Earlier this month, Florida governor Ron DeSantisurged Disney to drop its lawsuit against him and the state, saying that he had “moved on” and the company should too. Unfortunately for the governor, Disney did not act on his recommendation, which probably had something to with the fact that he has spent more than a year attacking the company for speaking out against his “Don’t Say Gay” law, stripping Disney of control of its special district, and threatening to build a prison complex next to its park. It’s also very possible that the company did not actually believe DeSantis and his allies had actually “moved on”—and a recent move by the board he installed earlier this year suggests some people certainly have not!
Yes, on Monday the people handpicked by DeSantis to oversee Disney’s former governing district—which had for decades been controlled by Disney itself—asked the state inspector general to investigate the distribution of free season passes and discounts to district employees that it claims were part of a “scheme to funnel…taxpayer dollars“ to the company. In a release, the DeSantis-backed board said that roughly $2.5 million in discounts, passes, and other perks had been given to district employees and their families last year. The release noted that “immediately upon discovering the scheme,” the board “set in motion plans to eliminate it.”
Words like scheme, funnel, and taxpayer dollars might make it sound like something nefarious was afoot. However, as Richard Foglesong, a Rollins College professor emeritus who literally wrote a book about Disney governance, toldFortune, it sounds like what was actually going on was not a tax scam but a standard employee benefit program, like how a university might give free passes to sporting events to its professors.
Meanwhile, on the topic of schemes and ethics, Fortune writes:
The complaint from the DeSantis appointees comes as the district administrator they appointed last May faces an ethics dilemma of his own. Glen Gilzean, who earns $400,000 annually in his new job, also is chair of the Florida Commission on Ethics. He can’t simultaneously be a commission board member and work for the district because the commission prohibits public employees from serving on its board, a commission attorney said last week in a legal opinion.
Anyway, we’re sure this move to go after employee perks will only further endear DeSantis not only to Floridians but to all Americans, and win him major popularity points at the polls.
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
The Little Mermaid, a live remake of the original 1989 Disney animated classic, was released at the start of the summer with a bang. The big-budget live-action remake passed what the original film generated, making more than $550 million in ticket sales at the worldwide box office. Young girls of color were excited to see themselves reflected on the big screen. But the film’s success was not without controversy and racist attacks, which started long before the movie even began filming.
The Little Mermaid once again reminds us of the power of storytelling and the power we as leaders have to disrupt bias and shatter stereotypes. Here are three lessons we can take from the movie.
1. Reimagine who is included in the world of fantasy
Disney has been on a journey to build a more inclusive culture and to focus on a diversity of representation in content. Disney launched the Reimagine Tomorrow initiative, which sets inclusion standards across Disney general entertainment and live-action studio productions. The goal is to advance representation in front of and behind the camera, in marketing and more. Disney has shared its goals and progress publicly to hold itself accountable.
We have a responsibility to remind the world that everyone deserves to be represented in fantasy. All of our children should be able to imagine themselves in made-up cultures, countries and worlds. Creating goals and tracking progress is one way to ensure that we are focused on a diversity of representation in the world of fantasy — and all types of media.
2. Stand up to the critics
When Disney released its first trailer for The Little Mermaid featuring Halle Bailey singing “Part of Your World,” the internet exploded with racist comments. On YouTube, users left more than two million dislikes, making fun of the lead actress and including a barrage of racist comments. Hashtags like #notmyariel gained traction.
Disney didn’t back down. Director Rob Marshall said, “When that controversy arose, from narrow-minded people, I thought, wow, that really feels like it’s coming from another century. Are we really still there?” From the moment it was announced Bailey was cast as Ariel, the backlash mounted. Disney stayed the course when it came to producing the movie and bringing it to market.
We can’t let racist criticism and backlash change the course of our storytelling. Our stories have the power to change hearts and minds and inspire change. Don’t be the leader or brand that backs down; be the leader and the brand that stands up for what is right in times of intense hate.
3. Remember the details matter
When it came to Bailey becoming Ariel, the details mattered. The film’s hair department head, Camille Friend, was nominated for an Oscar for her work on Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Friend was on a mission to create a look for Bailey that would work and still capture the essence of the famous redheaded mermaid Ariel. Maintaining Bailey’s natural hair was a must; she has long locs and it was important to stay true to her Black heritage. With many scenes being filmed underwater, little details mattered — just as small details should matter to leaders as they strive for inclusion.
In my new book, Reimagine Inclusion: Debunking 13 Myths to Transform Your Workplace, I share how focusing on a diversity of representation among talent is only the first step in filmmaking and other content businesses. How talent is represented on screen, respected on set, and how they are able to be true to themselves and their characters are details that can’t be overlooked. Disney shows us again that we have the power — and responsibility — to reimagine who is included in the world of fantasy.
Disney fans are criticizing actor Rachel Zegler after she said wasn’t a fan of the original “Snow White” and that the live-action remake that she’s starring in will not revolve around a love story.
A clip of Zegler from almost a year ago where she says the live-action “Snow White,” which will be released in March 2024, won’t be about the main character’s love story is going viral on TikTok.
“The original cartoon came out in 1937 and very evidently so,” she said in an interview with ExtraTV at the D23 Expo in September 2022. “There’s a big focus on her love story with a guy who literally stalks her. Weird. Weird. So we didn’t do that this time.”
In an interview with Variety at the same event, Zegler said that the reimagined “Snow White” reflects that it’s “no longer 1937.”
“She’s not going to be saved by the prince and she’s not going to be dreaming about true love,” the actor, who starred in the 2021 remake of “West Side Story,” said. “She’s dreaming about becoming the leader she knows she can be and the leader that her late father told her that she could be if she was fearless, fair, brave, and true.”
Zegler also said in an interview the same month that she was “scared” of the original “Snow White” and didn’t watch it again until she was cast in the remake.
“I think I watched it once and then I never picked it up again,” Zegler told Entertainment Weekly. “I’m being so serious. I watched it once and then I went on the ride at Disney World. It was called Snow White’s Scary Adventures … was terrified of it; never revisited ‘Snow White’ again.”
TikToker @cosywithangie posted a video sharing clips of the interview and criticizing Zegler, saying not every woman wants to be a leader.
“Criticizing Disney princesses is not feminist,” the TikToker said in the video that has more than 1 million likes. “Not every woman is a leader. Not every woman wants to be a leader. Not every woman wants or craves power and that’s OK. It is not anti-feminist to want to fall in love, to want to get married, to want to stay at home, to be soft, to want to be a homemaker. None of these things make you less valuable as a person or a woman.”
Rachel Zegler arrives at the Oscars on Sunday, March 27, 2022, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)
Social media influencer Trisha Paytas also criticized Zegler’s comments. In a TikTok, Paytas said she was “so annoyed” with the “Snow White” remake.
“The fact that [Zegler] does not like Snow White, why? Why?” Paytas said. “There’s people that would pay money to play Snow White. Snow White is so iconic on so many levels, but you’re publicly saying you like nothing about the movie.”
Zegler hasn’t directly replied to the criticism — but she has filled her timeline on X, formerly Twittter, with supportive tweets. On Aug. 11, she tweeted that she hopes “the world becomes kinder” and then responded to another user, writing, “i am so exhausted. i think it’s over for me tbh.”
i am so exhausted. i think it’s over for me tbh
— rachel zegler (she/her/hers) (@rachelzegler) August 11, 2023
While some took offense to Zegler’s comments, others defended her on social media. One person pointed out that all of the live-action Disney remakes have attempted to be more feminist.
miss rachel zegler should not be in such hot water over saying snow white wasn’t ahead of it’s time (true), it wasn’t a childhood favorite of hers (honest), and the remake is going to attempt more feminism (something i think ALL of the other live-action princesses have said??)
Another person pointed out that the backlash is due to “the fact that the internet just hates successful women.”
what’s frustrating about the rachel zegler hate train is that it happens with every fucking woman in this industry. eventually, they will always, ALWAYS be shat on for no other reason than the fact that the internet just hates successful women.
On Tuesday, Hulu debuted a new season of hit comedy Only Murders in the Building, starring the one and only Meryl Streep. Want to check it out? It’s easy. You can subscribe to the Disney-owned streamer for just $7.99 per month. Oh, you don’t want to watch ads? No problem. You can upgrade to the ad-free plan for just $10.99 per month. But hurry, because the price is going up by $3 on October 12.
You’re right, that is a little expensive when you factor in your other TV subscriptions. But you can also bundle Hulu and Disney+ for just $9.99 per month—though you’ll have to suffer through those ads. Or you can wait until September 6, when you’ll be able to subscribe to an ad-free bundle of Disney+ and Hulu for a price of $19.99. You know what? Why don’t you just go all in and pay for ESPN+ too? That’ll be $24.99 per month—and you won’t be able to skip the ads when watching those live Major League Baseball games.
Sorry, am I confusing you? Welcome to streaming’s second decade.
At the dawn of the streaming wars—as legacy entertainment companies like Disney, Warner Bros., and NBCUniversal launched direct-to-consumer services to compete with Netflix—the great promise was that new technologies would make it easier than ever for those consumers to watch their favorite TV shows and movies. Forget the cable bundle; you could get smart, sleek programming from Netflix with the click of a button. Even premium cable channels like HBO and Showtime were suddenly available à la carte.
It didn’t last long. Netflix, the great streaming pioneer, stumbled. And Hollywood soon found out that streaming wasn’t exactly a moneymaker. Now every service is raising its prices, rolling out advertising, and finding new ways to make their subscribers pay for more than what they actually want. Showtime is now only available if you also subscribe to Paramount+ for a bundle price of $11.99 per month. HBO Max and Discovery+ have joined forces into a new service, Max, that costs as much as $19.99 per month.
And then there’s Disney, which on Wednesday announced that, after launching an advertising-supported version of Disney+ at the end of last year, it’s raising some prices and adding several new ways to subscribe to its trio of streaming services. When the changes go into effect later this year, Hulu will be one of the most expensive ad-free streaming services on the market—all the more reason to bundle. On a call with investors, CEO Bob Iger—back again for his second turn in the hot seat—said the plan is “a future where consumers can access even more of the company’s streaming content all in one place.”
But before things get streamlined, they’re getting even more complicated. So complicated, in fact, that Disney released a chart just to explain all the different ways you can pay for its streaming services (and that’s before the company eventually brings all of ESPN’s flagship live sports to streaming).
When Disney launched Disney+ in 2019, the company promised Wall Street that the streamer would be profitable within five years. Overall streaming losses declined to approximately $512 million last quarter, but Disney+ also shed nearly 12 million subscribers after losing cricket programming in India. With his bill coming due, Iger now says the company will follow in rival Netflix’s footsteps and begin cracking down on password sharing next year.
Almost makes you want to call up Comcast, doesn’t it?
After Netflix decided to institute policies to get rid of password sharing, they added millions of new subscribers. It looks like Disney is hoping to emulate their success.
While Netflix’s new policy about sharing accounts wasn’t popular with the public, the results (at least financially) speak for themselves. And now Disney says it is planning on following suit in more than just one way. Later this fall, Disney+ (with no ads) goes up $3 to $13.99. Hulu goes up to a whopping $17.99, and ESPN+ will hit $10.99. As people have speculated for a long time, it seems like it would actually be more cost-effective just to grab a cable package at this point.
But there’s more. On the latest Disney earnings call, CEO Bob Iger revealed the company is “actively exploring ways to address account sharing” — i.e. to crack down on the sharing of passwords, a la Netflix.
He added…
“[We are considering] the best options for paying subscribers to share their accounts with friends and family. Later this year, we will begin to update our subscriber agreements with additional terms on our sharing policies, and we will roll out tactics to drive monetization sometime in 2024.
When asked how many people are thought to be sharing passwords, Iger added:
“I’m not going to give you a specific number, except to say that it’s significant. What we don’t know, of course, is as we get to work on this, how much of the password sharing as we basically eliminate it will convert to growth in subs. Obviously, we believe there will be some.
In other words, if you’re using someone else’s Disney+ account without paying, enjoy it now. It is not going to last.
Great Disney+ Movies You Might Have Missed
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Walt Disney’s ad-free streaming services are about to get more expensive — and the media giant is also vowing to crackdown on password sharing.
Disney on Wednesday said it will boost the cost of ad-free Disney+ by $3 a month, or about 27%, to $13.99. It also plans to increase the monthly fee for ad-free Hulu by $3, or 20%, to $17.99.
The new pricing will go into effect on October 12, the company said.
The plans to boost prices and dissuade users from sharing passwords come as streaming networks are witnessing a slowdown in subscriber growth. In the case of Disney+, the service shed about 300,000 subscribers in the U.S. and Canada since April, the company said in its earnings report on Wednesday.
Disney CEO Robert Iger said that the company is seeing stronger demand for its ad-supported streaming networks from marketers than older television and cable platforms.
“[T]he advertising marketplace for streaming is picking up,” Iger said on a conference call with investors and analysts. “It’s more healthy than the advertising marketplace for linear television.”
He added, “We believe in the future of advertising on our streaming platforms both Disney+ and Hulu, and we’re obviously trying with our pricing strategy to migrate more subs to the advertiser-supported tier.”
Disney password sharing crackdown
Disney also said it plans to crack down on password sharing, although it didn’t disclose details on how it plans to do so. The company is following rival Netflix in trying to stop subscribers from passing their account details to other people.
“Regarding password sharing, we already have the technical capability to monitor much of this,” Iger said on the conference call. “What we don’t know, of course, is as we get to work on this, how much of the password sharing as we basically eliminate it will convert to growth in [subscribers].”
Some analysts doubted whether price hikes and getting tough on password sharers can do much to lead Disney back to sustainable growth. Paul Verna, an analyst with Insider Intelligence, said in a note that the company’s moves aren’t likely to calm investors “anxious for clarity on the company’s strategy for its streaming services and TV networks.”
—With reporting by the Associated Press
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Canadian viewers of Disney+ will soon have the chance to pay a little less for their monthly subscription — so long as they don’t mind sitting through a few commercials.
On Wednesday, the streaming service issued a press release announcing plans to introduce an ad-supported subscription plan in Canada, following the successful introduction of a similar plan for its American customers.
“The launch of our ad-supported plan demonstrates the importance of providing subscribers with value and choice” said Jason Badal VP & GM Disney+, Canada, in a statement. “We are excited to bring this offering to Canadians and to our advertising partners across the country.”
According to the release, this new tier — dubbed the Standard with Ads plan — will be priced at $7.99 per month, vs. $11.99 for the Standard plan, and $14.99 for Premium.
The new plans will become available in Canada as of Nov. 1.
Series creator Tim Federle peels back the curtain on original-cast cameos, Olivia Rodrigo’s career trajectory, and why this was “the season to go crazy.”
Online sports-betting company Penn Entertainment Inc. sealed a $1.5 billion deal with Walt Disney Co.’s DIS, +1.50%
ESPN to launch ESPN Bet, a branded sportsbook for fans in the U.S., and pivoted away from Barstool Sports on Tuesday, selling the platform back to founder Dave Portnoy.
Penn Entertainment PENN, -0.68%
will rebrand its current sportsbook and relaunch as ESPN Bet in the fall in 16 legalized-betting states where Penn is licensed.
The rebrand — which includes the mobile app, website, and mobile website — sent Penn’s stock soaring 13% in after-hours trading Tuesday. ESPN Bet will benefit from exclusive promotional services across ESPN’s platforms, including access to ESPN talent, the companies said.
Penn will pay ESPN $1.5 billion over 10 years as part of the strategic partnership, and will grant ESPN $500 million of warrants to purchase about 31.8 million Penn common shares, with additional bonus warrants possible.
“Together, we can utilize each other’s strengths to create the type of experience that existing and new bettors will expect from both companies, and we can’t wait to get started,” Penn Entertainment Chief Executive Jay Snowden said in a release.
Penn also said it has divested 100% of its stake in Barstool Sports to Portnoy, allowing the sports media platform “to return to its roots of providing unique and authentic content to its loyal audience without the restrictions associated with a publicly traded, licensed gaming company.”
For Penn, the ESPN partnership represents “a clear step up from Barstool in terms of mass appeal…and minimal regulatory risk,” according to Wells Fargo analyst Daniel Politzer, who said it was a “nearly impossible challenge for a publicly traded, licensed gaming company” to own “a media platform that thrived on viral/provocative content.”
Still, he said in a note to clients that “it’s premature to conclude this is a game change” since past partnerships between online sports-betting companies and media players have come up short of what initial fanfare would’ve suggested.
The news sent rival DraftKings Inc. shares DKNG, +0.25%
sinking about 5% in after-hours trading.
The decline in DraftKings shares comes as they’ve advanced 178% so far in 2023, through Tuesday’s close. Two analysts upgraded DraftKings’ stock just this week.
Bob Iger is like the house mouse who keeps coming back for more. The Disney CEO has been shaking up the Magic Kingdom since2005.
Iger left the CEO role after 15 years on the job in 2020 only to resume the position at the $158 billion company in November 2022. Iger came back to the mouse houseafter the company suffered major losses from its Disney+ streaming serviceunder his successor Bob Chapek, per Reuters. He made several immediate changes, including hiking prices at parks, planning to merge Disney+ and Hulu under one app and laying off more than 7,000 employees across ESPN, Disney parks and other departments.
And he’s not done yet. Although Iger initially agreed to come out of retirement for only two more years, Disney has since extended his contract through 2026, per Reuters.
“There is more to accomplish before this transformative work is complete,” Iger said in a statement.
Iger has most recently made headlines for his comments on the ongoing Writer’s Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA strikes, which are being led by members of the entertainment industry petitioning for fairer wages. In an interview on CNBC’s Squawk Box, Iger said the unions’ demands are “not realistic.”
Keep scrolling for more details about Iger’s Disney career and salary.
How did Bob Iger get to where he is today?
Bob Iger’s career in the business of entertainment began after graduating from Ithaca College in 1974 with a degree in television and radio production. Shortly after graduation, Iger began working at ABC as a “glorified errand boy,” The New York Times wrote.
At the time, he was only making $150 a week, he told Time for the 2023 TIME100 cover shoot. “I had to spend every single cent that I made in order to live,” he said during the interview.
He then worked his way up in the sports division, where he mainly negotiated rights and scheduled programs, including making the daily schedule of events for the 1988 Olympics, per NYT archives. He was promoted to executive vice president of the ABC Television Network Group, but after a year on the job, ABC made him president of entertainment in 1989.
In 1993 he became president of ABC Television Network Group, where he oversaw the broadcast network and the radio and publishing business, according to CNBC. He helped oversee the merger between ABC and Disney when Disney bought the company in 1995. After that, he became chairman of the now-Disney-owned ABC Group and was later named president of Walt Disney International in 1999.
He was made COO of Disney in 2000 and stayed in the role for five years before he took on the role of CEO, which he held from 2005 to 2020.
During his first stint as CEO, Disney acquired Pixar Animation Studios for $7.4 billion in 2006 and later purchased Marvel for around $4 billion in 2009.
He was also behind Disney’s $4.05 billion acquisition of Lucasfilm and the $71 billion deal to buy 20th Century Fox in 2019.
Iger was instrumental in launching the Disney+ streaming service.
Why did Bob Iger leave Disney, and why did he come back?
After 15 years at the helm, Iger announced his retirement in 2020 and handed the reins to Bob Chapek.
“With the successful launch of Disney’s direct-to-consumer businesses and the integration of Twenty-First Century Fox well underway, I believe this is the optimal time to transition to a new CEO,” he said at the time, per CNBC.
Although Iger stepped back from his role as CEO, he remained executive chairman and chairman of the board until December 2021, when he officially retired.
But Chapek’s time at Disney ended more quickly than expected. During his short stint as CEO, Disney struggled to rebound from the Covid-19 pandemic and found itself in a political battle with Florida governor Ron DeSantis over the state’s “don’t say gay” bill.
Disney’s stock fell following disappointing Q4 earnings, prompting Iger’s return as CEO in November 2022.
“I am extremely optimistic for the future of this great company and thrilled to be asked by the board to return as its CEO,” Iger said in a statement at the time.
What is Bob Iger’s Disney salary, and what is his net worth?
Bob Iger has come a long way since his days making $150 a week.
In his previous contract, Iger was entitled to up to $27 million per year in total compensation, according to Reuters. Extending his contract until 2026 entitles him to an incentive bonus of up to five times his base salary.
In 2019, Forbes estimated his net worth to be around $690 million, which was more than it estimated Disney heirs Abigail Disney and Roy E. Disney had to their names at the time. Now, other websites estimate his fortune to be around $350 million.
BURBANK, CA— Threatening legal action against those using its intellectual property without permission, Disney announced Friday that it would begin cracking down on copyright infringement by people who pictured Mickey Mouse while masturbating. “All erotic fantasies featuring Mickey Mouse, whether in his current iteration or as he appears in the classic short Steamboat Willie, must be expressly sanctioned by the Walt Disney Company, otherwise you will face litigation,” said Disney CEO Bob Iger, explaining that pleasuring oneself while envisioning the iconic mouse mascot was reserved for employees of Disney, such as the company’s Imagineers and Iger himself. “If you want to attain climax to the thought of popular cartoon imagery without paying our arousal licensing fee, make it to something in the public domain like Winnie the Pooh or Krazy Kat. You’re free to let loose your most depraved self-cest and insertion fantasies on them. But not with Mickey. He’s ours.” At press time, defense lawyers reportedly responded to Iger’s threats by arguing that laughing while masturbating to the thought of Mickey Mouse was protected under parody law.
It all started with a recent Daily Mail article featuring what the publication said were set photos from the film published under the headline, “EXCLUSIVE: Snow White and the Seven… Politically-Correct Companions? First pictures of new live-action remake of Disney classic shows stand-in princess walking with diverse band of merry men and women after row over using dwarf actors.”
The outlet published shots purportedly captured on Thursday from the movie’s UK set. They show multiple actors, seemingly Snow White’s whimsically named confidants, as different “genders, ethnicities, and heights,” which upset certain corners of the internet. The Snow White in these photos is notably not Zegler of West Side Story and the upcoming Hunger Games prequel, who announced, per Collider, that she had completed filming on the project in July 2022.
A Disney source told VF that while these are not official photos, they are from the production, with stand-ins for some cast members. The Daily Mail told VF it stands by its story.
The Snow White remake is directed by Marc Webb, and costars Gal Gadot as the Evil Queen and Tony winner Andrew Burnap. It will reportedly include songs from the original 1937 film, as well as new ones penned by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, best known for the musicals Dear Evan Hansen, and The Greatest Showman.
Since production on the project was announced, it has weathered controversy. Peter Dinklage previously called the story “fucking backward” for its potential depiction of dwarfism. In a statement to Deadline, a Disney spokesperson replied with the following: “To avoid reinforcing stereotypes from the original animated film, we are taking a different approach with these seven characters and have been consulting with members of the dwarfism community. We look forward to sharing more as the film heads into production after a lengthy development period.”
Zegler herself told Vanity Fair last October: “People are making these jokes about ours being the PC Snow White, where it’s like, yeah, it is—because it needed that. It’s an 85-year-old cartoon, and our version is a refreshing story about a young woman who has a function beyond ‘Someday My Prince Will Come.’”
Disney World’s crowds are getting smaller, signaling that the high entry costs to the theme park as well as competition from other destinations may be taking a toll on attendance, Wall Street Journal reporter Jacob Passy told CBS News.
“We specifically looked at July 4, which over history has always been a fairly peak day for the parks,” Passy said, noting that he looked at data from a company called Touring Plans, which tracks wait times at top amusement parks. “The wait times were significantly lower this year than in previous years.”
Touring Plans’ data showed that July 4 was the third-slowest day in the past year at Disney’s Hollywood Studios theme park in Florida. Meanwhile, wait times at Disney’s Magic Kingdom in the state were an average of 27 minutes on July 4, down from 47 minutes in 2019, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The entertainment giant may be battling a few issues, including parents’ increasing wariness of spending more than $100 per day for a ticket to Disney World. Intense competition from rival destinations, especially as pandemic restrictions have eased across the globe, may also be playing a role, Passy noted.
“Florida was one of the first parts of the country to benefit from one of those post-COVID booms,” he said. “They started getting people much earlier than other destinations, and now they are having to compete with cruise lines and with folks who want to travel to Europe.”
In May, Disney Parks Chairman Josh D’Amaro said at an investor conference that the company expected “to see some moderation in the demand at Walt Disney World.” But he pointed to lower attendance following Disney World’s 50th anniversary celebration, which ended in April 2023.
Disney didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Feud with DeSantis
At the same time, Disney World is embroiled in a fight with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who has orchestrated a takeover of Disney World’s theme park district after the company opposed a state law that critics have dubbed “Don’t Say Gay.” That law restricts teachers from discussing gender identity and topics surrounding sexuality in the classroom.
In late April, Disney sued DeSantis, alleging the governor waged a “targeted campaign of government retaliation” because of its opposition to the law.
But it’s difficult to quantify whether the culture war battles between Disney and DeSantis are scaring away visitors, Passy noted.
“I would say that there are probably some folks that are turned off for various reasons, but I would hesitate to suggest that is the main driver of any trends we are seeing at Disney World right now,” he said.
Last month, as part of his ongoing war against the largest employer in central Florida, governor and presidential candidate Ron DeSantissaid at a town hall, of Disney: “We’ve put this company on a pedestal…in the past it has been like the all-American company. But they’ve really embraced the idea of getting the sexualized content in the programming for the young kids. And that is just a line that I am not willing to cross.” That was obviously a wild, baseless claim to make and, unsurprisingly, the CEO of Walt Disney Co. wasn’t thrilled about it—to say the least.
Speaking to CNBC from Sun Valley, Idaho, on Wednesday, Bob IgertoldDavid Faber, “The notion that Disney is in any way sexualizing our children, quite frankly, is preposterous and inaccurate.”
DeSantis’s comments, and Iger’s response, come as the Florida governor’s feud with the company* approaches the 18th-month mark. As a reminder, that feud began when DeSantis, with the support of Florida’s GOP-controlled legislature, stripped Disney of its special self-governing status last year, in what was seen as as retribution for the company’s decision to speak out against the wildly bigoted “Don’t Say Gay” law. Disney had said the law “could be used to unfairly target gay, lesbian, nonbinary and transgender kids and families.” (Indeed, it has.) This past April, Iger called DeSantis “anti-business” and “anti-Florida.” Later, DeSantis publicly mused about building a prison complex next to the park and raising its taxes. Not long after, the company sued the governor and accused him of waging a “targeted campaign of government retaliation,” adding: “Disney regrets that it has come to this. But having exhausted efforts to seek a resolution, the Company is left with no choice but to file this lawsuit to protect its cast members, guests, and local development partners from a relentless campaign to weaponize government power against Disney in retaliation for expressing a political viewpoint unpopular with certain State officials.”
DeSantis’s fight against Disney is, of course, part of his larger right-wing culture war that he apparently believes will catapult him to the White House. That war has included signing not just the “Don’t Say Gay” law but other anti-LGBTQ+ laws, like one that criminalizes using a bathroom that does not correspond to one’s assigned sex at birth (the crime would be trespassing) and another that prohibits doctors from offering gender-affirming care to minors, even if they have their parents’ permission. (The law out of the “free state of Florida” also gives Florida courts the power to interfere when minors go out of state for treatment.)
*Here we are morally obligated to remind people of the incredible fact that Ron DeSantisand his wife, Casey DeSantis, got married at Disney World. As hewrotein his memoir: “Casey’s family was what one might call a family of Disney enthusiasts. They loved going to Disney World. Being the dutiful groom, I deferred to her.” DeSantis, though, had one requirement: “My only condition was that no Disney characters could be part of our wedding. I wanted our special day to look and feel like a traditional wedding. I didn’t want Mickey Mouse or Donald Duck in our wedding photos.”)
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Anime art styles are always changing. Shows like Astro Boy and Urusei Yatsura drew influence from Western art styles (particularly that of Disney) in the 1960s, 70s and early 80s. Shows in the late 80s to early 2000s were influenced by their predecessors, creating a distinct style that was easily recognised by global audiences as being Japanese anime. Modern anime, as we currently know it, is likewise heavily influenced by the previous iterations of the medium.
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Across the decades of change that anime as an industry and artform has witnessed, it is surprising how few things have remained the same. The tropes survive, of course, but certain sensibilities come and go. My all-time favourite, a joke that endures even today, is that of the Noodle Arm. Noodle Arms go by many names. Wavy Arms. Wiggly Arms. Worm Arms. The nomenclature is very broad. Noodle Arms also come in a variety of styles. Beyond being an enjoyable sight gag, this manner of drawing a character’s arms is far deeper and more varied than you might think.
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Don’t Toy With Me, Miss Nagatoro
Screenshot: Telecom Animation Film
The Noodle Arm only really re-entered the anime canon recently, in the series Don’t Toy with Me, Miss Nagatoro. Both seasons of the show frequently depict its main antagonist, Nagatoro, waving her Noodle Arms around. This would most commonly occur when she was teasing her senpai (which, admittedly, makes up a large percentage of the show). Nagatoro’s arms are the most standard variety of Noodle Arm. They’re the shape of a noodle, with no joints, hands or fingers. She often uses them to touch, hit or slap her senpai for comedic effect. Nagatoro’s Noodle Arms are also often used to express when she has high energy, is feeling curious, or is trying to be cute or annoying on purpose.
The Great Jahy Will Not Be Defeated!
Screenshot: SILVER LINK
Another instance of the modern Noodle Arm can be found in The Great Jahy Will Not Be Defeated!, a series about a denizen of the Dark Realm that has been banished to Earth. Jahy shares similar features and traits with Nagatoro, but her Noodle Arms are less frequent. Jahy’s Noodle Arms signal overwhelming emotion (usually happiness) and often communicate her reverting to her child-like form.
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
Screenshot: Bones
Alphonse Elric in Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood also has scenes where his noodly appendages have been exposed (not like that). Unlike the other Noodle Arm characters, Alphonse still has fingers on the end of his arms, despite having no joints or hands. These Noodle Arms are also used to express Alphonse’s emotional immaturity and childish nature, and their greater overall detail sets them apart from their contemporaries.
Noodle Arm Variants
Wavy Arms And Worm Arms
Cowboy Bebop
Screenshot: Sunrise
Noodle Arm variants have existed in anime for years. One of the most well-known examples of this is characterised by Ed from Cowboy Bebop. She’s a hacker genius with a tendency to flail her arms and legs about while focusing (usually while hacking) or having fun. The difference between the traditional Noodle Arm and the more detailed Wavy Arm is primarily a consequence of the art style and animation. While the Noodle Arm lacks detail, the Wavy Arm is often found in more realistic shows depicting a character being deliberately silly. They retain the details of joints, hands and fingers, often adding them into the animation of the arm to increase the comedic value.
Bungou Stray Dogs
Screenshot: Bones
Wavy Arms can also be referred to as Worm Arms, as their thickness, length, and animation often resemble that of worms. Dazai in Bungou Stray Dogs often gets Worm Arms when he’s behaving playfully or pretending he doesn’t know what’s going on around him. The difference between Dazai’s Worm Arms and other characters’ arm variations is that Dazai’s have a pointed tip in place of his hands, but they still have the Wavy Arm length and animation.
Azumanga Daioh
Screenshot: J.C.Staff
While Chiyo Chichi has naturally occurring Worm Arms (meaning they always look the same and are not the result of a change in art style), his arms are so distinct that they needed to be included. His long, thin arms are rounded at the ends with no joints, hands or fingers. The fact that these are his natural arms is a gift to weebs around the globe. You don’t need to search for Chiyo Chichi’s Worm Arm scenes because he just always has them.
Fin Arms
Azumanga Daioh (Again)
Screenshot: J.C.Staff
While Chiyo herself doesn’t have Worm Arms, she does occasionally have a variant called Fin Arms. The Fin Arm gets its name from looking like the fin of a shark or dolphin. The Fin Arm is usually a short and stumpy triangle shape that lacks joints, hands and fingers. In some anime, the Fin Arm can also be long and thin and feature an elbow joint, but it rarely wiggles as much as the Noodle or Worm Arm. The stiffness of the Fin Arm helps to express an adorable helplessness in characters that are in a less-than-ideal situation, but it is almost always comedic.
The Case Study Of Vanitas
Screenshot: Bones
Noe is famous in The Case Study of Vanitas for his Fin Arms, thanks to the fact that he almost never knows what’s going on. He will often be drawn with Fin Arms to add to his cute demeanor and air of complete disengagement, despite being a tall and powerful vampire.
Urusei Yatsura
Screenshot: David Production
Fin Arms are also used to show that a character is a baby, like Ten in Urusei Yatsura. The difference with Fin Arms on baby characters is that they also often have small hands and/or fingers on the end to show that it’s less of a state of character expression, and more that the character is actually just a baby. Despite this, it still counts as being a Fin Arm thanks to the lack of mobility of the appendage.
For anime and manga artists, the Noodle Arm is an excellent way to express a character’s thoughts, feelings and intended behaviour. While it’s often used in chibi art styles, when it’s inserted into media that would traditionally use a fully-drawn out arm or hand, it adds humour and a sense of lightheartedness that rarely goes astray.
It’s rare for someone to not enjoy a human, animal or creature with arms that wiggle or are stumpy in some kind of cute and funny way. It extends to games too. Even the slug race in Faster Than Light is blessed with Worm Arms and we wouldn’t have it any other way.
Disney has finally released a full trailer for the long-awaited Ahsoka. The new Star Wars series is premiering on Aug. 23 with a special 2-episode debut. The rest will likely be released on a week-to-week basis.
Unfortunately, the official synopsis from Disney doesn’t really tell us too much about the plot. That being said, it takes place well after the Clone Wars and even the fall of the Galactic Empire. Ahsoka is one of the few people willing to try to prevent the rise of Thrawn.
The official Disney synopsis is as follows:
Set after the fall of the Empire, Star Wars: Ahsoka follows the former Jedi Knight Ahsoka Tano as she investigates an emerging threat to a vulnerable galaxy.
Ahsoka stars Rosario Dawson, Natasha Liu Bordizzo, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Ray Stevenson, Ivanna Sakhno, Diana Lee Inosanto, David Tennant, Lars Mikkelsen and Eman Esfandi. The episodes are directed by Dave Filoni, Steph Green, Peter Ramsey, Jennifer Getzinger, Geeta Vasant Patel and Rick Famuyiwa. Dave Filoni is the head writer and executive produces along with Jon Favreau, Kathleen Kennedy, Colin Wilson and Carrie Beck. Karen Gilchrist serves as co-executive producer.
In addition to the trailer, there’s also a short featurette that explores the path Rosario Dawson took to get to her role as Ahsoka Tano. What started as just a petition on the internet actually turned into a major Star Wars role.
The higher-ups must have taken notice of what the fans wanted and agreed that it was a good choice. From there, they brought her on board and gave her the role of a lifetime.
You can watch the trailer below:
You can watch the featurette here:
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Negotiators for the SAG-AFTRA actors union agreed late Tuesday to call in a federal mediator to try to forge a last-minute agreement with Hollywood studios and avoid a second simultaneous strike in the entertainment business.
The 160,000 members of SAG-AFTRA, Hollywood’s largest union, have authorized a strike if a new labor deal cannot be reached before midnight on Wednesday. The Writers Guild of America has been on strike since early May.
In a statement late on Tuesday, SAG-AFTRA said it was sticking with the Wednesday deadline and would “exhaust every possible opportunity to make a deal.”
“However we are not confident that the employers have any intention of bargaining toward an agreement,” the statement said.
SAG-AFTRA is demanding higher compensation in the streaming TV era plus safeguards around the use of artificial intelligence (AI). A-list stars including Jennifer Lawrence and Meryl Streep have said they are ready to walk off the job if union leaders cannot reach a “transformative deal.”
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On Tuesday, SAG-AFTRA said the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), the group that negotiates on behalf of studios, “has abused our trust and damaged the respect we have for them in this process.”
The union said studio sources had leaked the request for a mediator to the press before SAG-AFTRA negotiators were informed.
“We will not be manipulated by this cynical ploy to engineer an extension when the companies have had more than enough time to make a fair deal,” the union said.
A spokesman for the AMPTP, which represents Walt Disney Co , Netflix Inc and other major studios, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Negotiations were taking place at a difficult time for media companies that are under pressure from Wall Street to make their streaming businesses profitable.
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Disney, Comcast Corp’s NBCUniversal and Paramount Global each lost hundreds of millions of dollars from streaming in the most recent quarter. The rise of streaming has also eroded television ad revenue as traditional TV audiences shrink.
Traveling during the summer season and Fourth of July weekend can be a nightmare if you hate crowds. However, this year, one unlikely tourist spot was an exceptionally empty oasis: Disney World.
The Orlando theme park had its third-slowest day over the past year, with wait times for Magic Kingdom on July 4 being 31 minutes down from 2022, and 47 minutes down from 2019, according to Touring Plans data per the Wall Street Journal.
The summer slowdown could be attributed to many factors, experts say, including the scouring Florida summer heat and Disney’s recent price hikes, both of which may have deterred would-be visitors.
“People might be a little bit fatigued with price increases based on the economy at the moment,” Stephanie Oprea, senior planner and director of marketing for Pixie Travel, told the WSJ. Opera added that many of her clients have recently opted for cruises or beach getaways as opposed to Disney, based on the price hikes.
Over the last two years, Disney has raised prices on nearly everything — including food, passes, and merchandise. The company referred to the approach as “yield management,” wherein it focuses less on the number of guests who visit and more on how much each visitor spends during their trip, according to a report by the WSJin September.
Needless to say, many long-time fans were irked by the price increases, at least two of which filed lawsuits against the company for deceptive business practices.
Noticing that the yield management approach may have backfired, Disney CEO Bob Iger admitted in March that the company may have been “too aggressive” in its pricing strategy.
“In our zeal to grow profits, we may have been a little bit too aggressive about some of our pricing,” Iger said at the time. “I think there’s a way to continue to grow that business, but be smarter about how we price so that we maintain that brand value of accessibility.”
Bob Iger, Disney CEO, acknowledged that the company’s pricing was “too aggressive.” Gisela Schober | Getty Images
Now, Disney is backpedaling on its pricing strategy.
The company has been rolling out discounts and promotions to attract more visitors, including savings of up to 40% for annual pass holders on rooms at certain Disney World hotels during historically busy times like Christmas, the WSJ noted. The company also announced it will bring back prepay dining plans, a program that was suspended in 2020.
Some Disney experts are betting on the discounts lasting for some time, with the possibility of even bigger savings next year.
“If I were going to Disney World, I would probably hold off until 2024,” A.J. Wolfe, who runs the Disney Food Blog, a website dedicated to the company’s theme parks, told the outlet.
The $2 billion The Sphere Las Vegas is an immersive performance venue with 17,385-seats, 168,000 speakers, and U2 tour tickets currently on sale. The 160,000 square foot LED screen that makes up its domed exoskeleton is capable of projecting eyeballs, Earth, and portals to nowhere, so it also looks like a great place to battle demons in a video game.
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The Sphere, which sits near the Las Vegas Strip at The Venetian Resort, utilizes “360 audio environments” and 4D effects like fog, “super-heated steam and compressed air” to transmit smells, and wind that can achieve 140 mph blasts. What a relaxing environment to, say, play a round of Blitzball in Final Fantasy X, or to inflict intercosmic hell in Destiny 2. I bet both of those things would require 45 mph wind gusts and smell like Cheetos.
When looking at the colossal blob that is The Sphere Las Vegas, other gamers saw a potential gasping Pac-Man, a Star WarsDeath Star, and ample space to advertise Disney’s 2003 massively multiplayer online role-playing game Toontown Online’sinstructions for healing (finally). With help from The Sphere, Las Vegas could discover that, to speedily replenish health, all you have to do is “play with your Doodle.”
I personally think it looks like Elden Ring’s aggressive Silver Sphere enemies, or the orange Bloodborne moon that descends along with its (at one point) secret final boss, the Moon Presence. The Sphere could also easily pass for Nintendo’s Kirby after he sucks air into his belly and turns into a flesh-pink balloon, or for one of Soulcalibur fortune teller Viola’s crystal ball weapons. It also looks like a huge waste of $2 billion.
