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Disney has faced its fair share of controversies recently. From The Little Mermaid and Peter Pan and Wendy casting of Halle Bailey as Princess Ariel and Yara Shahidi as Tinker Bell, as well as the entire debacle with “Don’t Say Gay” with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in the Sunshine State, there has been one controversy after the other. But Disney is always listening to these criticisms and changing their processes while needed. We have reported previously on proof that Disney CEO Bob Iger was listening to fans, and now there’s news that one particular controversy caused Disney to change its policies.
Princess Ariel from The Little Mermaid and Tinker Bell from Peter Pan / Courtesy of Disney
Related:Â China Market is Softening on Iger and Disney
In 2020, Disney was under scrutiny due to the numerous controversies surrounding their live-action adaptation of Mulan. The controversy surrounding the movie was focused on the fact that parts of the film had been shot in Xinjiang—known also as East East Turkestan. The Chinese Communist Party is known to be committing genocide against Uyghur Muslims in that region, among other ethnic and religious minorities.
Mulan poster / Credit: Disney
Related: Even Bob Iger Couldn’t Change a Lawmaker’s Mind on Chinese Censorship
CBR recently reported on the interview Rep. Mike Gallagher gave Deadline after meeting with Disney CEO Bob Iger. Gallagher shared, “Disney claims that, having seen that blow up in their faces, they changed their processes. That was a decision made by the director or the producer, higher headquarters at Disney didn’t approve it, so now they have some process for approving things like that. We’ll see. I don’t think they were lying to me about that.”
Magic Kingdom Park, Walt Disney World Resort/Credit: Disney
Related:Â Disney Shareholders Vote Down Audit on China Relationship
One of the main controversies that Disney has been dealing with recently is one that involves the rest of Hollywood as well. Many have been worried that Disney has been too cozy with the CCP and, in particular, that Hollywood is acquiescing too much to China’s censorship demands. The meeting that Rep Gallagher had with Bob Iger was to assuage these concerns, and it seems that they addressed other concerns as well, along with censorship.
