The long-awaited launch day for the streaming service Disney+ had more than its share of technical difficulties on Tuesday, forcing Disney to issue an apology for the preponderance of crash notifications users received on their television screens.
&#8220;Twitter users mentioned problems accessing the service or some of its features around 7:00 A.M. New York time, and Downdetector.com showed 6,900 reports of problems with the service around 7:30 A.M. ET and slightly more than 7,000 later before problem reports dropped off,&#8221; reports <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/disney-hit-by-technical-issues-launch-day-1254094">The Hollywood Reporter</a>. &#8220;People mentioned problems signing up, logging in and streaming.&#8221;
Users also reported not being able to load Disney+ onto their smart TVs or PlayStation apps after paying for the service, with an error icon appearing of Mickey Mouse and Pluto in space outfits. The issues became such a headache that the hashtag #DisneyPlusFail began trending on Twitter.
&#8220;Disney spends months hyping the new #DisneyPlus streaming option and they didn&#8217;t bother to make sure it could handle the traffic on day one,&#8221; tweeted Josh Jordan. 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Disney spends months hyping the new <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/DisneyPlus?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#DisneyPlus</a> streaming option and they didn&#39;t bother to make sure it could handle the traffic on day one. 😂 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/DisneyPlusFail?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#DisneyPlusFail</a> <a href="https://t.co/xmgJA1kxws">pic.twitter.com/xmgJA1kxws</a>
&mdash; Josh Jordan (@NumbersMuncher) <a href="https://twitter.com/NumbersMuncher/status/1194285493502042113?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 12, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;Honestly not surprised about the #DisneyPlusfail. Even the best servers in the world can&#8217;t prepare for millions of Americans trying to stream Hannah Montana at once,&#8221; tweeted another user. 
&#8220;Really Disney? Y&#8217;all didn&#8217;t plan for your servers to handle all these users?&#8221; said another dissatisfied customer.
&#8220;Day one failure! I am excited to watch the Mandalorian, paid $69.99 for the year &#8230; cannot watch the Mandalorian on my first use of the app, no idea when it will be available on my side. Complete fail on day one!&#8221; tweeted another.
&#8220;It was working perfectly fine when it was charging my debit card,&#8221; said another.
Other users noted that certain titles, such as &#8220;Star Wars,&#8221; were not loading properly even after successfully logging into the service. &#8220;Sorry something went wrong. Please try again later,&#8221; the message typically stated. Shows that did not succumb to an error message sometimes faced load times longer than 30 seconds or would crash entirely upon viewing.
In response to the frustration, Disney said that the technical difficulties were the result of &#8220;consumer demand.&#8221;
&#8220;The consumer demand for Disney+ has exceeded our high expectations. We are working to quickly resolve the current user issue. We appreciate your patience,&#8221; the company said.
Another gripe with the service centered around the new Disney version of the original &#8220;Star Wars,&#8221; which instituted a new edit to the famous Han Solo/Greedo standoff scene by now having both characters shoot their guns at the same time — further adding to the &#8220;Han Shot First&#8221; debate that has been raging since George Lucas altered the original scene in the 1997 special edition. Here&#8217;s how Collider <a href="https://collider.com/star-wars-han-greedo-scene-changed-disney-plus/">described</a> it:
<blockquote>In the version of Star Wars: A New Hope on Disney+, the infamous Han/Greedo scene has been changed. Again.
And now on Disney+, the scene has inexplicably been changed again. Now, Greedo has the last word before the gunblasts. It’s not subtitled, so it’s just alien gibberish, but it could give the impression that Greedo further goads Han into shooting, rather than Han just being smart enough to draw before this alien dude kills him.</blockquote>
George Lucas has always maintained that Greedo shot first and he only made the edits to clear up confusion about it.
&#8220;The controversy over who shot first, Greedo or Han Solo, in Episode IV, what I did was try to clean up the confusion, but obviously it upset people because they wanted Solo to be a cold-blooded killer, but he actually isn’t,&#8221; Lucas said in 2012. &#8220;It had been done in all close-ups and it was confusing about who did what to whom. I put a little wider shot in there that made it clear that Greedo is the one who shot first, but everyone wanted to think that Han shot first, because they wanted to think that he actually just gunned him down.&#8221;

Disney logo

Disney+ Faces Technical Difficulties On Launch Day

Disney

Media

The Hollywood Reporter

LeBron James got caught cozying up to China in the most embarrassing of ways a few weeks back. Turns out he’s got some competition on the “cozying up” front from two of the biggest companies in Hollywood.
The Los Angeles Lakers superstar scolded Houston Rockets GM Daryl Morey for supporting Hong Kong protesters, dubbing Morey “misinformed” and “not educated.” A massive public backlash ensued.
The derisive chant “Shut Up and Dribble” made a sudden comeback.
Much less has been made of two similar comments tied to authoritarian regimes.
Netflix, the world’s biggest streaming company (for now), got in trouble with one of its politically charged originals. The company’s far-left talker “Patriot Act” starring Hasan Minhaj aired a segment critical of Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and his ties to the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi earlier this year.
The streaming giant yanked the episode in question from its Saudi feed at the country’s urging. Recently, CEO Reed <a href="https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2019/11/netflix-ceo-defends-censoring-anti-government-video-in-saudi-arabia/">Hastings defended the decision</a>.
<blockquote>&#8220;We&#8217;re not in the news business,&#8221; he said during an event sponsored by The New York Times. &#8220;We&#8217;re not trying to do &#8216;truth to power.&#8217; We&#8217;re trying to entertain.&#8221;
&#8220;We can accomplish a lot more by being entertainment and influence the conversation about the way people live, rather than being another news channel,&#8221; he added.</blockquote>
Netflix seemed less interested in “entertaining” when it got into <a href="https://www.hollywoodintoto.com/flashback-obamas-netflix-not-political/">bed with the Obamas</a> on a multi-million dollar production deal. Or when Hastings added former Obama official Susan Rice to the company’s Board of Directors.
And what about Netflix threatening to pull productions out of Georgia after the state passed strict new legislation <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hypocrites-netflix-films-middle-eastern-countries-paul-bois">targeting abortion procedures</a>?
That doesn’t mention the streamer’s hard-left content catalog, featuring uber-woke talent like Chelsea Handler, the aforementioned Minaj, David Letterman and, briefly, Michelle Wolf.
Standing up to authoritarian regimes isn’t of particular interest to Team Disney, either. The House that Mickey Built gains plenty from showing its product in Chinese movie theaters. That allows gargantuan hits like “Avengers: Endgame” to be gargantuan-er.
So it’s not shocking to hear Disney echo similar talking points.
The Hollywood Reporter recently <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/features/hollywood-reporter-executive-roundtable-7-major-studio-chiefs-1250718">invited seven major studio chiefs</a> to weigh in on a number of critical issues, from the changing digital landscape to our current superhero fixation.
Alan Horn, chief creative officer and co-chairman of Disney, joined in the conversation which eventually steered toward … China. THR brought up the imbroglio revolving around the studio’s live-action version of “Mulan.” That film’s star, Yifei Liu, shared her support for the Hong Kong protests, causing a LeBron-sized outcry.
How did Horn react?
<blockquote>“My feeling is free speech is an important component of our society, and folks ought to be able to say what they want to say.”</blockquote>
So far, so good.
<blockquote>“We try to be nonpolitical. There is always an issue somewhere in the world, and China happens to be a very, very big market, but it&#8217;s not the only market where there have been issues. The only thing I have said to the folks that work with me is to keep in mind that when you speak, [the media will quote you]. And that carries with it a certain responsibility. Be sensible and think before you speak. Especially on social media.”</blockquote>
The conversation then shifted to the “Fast &amp; Furious” franchise, one of Hollywood’s hottest properties. The roundtable moderator asks if the series could have a Chinese villain at some point. Universal’s Donna Langley offers this answer:
<blockquote>“We run a business. We have to be sensitive to important markets.”</blockquote>
That would be a “no.”
These revelations don’t address the other ways studios appease Chinese censors, from adding positive Asian characters to win over foreign censors to ensuring no plot points interfere with the nation’s “flawless” image.
The international markets certainly complicate business decisions in the 21st century. Movie studios know a stateside flop can turn into a profit leader if select foreign markets rally to their side.
There are few easy answers in our increasingly global age. Still, it’s hard to process the non-stop lectures and finger-wagging from Hollywood Inc. and the aforementioned comments.

Disney Plus Netflix

TOTO: Disney, Netflix Wave White Flag On International Censorship

China

LeBron James

Marvel

Netflix

David Benioff and D.B. Weiss left fans of both the Game of Thrones and Star Wars franchises disappointed when they announced last week that they&#8217;d exited a forthcoming Star Wars project. The pair cited their deal to create new shows for Netflix but, <a href="http://archive.is/4Bsh3#selection-437.0-441.10">Vanity Fair reports</a>, there might have been more to the decision &#8212; and despite announcing their departure from the project in late October, they&#8217;d been planning to leave the Star Wars franchise since mid-August.
&#8220;Benioff and Weiss’s Star Wars exit had been in the works since August.&#8221; Vanity Fair reports, based on a story about the project&#8217;s downfall in <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/why-star-wars-didnt-work-game-thrones-duo-125079">The Hollywood Reporter</a>. &#8220;THR affirms that the reason the two wound up walking away partially had to do with their Netflix deal — but another factor that prompted the decision, the trade adds, was &#8216;toxic fandom.'&#8221;
&#8220;Toxic fandom,&#8221; of course, refers to the habit fans have of objecting, aggressively, to decisions that showrunners and directors make when it comes to beloved series, like Game of Thrones and Star Wars. Fans of Game of Thrones reacted in a generally negative way towards the show&#8217;s final season, which packed at least two seasons&#8217; worth of action into nine episodes, featured at least one epic battle filmed in a way that made it almost too dark to see, and did away with a beloved character by subjecting her to a shocking-yet-truncated character act that should have taken years to build.
Star Wars fans earned their own &#8220;toxic fandom&#8221; moniker after summarily rejecting Rian Johnson&#8217;s awful installment, &#8220;The Last Jedi,&#8221; a confusing, poorly produced, poorly written, and over-social-justice-d eighth episode in the Star Wars saga.
Although fans objected to both Game of Thrones&#8217; final season and &#8220;The Last Jedi&#8221; for actal reasons, both the Game of Thrones and &#8220;Last Jedi&#8221; teams chose to assume that fans were simply turned off of masterpieces by their &#8220;woker&#8221; themes: in both cases, mostly an embrace of feminism.
Benioff and Weiss, experienced with &#8220;toxic fandom&#8221; say they feared how Star Wars fans might receive a more progressive project.
&#8220;As Benioff and Weiss watched Star Wars fans bully actors and directors,&#8221; according to the Hollywood Reporter, &#8220;they began to have doubts about whether they should dip their toes in as well. &#8216;Who wants to go through that again? Not them,'&#8221; The Hollywood Reporter&#8217;s source said, referring to Game of Thrones&#8217; final season. &#8220;This was in the ‘Life’s Too Short’ category.”
Disney was, reportedly, also unhappy that Benioff and Weiss inked a deal with Netflix, now a streaming service competitior to Disney&#8217;s Disney+ platform, and, therefore, a competitor for eyeballs on the pair&#8217;s now-aborted Star Wars project.
Benioff and Weiss&#8217;s departure likely means an end to Disney Star Wars projects for now, other than Jon Favreau&#8217;s &#8220;The Mandalorian,&#8221; which premiers on Disney+ in a few weeks. The &#8220;Skywalker saga&#8221; will end with Episode 9, due out in December (the series&#8217; &#8220;toxic fandom&#8221; is a bit gun-shy about that movie, though, and ticket sales are suffering accordingly).
As for Game of Thrones, well, that may be suffering because of &#8220;toxic fandom,&#8221; too. According to British tabloid magazine, <a href="https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbiz/10254771/game-of-thrones-prequel-axed/">The Sun</a>, a planned Game of Thrones prequel series, called &#8220;Bloodmoon&#8221; was shelved, this week, over fears that the pilot was &#8220;too woke&#8221; for some viewers, with a host of lesbian characters and an exploration of the &#8220;mixed-race&#8221; Stark heritage.
More likely, though, the project was just too expensive for HBO, which has its pick of Game of Thrones scripts. The pilot for &#8220;Bloodmoon&#8221; was going to cost a staggering $60 million.

&#8220;Game Of Thrones&#8221; Season 8 NY Premiere

Report: &#8216;Game Of Thrones&#8217; Showrunners Exited &#8216;Star Wars&#8217; Project Over Toxic Fandom

Star Wars

The debate over whether the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) should qualify as actual cinema raged on this week when Disney CEO Bob Iger accused film icon Martin Scorsese of criticizing MCU movies without ever giving them a chance.
&#8220;I think Martin Scorsese is a great filmmaker,&#8221; said Iger. &#8220;I hope he hears this. I don&#8217;t have a relationship with him, but it doesn&#8217;t matter, I admire him immensely. I think he has made some great films. I look back and think of Goodfellas and Raging Bull to name just a few, Taxi Driver. Just a phenomenal filmmaker,&#8221; Iger told BBC Radio, as reported by <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/disneys-bob-iger-martin-scorsese-hes-never-seen-a-marvel-film-1251958?utm_medium=social&amp;utm_source=twitter&amp;utm_source=t.co&amp;utm_medium=referral">The Hollywood Reporter</a>.
&#8220;First of all, Marvel is making movies — they are movies, that&#8217;s what Martin Scorsese makes — and they are good movies: good directors and good writers and good actors and good cinematographers and good costume designers and good sound engineers and good editors. I can go on and on,&#8221; Iger continued. &#8220;These are talented, talented people that are putting their hard work and talent into making films that entertain people in theaters around the world. &#8230; They have a good two-hour experience. They come out feeling happy or better about themselves.&#8221;
&#8220;I don&#8217;t think he&#8217;s ever seen a Marvel film. &#8230; Anyone who has seen a Marvel film could not in all truth make that statement,&#8221; he concluded. &#8220;I&#8217;d like to have a glass of wine with him. I like Martin Scorsese.&#8221;
Contrary to Mr. Iger&#8217;s assertion, Martin Scorsese admitted that he gave the MCU a viewing try but ultimately came to the conclusion that they were theme park rides.
&#8220;I tried, you know? But that’s not cinema,&#8221; Scorsese <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/martin-scorsese-shreds-marvel-movies-says-theyre-not-cinema">told Empire Magazine</a>. &#8220;Honestly, the closest I can think of them, as well made as they are, with actors doing the best they can under the circumstances, is theme parks. It isn’t the cinema of human beings trying to convey emotional, psychological experiences to another human being.&#8221;
Scorsese later <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/scorsese-asked-why-his-films-have-so-few-female-characters-slaps-down-question-not-even-a-valid-point">doubled down on his convictions</a> during a press conference at the Rome Film Fest when he extolled Marvel for its technical feats while also expressing hope that the movies might return to a stronger narrative format.
&#8220;The key that I’m hoping for is for theaters to continue to support narrative cinema of this kind,&#8221; said Scorsese. &#8220;But right now the theaters seem to be mainly supporting the theme park, amusement park, comic book films. They’re taking over the theaters. I think they can have those films; it’s fine. It’s just that that shouldn’t become what our young people believe is cinema. It just shouldn’t.&#8221;
&#8220;This is the world we live in. Our children are, I don’t know what they’re doing with those devices,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;They perceive reality differently. They perceive even the concept of what history is supposed to be [differently]. How are they going to know about WWII? How are they going to know about Vietnam? What do they think of Afghanistan? What do they think of all of this? They’re perceiving it in bits and pieces. There seems to be no continuity of history.&#8221;
In the same interview with BBC Radio, Bob Iger clarified that he never supported the boycott of Georgia for passing the fetal heartbeat bill and only emphasized that Disney would have a difficult time shooting in the state.
&#8220;I didn&#8217;t say anything about the law itself,&#8221; said Iger. &#8220;I only suggested that if it passed, we would have a very hard time shooting there, because a lot of people involved in our shows would not want to work there. So it was not a Disney position on the law itself.&#8221;

Disney CEO Bob Iger Speaks At The New York Economic Club

Disney Chief Bob Iger: I Don’t Think Scorsese Has &#8216;Ever Seen A Marvel Film’

Martin Scorsese

According to <a href="https://deadline.com/2019/10/star-wars-setback-game-of-thrones-duo-david-benioff-d-b-weiss-exit-trilogy-1202771184/">Deadline</a>, the duo behind HBO&#8217;s hit fantasy series &#8220;Game of Thrones,&#8221; David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, will no longer be helming the next &#8220;Star Wars&#8221; trilogy that Disney plans to launch in 2022. Though the duo still appreciates the &#8220;Star Wars&#8221; brand, they do not believe they would deliver the goods with their compounded schedule.
&#8220;We love Star Wars,&#8221; the creative duo told Deadline. &#8220;When George Lucas built it, he built us, too. Getting to talk about Star Wars with him and the current Star Wars team was the thrill of a lifetime, and we will always be indebted to the saga that changed everything.&#8221;
&#8220;There are only so many hours in the day, and we felt we could not do justice to both Star Wars and our Netflix projects,&#8221; they continued. &#8220;So we are regretfully stepping away.&#8221;
With the release of &#8220;The Rise of Skywalker&#8221; this coming December, &#8220;Star Wars&#8221; will exit the big screen for a few years and live on in the streaming service Disney+, with shows like the upcoming &#8220;The Mandolorian&#8221; and Ewan McGregor&#8217;s spinoff Obi-Wan series.
In a statement to Deadline, Kathleen Kennedy thanked Benioff and Weiss for being a part of the team and praised the duo&#8217;s storytelling talents.
&#8220;David Benioff and Dan Weiss are incredible storytellers,&#8221; she said. &#8220;We hope to include them in the journey forward when they are able to step away from their busy schedule to focus on Star Wars.&#8221;
The &#8220;Star Wars&#8221; franchise has been in a freefall since &#8220;The Last Jedi,&#8221; which alienated some conservative fans due to its social justice and feminist themes. This fan dissatisfaction came to a head for Disney when the movie &#8220;Solo: A Star Wars&#8221; story drastically underperformed at the box office.
The Star Wars brand has also signaled its desire to appeal to the woke crowd, repeatedly touting its &#8220;inclusivity&#8221; and progressive messaging.
&#8220;When I talk about inclusivity, it’s not excluding gay characters,&#8221; Director J.J. Abrams <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/producer-confirms-these-two-star-wars-resistance-characters-are-gay">told The Daily Beast</a>. &#8220;It’s about inclusivity. So of course. I would love it. To me, the fun of Star Wars is the glory of possibility. So it seems insanely narrow-minded and counterintuitive to say that there wouldn’t be a homosexual character in that world.&#8221;
In 2018, &#8220;Solo&#8221; screenwriter Jonathan Kasdan took that further, when he said that the character Lando Calrissian is really a sexually fluid pansexual.
&#8220;There’s a fluidity to Donald and Billy Dee’s [portrayal of Lando’s] sexuality,&#8221; Kasdan <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/lando-calrissian-sexual-fluidity-solo-star-wars_n_5af77d59e4b00d7e4c1b37a9">told the Huffington Post at the time</a>. &#8220;I mean, I would have loved to have gotten a more explicitly LGBT character into this movie. I think it’s time, certainly, for that, and I love the fluidity — sort of the spectrum of sexuality that Donald appeals to and that droids are a part of.&#8221;
&#8220;He doesn’t make any hard and fast rules. I think it’s fun,&#8221; Kasdan <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/lando-calrissian-sexual-fluidity-solo-star-wars_us_5af77d59e4b00d7e4c1b37a9" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">said</a>. &#8220;I don’t know where it will go.&#8221;
As seen in a special <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9r8r_-vOVU">report</a> from Grace Randolph at Beyond The Trailer, Bob Iger reportedly held a secret meeting with Disney top brass in the summer of 2018 — including the head of Pixar and Marvel — to discuss possible ways to fix the troubled franchise. The simple solution — cleaning house by firing Kennedy — was supposedly completely foreclosed by the fact that nobody in Hollywood wanted to take her place for fear she would leave behind a house of loyalists who might harbor animus for whomever were to fill her shoes.
Thus, despite the widespread dissatisfaction with the direction of the franchise, Kathleen Kennedy remains on board and still controls the fate of &#8220;Star Wars.&#8221;

Premiere Of Walt Disney Pictures And Lucasfilm&#8217;s &#8220;Star Wars: The Force Awakens&#8221; &#8211; Red Carpet

‘Star Wars’ Suffers Major Setback As ‘Game of Thrones’ Creative Team Exits Trilogy

Add Disney to the list of American corporations willing to bow to the Communist Party of China in order to make a quick buck.
Speaking at the WSJ Tech Live conference on Tuesday, Disney CEO Bob Iger said that the company will be keeping silent on the Hong Kong protests, admitting that speaking out would harm the company&#8217;s bottom line. Iger&#8217;s precedent for this, of course, came from the backlash against the NBA when Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey tweeted in support of the Hong Kong protesters.
&#8220;What we learned in the last week — we’ve learned how complicated this is,&#8221; Iger said, as reported by <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-10-23/disney-s-iger-says-he-won-t-take-position-on-hong-kong-protests">Bloomberg</a>. &#8220;The biggest learning from that is that caution is imperative. To take a position that could harm our company in some form would be a big mistake. I just don’t believe it’s something we should engage in in a public manner.&#8221;
Iger called it a &#8220;damned if you do, damned if you don’t&#8221; situation, even though he has shown himself to be more than willing to speak out on progressive political causes — such as when he said Disney would have to consider boycotting the state of Georgia for enacting a fetal heartbeat bill to protect unborn babies from abortion.
&#8220;I think many people who work for us will not want to work there, and we will have to heed their wishes in that regard,&#8221; Iger told <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/more-hypocrites-disney-partners-china-it-threatens-paul-bois">Reuters earlier this year</a>. &#8220;Right now, we are watching it very carefully. If [the bill] becomes law, I don’t see how it’s practical for us to continue to shoot there.&#8221;
Needless to say, Disney has a massive financial interest in China. According to <a href="https://www.lifenews.com/2019/05/31/disney-threatens-to-boycott-georgia-but-partners-with-china-which-forces-women-to-have-abortions/">LifeNews</a>, the corporation &#8220;<a href="https://variety.com/2016/biz/asia/shanghai-disney-opening-chinese-1201795206/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">opened</a> a $5.5 billion resort in Shanghai, China, in 2016,&#8221; partnering with the &#8220;state-owned media company, Shanghai Shendi Group, for the resort.&#8221; Bob Iger even referred to the resort as the company’s &#8220;greatest opportunity since buying land in Florida.&#8221;
A New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/11/16/business/media/disney-invests-billions-in-theme-parks.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">report</a> in November of last year also said that China’s growing middle class is a &#8220;particularly important growth market for Disney.&#8221; This business was all conducted even as no less a leftist organization than Human Rights Watch itself <a href="https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2019/country-chapters/china-and-tibet">reported</a> that Chinese authorities interned nearly 13 million Muslims.
&#8220;Authorities dramatically stepped up repression and systematic abuses against the 13 million Turkic Muslims, including Uyghurs and ethnic Kazakhs, in China’s northwestern Xinjiang region,&#8221; reported Human Rights Watch. &#8220;Authorities have carried out mass arbitrary detention, torture, and mistreatment of some of them in various detention facilities, and increasingly imposed pervasive controls on daily life.&#8221;
Sen. Ben Sasse (R-NE) publicly blasted Iger for putting profits over human rights in China. &#8220;Sell your soul to save your profits’ is going to be a helluva plot line for &#8216;Frozen 2,'&#8221; said Sasse. &#8220;There are about a million Uyghurs in Chinese communist prisons who aren’t going to be visiting the Magic Kingdom anytime soon.&#8221;
Disney also stepped into a difficult controversy over the summer when the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/50730/boycottmulan-hashtag-explodes-twitter-after-disney-frank-camp">#BoycottMulan hashtag exploded</a> on Twitter in response to the film&#8217;s star, Crystal Liu, openly expressing support for the Hong Kong police force in the wake of the widespread protests there.
&#8220;I support the Hong Kong police. You can all attack me now. What a shame for Hong Kong,&#8221; Liu said on the Chinese social media platform Weibo.

World Premiere Of Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures &#8220;Avengers: Endgame&#8221; &#8211; Arrivals

Disney CEO Bob Iger Stays Silent On China Protests, Admits It Will Harm Profits

Legendary directors Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese have stirred up the hornets nest with their hits at the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), prompting Disney CEO Bob Iger himself to weigh in on the controversy.
Speaking at a <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/disney-chief-robert-iger-defends-marvel-movies-against-hollywood-critics-11571804492">WSJ Tech Live</a> event Tuesday night, Iger said both Coppola and Scorsese have the right to &#8220;b**ch&#8221; about movies while comparing their works (which are frequently cited on top 100 lists) to &#8220;Black Panther.&#8221;
“I’m puzzled by it. If they want to bitch about movies it’s certainly their right. It seems so disrespectful to all the people who work on those films who are working just as hard as the people who are working on their films and are putting their creative souls on the line just like they are,” Iger said as reported by <a href="https://www.thewrap.com/bob-iger-compares-black-panther-to-scorsese-and-coppola-films-in-defense-of-marvel-movies/">TheWrap</a>. “Are you telling me that Ryan Coogler making ‘Black Panther’ is doing something that somehow or another is less than anything Marty Scorsese or Francis Ford Coppola have ever done on any one of their movies? Come on.”
Though Iger holds both Coppola and Scorsese in “the highest regard,” he was most annoyed with the fact that &#8220;The Godfather&#8221; <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/francis-ford-coppola-backs-scorsese-marvel-movies-are-despicable">director described the movies as &#8220;despicable.&#8221;</a>
“When Francis uses the words ‘those films are despicable,’ to whom is he talking? Is he talking to Kevin Feige, who runs Marvel, or Taika Waititi, who directs, or Ryan Cooler, who directs for us, or Scarlett Johansson,” Iger said. “I don’t get what they’re criticizing us for when we’re making films that people are obviously enjoying going to because they’re doing so by the millions.”
Earlier this month, Scorsese stoked the ire of millions of Marvel fanboys when he said the MCU movies were more like theme park rides than cinematic experiences.
“I tried, you know? But that’s not cinema,” Scorsese <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/martin-scorsese-shreds-marvel-movies-says-theyre-not-cinema">told Empire Magazine</a>. “Honestly, the closest I can think of them, as well made as they are, with actors doing the best they can under the circumstances, is theme parks. It isn’t the cinema of human beings trying to convey emotional, psychological experiences to another human being.”
Later, during a press conference at the Rome Film Fest, Scorsese<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/scorsese-asked-why-his-films-have-so-few-female-characters-slaps-down-question-not-even-a-valid-point"> doubled-down on his comments</a> by arguing that he hopes movies return to a stronger narrative format.
“The key that I’m hoping for is for theaters to continue to support narrative cinema of this kind,” said Scorsese “But right now the theaters seem to be mainly supporting the theme park, amusement park, comic book films. They’re taking over the theaters. I think they can have those films; it’s fine. It’s just that that shouldn’t become what our young people believe is cinema. It just shouldn’t.”
“This is the world we live in. Our children are, I don’t know what they’re doing with those devices,” he continued. “They perceive reality differently. They perceive even the concept of what history is supposed to be [differently]. How are they going to know about WWII? How are they going to know about Vietnam? What do they think of Afghanistan? What do they think of all of this? They’re perceiving it in bits and pieces. There seems to be no continuity of history.”

General News Bucket Event

Disney CEO Bob Iger Defends Marvel, Says Coogler’s Work On ‘Black Panther’ Not ‘Less Than’ What Scorsese Or Coppola Have Done

Hollywood

The general manager of the NBA&#8217;s Houston Rockets, Daryl Morey, tweeted support for Hong Kong&#8217;s protestors. The protestors are marching against increasing governmental incursions by mainland China into Hong Kong&#8217;s affairs. When Great Britain handed Hong Kong over to China, China agreed to maintain autonomy for Hong Kong but now appears uninterested in keeping its promise.
Morey used the social media platform Twitter to voice his support for Hong Kong&#8217;s protestors. Twitter is blocked in China. There is not a man, woman or child in China — except for the communist agents censoring the internet there — who could have seen Morey&#8217;s tweet. But China demanded the NBA apologize.
The NBA is an organization unafraid to delve into &#8220;woke&#8221; American politics. The organization walked away from North Carolina merely because the state considered a ban on letting transgender people use bathrooms for the opposite sex. The organization decided to stop using the word &#8220;owner&#8221; for its teams because of woke politics. Multiple NBA team owners denounced pro-life and religious liberty legislation in the United States. Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr is famous for his pronouncements supporting every left-wing social justice cause imaginable.
Kerr had no comment about China. Neither did Stephen Curry, who claimed he was too ignorant of Chinese history to have an opinion on China&#8217;s wholesale slaughter of its people. Making matters worse, the NBA released a statement supporting Daryl Morey&#8217;s right to free speech, but its Chinese translation read differently. The Chinese language statement read that the NBA was &#8220;extremely disappointed&#8221; by Morey&#8217;s &#8220;inappropriate comment.&#8221; The NBA also apologized that Morey &#8220;severely hurt the feelings of Chinese fans.&#8221; Again, that was not in the English language version.
On Wednesday, Americans showed up at a Washington Wizards game holding signs in support of Hong Kong. As the American national anthem played, NBA security officials forced these Americans to leave the area — an area that sits only a mile from where the American Bill of Rights is on display, guaranteeing our freedom of speech. To the extent the NBA has taken a stance, it has stood for China. Frankly, none of us should be surprised an organization that routinely opposes religious liberty in the United States would stand with a totalitarian communist regime that routinely exterminates religious minorities.
Disney-owned ESPN covered what happened but danced around what Morey had actually said. Someone leaked an internal memo from ESPN management insisting its staff, long willing to talk about American politics, refrain from talking about Hong Kong and Chinese politics. Disney, which now owns most of Hollywood, is reliant on Chinese viewers for its billion-dollar box offices. ESPN&#8217;s actions come months after Paramount changed Tom Cruise&#8217;s famous jacket from &#8220;Top Gun&#8221; for the sequel: The patches for Taiwan and Japan disappeared. Tencent, the Chinese film company that also has ties to the NBA, helped produce the new movie.
United and American Airlines wiped Taiwan off their Chinese website maps because China demanded it. Marriott fired an Omaha, Nebraska-based employee for liking a pro-Tibet tweet after China excoriated the company. Apple Inc. has likewise bent over backwards for China. Try to find the Taiwan flag in the emoji keyboard while in Hong Kong, and you will come up empty. Apple also adhered to Chinese demands that iCloud data of people in China be stored on Chinese servers and an app used by Hong Kong protestors be removed from its app store.
Facebook has run counter to most American corporations. Though the company could undoubtedly make massive amounts of money off one billion tech-savvy Chinese citizens, the company apparently refuses to do business in China. It has allowed platform access in Hong Kong but, just the other day, blocked Hong Kong&#8217;s police force from using WhatsApp. The police were purportedly using the service to track protestors. It is rare to see an American company put freedom ahead of Chinese money. Facebook is a notable and commendable exception.
Americans need to take a strong stand against Chinese censorship and totalitarianism. The American people will have to take the lead. American companies are signaling they like communist money more than American freedom.
To find out more about Erick Erickson and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

Hammer and Sickle.

ERICKSON: Corporate Commies

ESPN

Hong Kong

Neither Oprah Winfrey nor Jennifer Garner will be running for president come 2020, but they sure want Disney CEO Bob Iger to take up the task.
Speaking at the <a id="auto-tag_save-the-children" href="https://variety.com/t/save-the-children/" data-tag="save-the-children">Save the Children</a> Centennial Celebration: Once in a Lifetime gala in Los Angeles, Oprah Winfrey presented Iger with the Centennial Award, during which she expressed her desire to see him run for president.
“I’ll tell you the truth, this is not really where I intended to be tonight,” Winfrey said, as reported by <a href="https://variety.com/2019/scene/news/oprah-winfrey-jennifer-garner-bob-iger-presidential-run-1203357367/">Variety</a>. “I was hoping that by this time in early fall, I would be knocking on doors in Des Moines, wearing an ‘Iger 2020’ t-shirt. Because I really do believe that Bob Iger’s guidance and decency is exactly what the country needs right now.”
“But since my canvassing Iger strategy doesn’t seem to be in the cards, I’m happy to be here with all of you to honor a man who has devoted himself to actually lifting the spirits of children all over the world,” she continued. “Kids have always been at the heart of Disney’s philanthropic efforts, so what better organization for Bob to join forces with than one that shares Disney’s values so perfectly like Save the Children.”
Upon taking the stage to accept the award, Iger joked that he has no desire to add on to the already populated list of potential 2020 candidates.
“Oprah, I am reminded of something that Ronald Reagan said to Jimmy Carter in the 1980 presidential debate: ‘There you go again.’ Please, I am not about to become the 25th or the 30th person seeking the presidency in 2020,” he said.
Iger went on to say that he hopes whoever wins the presidency puts children at the front-and-center of his/her focus, citing “unchecked climate change” and “rampant gun violence” as threats to their safety.
“I certainly hope that whoever runs — and whoever wins — makes the safety and well-being of children their number one priority,” Iger said. “As I think you would expect as the CEO of Disney, exuding optimism is a real priority. But let’s face it, the world around us is becoming increasingly hostile and more dangerous to children. Rampant gun violence, regional wars, terrorism, unchecked climate change, growing intolerance, economic instability and so many other threats including ugly and abhorrent politics and short-sighted policies that are mortgaging the future of our world.”
Actress Jennifer Garner also told Variety that Bob Iger is the perfect presidential candidate in every respect.
“Mr. Iger is everything you could want in a leader,” Garner said. &#8220;I dare to say he is presidential. He’s dignified, he’s a risk-taker, he is down to earth, he is wise, and he has integrity. I would hand him any job I possibly could.”
Though Iger is a registered Democrat and has helped raise funds for Democratic candidates, he has previously lamented the growing ugliness in politics, as oftentimes seen on social media.
“We have to change how we talk to each other,” Iger <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/disney-chief-bob-iger-calls-civil-discourse-hitler-paul-bois">said earlier this year</a>. “Maybe we should just start by reconnecting with those friends and family members that we haven’t spoken to since the 2016 election.”
Iger went on to say that the hate and anger Americans have for one another will drag the country into “the abyss,” adding that politics are now dominated by contempt.
“We are losing ground,” Iger said. “Hate and anger are dragging us towards the abyss once again, and apathy is growing … consuming our public discourse and shaping our country into something that is wholly unrecognizable. Our politics, in particular, are now dominated by contempt.”

Save The Children&#8217;s Centennial Celebration: Once in a Lifetime &#8211; Inside

Oprah Winfrey, Jennifer Garner Push Disney CEO Bob Iger 2020

2020 Election

Oprah Winfrey

George Lucas, the man who gave the world &#8220;Star Wars,&#8221; apparently felt betrayed by what Disney planned to do with his brainchild after they acquired it in 2012.
According to <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/disneys-bob-iger-says-george-lucas-felt-betrayed-by-star-wars-plans-1242953">The Hollywood Reporter</a> (THR), Disney CEO Bob Iger revealed in his memoir, &#8220;The Ride of a Lifetime: Lessons Learned From 15 Years as CEO of the Walt Disney Company,&#8221; that George Lucas originally had the next three &#8220;Star Wars&#8221; movies outlined when Disney purchased the franchise in 2012; the company, however, chose to go its own way.
&#8220;[W]e decided we needed to buy them, though we made clear in the purchase agreement that we would not be contractually obligated to adhere to the plot lines he&#8217;d laid out,&#8221; Iger wrote in his memoir regarding Lucas&#8217; outlines.
Iger also claimed that George Lucas got &#8220;upset&#8221; upon discussing the franchise&#8217;s trajectory with Lucasfilm head Kathleen Kennedy and &#8220;The Force Awakens&#8221; director J.J. Abrams. He also expressed regret for not handling the situation better.
&#8220;George immediately got upset as they began to describe the plot and it dawned on him that we weren&#8217;t using one of the stories he submitted during the negotiations,&#8221; Iger wrote. &#8220;George knew we weren&#8217;t contractually bound to anything, but he thought that our buying the story treatments was a tacit promise that we&#8217;d follow them, and he was disappointed that his story was being discarded. I&#8217;d been so careful since our first conversation not to mislead him in any way, and I didn&#8217;t think I had now, but I could have handled it better.&#8221;
&#8220;George felt betrayed, and while this whole process would never have been easy for him, we&#8217;d gotten off to an unnecessarily rocky start,&#8221; Iger added.
Apparently, the situation only got worse when Lucas saw a screening for &#8220;The Force Awakens,&#8221; during which he lamented that the film covered no new territory. &#8220;There&#8217;s nothing new,&#8221; Lucas allegedly said. &#8220;There weren&#8217;t enough visual or technical leaps forward.&#8221; In response, Iger suggested that Lucas did not appreciate the &#8220;the pressure we were under to give ardent fans a film that felt quintessentially &#8216;Star Wars.'&#8221;
&#8220;We&#8217;d intentionally created a world that was visually and tonally connected to the earlier films, to not stray too far from what people loved and expected, and George was criticizing us for the very thing we were trying to do,&#8221; Iger said.
The &#8220;Star Wars&#8221; franchise has been in a freefall since &#8220;The Last Jedi,&#8221; which has steadily angered fans due to its social justice, primarily feminist, messaging by making the title character, Rey, a Mary Sue with virtually no flaws and no discernible hero&#8217;s journey. This fan dissatisfaction came to a head for Disney when the movie &#8220;Solo: A Star Wars&#8221; story drastically underperformed at the box office. Iger did not address any of this in the book, though he did tell <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/22/style/disney-bob-iger-book.html">The New York Times</a> over the weekend that the initial plan to release a &#8220;Star Wars&#8221; movie once a year is hurting the franchise.
&#8220;I just think we might&#8217;ve put a little bit too much in the marketplace too fast,&#8221; said Iger. &#8220;I think the storytelling capabilities of [Lucasfilm] are endless because of the talent we have at the company, and the talent we have at the company is better than it&#8217;s ever been, in part because of the influx of people from Fox.&#8221;

Lucas Iger

Disney CEO Bob Iger: George Lucas Felt ‘Betrayed’ By The New ‘Star Wars’

CNN&#8217;s town hall on climate change Wednesday gave the relatively few viewers (<a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/cnns-marathon-town-hall-on-climate-change-finishes-behind-fox-news-msnbc">compared</a> to Fox News and MSNBC) two particularly memorable moments: One featured front-runner Joe Biden getting &#8220;defensive&#8221; over a report that he was about to attend a fundraiser with a guy who co-founded a fossil fuel company. The second moment that has stirred up a strong response was delivered by democratic socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), who emphatically endorsed &#8220;curb[ing] population growth&#8221; through promoting abortion and birth control, &#8220;especially in poor countries.&#8221;
&#8220;Human population growth has more than doubled in the last 50 years, the planet cannot sustain this growth,&#8221; <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/51397/bernie-suggests-funding-abortions-poor-countries-ryan-saavedra">said</a> a teacher CNN gave a chance to ask a question. &#8220;Empowering women, and educating everyone on the need to curb population growth seems a reasonable campaign to enact. Would you be courageous enough to discuss this issue and make it a key feature of a plan to address climate catastrophe.&#8221;
&#8220;The answer&#8217;s &#8216;yes,'&#8221; said Sanders. &#8220;Women in the United States of Americas, by the way, have a right to control their own bodies and make reproductive decisions. And the Mexico City agreement — which denies American aid to those organizations around the world that allow women to have abortions or even get involved in birth control — to me is totally absurd.&#8221;
The socialist senator then drove home his point about population control in poor countries: &#8220;So I think, especially in poor countries around the world where women do not necessarily want to have large numbers of babies and where they can have the opportunity through birth control to control the number of kids they have, it&#8217;s something I very strongly support.&#8221;
In response, Republican Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) issued a news alert that&#8217;s ended up making the rounds on social media: &#8220;In a surprise move, last night Bernie announced Thanos as his running mate,&#8221; he tweeted.
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">In a surprise move, last night Bernie announced Thanos as his running mate <a href="https://t.co/OKaRO0zRkp">https://t.co/OKaRO0zRkp</a>
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) <a href="https://twitter.com/tedcruz/status/1169599737210834944?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 5, 2019</a></blockquote>
</div>
Sanders&#8217; &#8220;curb population growth&#8221; comments have been met with strong pushback, particularly from the right. But Biden has been met with backlash largely from the left for his performance.
The leader of the left-leaning news, The New York Times, described Biden&#8217;s performance at the town hall as &#8220;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2019/democrats-climate-town-hall/joe-biden-climate-change">defensive</a>,&#8221; particularly when he was asked &#8220;the toughest question of the night&#8221;: &#8220;How can he be trusted to stand up to fossil fuel companies when he has plans to attend a fund-raiser tomorrow hosted by Andrew Goldman, a co-founder of Western LNG, a liquefied natural gas production company.&#8221; The Times describes his response:
<blockquote>Mr. Biden appeared caught by surprise at the CNN climate forum on Wednesday night and countered, &#8220;He&#8217;s not a fossil fuel executive&#8221; before pivoting to his history of fighting corporate polluters. Pressed about Mr. Goldman&#8217;s role, Mr. Biden said &#8220;I didn’t realize he does that&#8221; and said he would look into whether the fund-raiser violated his pledge not to accept money from fossil fuel companies. The Intercept, a political news site, first reported the fund-raiser hosted by Mr. Goldman.</blockquote>
&#8220;I was told by my staff he doesn&#8217;t have any responsibility related to the company,&#8221; Biden insisted. &#8220;If that turns out not to be true, then I will not, in any way, accept his help,&#8221; he pledged.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/51413/walsh-bernie-sanders-wants-exterminate-surplus-matt-walsh">WALSH: Bernie Sanders Wants To Exterminate The Surplus Human Population. But Why Isn&#8217;t He In The Surplus?</a>

thanos_gi

Bernie Pushes Population Control In Poor Countries To Save Planet; Cruz Smacks Him

Bernie Sanders

Climate Change

Democratic Party

Joe Biden

Republican Party

Ted Cruz

After vague promises that the Marvel Cinematic Universe will feature openly LGBT characters, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige confirmed this week that the studio&#8217;s upcoming film series &#8220;The Eternals&#8221; will include the MCU&#8217;s first openly gay superhero.
Speaking to &#8220;Good Morning America&#8221; in a segment that aired Monday, Feige commented on what GMA describes as &#8220;the most diverse Marvel&#8217;s cast yet, including an openly gay character.&#8221;
&#8220;He&#8217;s married, he&#8217;s got a family, and that is just part of who he is,&#8221; Feige told the show, opting not to reveal yet which of the characters he was describing. (Video below; relevant segment begins at around the 1:30 mark.)
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">.<a href="https://twitter.com/Disney?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Disney</a>&#8216;s EPIC surprises! From <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/LizzieMcGuire?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#LizzieMcGuire</a> to <a href="https://twitter.com/DisneyFrozen?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DisneyFrozen</a> 2 to <a href="https://twitter.com/starwars?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@starwars</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TheRiseOfSkywalker?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#TheRiseOfSkywalker</a> to <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BlackPanther?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BlackPanther</a> 2 &#8212; <a href="https://twitter.com/Ginger_Zee?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Ginger_Zee</a> has ALL the highlights!
Find more on all the incredible <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/D23Expo?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#D23Expo</a> announcements here: <a href="https://t.co/EutVh4kPAM">https://t.co/EutVh4kPAM</a> <a href="https://t.co/P7jo6cfhDP">pic.twitter.com/P7jo6cfhDP</a>
— Good Morning America (@GMA) <a href="https://twitter.com/GMA/status/1165972731008995328?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 26, 2019</a></blockquote>
</div>
As revealed at Disney&#8217;s &#8220;D23 Expo&#8221; last weekend, &#8220;Game of Thrones&#8221; actor Kit Harington has been added to an already star-studded cast for new series. <a href="https://www.etonline.com/marvels-the-eternals-will-introduce-the-mcus-first-openly-gay-character-131336">ET Online</a> reports that among the big-name star appearing in the &#8220;ambitious&#8221; project alongside Harington are Angelina Jolie, Salma Hayek, Richard Madden, Gemma Chan, Kumail Nanjiani, and Brian Tyree Henry. The film is slated to open in theaters on November 6, 2020.
As noted by the entertainment outlet, the openly gay male character in &#8220;The Eternals&#8221; is not Marvel&#8217;s only upcoming nod to the LGBT community in its cinematic universe. Tessa Thompson, who plays Valkyrie in the &#8220;Thor&#8221; and &#8220;Avengers&#8221; series, has confirmed that her character is a lesbian and will be looking for a &#8220;queen&#8221; to help her rule Asgard.
&#8220;As new king [of Asgard], she needs to find her queen. That will be the first order of business,&#8221; Thompson told fans at Comic-Con last month. &#8220;She has some ideas. I&#8217;ll keep you posted.&#8221;
While &#8220;The Eternals&#8221; will feature Marvel&#8217;s first openly gay male superhero, he won&#8217;t be the first openly gay character in the MCU. &#8220;Avengers: Endgame,&#8221; which dominated the <a href="https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=marvel2019.htm">box office</a> this year, includes a character — named simply &#8220;Grieving Man&#8221; in the credits — participating in a support group hosted by Captain America/Steve Rogers. Grieving Man, played by co-director Joe Russo, tells the group that he&#8217;s dating another man, but it&#8217;s difficult to manage in the grim, &#8220;post-Snap&#8221; world. The moment was met with backlash from some critics, including Gizmodo&#8217;s Charles Pulliam-Moore, who were upset about the &#8220;<a href="https://io9.gizmodo.com/the-gay-character-in-avengers-endgame-was-not-supposed-1835665347?utm_source=io9_twitter&amp;utm_medium=socialflow&amp;utm_campaign=socialflow_io9_twitter&amp;/setsession">inconsequential</a>&#8221; manner in which the MCU&#8217;s first gay character was presented.
As <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/49057/marvel-welcome-its-first-openly-trans-actor-spider-paul-bois">The Daily Wire</a> highlighted last month, Marvel has also already included its first transgender actor: Zach Barack, a female who identifies as a male, who plays one of Peter Parker&#8217;s classmates in &#8220;<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6320628/">Spider-Man: Far From Home</a>.&#8221;
&#8220;I&#8217;m not by any means an expert on comics, but I read them growing up, you know, and they were important. And there’s something very inherently trans about those stories, especially ones where identity and hidden identity is part of them,&#8221; Barack told <a href="https://variety.com/2019/film/news/spider-man-far-from-homes-zach-barack-opens-up-about-being-marvel-studios-first-openly-transgender-actor-1203254288/">Variety</a>. &#8220;For example, Peter Parker’s journey [in Spider-Man: Homecoming] is a lot about balancing being a teenager and having this other part of your life. And that is just so trans, it’s something that I absolutely think I’ve felt on a daily basis sometimes – especially being a transmasculine person because sometimes there’s a pressure to be a different way than I feel naturally inclined to do because I want to fit in, and I have to actively fight that instinct. But the fact of the matter is, being in this movie is so beyond incredibly meaningful and I hope that it means something to other people.&#8221;
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/50947/stan-lees-daughter-no-one-could-have-treated-my-paul-bois">Stan Lee’s Daughter: ‘No One Could Have Treated My Father Worse Than Marvel And Disney Executives’</a>

Marvel The Eternals

Marvel Announces First Openly Gay Superhero In Cinematic Universe

LGBT

Sexuality

Disney promoted the upcoming live-action iteration of &#8220;Mulan&#8221; at the D23 expo over the weekend without the film&#8217;s star, Crystal Liu, as a possible attempt to quiet the backlash over her controversial support of the Hong Kong police as pro-democracy demonstrations ensued throughout the city.
&#8220;&#8216;Mulan&#8217; filmmaker Niki Caro brought new footage for her Disney remake to D23 Saturday, without star Crystal Liu,&#8221; according to <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/disney-touts-mulan-at-d23-star-crystal-liu-1233749">The Hollywood Reporter</a> (THR).
Earlier this month, the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/50730/boycottmulan-hashtag-explodes-twitter-after-disney-frank-camp">#BoycottMulan hashtag exploded</a> on Twitter when Liu openly expressed support for the brutal Hong Kong police force who were largely opposed to the anti-China demonstrators in the mostly autonomous city.
&#8220;I support the Hong Kong police. You can all attack me now. What a shame for Hong Kong,&#8221; Liu said on the Chinese social media platform Weibo.
While a majority of the negative tweets focused on Liu, others were more critical of Disney for catering to China simply to make a profit. The studio has since remained utterly silent on the issue — a practice it did not employ when Georgia enacted a fetal heartbeat law to protect unborn babies from the scourge of abortion.
&#8220;Mulan is about a female taking control and fighting for her own destiny. Liu Yifei supporting an entity that assaults women who dare to voice their opinion shows her indifference. <a href="https://twitter.com/Disney" data-mentioned-user-id="67418441" data-scribe="element:mention">[</a>Disney] is willing to ignore this for the big bucks in China, but we shouldn&#8217;t,&#8221; said one enraged Twitter user.
Indeed, the backlash over &#8220;Mulan&#8221; highlights a broader trend throughout Hollywood, an industry that has increasingly censored content in order to appease the Chinese box office. Nothing better put this on display than the recent controversy surrounding the &#8220;Top Gun&#8221; sequel when the trailer revealed that Tom Cruise&#8217;s iconic aviator jacket had removed two patches that would have rubbed Chinese censors the wrong way: the Taiwanese and Japanese flags.
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">There’s a new Top Gun movie coming out. And Maverick is wearing the same leather jacket &#8211; only this time it’s Communist Party of China-approved, so the Japanese and Taiwanese flag patches are gone (screenshot on right is from the new trailer)&#8230; <a href="https://t.co/gUxFNFNUKX">pic.twitter.com/gUxFNFNUKX</a>
— Mark MacKinnon (@markmackinnon) <a href="https://twitter.com/markmackinnon/status/1152241649893945346?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 19, 2019</a></blockquote>
</div>
Both Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) were deeply troubled by the revelation and wondered aloud if lawmakers should take notice.
&#8220;Hollywood is afraid to stand up for free speech,&#8221; Cruz told The <a href="https://freebeacon.com/national-security/cruz-top-gun-censorship-for-china-proves-hollywood-is-afraid-to-stand-up-for-free-speech/">Washington Free Beacon</a>. &#8220;&#8216;Top Gun&#8217; is an American classic, and it&#8217;s incredibly disappointing to see Hollywood elites appease the Chinese Communist Party. The Party uses China&#8217;s economy to silence dissent against its brutal repression and to erode the sovereignty of American allies like Taiwan. Hollywood is afraid to stand up for free speech and is enabling the Party&#8217;s campaign against Taiwan.&#8221;
&#8220;That’s the power of Chinese money in the modern world that kind of sucks,&#8221; Graham said in an interview with <a href="https://www.tmz.com/2019/07/23/senator-lindsey-graham-blasts-top-gun-maverick-flags-bomber-jacket/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">TMZ</a>. &#8220;I hate to see the flag removed because of Chinese financing. It’s nothing the government can do, but I think it sucks.&#8221;
Movie studios have gone to great lengths to appeal to Chinese audiences by presenting the country as a technologically advanced superpower, as in the cases of &#8220;The Martian,&#8221; &#8220;2012,&#8221; &#8220;Gravity,&#8221; and &#8220;Looper.&#8221; Beyond that, some movies have been subjected to self-censorship, sometimes changing whole plotlines in order to break into the Chinese market.
&#8220;When the creators of &#8216;Pixels&#8217; wanted to show aliens blasting a hole in the Great Wall of China, Sony executives worried that the scene might prevent the 2015 movie’s release in China, leaked studio emails show. They blew up the Taj Mahal instead,&#8221; <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/11/18/world/asia/china-movies.html">reported</a> The New York Times. &#8220;In the 2016 movie &#8216;Doctor Strange,&#8217; the Ancient One is Celtic, played by the white actress Tilda Swinton. Moviemakers decided to change the character’s ethnicity early in the process, reportedly to avoid offending the Chinese government.&#8221;
Could Liu&#8217;s absence at the D23 expo signify that Disney is perhaps skittish about making her the promotional face of the upcoming live-action feature? Time will tell. For now, the film&#8217;s director, Niki Caro, is focusing on the film&#8217;s emotional core.
&#8220;It&#8217;s the timeless story we love, but in live-action it&#8217;s real,&#8221; Caro said at the expo. &#8220;That&#8217;s the thing I&#8217;m most excited about. For people to experience her story in a very real, very visceral and a very emotional way.&#8221;

Disney Studios Showcase Presentation At D23 Expo, Saturday August 24

Disney Promotes &#8216;Mulan&#8217; Without Star Who Supported The Brutal Hong Kong Police

Due to Sony Pictures and Disney&#8217;s inability to establish a deal over the future of Spider-Man, the iconic character will no longer be a part of Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) — a rather bittersweet ending for fans hoping to see more of their beloved web-slinger fighting alongside the likes of Thor and Hawkeye in future &#8220;Avengers&#8221; installments.
After nearly a week of turmoil, actor Tom Holland (who played Spider-Man/Peter Parker in five different films) has finally broken his silence to say it was a great run.
&#8220;Basically, we&#8217;ve made five great movies. It&#8217;s been five amazing years,&#8221; Holland told Entertainment Weekly, according to <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/tom-holland-spider-man-marvel-sony-split">Fox News</a>. &#8220;I&#8217;ve had the time of my life. Who knows what the future holds? But all I know is that I&#8217;m going to continue playing Spider-Man and having the time of my life. It&#8217;s going to be so fun, however we choose to do it. The future for Spider-Man will be different, but it will be equally as awesome and amazing, and we&#8217;ll find new ways to make it even cooler.&#8221;
Marvel producer Kevin Feige also <a href="https://ew.com/movies/2019/08/24/tom-holland-spider-man-future-disney-sony/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">told Entertainment Weekly</a> that the five films he made with Spider-Man was simply a &#8220;dream&#8221; he never thought would come to fruition.
&#8220;I&#8217;m feeling about Spider-Man gratitude and joy &#8230; We got to make five films within the MCU with Spider-Man: two standalone films and three with the Avengers,&#8221; said Feige. &#8220;It was a dream that I never thought would happen. It was never meant to last forever. We knew there was a finite amount of time that we&#8217;d be able to do this, and we told the story we wanted to tell, and I&#8217;ll always be thankful for that.&#8221;
Spider-Man exited the MCU when Marvel and Disney failed to reach an agreement with Sony over the character&#8217;s future, which Sony has owned for nearly two decades.
<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/22/stan-lees-daughter-sides-with-sony-in-spider-man-spat-with-disney.html">CNBC</a> has more:
<blockquote>Disney, which owns Marvel, and Sony had penned a deal in 2015 that would bring Spider-Man into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In the initial deal between the two companies, Sony would allow Marvel’s creative team to integrate Spider-Man into its cinematic universe and would put up 100% of the production costs.
In exchange, Disney received 5% of &#8216;first-dollar gross,&#8217; or 5% of the ticket sales from the first day of the release, and retained the merchandising rights for the character. Sony would reap the rest of the box-office haul.
Disney reportedly proposed a 50/50 co-financing deal, meaning each company would put up half of the production costs and then split the profits, according to entertainment news website Deadline. Sony reportedly refused.</blockquote>
As to what Spider-Man will become in the hands of Sony remains to be seen, though the studio did take the character to new and interesting heights with 2018&#8217;s &#8220;Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse&#8221; — a critical and financial hit that won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.
While most fans have reacted to the news of Spider-Man&#8217;s departure with sour grapes, Stan Lee&#8217;s daughter, Joan Lee, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/50947/stan-lees-daughter-no-one-could-have-treated-my-paul-bois">praised Sony</a> while denouncing Disney and Marvel for allegedly mistreating her father&#8217;s work.
&#8220;Marvel and Disney seeking total control of my father&#8217;s creations must be checked and balanced by others who, while still seeking to profit, have genuine respect for Stan Lee and his legacy,&#8221; Joan Lee told TMZ this past week. &#8220;Whether it&#8217;s Sony or someone else&#8217;s, the continued evolution of Stan&#8217;s characters and his legacy deserves multiple points of view.&#8221;
&#8220;When my father died, no one from Marvel or Disney reached out to me. From day one, they have commoditized my father&#8217;s work and never shown him or his legacy any respect or decency,&#8221; she continued. &#8220;In the end, no one could have treated my father worse than Marvel and Disney&#8217;s executives.&#8221;

&#8216;Spider-Man: Far From Home&#8217; South Korea Premiere &#8211; Press Conference

Tom Holland On ‘Spider-Man’ Leaving The MCU: ‘I’ve Had The Time Of My Life’

Fans may be upset over Sony seemingly ripping Spider-Man from the arms of Disney, but Stan Lee&#8217;s daughter, Joan Lee, says Sony made the right decision to not abdicate the iconic character so willingly, accusing Disney and Marvel executives of treating her father abysmally.
&#8220;While many fans have rallied behind <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/?symbol=DIS" target="" data-type="" rel="noopener noreferrer">Disney</a> in the wake of reports that talks had broken down between the company and <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/?symbol=6758.T-JP" target="" data-type="" rel="noopener noreferrer">Sony</a> over future Spider-Man films, at least one person is standing behind Sony — Stan Lee’s daughter,&#8221; reports <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/22/stan-lees-daughter-sides-with-sony-in-spider-man-spat-with-disney.html">CNBC</a>.
Speaking with <a href="https://www.tmz.com/2019/08/22/stan-lee-daughter-sony-disney-spiderman-marvel/">TMZ</a>, Joan Celia Lee said that Marvel and Disney&#8217;s hegemony over her father&#8217;s legacy needs to be &#8220;checked and balanced.&#8221;
&#8220;Marvel and Disney seeking total control of my father&#8217;s creations must be checked and balanced by others who, while still seeking to profit, have genuine respect for Stan Lee and his legacy,&#8221; she said. &#8220;Whether it&#8217;s Sony or someone else&#8217;s, the continued evolution of Stan&#8217;s characters and his legacy deserves multiple points of view.&#8221;
Joan went on to say that Marvel and Disney largely disrespected her father&#8217;s legacy by exploiting his creations.
&#8220;When my father died, no one from Marvel or Disney reached out to me. From day one, they have commoditized my father&#8217;s work and never shown him or his legacy any respect or decency,&#8221; she said. &#8220;In the end, no one could have treated my father worse than Marvel and Disney&#8217;s executives.&#8221;
Joan Lee&#8217;s explosive comments against Marvel and Disney come shortly after the studios failed to reach an agreement with Sony over the future of Spider-Man, which Sony has owned for nearly two decades. CNBC provided more context:
<blockquote>Disney, which owns Marvel, and Sony had penned a deal in 2015 that would bring Spider-Man into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In the initial deal between the two companies, Sony would allow Marvel’s creative team to integrate Spider-Man into its cinematic universe and would put up 100% of the production costs.
In exchange, Disney received 5% of &#8216;first-dollar gross,&#8217; or 5% of the ticket sales from the first day of the release, and retained the merchandising rights for the character. Sony would reap the rest of the box-office haul.
Disney reportedly proposed a 50/50 co-financing deal, meaning each company would put up half of the production costs and then split the profits, according to entertainment news website Deadline. Sony reportedly refused.</blockquote>
If the split continues, the Marvel Cinematic Universe will have to continue without Spider-Man, which grossed over <a href="https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=spidermanhomecoming2.htm">$1.1 billion in box office receipts</a> this summer alone with the release of &#8220;Spider-Man: Far From Home.&#8221; Should the character be back in Sony&#8217;s wheelhouse, the fate of actor Tom Holland as the title character remains questionable. Vox, however, <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/8/22/20827020/spider-man-mcu-sony-disney-tom-holland">says that</a> the ordeal may indeed be a shrewd attempt by Sony or Marvel to negotiate a better deal.
&#8220;An important thing to keep in mind: The entire story of the failed deal is probably part of a strategic play by Marvel or Sony, or even both studios, to gain an advantage in negotiations. Leaking this kind of news riles up fans who have taken a liking to the MCU iteration of Spider-Man and actor Tom Holland&#8217;s portrayal of him,&#8221; reports the outlet. &#8220;Both of those solo Spidey films were set in the MCU and co-produced by Sony and Marvel, and outraged fan reaction to the idea that there won’t be any more of them puts pressure on both sides.&#8221;

Stan Lee

Stan Lee’s Daughter: ‘No One Could Have Treated My Father Worse Than Marvel And Disney Executives’

On Wednesday, actress Liu Yifei, who is set to play the title role in the upcoming Disney remake of &#8220;Mulan,&#8221; ignited social media backlash after she <a href="https://www.weibo.com/liuyifeiofficial?is_hot=1#_loginLayer_1565985443878​">shared a post</a> to Weibo, a Chinese social media platform, in which she stated her support for Hong Kong police.
&#8220;I also support the Hong Kong police,&#8221; wrote Liu next a heart emoji and a bicep emoji. Beneath Liu&#8217;s text, the actress shared an image posted by People&#8217;s Daily, a state-run news outlet, that featured the following text:
<blockquote>I support the Hong Kong police. You can all attack me now. What a shame for Hong Kong.</blockquote>
Liu&#8217;s repost has been shared 76,000 times and &#8220;liked&#8221; more than 82,000 times on Weibo.
The actress&#8217; social media post led to the hashtag #BoycottMulan on Twitter, which has been tweeted more than 67,100 times and is trending at #23 on the social media platform as of publication.
Twitter users roundly condemned Liu&#8217;s support of Hong Kong&#8217;s police:
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Mulan is fighting for the defenseless peeps and Liu Yifei is supporting hongkong brutality. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BoycottMulan?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BoycottMulan</a> <a href="https://t.co/nFOWBp788e">pic.twitter.com/nFOWBp788e</a>
— G A G O (@iellyssa) <a href="https://twitter.com/iellyssa/status/1162397552857059329?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 16, 2019</a></blockquote>
</div>
<blockquote>Mulan is fighting for the defenseless peeps and Liu Yifei is supporting Hong Kong brutality. #BoycottMulan</blockquote>
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BoycottMulan?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BoycottMulan</a>
Support Liu’s Mulan = Support Police’s Abuse of Power
The spirit of Mulan is about bravery, not fighting the citizens with unlimited force. <a href="https://t.co/L0wZuvaUFX">pic.twitter.com/L0wZuvaUFX</a>
— Felix Kung (@FelixHoyeung) <a href="https://twitter.com/FelixHoyeung/status/1162345724975075329?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 16, 2019</a></blockquote>
</div>
<blockquote>#BoycottMulan. Support Liu’s Mulan = Support Police’s Abuse of Power. The spirit of Mulan is about bravery, not fighting the citizens with unlimited force.</blockquote>
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">basically the actress of mulan support this. if this isn’t police brutality then what is <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BoycottMulan?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BoycottMulan</a> <a href="https://t.co/kJoEg5ykW6">pic.twitter.com/kJoEg5ykW6</a>
— kylie (@jjkisbabie) <a href="https://twitter.com/jjkisbabie/status/1162261398920974336?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 16, 2019</a></blockquote>
</div>
<blockquote>Basically the actress of Mulan support this. If this isn’t police brutality, then what is? #BoycottMulan</blockquote>
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Disney’s Mulan actress, Liu Yifei, supports police brutality and oppression in Hong Kong.
Liu is a naturalized American citizen. it must be nice. meanwhile she pisses on people fighting for democracy.
retweet please. HK doesn’t get enough support. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BoycottMulan?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BoycottMulan</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/Disney?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Disney</a> <a href="https://t.co/FpECIdutH2">pic.twitter.com/FpECIdutH2</a>
— sean norton (@sdnorton) <a href="https://twitter.com/sdnorton/status/1161971657034125312?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 15, 2019</a></blockquote>
</div>
<blockquote>Disney’s Mulan actress, Liu Yifei, supports police brutality and oppression in Hong Kong. Liu is a naturalized American citizen. It must be nice. Meanwhile, she pisses on people fighting for democracy. Retweet please. HK doesn’t get enough support. #BoycottMulan @Disney</blockquote>
Others targeted Disney more directly:
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Mulan is about a female taking control and fighting for her own destiny. Liu Yifei supporting an entity that assaults women who dare to voice their opinion shows her indifference. <a href="https://twitter.com/Disney?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Disney</a> is willing to ignore this for the big bucks in China, but we shouldn&#8217;t. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BoycottMulan?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BoycottMulan</a> <a href="https://t.co/giDHC0nBuy">pic.twitter.com/giDHC0nBuy</a>
— Melody (@_melotweets) <a href="https://twitter.com/_melotweets/status/1162323874391838726?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 16, 2019</a></blockquote>
</div>
<blockquote>Mulan is about a female taking control and fighting for her own destiny. Liu Yifei supporting an entity that assaults women who dare to voice their opinion shows her indifference. @Disney is willing to ignore this for the big bucks in China, but we shouldn&#8217;t. #BoycottMulan</blockquote>
In one exchange, a Twitter user defended Disney, noting that the company couldn&#8217;t have known what its star would say two years after they cast the film:
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none">Was Disney supposed to know how Liu would react to a 2019 situation back in 2017 ???
— mercy (@initialmercy) <a href="https://twitter.com/initialmercy/status/1162071551304491008?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 15, 2019</a></blockquote>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Disney will obviously (we all know this) release the movie as it cost them well over $300M. But yes like you said, audiences can! We can choose whether to support her films. I just don’t want people to target the wrong person or thing.
— mercy (@initialmercy) <a href="https://twitter.com/initialmercy/status/1162350706965262336?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 16, 2019</a></blockquote>
</div>
&#8220;Was Disney supposed to know how Liu would react to a 2019 situation back in 2017???,&#8221; wrote user @initialmercy.
@StelSmby replied: &#8220;It couldn&#8217;t have known of course. But now that it&#8217;s there in the open, what is the right thing to do in the face of repression in HK? Perhaps Disney can&#8217;t/won’t do anything rad for the sake of its money. But moviegoers can.&#8221;
To which @initialmercy said: &#8220;Disney will obviously (we all know this) release the movie as it cost them well over $300M. But yes like you said, audiences can! We can choose whether to support her films. I just don&#8217;t want people to target the wrong person or thing.&#8221;
The recent protests in Hong Kong began after a bill was introduced that would allow suspected criminals to be extradited to China, which many in the nation see as an encroachment of the Chinese government on Hong Kong&#8217;s independence.
As The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/50700/full-story-behind-hong-kong-protests-adin-blumofe​">reported</a>: &#8220;Progressively, police actions toward protestors have become increasingly violent, some of which has been documented in videos showing police brutality. Footage shows uniformed police bashing protestors heads in with clubs and shooting rubber bullets and tear gas at demonstrators.&#8221;
For a more in-depth report on the Hong Kong protests, click <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/50700/full-story-behind-hong-kong-protests-adin-blumofe​">here</a>.
Neither Liu nor Disney have released official statements regarding the controversy. The Daily Wire reached out to Disney, but as of publication, we have not received a reply.

Liu Yifei

‘BoycottMulan’ Hashtag Explodes On Twitter After Disney Film’s Lead Offers Support For Hong Kong Police Amid Claims Of Brutality

Has Disney tarnished &#8220;Star Wars&#8221; so beyond repute that not even the much-ballyhooed cash-cow-to-be &#8220;Galaxy&#8217;s Edge&#8221; attraction at Disneyland could save the franchise? Time will tell, but current signs do not exactly bode well for the franchise that many deemed &#8220;unsinkable.&#8221;
According to <a href="https://www.foxbusiness.com/personal-finance/disneyland-slashing-worker-hours-star-wars-flops-source">FOX Business</a>, the theme park attraction underperformed dramatically this summer, leading Disney to reportedly cut employees&#8217; hours to offset the costs.
&#8220;The new Star Wars: Galaxy&#8217;s Edge Land made its debut to the public in May of 2019 at Southern California’s Disneyland and has become a <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/travel/disney-ceo-star-wars-disneyland-attendance-drop" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-aesra-score="linkNewWindowWarning:1;">bit of a disappointment</a> to the theme park employees whose hours and paychecks have suffered due to lack of attendance,&#8221; reports the outlet.
Though the initial reports were that &#8220;Galaxy&#8217;s Edge&#8221; would be an epic hit that would help justify the $4.05 billion price tag Disney honored when acquiring the &#8220;Star Wars&#8221; intellectual property from George Lucas, word on the inside is something different.
&#8220;Wait times this summer for the new Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run ride were expected to be over 2 hours long all summer, but in reality, the lines have been averaging half that or less,&#8221; an anonymous employee told FOX Business. &#8220;As a result, the company has been forced to cut our hours. The need for us to work simply isn&#8217;t there. Our hours have been cut to as low as 30-35 hours some weeks, even though we have both worked for the park for years. It makes life challenging when your paychecks get cut unexpectedly.&#8221;
The source speculated that Disneyland ushered in a fast opening for &#8220;Galaxy&#8217;s Edge&#8221; without having enough features to entice people. The next major feature beyond the &#8220;Smuggler&#8217;s Run&#8221; ride will not open until early 2020 — &#8220;Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance.&#8221;
&#8220;I feel the problem is Star Wars took too long to build so they rushed the opening with only one cool feature. The only other big ride isn&#8217;t even scheduled to open until the end of the year,&#8221; the source said. &#8220;Part of the problem too has been all the hype surrounding the new Star Wars land. Tourists fear the anticipated crowds and the Los Angeles locals seem to be waiting out the summer crowds too. Admission to the park is not cheap either, it is $149.00 for one park or $199.00 during peak summer weekends for a park hopper ticket. For many families, that adds up real quick.”
Disney CEO Bob Iger echoed that sentiment.
&#8220;Some people stayed away just because they expected that it would not be a great guest experience,” Disney CEO Bob Iger said on a <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/travel/disney-ceo-star-wars-disneyland-attendance-drop" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-aesra-score="linkNewWindowWarning:1;">recent earnings call</a>. &#8220;The second attraction in Anaheim will open in January. So we feel great about the product that we&#8217;ve created. It&#8217;s just going to take some time for things to work themselves out in terms of how the marketplace is reacting.&#8221;
Porter Bibb of MediaTech Capital Partners told FOX Business that &#8220;Galaxy&#8217;s Edge&#8221; will put up big numbers for Disney in the coming fall and winter, especially with the release of &#8220;Star Wars IX: The Rise of Skywalker.&#8221;
&#8220;It experienced some malfunctions due to the complex, sophisticated features but will be a compelling attraction, especially once the new Star Wars film opens in Q4,&#8221; said Bibb.

Star Wars Land

Disneyland’s ‘Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge’ Underperforms, Employees Reportedly Have Hours Cut

The overwrought wallaby, the derelict steer, and the paranoid turtle are back following a 23-year hiatus. &#8220;Rocko&#8217;s Modern Life,&#8221; which ended its run on Nickelodeon in 1996, returned to Netflix this Friday as a 45-minute special — only this one comes with a helpful serving of social justice with the inclusion of a transgender story arc.
According to <a href="https://ew.com/tv/2019/08/07/rockos-modern-life-movie-trans-rachel/">Entertainment Weekly</a> (EW), &#8220;Rocko&#8217;s Modern Life: Static Cling&#8221; features Rocko and his two friends, Heffer and Filbert, adjusting to modern life after floating around in space for two decades. The show reaches an emotional climax when one of the characters comes out as transgender. Here is the full description from EW:
<blockquote>The wallaby and his buddies Heffer and Filburt have been floating around in space since the original series finale. Now they’re back on earth in the events of Static Cling, but everything is different. The trio try to adapt to this new world of smartphones, food trucks, and print kiosks. One thing Rocko can’t deal with is the loss of his favorite show, The Fatheads, which Rachel created.
Mr. and Mrs. Bighead lost touch with their child, who went off on a mission of self-discovery. Thus, Rocko goes on a search to save his show and finds Rachel, now working out of a mobile Fatheads-inspired ice cream truck (as shown in EW’s exclusive clip above).</blockquote>
Creator Joe Murray said he included the transgender storyline in the special to reflect how society has changed over the past 20 years.
&#8220;When I started writing [&#8216;Static Cling&#8217;], I really started latching onto the idea of change and how society has changed and what’s gone on in the last 20 years and the development of our characters and how they would react to change,&#8221; Murray told EW. &#8220;It felt natural, because it was not only about change, about somebody finding who they are and making that courageous choice to go through that change.&#8221;
The Gay &amp; Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) has long been seeking more LGBT representation in G-rated, kid-friendly material. Nick Adams, GLAAD&#8217;s director of transgender representation, even consulted on &#8220;Static Cling,&#8221; which he says tells a beautiful storyline about coming out as transgender.
&#8220;&#8216;Rocko’s Modern Life: Static Cling&#8217; tells a beautiful — and hilarious — story about accepting change,&#8221; Adams told EW. &#8220;The younger characters accept Rachel immediately; recognizing she’s still their friend. And while Rachel’s father is slow to accept change within his own family, even he realizes that loving your child should be unconditional. This story of inclusion and acceptance is so needed in our current climate.&#8221;
&#8220;When I read the story outline, I was happy to see that Rachel’s gender was treated as a non-issue by Rocko and his friends, and that Rachel’s father finally realized that he loves and supports his daughter,&#8221; Adams continued. &#8220;I worked with the show’s creators to ensure that Rachel was drawn in a respectful way, so that her femininity wasn’t a joke. We also talked about how to portray the moment Rachel reveals her transition to the boys so that it wasn’t sensationalistic. From story outline to storyboards to animatics, to the final show, Nickelodeon kept GLAAD updated every step of the way.&#8221;
Nickelodeon originally approached Joe Murray for a 45-minute special that was set to air in 2018. Netflix picked it up shortly after the network shelved the project. &#8220;It has to be the story that I want to do and not watered down. I was concerned about that,&#8221; Murray said of the creative process. &#8220;I wanted it to be as strong as the show and as much satire and as much social commentary as we could do in the times that we live in now.&#8221;
LGBT representation in children&#8217;s shows has been on the uptick this past decade, beginning in 2014 on the Disney show &#8220;Good Luck Charlie,&#8221; <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/good-luck-charlie-lesbians_n_4675943">which featured</a> a character with a lesbian mom couple.
&#8220;In the storyline, parents Amy and Bob Duncan (Leigh-Allyn Baker and Eric Allan Kramer) set up a playdate for preschooler Charlie (Mia Talerico) and one of her new friends,&#8221; TV Guide reported at the time. &#8220;When the kid arrives, the Duncans learn that Charlie’s pal has two moms. That’s fine, but the potential new friendship is put to the test as one mom chats with Amy, and the other is stuck listening to Bob’s dull stories.&#8221;
Earlier this year, the PBS television show &#8220;Arthur&#8221; made waves when a beloved character came out as gay by <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/14/arts/television/ratburn-arthur.html">marrying his male partner</a>. That was later followed by the Disney show &#8220;Andi Mack&#8221; featuring the first <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/50097/disney-features-first-teenage-gay-couple-andi-mack-paul-bois">teenage gay couple on the network</a>.
<div class="embed video fluid-video"><iframe frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></div>

Rocko

‘Rocko’s Modern Life’ Reboot Features A Transgender Story Arc

Transgender

The Disney Channel is apparently breaking barriers by featuring the first teenage gay couple on the show &#8220;Andi Mack.&#8221;
According to <a href="https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2019/07/30/disney-channel-gay-teenage-couple-andi-mack/">Pink News</a>, the revolutionary moment occurred during the show&#8217;s series finale, when the character Cyrus Goodman confessed to one of his classmates, TJ Kippen, that he has a crush on him. From the report:
<blockquote>“Is there anything else you want to tell me?” Cyrus asks. TJ replies, “Yeah,” and asks the same question.
“Yes,” Cyrus says, before reaching out and holding TJ’s hand.
As if that wasn’t enough, the pair also sang along to Lady Gaga’s LGBT+ acceptance anthem “Born This Way” in the episode.</blockquote>
The show ended its third season, which will reportedly be its last, so the relationship will not develop any further. &#8220;Andi Mack&#8221; has consistently pushed LGBT representation on the show, beginning in 2017, when the character Cyrus Goodman confessed to a friend that he liked another boy. Earlier this year, the show broke new ground when Cyrus said the <a href="https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2019/02/10/andi-mack-history-first-disney-character-gay/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">words, &#8220;I’m gay,&#8221;</a> becoming the first Disney character to do so.
After Tuesday night&#8217;s episode aired, people responded to the representation rather enthusiastically on social media, with some fans calling for a spin-off show centered on the relationship.
&#8220;This scene is going to be so important for so many kids growing up watching this right now. They’ll get to look back at this and think, this show let me know that I would be okay,&#8221; said one Twitter user in a viral tweet.
Actor Joshua Rush, who played Cyrus, said: &#8220;guys, gals, and nb pals, I can now tell you: tyrus endgame canon and confirmed.&#8221;
&#8220;Honored to be a part of such a groundbreaking show. I hope my character can inspire people to proud of who they are and love who they love,&#8221; said actor Luke Mullen, who played TJ.
&#8220;Andi Mack&#8221; creator Terri Minsky said in a statement back in April, after Disney announced the show&#8217;s cancelation, that she was honored to push LGBT representation in such a big way.
&#8220;We were its first serialized show, its first series centered around an Asian-American family and its first to feature an LGBTQ character who spoke the words, &#8216;I’m gay,'&#8221; said Minsky. &#8220;But the best part of making Andi Mack was our audience, who let us know we mattered to them. The series finale is for them.&#8221;
Of course, &#8220;Andi Mack&#8221; is not the first Disney Channel show to feature a gay couple. That occurred in 2014 on the show &#8220;Good Luck Charlie,&#8221; <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/good-luck-charlie-lesbians_n_4675943">when it was revealed</a> that a character had a lesbian mom couple.
&#8220;In the storyline, parents Amy and Bob Duncan (Leigh-Allyn Baker and Eric Allan Kramer) set up a playdate for preschooler Charlie (Mia Talerico) and one of her new friends,&#8221; TV Guide reported at the time. &#8220;When the kid arrives, the Duncans learn that Charlie’s pal has two moms. That’s fine, but the potential new friendship is put to the test as one mom chats with Amy, and the other is stuck listening to Bob’s dull stories.&#8221;
Earlier this year, the PBS television show &#8220;Arthur&#8221; made waves when a beloved character came out as gay by <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/14/arts/television/ratburn-arthur.html">marrying his male partner</a>.

Disney Features First Teenage Gay Couple In ‘Andi Mack’ Series Finale

Homosexuality

Disney&#8217;s live-action &#8220;The Lion King&#8221; remake comes out this weekend. But it&#8217;s not really live-action — even in the year 2019, lions still haven&#8217;t figured out how to speak. This is an animated remake of an animated movie. Disney&#8217;s brilliant innovation is to make the animation super realistic this time around, because the one thing that prevented full enjoyment of the first movie was that the singing warthog didn&#8217;t resemble a real warthog.
Actually, this isn&#8217;t really a remake, either. Disney used to do remakes. The original &#8220;Lion King&#8221; was essentially a remake of &#8220;Hamlet.&#8221; &#8220;Beauty and the Beast&#8221; was a remake of a 19th century French fable. &#8220;The Little Mermaid&#8221; was a remake of a Hans Christian Anderson fairytale. &#8220;Aladdin&#8221; was a remake of an old Arab folktale. Back in Disney&#8217;s heyday, it would take darker, denser, more mature stories and refashion them into fun, silly musicals for modern children. The kitchen utensils don&#8217;t break into song in the original &#8220;Beauty and the Beast&#8221; — that was Disney&#8217;s invention. It required actual creativity, wit, and vision to take these stories and make iconic family films out of them. Who knew that a 1,000-page French novel about a deformed freak living in a church could become a cute 90-minute cartoon, or that the true story of a daughter of an Indian chief who was kidnapped and held for ransom by European colonists could become an endearing animated film featuring a talking tree, a raccoon sidekick, and Mel Gibson?
This is how remakes are supposed to work. A remake is a reworking — a retelling — of an old story. Even the original &#8220;Beauty and the Beast&#8221; is basically a remake. Stories about beautiful women falling in love with hideous men, who then become beautiful themselves, have been around since humans starting telling each other stories. As G.K. Chesterton observed, the lesson of &#8220;Beauty and the Beast&#8221; is that a thing must be loved before it is lovable. Many similar, yet wonderfully different, tales can be woven around that central premise.
Unfortunately, Disney has long-since given up on &#8220;wonderful&#8221; and &#8220;different.&#8221; In recent years, they have stooped to staging dull, pointless reenactments of their old hits. Rather than taking the old premise and exploring it in a new way, Disney reproduces the older version, shot-for-shot, line-for-line. It&#8217;s much like an artist tracing one of his old portraits and releasing it as something new, or a band producing a covers album of its own past hits. This is what happens when the creativity well has completely run dry and the only objective anymore is to cash in. Of course, profit has always been a primary focus, but Disney, like many major movie studios, has given up whatever small concern they may have once had for artistic integrity.
And why not? They make a zillion dollars on every lifeless, redundant blockbuster they regurgitate into theaters. If the people will pay top dollar for stale, reheated mac and cheese, that&#8217;s what you&#8217;ll serve. No need to spend time cooking a gourmet dish if bland leftovers will make you just as rich, if not richer. &#8220;The Lion King&#8221; is on its way to a <a href="https://deadline.com/2019/07/the-lion-king-weekend-box-office-july-records-1202648944/">record opening</a>. The new &#8220;Aladdin&#8221; made a ton of money — so did the new &#8220;Beauty and the Beast,&#8221; the new &#8220;Jungle Book,&#8221; the new &#8220;Cinderella,&#8221; the new &#8220;Alice In Wonderland,&#8221; and the new &#8220;Dumbo.&#8221; Surely, the new &#8220;Little Mermaid&#8221; and the new &#8220;Mulan&#8221; will be moneymakers, as well. Soon, Disney will just hire someone to look into a camera and say &#8220;Hey, remember Lilo &amp; Stitch?,&#8221; and the three-second film will earn $850 million in its first month of release.
The film &#8220;Idiocracy&#8221; depicts a terrifying future filled with morons, where the top-rated television show consists of a guy getting repeatedly kicked in the groin. We have arrived at that dystopia, except that in our case, the top movies and shows are the ones that kick us in the proverbial groin. Hollywood has no respect for the intelligence of its audience and does not attempt to give us anything unique or interesting. Just reenactments, sequels, and superheroes all the way down. I am not one to call for boycotts, and I&#8217;m not calling for one now, but I do think we should respect ourselves enough to stop giving our money to movies that exist for no other reason than to take it.

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