What Disney Used to Be
It is with a very heavy heart that I implore all Catholics and Christians to dump Disney and all of its affiliate organizations. Like many of you, I have wonderful and nostalgic memories as a child of watching the Wonderful World of Disney each Sunday night. As a youngster and an adult, I have vacationed in both Florida and California and have visited on numerous occasions the various Disney theme parks – The Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Animal Kingdom, and California Adventure. I have vivid memory of my eight-year-old self proudly wearing my mickey Mouse Club ears as we rode the last tram to our car at midnight one sticky summer evening in Orlando. I even once went to Disney Paris while on a European business trip with my husband and then 3-year-old daughter.
Speaking of our daughter, she also grew up watching and loving many of the classic Disney movies like 101 Dalmatians, Mary Poppins, Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty. When the Broadway versions of the Beauty and the Beast and the Lion King came to town, we purchased tickets to the show. We used to go to the Disney store at our local mall just to try to relive some of the “magic” we always experienced on our many trips to Disney properties. We both still have many of the souvenirs we purchased – a small glass slipper, colorful figurines, and dated Christmas ornaments which helped us reminisce the fun we shared each time we pulled them out. We know almost all of the songs by heart and have on occasion been known to quote a funny line or two from the movies.
To say I have been a Disney aficionado is an understatement. My relationship with Disney was based on my admiration of the product they used to sell – wholesome family entertainment. From Main Street USA, to Liberty Square, to Frontierland, the Disney’s Magic Kingdom celebrated not only the founding of our country and the brave pioneers that built it, but all that was good and honorable about the American experience. It was a place of patriotism, history, curiosity, good clean fun and most of all happy endings. Young and old alike delighted in this milieu and through Disney we were able put the cares of the real world on hold for just a little while.
Disney Is No longer Producing Wholesome Entertainment
But all this has changed now that Disney has decided to go woke – and not just a little woke, but full-on radical leftist woke. I suppose if we were being honest, we did begin to see some of this warped ideology slowly creeping into the theme parks, recent movies and their television shows. But like most people, we gave Disney a pass retreating instead into our past memories of wholesome entertainment and choosing not to see what was clearly before our eyes as the proverbial slippery slope turned into an all-out avalanche. Little by little Disney changed from solid family affirming entertainment, to throwing in a few cloaked references here and there, to an overt and total indoctrination of the LGBTQ agenda.
Disney executives on a leaked Zoom call entitled “Reimagine Tomorrow” recently admitted that they plan on “adding queerness” to fifty percent of the children’s programming. Pixar’s next full feature film called Lightyear is to include a character who has a lesbian relationship and there will be a same sex kiss. The company has also openly opposed the new law in Florida which prohibits the grooming of small children aged 5-8. The legislation called the Parental Rights in Education Bill prohibits radical sexual and gender identity classroom discussions and materials from being presented in kindergarten to grade three classrooms. To normal people this seems like a no-brainer. Why would a teacher of little children (or older children) ever bring up such topics as sexual preferences and gender as they are clearly not appropriate? The teacher wouldn’t, unless of course there was a devious plan to groom and indoctrinate innocent children into a perverted lifestyle.
In most states, teachers and other adults who work with children are Mandated Reporters meaning that they are required by the law to report to child services any form of abuse on their watch, including sexual grooming. According to RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network), “Abusers may also show the victim pornography or discuss sexual topics [emphasis added] with them, to introduce the idea of sexual contact.” The new Florida bill was written and passed to protect children from possible sexual abuse and the fact that Disney is actively fighting this legislation is highly troubling.
In their own statement the Walt Disney Company stated, “Our goal as a company is for this law to be repealed by the legislature or struck down in the courts, and we remain committed to supporting the national and state organizations working to achieve that.” Unbelievably, this is from a company that has a legacy of marketing and creating programming for children. Disney is no longer what we thought they were, or trying to hide what they now represent.
So where does this leave those of us who have loved Disney through multiple generations and have financially supported this company for decades? Catholics and Christians have no choice. You must dump Disney and that goes for all of their affiliate organizations as well including: ESPN, ABC, A&E, Lifetime, FX, Marvel, Lucas Films (Star Wars) ABC, 21st Century Fox, National Geographic, and the History Channel. Cancel these cable stations and your Disney+ accounts. Parents and grandparents also need to stop purchasing Disney clothes and toys for their kids and grandkids.
We are at a precipice in our culture and continuing to financially support a corporation that promises to radicalize young children into a sinful lifestyle and take away their innocence is a bridge too far. If you find this difficult to do, you must make a sacrifice to save children from the onslaught of radical forces that are openly targeting them. There is no rationalization that will work (I’ll just keep Disney+ as they have some good things) or a half-way effort (I’ll just watch ESPN but nothing else) that will be acceptable. Let go of your nostalgia for what once was and commit to setting your emotions aside to see this situation for what it really is. We must stop paying for the destruction of our Christian values and Disney is now front and center in this culture war.
The current Disney programming is truly mediocre at best (I’ll provide a review on a new Disney movie called Turning Red in a future post) so you and your children really won’t be missing all that much. These last few years have been extremely eye opening. We know now it is time to change the entertainment we choose to view, like professional sports, movies, and concerts. Instead fill your time with Godly pursuits that lift up the human person instead of tearing it down into the gutter where all the demons lay.
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