"No one dares to disobey the president's orders." After Trump entered the White House for the second time, he launched a number of new policies at once, covering all aspects, even Hollywood, the global film and television content production center, was no exception.
It is reported that in order to follow Trump's latest instructions to completely cancel the DEI policy (diversity, equity, inclusion) and only recognize two genders, male and female, Disney Group, the leader of the "Big Six" in Hollywood, has been forced to follow up and significantly reduce the work of relevant departments within the company. For ordinary audiences, the most intuitive changes are reflected in its streaming platform Disney+. The original warning statement text of the opening titles of early animated works such as "Peter Pan", "Dumbo", "The Adventures of Cat", "Lady and the Tramp", "The Jungle Book", and "Aladdin" has quietly made huge changes.
Back in November 2019, during the second half of Trump’s first presidency, in response to accusations that some of Disney’s past works were tainted by racism, a warning message was added to the newly launched Disney+ platform for the above-mentioned works: “The following programs will be presented in their original style, but may contain inappropriate content.”
Disney+'s long-form content warning has been modified
It is not difficult to see that this simple sentence is more of an acknowledgement of the problem, but no apology. In the summer of the following year, as the George Floyd incident triggered the "Black Lives Matter" movement that swept across the United States, Hollywood companies and individuals almost all expressed their support. Companies like Disney, which have a "black history", are inevitably under great pressure. Against this background, in October of that year, Disney made changes to the above warning text and expressed a clear attitude and position.
“The following shows contain negative portrayals and/or malicious insults against specific groups of people or cultures. Such stereotypes were wrong then and are wrong now. However, rather than removing them outright, we felt it would be better to acknowledge their harmful impact, learn from them, promote dialogue and work together to create a more inclusive future. Disney is committed to creating stories with positive themes that reflect the rich diversity of all people around the world.”
However, more than four years later, with the change of leadership in the White House and a U-turn in policy, the warning texts before the broadcast of the above works have returned to what they were in November 2019, returning to the original version that only stated facts and no longer expressed attitudes. In addition, according to a Disney document submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on February 11, a project called "Reimagine Tomorrow" launched in 2021 to help disadvantaged groups expand career opportunities has now been completely cancelled, and even the relevant website has disappeared. Earlier, the animated series "Win or Lose" developed by Pixar Animation and scheduled to be launched on the Disney+ platform on February 19 also announced changes. The original transgender character Kai became a man. In this regard, Disney officially stated: "When it comes to animated content for young audiences, we find that many parents prefer to discuss certain topics with their children in person according to their own family situations and schedules."
Pixar's upcoming animated series "Win or Lose" on Disney+ changes transgender characters
Also this week, the state-owned Public Broadcasting Corporation (PBS) said that in order to comply with Trump's executive order, the office responsible for DEI policy within the company has been abolished. In the future, perhaps more Hollywood companies will follow the footsteps of the "leading company" Disney and make policy changes.
