LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: The Walt Disney Company has admitted in its public financial filing for the fiscal quarter ending in September that its new ‘progressive’ content may not be appealing to the audience as is evident from the production giant’s reported $1 billion loss on its last four high-profile releases.
Per Daily Mail, in its filing, Disney acknowledged that the company’s political views and the political correctness it wants to promote may not match with the demand among the audience.
As an effect of the risk “relating to misalignment with public and consumer tastes and preferences for entertainment,” Disney also postponed the release of its $330 million 'Snow White' reboot by a year.
Recently, the star of the reboot 'Snow White', Rachel Zegler’s comments sparked controversies when she criticized the original 1937 version and said the modern version will be more progressive.
In the SEC filing, Disney admits that their success depends on the "ability to consistently create compelling content.” The report further warned that profits dwindle when the makers “do not achieve sufficient consumer acceptance.”
In the report, the company added, “Further, consumers' perceptions of our position on matters of public interest, including our efforts to achieve certain of our environmental and social goals, often differ widely and present risks to our reputation and brand.”
Why is 'Snow White' reboot delayed?
Recently, Disney announced that the upcoming live-action reboot of one of its classics has been delayed by a full year owing to the SAG-AFTRA strike. It is scheduled to be released in March 2025.
However, the Hollywood strike is probably not the only proponent for the delay of the film as ever since its announcement, the film has been dallying with controversies related to its contents, which has been termed as “woke” by several industry experts.
The decision to postpone came after Zegler - who plays the titular princess - termed the plot as “weird” and branded the Prince as a “stalker.”
Talking about the difference between the modern reboot’s content and Zegler told Variety in an interview, “I just mean that it's no longer 1937. She's not going to be saved by the prince and she's not going to be dreaming about true love.”
She added, “She's dreaming about becoming the leader she knows she can be and the leader that her late father told her that she could be if she was fearless, fair, brave, and true.”
The 22-year-old star famed for her role in ‘West Side’ told at the Disney D23 Expo in California in September 2022, “The original cartoon came out in 1937, and very evidently so. There's a big focus on her love story with a guy who literally stalks her. Weird! Weird! So we didn't do that this time.”
She continued, “We have a different approach to what I'm sure a lot of people will assume is a love story just because we cast a guy in the movie,” referring to Andrew Burnap.
An insider claimed to Daily Mail earlier in November, “Disney had to delay Snow White because they have spent so much money on it, and if it is a financial disaster at the box office, it might single handedly cripple future remakes and potential Snow White sequels that they have planned.”
The insider added, “They also have to remove themselves from the bad taste in the mouths of online critics and want to instead deliver a great film and get to a point where they get it right.”
“They realize that they were overthinking things and are now reigning it all in a little bit more,” continued the source.
Controversies surrounding the 'Snow White' reboot
Controversies surrounded the Mouse company ever since they announced the casting of Colombian-American actress Rachel Zegler to star in the titular role.
The Disney executives came under fire for casting Zegler while Snow White is traditionally “fair” with “skin as white as snow.”
Furthermore, after receiving backlash from the ‘Game of Thrones’ star Peter Dinklage, Disney announced that the conventional seven dwarves of the story would be replaced by seven “magical creatures.”
Dinklage said to Marc Maron on his WTF podcast last year, “Literally no offense to anyone, but I was a little taken aback when they were very proud to cast a Latina actress as Snow White — but you're still telling the story of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.”
He added, “Take a step back and look at what you're doing there. It makes no sense to me. You're progressive in one way and you're still making that f*****g backward story about seven dwarfs living in a cave together, what the f**k are you doing man?”
Earlier this year, a photo from the filming location of the movie went viral where a motley of seven men and women from different races and ethnicities could be seen. Among them, only one dwarf person could be seen.
Following backlash, they were, however, not seen. In a publicity photo released in October, seven CGI dwarfs seemed to have replaced them.
Talking about the postponement, the insider added in their interview with Daily Mail, "They just need some time to figure it all out – plus we are still dealing with the strikes," before adding, "It is a perfect storm right now, but they are embracing change and anticipate it all to work out and exceed expectations. The work starts now."
They continued, "They also had to delay the movie because they not only have to make it as best as they can, but there are a lot of toys that they have to prepare, so they need the dwarves and the rest of the characters to look exactly like who they are supposed to be."
Senator Ted Cruz calls Disney's recent filing as 'stunning'
The theory that Disney postponed 'Snow White' reboot by one year to retouch and repackage the film to fit the audience's taste has been endorsed to some extent by Republican Party Senator Ted Cruz.
Cruz, a vocal proponent of culture issues, termed Disney's recent filing as "stunning" in the latest episode of his podcast 'Verdict.'
Arguing that Disney's acknowledgment of the discord in its recent filing may indicate the company is incurring losses, Cruz said, "The phrase go woke, go broke, Disney has sadly embodied that phrase, I am sure Walt Disney is spinning in his grave at horrors to what has happened to his namesake."
He hypothesized that the losses may be "so significant" that "their lawyer said dammit, you have to acknowledge this in the disclosure or else you will be sued for misleading investors."
He explained, "In other words, we must write these words so that when investors sue us and say your executives are putting your woke politics ahead of profitability ... they want to be able to point to this disclosure and say, no, no, sorry, you invested, and we told you up front."
He continued to rant, "We don't care about making a buck. Our politics is all we care about," mimicking the company's philosophy.
He, however, further hypothesized that in admitting that their progressive content may not resonate with the audience's demands, Disney is saying that they no longer want to spend money on content that will not mint money in the box offices.
