The Walt Disney Company has encountered major roadblocks on its 100th anniversary, mainly of its own making as it pivoted toward wokeism.
The entertainment giant's issues began when its incumbent CEO Bob Iger returned, following the departure of his predecessor Bob Chapek. Incidentally, Iger headed Disney prior to Chapek taking over.
According to Iger, he has been "fixing a lot of problems that the company has had and dealing with a lot of challenges." He also blamed Chapek on some of those issues.
Upon his return, Iger slashed more than 8,000 jobs, mostly in the company's media divisions. Variety reported that Disney recorded severance-related charges of $357 million for the 2023 fiscal year that ended on Sept. 30.
"I knew that there were myriad challenges that I would face coming back," Iger told employees during a company town hall meeting in November. "I won't say it was easy, but I never second-guessed the decision to come back. And being back still feels great."
Aside from the layoffs, Disney saw a downturn in profits from the movies it released at the box office. "The Marvels" – which starred Brie Larson, Teyonah Parris and Iman Vellani – garnered a measly $84 million in the domestic market as of writing. "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania," which starred now-convicted Jonathan Majors as Kang the Conqueror, grossed $214 million.
Other domestic box-office flops from the House of Mouse include:
- "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny" ($174 million)
- "Elemental" ($154 million)
- "Haunted Mansion" ($67 million)
- "Wish" ($54 million)
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Even the company's Disney+ streaming platform had a rough year in 2023. Disney took a total of $2.58 billion in content-impairment charges, including for dozens of titles it removed from streaming services to reduce costs. Included in the axed titles are "Willow," "The Mysterious Benedict Society" and "The One and Only Ivan."
The removal of titles from Disney+ came after Iger told investors that the company would raise the prices of ad-free subscriptions this year. According to the CEO, the price hike sought "to better reflect the value of our content offerings.
As of Oct. 12, the price of the ad-free Disney+ Premium subscription increased from $10.99 to $13.99 monthly for U.S. customers – a 27 percent hike. Meanwhile, the ad-supported Disney+ Standard subscription remained at $7.99 per month.
House of Mouse butts heads with DeSantis
The woke entertainment giant's clash with Republican presidential candidate and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis made headlines after the company challenged the state's Parental Rights in Education Act (PREA)
Under Chapek, Disney expressed opposition to the then-bill last year. PREA regulates classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity and allows parents to sue school districts over alleged violations. According to DeSantis, the company wanted to "inject gender ideology" into Florida schools. (Related: Byline Anew: Luis Ruiz slams Disney, lauds Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for standing up against the TRANS agenda – Brighteon.TV.)
In April, Disney sued DeSantis in federal court. It argued that the governor illegally seized control over the Reedy Creek Improvement District in the Orlando area, which encompasses the company's Disney World theme park. Disney has also accused DeSantis and his allies of violating its First Amendment rights with "a targeted campaign of government retaliation."
"It seems like he's decided to retaliate against us," Iger said of DeSantis at the time, during Disney's annual shareholders meeting. The Disney CEO also called the Florida governor's clash with the company an attempt "to punish a company for its exercise of a constitutional right."
Meanwhile, the governor responded that some of his fellow Republicans backing Disney "are showing themselves to be corporatists." DeSantis continued that "nobody made Disney more money than [him]" because the Sunshine State allowed theme parks to reopen during the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. In contrast, California – where the Disneyland theme park is located – kept such parks closed for much longer.
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