The Walt Disney Company is one of the most successful entertainment industries in modern times. Its various subsidiaries have produced some of the most beloved and highest grossing films of all time; not to mention iconic characters and popular theme parks.
One of the main reasons that Disney has had so much success is their innovation. From Walt Disney himself, who created the very first animated feature-length film, to present days, with the use of advanced technologies such as Stagecraft and computer graphic imaging, Disney always appears to be one step ahead of other entertainment juggernauts. While their technology is always ahead of its time, one area that many agree Disney has struggled to keep up with is diversity.
This does not simply mean the inclusion of actors and actresses of color, but also how their characters are portrayed. In September of 2020, for instance, John Boyega, who played Finn in the sequel trilogy of the Star Wars franchise, came forward to discuss how, according to an article written for GQ magazine, he was “‘the only cast member whose experience of Star Wars was based on their race.’”
Many fans were disappointed to see Finn, who had been heavily promoted as a main character before the release of The Force Awakens, was actually relegated to a lesser position to allow more focus on the stories of two white characters, Rey and Kylo Ren.
However, on December 10, 2020, Disney had its Investors Day Meeting, webcasted for all to see. Bob Iger, former CEO and current Executive Chairman of the Walt Disney Company, made a point of expressing Disney’s commitment to diversity.
“We are redoubling our efforts to create rich, diverse content that best represents the world we live in and the consumers we’re making that content for,” Iger said.
He added that “It is very important to us that when people watch our shows and movies, they see themselves and their experiences reflected in our stories.”
In total, fifty-one projects were announced for the coming years from Disney’s Animation Studios, Pixar Studios, Lucasfilm, and Marvel Studios. Of those projects, about twenty promise to include a diverse cast or incorporate themes from the cultures of people of color. So what is Disney and its many subsidiaries cooking up?
Two series that are scheduled to be released on Disney’s streaming service, Disney+, are Iwájú and Star Wars: Visions, from Disney Animation and Lucasfilm respectively. Iwájú is an animated series that Disney Animation will collaborate on with a Pan-African studio called Kugali. Kugali was founded by three comic book artists, Tolu Olowofoyeku, Ziki Nelson, and Hamid Ibrahim, who, according to Jennifer Lee, the Chief Creative Officer of the Disney Animation studios, want “to bring African stories by African artists to the world, through comics and animation, highlighting the diversity of cultures, history, and voices across the continent.”
Star Wars: Visions will also see the collaboration of Lucasfilm with foreign studios, namely, anime creators. In the words of Kathleen Kennedy, the President of Lucasfilm, “This anthology collection will bring ten fantastic visions from several of the leading Japanese anime studios, offering a fresh and diverse cultural perspective to Star Wars.”
This project seems to blend the culture of anime with the classic Star Wars stories, which will surely be a fascinating endeavor from its development to its release. Other projects promise to incorporate the cultures of various regions. From Disney Animation is its next feature film, Raya and the Last Dragon. Raya and the Last Dragon was set to be released in November of 2020, but was pushed back because of the pandemic.
This film is set in the South Asian-inspired kingdom of Kumandra and will feature the talents of Kelly Marie Tran and Awkwafina. Its leading lady, Raya, will be the first South-Asian Disney heroine.
From Pixar Studios is the animated feature Turning Red. This film will be released in the Spring of 2022, and tells the story of Mei Lee, an adolescent girl dealing with her teenage years. But there’s a catch; whenever she gets too excited, she turns into a red panda.
How and why this happens has yet to be revealed, but there has already been some backlash.
Many believe that Disney has a bad habit of turning characters of color into animals or other sentient, non-human, beings. In The Princess and the Frog, African-American Tiana spent most of the movie as a frog. In Pixar’s most recent movie, Soul, the main character Joe Gardener, also black, spends time out of his own body.
While Turning Red is certainly an interesting concept, some wonder if this is Disney trying to claim diversity points with an Asian heroine without giving her actual screen time in her human form.
Marvel Studios might take the prize for greatest number of projects on the horizon. Because of the pandemic, the studio was un- able to release any content during 2020, delaying the continuation of the Marvel Cinematic Universe with Phase 4, which would follow the climactic events of Avengers: Endgame. In 2021 alone, they have nine projects.
Phase 4 promises to introduce many new characters into the cinematic universe, some of which are people of color and have been so since their introduction in the comics. Ms. Marvel, for instance, is a Pakistan-American teenage girl, and is set to appear in her own series on Disney+ and will be portrayed by Iman Vellani.
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is one of the films slated for a 2021 theatrical release, and will star a predominantly Asian cast, including Simu Lui in the title role.
Just as Bob Iger said, it is so important for people to see themselves reflected on the big screen.
Perhaps one of the best parts of going to a movie, or in consuming any type of media, is to see yourself in the main characters, and really be able to identify with them. Disney certainly has their work cut out for them in creating content that is inclusive for all people.
Photo by Emma Crouch
