There’s never a dull moment for Disney. When the multi-billion dollar company isn’t battling Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, it gets hit with an onslaught of criticism for its newest wave of live-action adaptations.
Right now, attempts to bring Lilo & Stitch into life-size technicolor are going about as smoothly as a chunder — that is, an unsurfable wave. Late last week, casting announcements began rolling out for the film, followed by more this week. Unfortunately, all of them were met with poor reception, even the addition of Cobra Bubbles who was presumably thought to be axed from the movie.
Over on the other side of the country, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is still going toe-to-toe with Disney, a dance the two have tangoed since the entertainment behemoth came out against the state’s loosely termed “Don’t Say Gay” bill last year, which prohibits elementary school teachers from teaching or discussing anything pertaining to sexual orientation or gender identity.
In response to DeSantis’ continued efforts to thwart Disney, the House of Mouse has metaphorically flipped him the bird by hosting a gay rights summit, introduced a crafty King Charles III clause to prevent him from financially taking control, and launched the first-ever Pride Nite at its California theme park just to show DeSantis how little it cares for his anti-LGBTQ antics. All that to say, DeSantis is not happy.
First accusations of whitewashing, now the wrong Cobra Bubbles — can the live-action Lilo & Stitch ever get it right?
Look, Disney doesn’t have the best track record when it comes to live-action adaptations, so naturally fans are going to be wary of trying to do a Lilo & Stitch version. The cause was lost before it even began, really.
Doing nothing to help its case, Disney announced last week the addition of actors Sydney Elizabeth Agudong and Kahiau Machado to play Lilo’s older sister Nani and her attractive boyfriend David Kawena. Within seconds, the company was hit with a wave of whitewashing accusations after fans pointed out that both Hawaiian actors had skin tones that were much paler than their animated counterparts.
To make matters worse, it was rumored that the fan-favorite character Cobra Bubbles had been axed from the movie. Although that turned out to be false — Courtney B. Vance has ultimately been cast for the part — fans are still displeased. In the original movie, Ving Rhames expertly voiced the character, so the big gripe now is… why not just bring him back?
An angry Ron DeSantis promises big changes for Walt Disney World thanks to that sly King Charles III clause
Who needs Marvel when Ron DeSantis can assemble his own Avengers?
Sensing a state takeover, a couple of weeks ago Disney quietly pushed through a clause — now referred to by many as the King Charles III clause — that would render DeSantis’ hand-picked board overseeing Disney World’s government service essentially powerless. They ensured the longevity of this powerlessness by stating it is valid until “21 years after the death of the last survivor of the descendants of King Charles III, king of England living as of the date of this declaration.”
Furious, DeSantis got rid of the old board members and elected new, hand-picked ones. The board is now called the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District and they met for the first time yesterday. Let’s just say that DeSantis is doing everything in his power to make life a living nightmare for the House of Mouse.
In addition to proposing changes to the theme park’s COVID-19 protocols, the board has proposed a substantial zoning change, has expressed interest in raising revenue, and has hired lawyers to try and reverse Disney’s move to strip them of power. The reason for raising revenue, the board says, is “because of the expenses that we are having to incur to deal with these illegal agreements.”
At the moment, these changes have only been proposed. Nothing has been made final (yet), but it’s clear DeSantis and Co. will stop at nothing to get Disney back for publicly embarrassing them. Now, the only question is how Disney will respond to these recent propositions.
The Disney World Annual Pass is back, and here’s how you can get it
There’s a reason Disney World is Florida’s largest employer. Over 58 million people visit the theme park annually, and now those 58 million people will once again have the ability to purchase an annual pass.
After halting all sales on annual passes in 2021, Disney sprinkled a bit of magic over the grim news plaguing the company in the wake of the whole Disney-DeSantis debacle. The company will once more resume sales for its coveted annual passes. Here’s how you can get your hands on one.
Prices range from $1,399 for the top-tier Disney Incredi-Pass, which is accessible to everyone and has zero blackout days, all the way to $399 for the Disney Pixie Pass, which is only available to Florida residents and is restricted to weekdays and includes several blackout days.
Stay tuned for a fresh batch of Disney news coming your way tomorrow.