Disney Headlines for February 11th, 2025
We’ve got an early frontrunner for Worst of Disney this year!
I’ll discuss an appalling story in this week’s Disney Headlines.
Who Defrauds Make-A-Wish?
I’m gritting my teeth as I discuss the main story this week, as it’s an uncomfortable subject in many ways.
I’m a lifelong uncle, which makes me less likely to criticize parenting since I cannot speak from experience here.
Disney World
Sometimes, I read something that makes me question my faith in humanity, though, and this is one of these times.
Here’s the story as presented by WANE, a local news station in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
Magic Carpets of Aladdin
Before we can discuss what has happened, we must circle back to this article from August 2022.
The reporter tells the story of a young child who had been born prematurely and weighed less than two pounds at birth.
Enchanted Tiki Room
This girl developed an affliction known as Pilarowski-Bjornsson Syndrome (PBS).
Someone set up a GoFundMe for the child, and it suggested that the poor thing suffered “80-90 seizures per day.”
Pirates of the Caribbean
The GoFundMe indicated that the kid also suffered from Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome (LGS).
All of this is tragic. A dear friend experienced something similar with their child, who started having grand mal seizures at three years old.
Cinderella Castle
No parent should ever go through anything like this, and my heart bleeds for children with such afflictions.
The Make-A-Wish Foundation exists for this very purpose, as the kindly workers here try to bring some joy into children’s lives.
Photo: Make-A-Wish
One of them heard about the child’s story and scheduled a Make-A-Wish trip to Walt Disney World.
Alas, COVID-19 canceled that trip, causing a readjustment in plans. In 2020, she received a parade by her house instead.
COVID-19 sign
Later, Give Kids the World Village provided her with “her fairytale dream to become Elsa.”
All of this is endearing and heartwarming, but you can already tell that a huge BUT… is coming.
BUT…
Here’s the lede from MANE for a February 5th, 2025, story:
“A Decatur mother has been accused of multiple felony fraud and neglect charges years after her daughter caught the eyes of Make-A-Wish Foundation for a disease the mother falsely claimed was terminal.”
Photo: Disney
This is why we can’t have nice things. While no one questions that the child was born premature and is quite ill, she’s not dying.
Sadly, her mother manipulated Make-A-Wish by lying about vital details of the story.
Photo: Make-A-Wish
Somehow, the specifics are even worse. According to the article, the mother neglected the child’s care.
She “is accused of lying about her child’s medical condition while also reportedly not refilling medication that had been prescribed to her daughter.”
Photo: Disney
WANE has updated its reporting from the 2022 article. According to them, the child went to the hospital three weeks later.
During her treatment, the staff expressed concerns regarding “possible medical child abuse due to the child’s ongoing seizures and an irregular heart rate.”
Photo: Make-A-Wish
The reporter indicates that “doctors reviewed the child’s medical records and learned Jackson had not been refilling her daughter’s many prescriptions.”
So, yeah. It’s one of those situations. And it gets substantially worse from there.
Photo: Disneyland
I know that I’m already bumming you out. So, I won’t add further details other than to say the child is with her foster parents now.
Presumably, she’s receiving the medical treatments she needs.
Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, Calif. grants wishes for 19 children fighting critical illnesses in first large-scale wish-granting event at Disneyland Resort – Blaze Your Path: A Star Wars Adventure.
As for the mother, she faces criminal charges of fraud and neglect of a minor. And she didn’t even get the free Disney trip by lying.
People who shamelessly abuse the system like this are the reason why Disney must crack down on Disability Access Service abuse.
Rider Switch
Who lies about their child’s illness being terminal? It’s deplorable.
Double the Milestones
We still have no idea who will become the next CEO of Disney, although I recently told you who I’m pretty sure it won’t be.
Current CEO Bob Iger has indicated that Disney’s Chairman of the Board, James Gorman, will make the final call here.
Photo: Disney
If Iger gets his way, I strongly suspect he’d choose Disney Entertainment Co-Chairman Dana Walden, though.
It was Walden who kept Iger in the loop during his retirement as then-CEO Bob Chapek struggled in the role.
Holywood Reporter PHOTOGRAPHED BY DIANA KING
Walden and Iger live in the same area and would meet for meals to discuss the current state of Disney.
Now that Iger is back in charge, he has empowered Walden, who had only been at Disney for a couple of years before his retirement.
View this post on Instagram
So, it’s interesting that someone without Disney roots has earned favored status from Iger.
Their close-knit relationship was on display this past weekend when Walden earned the Milestone Award at the PGA Awards.
Photo: Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images
Iger, who had previously won the Milestone Award, was the presenter for Walden’s triumph.
Walden could have chosen literally anyone for this, yet she chose her boss and mentor.
Photo: Variety
For his part, Iger offered effusive praise toward his protégé, describing her as:
“A visionary with great creative instincts, who has played a significant role in shaping the modern era of television.”
Photo: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images
On a more personal note, Iger added: “Dana is both good at what she does, and just good.”
“She is warm, generous, a true joy to work with, and she cares deeply about people…”
Photo: The Walt Disney Company –
DANA WALDEN (CO-CHAIRMAN, DISNEY ENTERTAINMENT), BOB IGER (CEO, THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY), ALAN BERGMAN (CO-CHAIRMAN, DISNEY ENTERTAINMENT)
Walden also paid tribute to her frequent partner, Ryan Murphy, who has produced 20 (!) television series for her.
Still, the warm relationship between Walden and Iger was on full display.
JON KOPALOFF/GETTY IMAGES
While it may not guarantee her the Disney CEO title, it definitely won’t hurt.
About the Super Bowl…
Finally, we should discuss Disney’s Super Bowl ads, as these are always among the most important marketing tools of the year.
While movie ads rarely score well on USA Today’s Ad Meter, which ranks the popularity of Super Bowl commercials, they still matter.
Photo: Disney
There’s a strong connection between audience awareness and opening weekend box office performance.
Disney understands this, which explains why we get a couple of ads this year.
Statler & Waldorf
This time, Disney marketed itself as well. Watch this:
MickeyBlog had told you about the What If? commercial a few days ahead of time.
Photo: Disney
There were two others we hadn’t known for sure were coming. As I said during the game, I’m convinced that this ad served its purpose in reminding people how much they love Stitch.
Here’s the first one:
As a reminder, this character is among the highest sellers in the entire Disney catalog.
So, a live-action remake of Lilo & Stitch doubles as a new way to sell Stitch toys. This is a can’t-lose proposition for Disney.
Disney
Then, we have the trickier title, Thunderbolts*, a film starring antiheroes of the MCU. Disney has marketed this as an underdog movie, which means it’ll need a villain. And that’s Bob.
Here’s the trailer:
Imagine if Superman broke bad. Yeah, that’s nigh-invulnerable force the Thunderbolts* must overcome.
I thought the trailer did an excellent job in selling that premise.
Inconclusive Ad Meter Results
As for Ad Meter, it didn’t include either Disney trailer in its final scoring.
For whatever reason, the only movie listed is the How to Train Your Dragon remake.
Photo: Universal
Disney’s What If? commercial finished 32nd among 57 ads, though.
That’s fine but probably not quite as high as Disney had hoped. On the plus side, Thunderbolts* was the fifth-most-watched trailer.
Photo: Disney
Of course, the ultimate scoring will be how Disney’s movies perform in theaters. And I’m very optimistic about both.
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