Disney Headlines for December 10th, 2021
Disney has experienced another fascinating week. One of their upcoming movies just got banned in some countries.
Meanwhile, a promotion video proved so counterproductive that Disney deleted it, which could be good news for some Star Wars fans.
(Disney/Lucasfilm Ltd.)
Also, Disney’s latest hire will make you wonder about the company’s plans for global domination. But, I…think I’m kidding?
Anyway, let’s talk about all these odd stories in the latest batch of Disney Headlines.
They Banned…THAT Movie?
I’m old school. When I heard that some Disney movie got banned, I presumed the animators accidentally added something dirty in one picture.
This sort of thing used to happen, and the film projectionists sometimes spliced in their own adult images. But, of course, at 24 frames per second, you’d never notice it, either.
Recently, most of Disney’s issues have stemmed from content that is too political in some international territories.
I’ve discussed Disney’s continued China problem before. Sometimes, celebrities say things that cause the Chinese government to shun a movie.
Eternals and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Fists both suffered this fate.
In other instances, the government decides that certain content somehow offends due to its messaging.
Source: Entertainment Weekly
Well, that’s what has happened this time, only it’s not with a film that seems the least bit controversial.
The governments of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, and Kuwait all took issue with content from…West Side Story.
Photo:westsidestory.com
Yes, I’m talking about the silly thing with the Sharks and the Jets, at least the 2021 remake of it.
One of the characters in Steven Spielberg’s upcoming release is transgender. As a result, these countries demanded that Disney delete all scenes with this character.
Disney officials flatly refused to censor anything in the movie. So, those six countries won’t exhibit West Side Story theatrically.
The box office impact of this decision is trivial, but this headline demonstrates the challenge facing Hollywood filmmakers today.
The Promotional Video People Hated
Here’s a headline that admittedly doesn’t come up often. But, for once, Disney miscalculated with one of its promotional videos.
The company has made its mark in marketing and often wins industry praise for its impeccable branding.
There’s a reason why every Marvel movie trailer immediately breaks records for viewings.
Similarly, Disney merchandise dominates the toy industry because it knows how to sell itself.
Alas, sometimes, everything goes awry. For example, Disney just released a batch of new clips for the upcoming Star Wars Hotel.
Surprisingly, some people haaaaaaated these clips. The criticism proved so harsh that Disney has since removed the videos.
Credit: Disney
The complaints centered on several aspects of Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser.
Disney has promised an unprecedented immersive experience. However, some viewers felt the company hadn’t delivered on its early promises.
(Disney/Lucasfilm Ltd.)
I have NO idea how someone could draw this conclusion based on short clips.
Realistically, we’re talking about the internet, where people love to complain.
Once early reviews of Galactic Starcruiser come out in February or March, the public opinion will turn.
Image Credit: Disney
The whole circumstance seemed so strange. Imagineers involved with the project were beaming with pride about the clip, but Disney did itself no favors here.
Sean Giambrone, the kid from The Goldbergs, appears for no particular reason. He has zero ties to the Star Wars franchise.
Also, some guests complained that the footage of the hotel rooms didn’t seem otherworldly or impressive enough.
For now, Disney has faced an unexpected PR backlash. It’s kind of like when you submit a paper that you expect to get an A+, only for the teacher to give you a C.
Still, you could benefit from this. A handful of people canceled their reservations, something they’ll likely regret.
So, you should check availability! There might be a room now!
(Disney)
Disney Hires a Heavyweight
Do you know who Geoff Morrell is? Don’t worry. This isn’t a Civics test, and the answer just changed anyway.
Disney hired Morrell as the de facto replacement for the outgoing Zenia Mucha. The latter woman notoriously worked as Bob Iger’s personal pit bull.
Great profile of my new boss @WaltDisneyCo in @FTMag. @grimes_ce paints clearest, most comprehensive picture yet of who CEO Bob Chapek really is and where he’s trying to lead the company. https://t.co/NZCdgZEv9v
— Geoff Morrell (@MorrellGeoff) December 9, 2021
She handled Disney’s PR department as the Chief Communication Officer. Mucha performed her job duties with the ferocity of an erupting volcano.
In fact, my first thought with the Galactic Starcruiser mishap was, “I guess Zenia Mucha isn’t in charge anymore.” That would never have happened under her watch.
Anyway, Morrell just earned the title of Chief Corporate Affairs Officer, a position Disney created just for him.
Why is the company lauding him so much? Well, his resume is ridiculous. He covered the Bill Clinton campaign and George W. Bush Presidency for ABC as a journalist.
His performance in that role impressed the Pentagon (!) so much that he worked as the Press Secretary there for four years.
Later, he worked as a high-level executive for BP. They specifically brought him on board to manage the 2010 Deepwater Horizon industrial disaster.
That’s the highest level of crisis support for a PR person. Disney just hired a publicity heavyweight…and one with every possible political connection.
Miscellaneous Disney Headlines
In international news, the second Toy Story Hotel will open at Tokyo Disney Resort on May 5th, 2022. This is a story we’ll cover for the next six months.
Tokyo Disney owns and operates only a small number of hotels. So, the arrival of this moderately priced property is a big deal.
Speaking of big deals, we’re still calculating the damage, but the Amazon Web Services outage on December 7th definitely impacted Disney.
Several Disney products like Disney+, Mobile Ordering, and MagicBands suffered hiccups due to the crash.
The company likely lost a lot of money. However, Amazon might be on the hook for those losses, depending on the contract.
Credit: Disney
The AWS outage definitely led to some aggravation for plenty of Disney fans, though.
In more pleasant headlines, Disney (well, Marvel) cleaned up at the People’s Choice Awards.
Black Widow won Movie of 2021, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings won Action Movie of 2021, and Loki won Show of 2021.
Source: @theblackwidow
Symmetrically, Scarlett Johansson claimed Female Movie Star of 2021, Simu Liu did the same for Action Movie Star of 2021, and Tom Hiddleston earned the Male TV Star of 2021.
By the way, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson was Male Movie Star of 2021 AND Comedy Movie Star of 2021 for his work on Jungle Cruise.
Image: Disney
Suffice to say that Disney dominated the People’s Choice Awards, which just feels right.
Finally, here’s something fun to read. I sometimes see a pitch and wish that I’d come up with it myself. Here’s a perfect example.
This person ranked various Disney Princesses based on how well they’d do at Squid Game.
Feature Image: Getty Images
