Backlash Against ‘The Little Mermaid’ from Overseas Exposes Hollywood’s Dependency

Global markets are some of the most important ones for Hollywood, especially for the Walt Disney Company. Catering to those markets is something Hollywood studios have been working on for a while now, and none more than Disney. Take the example of China, Disney’s relationship with China and Disney CEO Bob Iger’s relationship with the CCP is one of the driving factors behind the Walt Disney Company’s success in the region, both theme park-wise and with its movies.

However, many have also questioned the Mouse House’s relationship with the country, and earlier this year, during the shareholders’ call, there was even a vote on whether the relationship needed to be audited. This said, the fact that the Walt Disney Company has invested so much into its relationship with China is telling.

Perhaps it’s simply necessary.

Racist Backlash Against The Little Mermaid

All Disney Fanatics are well aware of the backlash that Disney’s live-action remake saw domestically. Many were against the casting of Black actress Halle Bailey in the movie. While many stars and fans have spoken out against this since, and the film has done quite well (at least during the opening weekend), there has also been backlash of the same nature from another source: Chinese viewers and social media users. One outlet even slammed Disney for turning “classic tales into ‘sacrificial lambs’ for political correctness.”

And it was so notable that it even tanked The Little Mermaid’s performance overseas.

What does this tell us about Hollywood’s relationship with global markets?

News outlet Al Jazeera reported on this, diving into Hollywood’s relationship with its overseas markets and what learnings we can derive from The Little Mermaid’s performance.

Al Jazeera reported that The Little Mermaid earned only $3.6M at the Chinese box office a full 10 days after its May 26 release, per the Artisan Gateway, an international film advisory. The reason for this, according to Chinese-born YouTuber Yao Zhang, lies in expectations of cinema.

“There’s no correct way of looking at [the film in the US],” Zhang told Al Jazeera. “But in China, there is 100 percent a correct way to understand it.” Zhang continued that traditional Chinese beauty standards “emphasize pale skin and large round eyes,” and viewers and government officials want to see these values reflected on screen.

“Partners” statue in front of Cinderella Castle, Magic Kingdom Park, Walt Disney World Resort / Credit: Disney

Hollywood films and the Chinese audience

It has become increasingly difficult for Hollywood to navigate the waters of its Chinese market. As the article detailed, “Studios also face the dilemma of accepting changes to meet the demands of Chinese censors or risk being blackballed from the market.”

Recall the example of the 2012 remake of Red Dawn from Sony, where the studio changed the movie to show a North Korean invasion of the United States, a move that cost them millions. And Disney has done the same, albeit at a different point in the process. In 2016, a screenwriter reportedly suggested that the background of the character The Ancient One in Doctor Strange reflect European ancestry rather than Tibetan ancestry to avoid upsetting China.

Former Hollywood executive Chris Fenton also added insight into how Hollywood studios can be blackballed. “They blackball everyone involved in a particular film, including the studio involved,” Fenton shared.

“Sometimes the blackballing is temporary, like with Sony after Red Dawn or Disney after Kundun. Sometimes it’s close to permanent, like with [Dalai Lama supporter] Richard Gere or possibly Brad Pitt—although we never know for sure if actors are banned or not. There’s only the proof of whether the films they are involved in never get approvals.”

Hollywood is certainly far more dependent on the Chinese market than many would want to believe, and perhaps it’s this very dependency that keeps the Walt Disney Company nurturing its relationship with China.