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Disney Faces More Backlash From Its Own Fans

mickey-mouse-holding-rejected-sign

It will not shock any Disney enthusiasts who keep a close eye on the Walt Disney Company (or who even just keep an eye on Florida news) to learn that many Walt Disney World Resort, Disneyland Resort, Disney Park, or general Disney fans have not been happy with the Walt Disney Company as of late.

Many Disney fans actually feel that the classic Disney magic is gone for good, which has been particularly unhappy news since Disney has been celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Walt Disney World Resort Disney Parks and is about to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Disney overall in the Disney100 celebration.

Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger, who has already been rankling some Disney Guests and some of his fellow Disney employees with announcements like this one and tense wage negotiations like these, recently attempted to soothe these wounds with a video focusing on the old Disney magic in honor of the Disney100 event.

Bob Iger

Credit: Disney

“Today I want to share this video, which celebrates the @WaltDisneyCo‘s 100 year milestone. We are enormously grateful to our storytellers,our cast members and our fans. Thank you and enjoy. #Disney100,” Disney CEO Bob Iger wrote in the Tweet shown below.

Iger had recently praised Disney’s employees and Cast Members in another Tweet during a visit to Walt Disney World Resort, and faced a lot of criticism for expressing gratitude towards his co-workers while also refusing to pay them a living wage. 

Now, Iger is facing backlash once again for his cheerful-sounding Tweet about Disney magic and Disney’s employees — but many of the complaints this time have focused on some different issues!

At least one Disney fan did indirectly reference the poverty levels that Cast Members are reportedly dealing with — and directly acknowledged the layoffs that are happening under Iger — saying the following: “laying off thousands of workers. But here’s a video to pull at your heartstrings. Iger the master of this.”

cast members low wages

Others complained specifically about Disney’s movies, saying that Disney focuses too much on “sequels, remakes, reboots, reimaginations and acquired properties” these days. Another fan wrote that “if [Disney] really cared about the magic and the art [they’d] allow those classic movies to be seen on theatrical movie screens again #EmptyGestures.”

Some complaints also focused on the Disney Parks and “the issues at the parks”, particularly regarding the new Genie and Genie+ system that has replaced FastPass. “Well done! Now get rid of Lightening Lane and bring back Fast Pass / Max Pass,” one dissatisfied Disney Guest wrote. The lack of “Annual Pass sales” was also mentioned.

Some fans complained that Disney was too “woke” and that “Walt would be ashamed of what it has become”, while others complained that Disney wasn’t being inclusive enough. “LGBTQ+ make this dream come true too and I couldn’t see any LGBTQ+ character or people in this video,” one Twitter user wrote.

Some fans did still defend the Walt Disney Company, saying things like the following: “a company cannot tend to every single upset you may have”.

“There’s been some missteps these last few years that resulted in the company falling face first in the dirt,” another fan wrote. “I hope you can recover, dust yourselves off and get back on track. I love this company and I know you are capable of so much more.”

What are your thoughts on Disney’s current trajectory?

About Sharon

Sharon is a writer and animal lover from New England. Sharon's two main focuses in her work are Disney's correlations with pop culture and the significance of Disney princesses (which was the basis for her college thesis). When she's not writing about Disney, Sharon spends her time singing, dancing, and cavorting with woodland creatures!

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