’s history and storyline are steeped in extremely problematic and stereotypical racist tropes from the 1946 film Song of the South,” a petition calling for the overhaul read. “The best next step to remove all traces of this racist movie would be to re-theme Splash Mountain into a Princess and the Frog-themed ride.”  Disney ultimately embraced the recommendation and took similar action following complaints from the woke mob over its Jungle Cruise ride, which critics said glorified “colonial” attitudes.  Similarly, Disney blocked several movies from the profiles of younger viewers from its streaming services over fears of racial stereotypes. Those included Peter Pan, Dumbo, Aristocats, Lady and the Tramp, The Swiss Family Robinson, and The Jungle Book.  Disney went further, provided a warning to those who chose to watch the movies, which states that the films contain “negative depictions and/or mistreatment of people or cultures.”... Disney has also put political correctness at the forefront of its new films and shows, featuring a bisexual lead character in Disney Channel’s animated series The Owl House. Disney has also focused on diversifying the roles in its upcoming films, tapping Grown-ish star Yara Shahidi to play Tinkerbell in its film Peter Pan and Wendy.  “This would mark the first time a person of color has filled the role that traditionally has featured a white actress and follows in the footsteps after Disney set Halle Bailey to play Ariel in The Little Mermaid”"

Racial Politics at Disney - "In the past year, Disney executives have elevated the ideology of critical race theory into a new corporate dogma, bombarded employees with trainings on “systemic racism,” “white privilege,” “white fragility,” and “white saviors,” and launched racially segregated “affinity groups” at the company’s headquarters... Multiple Disney employees, who requested anonymity out of fear of reprisals, told me that the Reimagine Tomorrow program, though perhaps noble in intent, has become deeply politicized and engulfed parts of the company in racial conflict.   The core of Disney’s racial program is a series of training modules on “antiracism.” In one, called “Allyship for Race Consciousness,” the company tells employees that they must “take ownership of educating [themselves] about structural anti-Black racism” and that they should “not rely on [their] Black colleagues to educate [them],” because it is “emotionally taxing.” The United States, the document claims, has a “long history of systemic racism and transphobia,” and white employees, in particular, must “work through feelings of guilt, shame, and defensiveness to understand what is beneath them and what needs to be healed.” Disney recommends that employees atone by “challeng[ing] colorblind ideologies and rhetoric” such as “All Lives Matter” and “I don’t see color”; they must “listen with empathy [to] Black colleagues” and must “not question or debate Black colleagues’ lived experience.”   In another module, called “What Can I Do About Racism?,” Disney tells employees that they should reject “equality,” with a focus on “equal treatment and access to opportunities,” and instead strive for “equity,” with a focus on “the equality of outcome.” The training also includes a series of lessons on “implicit biases,” “microaggressions,” and “becoming an antiracist.” The company tells employees that they must “reflect” on America’s “racist infrastructure” and “think carefully about whether or not your wealth, income, treatment by the criminal justice system, employment, access to housing, health care, political power, and education might be different if you were of a different race.”   In order to put these ideas into action, Disney sponsored the creation of the “21-Day Racial Equity and Social Justice Challenge” in partnership with the YWCA and included the program in its recommended resources for employees...   Multiple Disney employees told me the political environment at the company has intensified in recent months. There are “almost daily memos, suggested readings, panels, and seminars that [are] all centered around antiracism,” said one employee. The company is “completely ideologically one-sided” and actively discourages conservative and Christian employees from expressing their views... executive chairman Bob Iger pledged that the company “should be taking a stand” on political controversies and will no longer “shy away from politics” in the future.   Disney’s premise has always been to provide an escape for middle Americans, but its executives seem to harbor growing contempt for the very people who visit their amusement parks, watch their films, and buy their merchandise. Once known as the “Happiest Place on Earth,” Disney has now committed to becoming the “wokest place on Earth”—whatever the cost."

Disney Admits Passing On Scripts For Diversity: We Said ‘Pass’ On Show About White Family - "Walt Disney Television’s chairman of entertainment Dana Walden admitted this month that ABC passed on several “well-written scripts” because they lacked “diversity.”  Walden even bragged about passing on a script because it centered around a white family, only adding racial diversity through neighbors and other supporting characters."

Disneyland’s new Snow White ride slammed for ‘non-consensual’ kiss
If you give in to the woke, you can never win since they will always find something new that's "problematic"

A Disney fan says wokeness is ruining the park experience - "The more Disney moves away from the values and vision of Walt Disney, the less Disney World means to me. Disney is forgetting that guest immersion is at the core of its business model... Disney announced that cast members are now permitted to display tattoos, wear inclusive uniforms and display inclusive haircuts. Disney did all of this in the name of allowing cast members to express themselves. The problem is, I’m not traveling across the country and paying thousands of dollars to watch someone I do not know express themselves. I am there for the immersion and the fantasy, not the reality of a stranger’s self-expression. I do not begrudge these people their individuality and I wish them well in their personal lives, but I do not get to express my individuality at my place of business... More broadly, like many corporations, Disney has been politicizing its business... corporations have always made politically motivated decisions. Usually, it is due to the desire to make a profit, but sometimes it is due to the values of the people in the corporation. Walt Disney used his corporation to express his patriotism during World War II and his pro-capitalism beliefs afterward. The difference today is that the people who run Disney use social media to scream to the whole world that a decision has been made for political reasons.  Disney is in the process of taking the woke scalpel to the Jungle Cruise. Trader Sam is out because he might offend certain people. Every grown-up in the room realizes that Trader Sam is not a representation of reality and is meant as a funny and silly caricature. It is no more based in racism than every Disney caricature of an out-of-touch white American dad.  The next time I ride Jungle Cruise I will not be thinking about the gloriously entertaining puns of the skippers, I will be thinking about Disney’s political agenda. That’s a mood killer...   Pirates used to be one of my favorite attractions. My family would always ride it first on our first day at the Magic Kingdom. Now, we do not even ride it every trip. When my family rides Pirates now, each of the changed scenes takes us out of the illusion because they remind us of reality and the politics that forced the changes...   The parks are less fun because immersion and thus the joy is taking a back seat to politics."

Truly Magical! Disney's Critical Race Theory Training Turns to Pixie Dust Overnight - "Instead of standing by the perspective that Disney executives must have agreed to promote and defending their training, the company claimed whistleblowers deliberately distorted the training material as company policy. If you, as a corporation, order employees to undergo training, it is reflective of company policy...   A fair guess is that one of the millions of impressions Rufo’s expose earned was a Disney lawyer. The entire content shared publicly is a blatant violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964."
The company claims that the documents were to allow diversity of thought. But good luck to those who oppose Critical Race Theory

GET WOKE, GO BROKE: Disney revenue PLUMMETS after woke corporate culture revealed

Disney’s Strange World to Lose $100 Million: Why It Flopped at Box Office - "Disney’s “Strange World” bombed at the box office over Thanksgiving, leaving the studio to mop up oceans, mountains and terrains of red ink.  The animated feature debuted dramatically behind expectations with $11.9 million from 4,174 North American theaters over the weekend and $18.6 million over the five-day holiday frame. Before projections were revised downward, the movie was expected to earn $30 million to $40 million between Wednesday and Sunday — and even those figures would have been unspectacular to start. Inaugural ticket sales for “Strange World” now register as one of Disney’s worst opening weekends in modern times, arriving ever-so-slightly ahead of its pandemic-era release “West Side Story” ($10.5 million) and significantly behind fellow family films like “Encanto” ($27.2 million over the traditional weekend and $40 million during the extended Thanksgiving holiday stretch) and “Lightyear” ($51 million)...   Unless its business rebounds dramatically in the next few weeks (and that seems unlikely given the film’s moderate reviews, lackluster audience reception and minimal buzz), sources estimate that “Strange World” will lose at least $100 million in its theatrical run. Even with proper attention on Disney+ and home entertainment platforms, box office experts suggest it’ll be difficult to get the big-budget film into the black. Since “Strange World” cost $180 million to produce and tens of millions more in global marketing and distribution fees, the film needs to gross roughly $360 million to break even... Like most Hollywood films, it won’t play in China or Russia, two major international markets, due to geopolitical tensions. Beyond that, Disney opted to not submit “Strange World” to several smaller markets, including the entire Middle East, Malaysia and Indonesia, because the movie features a gay character. Films with LGBTQ references have been regularly targeted by censors in those territories and Disney wasn’t willing to cut out parts of the movie to comply with their guidelines... Disney has fumbled pandemic-era offerings like “Lightyear,” one of the few Pixar films to lose money in its theatrical run, as well as “Encanto,” which didn’t become a viral TikTok sensation until the musical fable landed on Disney+. It’s an especially important business for Disney because it fuels the company’s consumer productions business, in addition to streaming and theme parks."

Disney+ blocks under-sevens from watching 'racist' Peter Pan, Dumbo and The Aristocats - "Three other long-standing family favourites – The Aristocats, Swiss Family Robinson and Dumbo – have also been removed from children’s accounts for breaching ‘content advisories’ that were recently put in place... It is understood the main reason behind Peter Pan being blocked is because it features a Native American tribe whose members are referred to as ‘redskins’.  Meanwhile, the 1970 movie The Aristocats has a Siamese cat character called Shun Gon, whose slanted eyes and prominent teeth have been described as a caricature of East Asian people.  Swiss Family Robinson, which was made in 1960, has been criticised for its ‘yellow face’ and ‘brown face’ pirates. Dumbo, the 1941 cartoon about a lovable flying elephant, has been accused of ridiculing enslaved African-Americans on Southern plantations. At one point during a musical interlude, faceless black workers toil away to offensive lyrics such as, ‘When we get our pay, we throw our money all away’."

Disney labels Tinker Bell, Captain Hook as 'potentially problematic,' per report - "Tinkerbell and Captain Hook from the classic 1953 Disney animated movie "Peter Pan" reportedly fall under the category of characters who could possibly require a disclaimer on the Disney+ streaming service, as they could be seen as perpetuating negative stereotypes.  The NYT article says Disney's version of Tinker Bell, based upon J. M. Barrie's 1904 play "Peter Pan" and its 1911 novelization "Peter and Wendy," was flagged for concern because Tinker Bell is jealous of Peter Pan's attention toward Wendy, and because she is "body-conscious." Captain Hook, who famously has a prosthetic hook where his hand would be, was reportedly flagged because he exposes Disney to accusations of prejudice against disabled individuals due to his villainous nature... Another reported example of a potentially problematic Disney character is Ursula the Sea Witch from Disney's 1989 animated classic "The Little Mermaid."  The NYT article says Disney's team was concerned Ursula could come across as "queer-coded," and therefore her flamboyant behavior is potentially homophobic.  Also, as Ursula is of dark complexion and of a darker, light-purplish skin tone, the villainess was also reportedly a potential target of critics who would see her as a possible racist depiction... In Dumbo, a murder of crows who perform musical number is noted by the team to be an "homage to racist minstrel shows, where white performers with blackened faces and tattered clothing imitated and ridiculed enslaved Africans on Southern plantations."  Peter Pan is also a recipient of the advisory warning, as the team says the animated film portrays Native Americans in a stereotypical manner.  A celebration between the "Indians" and Peter Pan after the titular character rescues Princess Tiger Lily has characters engaging in "dancing, wearing headdresses and other exaggerated tropes, a form of mockery and appropriation of Native peoples' culture and imagery""
Ironically, I see the trans crowd celebrating Ursula as a drag icon

Meme - Lightyear: ">You know what kids would like? If we replaced all fun, colorful alien side characters with frumpy black lesbians.
Brilliant."

How Much Lightyear Cost To Make (& How Much For Box Office Success) - "Dating back to the original Toy Story in 1995, Pixar has always been a reliable draw at the box office. Their movies routinely turn a hefty profit for Disney, typically parlaying strong word-of-mouth into commercial success. Their latest should be no different, as Lightyear earned positive early reactions from critics (though, the full reviews aren't quite as enthusiastic). As Lightyear makes its way into theaters, Disney and Pixar are banking on it becoming one of the summer's biggest hits, since this film was not cheap to make. The reported Lightyear production budget is $200 million, which is identical to how much Toy Story 3 and Toy Story 4 cost to make. This figure is more expensive than other recent Pixar titles... The general rule of thumb is a movie has to earn double its production budget in order to break even. By that metric, Lightyear needs $400 million globally to recoup its costs. Going by Pixar's history, it should be able to cross that figure without many issues... While Pixar does have some notable duds on their résumé (Cars 3 and The Good Dinosaur), it's extremely rare for one of their films to perform poorly at the box office. Given Lightyear's ties to the Toy Story franchise, it should prove to be a hit... It's facing minimal competition for its target demographic... At this point in the summer season, there haven't been many family movies to choose from, so Lightyear is filling a massive void in the marketplace and will be the go-to option for its audience until Minions: The Rise of Gru releases in a couple weeks. Because of these factors, it's hard to envision a scenario where Lightyear fails to turn a considerable profit. Even if it doesn't hit $1 billion, it should still be a hit for Disney."
This didn't age well

Disney's Lightyear FLOPS in opening weekend that saw it fail to topple Jurassic Park at box office - "The disappointing start came after controversy over Disney's decision to include a brief kiss between a lesbian couple in the movie and to replace the conservative star Tim Allen with Chris Evans as the voice of Buzz Lightyear.  'Lightyear' opened in 4,255 locations domestically and in 43 markets overseas - but 14 Muslim-majority nations banned the movie from playing in their cinemas because Disney included a lesbian kiss... The scene had been originally cut from the film by Disney earlier this year bit it was reinstated in March after Pixar staffers complained about the censorship in an open letter obtained by Variety... A total of 14 countries- Malaysia, The UAE, Indonesia, Lebanon, Jordan, Bahrain, Egypt, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Palestine, Syria and Iraq- have barred citizens from seeing the film due to the kiss between a same-sex couple. Disney also faced criticism over 'Lightyear' after it replaced Tim Allen, 69, with Marvel superhero Chris Evans as the voice of Buzz Lightyear.  There is growing concern among many that his endorsement of former President Donald Trump and attendance at his inauguration was the root cause of it.   Others fear it could be down to a series of risky jokes on his social media pages that have put him at the mercy of the left-wing mob. Allen appeared to have understood the position he was in, admitting he had a huge target on his back in Hollywood due to his right-wing politics.  Asked about attending Trump's inauguration by Jimmy Kimmel in 2017, he said: 'You get beat up if you don't believe what everybody believes.  'This is like Thirties Germany. I don't know what happened. If you're not part of the group, ''You know what we believe is right'', I go, ''Well, I might have a problem with that''. I'm a comedian, I like going on both sides.'  He added: 'I literally don't preach anything. What I've done is I've just not joined into, as I call it, the ''we culture''. I'm not telling anybody else how to live. I don't like that.'"

Pixar’s Lightyear just got cancelled by the anti-cancel culture right
The left keeps pretending that what the right do is cancel culture. Of course their fans will swallow up the false equivalences. A boycott means you personally won't consume it. Cancel culture is about tryining to stop others from consuming it, and trying to ruin the lives of people involved in it
Comment: "Claims that film has been "cancelled" pursuant to "cancel culture" by "anti-CC rightwingers". Proceeds to cite rejection by Muslim countries that have never said they were "anti-CC". Then cites rejection by RWs who don't like it, without any evidence that said RWs are working to run thr company or its actors in general or the specific out of town such that they are unable to earn a living or be visible. Typical smug, whiny, know-nothing Liberal fuckoff"

'Lightyear' makers unfazed by bans in places with 'backward beliefs' - "More than a dozen Muslim-majority countries have refused to show "Lightyear" -- a sci-fi spin-off from the Pixar classic "Toy Story", set for global release on Friday -- in opposition to the marriage between two female side characters."
Of course the Islamophobia of condemning the Islamic countries that banned it gets ignored because "intersectionality"

Chris Evans Slams Homophobic 'Lightyear' Critics: They're 'Idiots' - "Chris Evans is taking a stand against anyone criticizing “Lightyear” for featuring a gay kiss between two female characters. The actor recently told Reuters that film and TV viewers who opposite diversity and more inclusive on-screen representation are “idiots” who will eventually “die off like dinosaurs.” Evans said it’s important not to pay any attention to such toxic viewers and criticisms."
Box Office: 'Lightyear' Eyes Opening at No. 2 Below 'Jurassic World 3'

People think the new Buzz Lightyear looks like a racist cop
You will never satisfy the woke anyway, so why try?

Nolte: Disney’s Woke ‘Lightyear’ Bombed All over the World - "The experts who watch the box office said Lightyear would gross $70 to $85 million domestic and do another $50 to $60 million offshore for a worldwide opening of $135 million.  Instead, the gayed-up Toy Story origin story crash-landed with a $51 million domestic opening and only an additional $34 million offshore, for a pathetic $85.6 million worldwide haul.  In other words, Lightyear’s worldwide haul equaled what was supposed to be its domestic haul, and that whachoocall a bigtime flopperoo. Lightyear reportedly cost $200 million to produce, and you know the predators at Disney must have spent at least another $100 million for worldwide promotion. That’s a $300 million price tag, which means Lightyear will have to gross around $550 to $650 million worldwide just to break even, which seems pretty unlikely... As I’ve said a million times before, there is nothing wrong with Hollywood making movies for homosexuals. Hollywood should make movies for everyone. What will never sell is mainstreaming homosexuality. There are two reasons for this: 1) it makes 90 percent of the population uncomfortable, and 2) every time it pops up in a movie or TV show it comes off like a lecture instead of a natural part of the story. No one likes a lecture. It makes us roll our eyes. It breaks the storytelling spell. It leaves a bad taste in your mouth. It ruins the whole experience."
Even if it's subtle in the film, it was marketed as woke

Jordan Peterson Has A Theory For Why ‘Lightyear’ Flopped - "Canadian professor and clinical psychologist Jordan Peterson attributed the failure of “Toy Story” spinoff “Lightyear” — which garnered controversy for including a same-sex kiss — to market forces.  Daily Wire writer Amanda Prestigiacomo noted on Sunday that “Lightyear” brought in a paltry $51 million during its three-day opening — despite a lack of competition from other children’s movies and significantly more robust success from past “Toy Story” flicks. Responding to Prestigiacomo’s article, Peterson said on social media that the failure pointed to “the revenge of the market.” As Peterson noted, Americans are by no means enthused by woke corporate activists shoving leftist viewpoints down their throats. A recent poll conducted by Echelon Insights on behalf of The Daily Wire showed that although 29% of American investors agreed it is a “good thing” for companies to leverage their financial power for political or social means supported by executives, 58% — twice as many — said it is a “bad thing.” Meanwhile, 56% of investors said the firms are merely “trying to appease their critics” and 34% said the firms genuinely “believe it’s the right thing.” When companies do take political stances, 36% of investors said they are “too liberal,” while 17% said they are “too conservative.” Pixar — a Disney subsidiary — reinstated the same-sex kiss between two female characters after Florida passed a bill banning classroom discussion on sexual orientation and gender identity for young children. However, another exclusive poll from The Daily Wire showed that 64% of Americans supported the parental rights legislation after they were presented with the actual language of the law.  The same poll revealed that 67% of Americans believe Disney was “wrong” for opposing the legislation, as it “would protect children from inappropriate topics that should be discussed by parents.” There were no meaningful differences between Americans of different racial groups, and a clear majority of Democrats expressed support for the legislation"

‘Minions: Rise of Gru’ Box Office Opens to July 4th Record Fireworks - "Overseas, the movie crossed $86 million on Sunday for a global booty of $200 million-plus... Forget about breaking pandemic-era records for a family title; the Illumination and Universal movie will boast one of the top starts ever at the domestic box office for an animated Hollywood tentpole, not adjusted for inflation...   The movie’s performance is significant in that it confirms that parents and younger kids are ready to return to the multiplex in droves. Throughout the pandemic, animated films have been considered a challenged genre. It didn’t help when Pixar and Disney’s Toy Story spinoff Lightyear opened to a tepid $51 million last month before falling off steeply in its sophomore outing...   Lightyear came in No. 6 in its third weekend with an estimated $6.6 million for the three days and $8.1 million for the four. Through Sunday, the Pixar movie has earned $105.4 million domestically and $82.2 million overseas for a global cume of $187.6 million."
So much for the cope that parents were still terified of covid. Minions made more in 1 weekend than Lightyear made after 3, so on a daily basis Minions performed 3.5 times better (18 days vs 4)

Nolte: Woke 'Lightyear' Second-Weekend Box Office Hits Record Pixar Low - "Other than Onward (2020) — which doesn’t count because the coronavirus derailed its second weekend — LIghtyear currently holds the record for the worst second-weekend box office dive in Pixar’s 25-year history.  After opening to a disastrous $51 million, in its second weekend, Lightyear earned just $17.7 million, which is a crash of 65 percent. This is a Toy Story movie. Lightyear is part of the most popular and iconic animated franchise in the universe, and after ten days and two weekends, it still sits at a pathetic $88.8 million domestic. Worldwide, it’s earned just $152 million.  The production alone cost $200 million. Add another $100 million for advertising. In order to break even, Disney needs to see a worldwide take of at least $550 to 650 million, which will not happen. So Lightyear will probably lose more than $100 million."
One movie reviewer claimed that the right wing was wrong that the gay kiss sunk it, because Dr Strange was a hit. But the stars of Dr Strange didn't insult their audience. And it wasn't aimed at kids either

Tim Allen SLAMS new Lightyear movie after he was axed from Disney film that flopped opening weekend - "Allen has been quoted as saying he 'liked that Donald Trump pissed people off' and has previously referred to himself as 'politically, kind of an anarchist'.  Asked about attending Trump's inauguration by Jimmy Kimmel in 2017, he said: 'You get beat up if you don't believe what everybody believes.  'This is like Thirties Germany. I don't know what happened. If you're not part of the group, ''You know what we believe is right'', I go, ''Well, I might have a problem with that''. I'm a comedian, I like going on both sides.'  He added: 'I literally don't preach anything. What I've done is I've just not joined into, as I call it, the ''we culture''. I'm not telling anybody else how to live. I don't like that.' Allen also told Fox those who slam Trump in Hollywood are hypocrites, adding: 'What I find odd in Hollywood is that they didn't like Trump because he was a bully.'  'But if you had any kind of inkling that you were for Trump, you got bullied for doing that. And that's where this gets a little hypocritical to me.'... Malaysia's Film Censorship Board said it approved the movie with parental guidance for those under 13 on the condition that scenes and dialogues 'found to contain elements promoting the LGBT lifestyle' that violated guidelines were 'cut and muted.'  But Disney apparently did not agree to the conditions and decided instead to cancel the screening, the board said, adding that it would not compromise on any LGBTQ scenes... It comes after comedian Allen had his sitcom Last Man Standing canceled by network ABC in 2017 despite it being one of the most popular shows at the time...  'Ok so the current Buzz Lightyear movie is an origin story - but the reason the character became so beloved is because of what @ofctimallen created.  'Why remove the one element that makes us want to see it #stupidHollywooddecisions.'"

Lightyear: Tom Hanks questions decision to replace Tim Allen as Buzz Lightyear

'Lightyear' Director Lashes Out at Fans Following Box Office Failures - "Lightyear Director Angus MacLane has recently been involved in discussions on social media regarding the film and has spoken out in defense of the Disney Pixar movie.  He said that he “doesn’t get the outrage” and that life is too short to be upset about a science-fiction movie when there are only a couple released each year... Another user who saw the film said they didn’t understand why the film was rated so lowly. MacLane responded by saying “it mainly has to do with trolls."
Insulting your audience is guaranteed to get them to watch your movie.

DANG: Disney's favorability rating has cratered from 77% to 33% since last year - "The media tried to spin a recent poll looking at Disney's approval ratings as a good thing: 'Disney is slightly more popular than Ron DeSantis, the Florida Governor who declared political war on the entertainment and theme park giant.'"

Disney Lost $63 Billion in Market Capitalization Since Going Full Woke in Florida - "Shares of Disney have plummeted 23.5 percent since the start of March, falling from $145.70. Market cap is down $62.6 billion, from $265.3 to $202.7 billion. For the past 12 months, Disney has seen its stock drop more than 30 percent, making it the worst performing stock on the Dow Jones Industrial Average.   Disney’s free fall comes as the company has embraced woke, far-left politics, specifically the exposure of young children to radical LGBTQ ideology. In so doing, the entertainment giant has alienated millions of customers and picked a fight with Florida GOP leaders... the company doubled-down on its commitment to wokeness, vowing to continue fighting the Florida law even after Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signed it into law. “Our goal as a company is for this law to be repealed by the legislature or struck down in the courts, and we remain committed to supporting the national and state organizations working to achieve that”"
When liberals support corporations which explicitly say they are in politics. Corporate influence in politics is good when it helps the liberal agenda, of course

Sen. Josh Hawley Introduces Bill to Strip Disney of Copyright Privileges: No More Special Favors for Woke Corporations - "Disney continues to make a fortune from its stable of animated characters because Congress has allowed the company to keep renewing copyrights on decades-old intellectual property that would normally have passed into the public domain by now.  In some cases, Disney has been granted copyright protections for up to 120 years, far longer than the original maximum of 28 years"

‘I Just Couldn’t Lie Anymore’: Conservative Disney Producer Explains Why He Finally Left The Ultra-Woke Company - "Jeremiah Daws started working for Disney in 2015 and was, until last year, a content producer...   “When I first arrived in Los Angeles in the late 2000s, I was still vocal about my conservative beliefs. My brother and I were attending a screenwriting workshop that met weekly,” he recounted. “The man who ran the workshop noticed some conservative posts on my social media and invited us to breakfast to let us know we would be blacklisted in Hollywood if people knew we held those beliefs.”... COVID lockdowns and the 2020 riots gripped the United States. Disney reportedly compelled its employees to attend various training sessions, where Daws recounts that he was told, “as a white, straight, male, I should be quiet and listen.” Even more so, he says he was told that “promotions would be on hold for the white men on the team” and to “start casting non-binary children for our photo and video shoots.”"

Disney is paying the price for taking sides in the culture war - "They supported trans campaigners. They threw their corporate muscle behind Black Lives Matters.   They took a hardline stance on climate change and let their HR departments run riot with wellness courses and unconscious bias training seminars.  The likes of Alan Jope at Unilever and Bob Chapek at Disney must have felt their support for left-liberal causes made them immune from criticism, and especially on such mundane matters as whether the company was actually making enough money.   And yet, first Jope was deposed, and now Chapek has been dramatically ousted as well.  In reality, the termination of both careers is a warning that the reign of the Chief Woke Officer, as both executives should really be called, is coming to an end. Sure, there are a range of factors behind both departures; Unilever faces huge cost pressures, and squeezed consumers; while Disney faces brutal competition from Netflix and Amazon as it tries to take control of the streaming industry.   And yet, both were among the highest profile champions of corporate social activism. In reality, there are still a lot of Chief Woke Officers out there – but the fall of Disney’s boss should put them on notice that in the decade ahead it will only be the share price, and the profits of the business, that keeps them in office.  It was a plot twist worthy of one of the company’s finest films. Overnight, Disney dramatically ousted its chief executive Bob Chapek, and bought back his predecessor Bob Iger.   With its share price down by 41pc so far this year, it was probably not a huge surprise that Chapek’s short reign was terminated, even if bringing back Iger – perhaps even more outspoken in favour of fashionable causes – was more of a shock...   In lots of different ways, he prioritised turning the Magic Kingdom into the Woke Kingdom over everything else. And that has helped cost him his job.  It is a similar story at Unilever, by far the most active champion of Woke Capitalism in Europe. First the insufferably sanctimonious Paul Polman and then his only slightly less virtue-signalling successor Alan Jope have both been shuffled out of the company, with Jope announcing his departure at the end of 2023.   Again, that was no huge surprise, with activist investors such as Nelson Peltz putting increasing pressure on the consumer goods giant to improve its performance (its shares are down 4pc over the last five years, compared with a 30pc rise for its arch-rival Nestle).   True, it also faces plenty of challenges, from rising prices for its raw materials, to cash-strapped consumers trading down to cheaper brands (but then, come to think of it, so does the far more successful Nestle).   But saving the planet, and campaigning against every form of social injustice, didn’t count for much while the business was going nowhere.  Sure, there are still plenty of chief executives out there who prioritise liberal activism over actually growing the business and making some money for their shareholders.   Lloyds Bank still seems happy to tell any customers of its Halifax unit with doubts over trans pronouns on name badges to take a jump off the nearest cliff, even though a share price down 30pc over the last five years might suggest there were more important issues to worry about.   HSBC is still keener to talk about climate change and criticise Brexit in its adverts than the more mundane business of looking after your money responsibly (and, in case you were wondering, its shares are down 30pc over the last five years).   The list goes on and on. The typical chief executive of a major global corporation still sees virtue signalling as a major part of his or her job.  And yet the important point remains. The tide is starting to turn, and there is a shift of emphasis underway. For both Disney and Unilever, the focus on social activism, often driven by a small group of millennial staff, turned out to be a distraction from actually running the company, and an increasingly damaging one...   Many chief executives may have thought adopting left-liberal stances was an easy way of boosting their profile, attracting millennial customers, and perhaps most of all, of insulating themselves from criticism of their performance ("hey, you can’t talk about the share price, we are good people").   Instead it needlessly antagonised people, embroiled them in political arguments on which they had no expertise, and made it harder to win over new customers or move into new markets."

D.Va's Thot Patrol - Posts | Facebook - ">Avengers, literally the hottest franchise in the world
>Square Enix gives project to soylent talentless studio with no clue on comic books
>After a long wait the game is a complete technical disaster
>Another mediocre live service game with no soul
>Visually horrible, characters are the ugliest and most generic incarnations ever seen
>Made Kamala Khan, one of the most disliked forced characters of the current woke Marvel the main character
>Results in a loss of $63 million
Lmao how could this happen?"

Nolte: Steven Spielberg's Woke 'West Side Story' Bombs with $10M Opening - "West Side Story cost $100 million to produce and probably as much to promote.  Now we get to my favorite part, that part where all the Hollywood media suck-ups fire off their lame excuses to appease their Studio Masters.  “So far, moviegoers over the age of 35 are the most leery in terms of returning to theaters,” says the left-wing THR.  That’s what you all said about No Time to Die, which opened to a disappointing $55 million. It seems to me that if the older-skewing No Time to Die could open to $55 million, West Side Story could do the same... Weren’t all these factors apparent BEFORE you predicted a box office haul of $12-$17 million? And let’s not kid ourselves. That estimate was deliberately low in the hopes of fabricating EXCEEDS or MEETS EXPECTATIONS headlines for anything under $20 million, which is still a catastrophe for a $100 million studio movie.   Oh, and because CNN doesn’t already have enough credibility problems, that fake news outlet told its gullible readers,” ‘West Side Story’ could have a big opening at box office thanks to Spielberg and Oscar buzz.”... Spielberg openly sought to appease the most out-of-touch and fascist members of our society — left-wing racial activists. In this case, he sought them out in the crybaby, Puerto Rican activist community. This is a terrible idea, most especially for an artist. Racial activists in no way reflect what everyday Americans think or feel or want, and this includes Puerto Rican Americans.   Spielberg’s racial patronizing was so pathetic, he decided to punish and exclude anyone who’s not bilingual by not including subtitles in scenes where everyone speaks Spanish. “If I subtitled the Spanish I’d simply be doubling down on the English and giving English the power over the Spanish,” the virtue-signaling Spielberg squeaked from his gerbil cage.  What does that even mean?!?!  I’ll tell you what it means… It means his West Side Story remake is more homework than entertaining...   Newsflash: Puerto Ricans do not come to America because they LOVE Puerto Rico. I’m not saying they don’t have an affinity for their homeland. Still, they came to America for a reason—for a better quality of life, because things really are better here, and that is something the 1961 version understood and celebrated."
If you have contempt for your audience, they won't watch your film

Why Steven Spielberg didn't put subtitles in 'West Side Story' - "“I felt that subtitling the Spanish was disrespectful to the second language of this country.”

West Side Story: The 2021 movie's unsubtitled Spanish dialogue helps, but it's not enough. - "In his attempt to fix the glaring problems of the original, Spielberg started by hiring an all-Latinx cast to play the Sharks. (Though it’s a step, it’s important to note that two of the three main Puerto Rican characters, Maria and Bernardo, are not played by Puerto Rican actors.)... The lack of subtitles does begin to accomplish a lot of what Spielberg hoped to do, in that it leaves the Spanish dialogue unadulterated and unmediated through a gringo lens. It doesn’t “[give] English the power over the Spanish.” But it obscures the fact that the entire film and its depiction of Puerto Rican communities are still inherently mediated through the story’s original white male creators, and now, through the film’s white director, white screenwriter, white cinematographer, and mostly white producers.   Despite the remake’s claims to represent the experience of Puerto Ricans in New York more authentically, the choice to leave the Spanish dialogue unsubtitled makes the few specificities of the immigrant experience that the film engages with inaccessible to non-Spanish speaking audiences. When Bernardo (David Alvarez) excludes Anita (the phenomenal Ariana DeBose) from his definition of “family,” she asks him if it’s because she’s “una prieta”—dark-skinned. With this scene, the film makes a passing comment on the very real problem of colorism in Latinx communities in the U.S. and beyond, but that brief engagement with anti-Blackness is not available to non-Spanish speaking audiences, and the topic is not brought up again. In this way, the unsubtitled Spanish feels more like an opportunity for Spielberg and his collaborators to check a box for representation while absolving themselves from meaningfully engaging with the ways in which the film, for its white audiences, continues to uphold the very stereotypes about the Puerto Rican community that it’s supposed to be rectifying...   Ethnic studies scholar Lorgia García-Peña says that “everyday acts performed by immigrants, such as speaking a foreign language in the public arena, often seek to gain a space within the host nation that attempts to relegate them to the periphery.”... the film chooses to ignore the role played by the blatant racism and white supremacist thinking that characterizes the Jets from the first time the film shows them interacting with the city. Rather than problematize this racism, the film excuses it... Though the steps taken by Spielberg, Kushner, and the rest of the West Side Story team are commendable, and indeed a step forward from the musical’s superficial, racist, and exploitative history, they don’t ultimately provide enough justification for reviving it in the first place—much less by another white creator. The changes in the new version act as defenses against necessary criticism of the musical and its shortcomings, rather than avenues to meaningfully question the legacy of West Side Story and the ethics of reproducing that legacy yet again."
Trying to appease grievance mongers is a losing proposition, since they will never be satisfied. Not least since SJWs will always hate you because of your skin colour

Nolte: Woke 'West Side Story' Flopped All Over the World - "Gee, I wonder if German subtitles were added in Germany, or French subtitles were added in France, or if only American audiences were told their language is so incorrect there would be no English subtitles for the Spanish-speaking scenes?... Naturally, the kiss-ass entertainment media is spin-spin-spinning... The thing is, the entertainment media are not in business to inform their readers, nor are they in business to report the truth. Their job is to kiss Hollywood’s ass, to make Hollywood feel good about itself, and that means the entertainment media act as corporate spin doctors and publicists.  If Deadline were to accurately report the truth behind the global rejection of Woke Side Story, they would lose advertising dollars and access. So they sell their souls and lie to you."

Nolte: 'West Side Story' Keeps Woke's Box Office Failure Streak at 100% - "Why is woke box office poison? Because art fails when it lies and woke is not only a lie; it is a violation of human nature.  I’ll give you a recent example. In Sandra Bullock’s latest Netflix movie, The Unforgivable, she plays a cop killer released after spending 20 years in prison. A black character, played by Viola Davis, says the following (paraphrasing): If she were a black cop killer, she would not have survived those 20 years.  Are you kidding me? Someone actually wrote that whopper?  Time and again and again, we have seen black cop-killers celebrated, released, and turned into folk heroes.  Everyone knows this...   Star Wars, Charlie’s Angels, Men in Black, X-Men, Shaft, Terminator, Suicide Squad, Birds of Prey… Do you want more proof? Look at how Ghostbusters rescued itself. After imploding with that dreadful, feminist 2016 entry, this year’s Ghostbusters: Afterlife did a complete 180— it is stridently anti-woke, a movie for everyone, and now Ghostbusters is once again a viable franchise.   After the woke Eternals flopped (who wants to watch two guys kiss?), even the Marvel Cinematic Universe finds itself on shaky ground."

Nolte: Spielberg's 'Woke Side Story' Is a Bigger Flop than 'Cats' - "Director Steven Spielberg’s woketard remake of West Side Story is an even bigger worldwide flop than Cats, the 2019 musical that’s widely seen as one of the biggest box office disasters of all time.  Despite withering reviews and quickly becoming a national joke for its ill-conceived costuming and makeup, Cats somehow managed to gross $73.8 million worldwide... West Side Story, which won glowing reviews and is helmed by Spielberg, one of the most popular directors in movie history, has grossed just $52.7 million worldwide... Between the production and marketing costs, Disney likely dropped $200 million into this woke remake no one asked for. The much-beloved, Oscar-winning 1961 original was all about bringing Americans together. This remake was marketed, not only on the ludicrous idea the original required a woke correction but on dividing us... The left-wing apologists in the entertainment media will, naturally, blame Woke Side Story’s failure on the pandemic. Well, the fact that Spider-Man: No Way Home has already grossed over $600 million domestic and $1.3 billion worldwide blows that notion right out of the water. My guess is that the Oscars will try to rescue Woke Side Story with a bunch of nominations and maybe even a Best Picture win. Good luck with that. The Oscars are now as irrelevant as CNN.  If you make movies people want to see, we will come out and see them. No one wants to see Spielberg’s offensive and divisive Woke Side Story — no one in America, no one in the rest of the world, no one anywhere."

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