In a February post, Disney confirmed it pulled Tinker Bell from the Meet & Greet at the Walt Disney Resort at Town Square Theater at the front of Magic Kingdom. In the below tweet:
“Tinkerbell (sic), unfortunately, has become a problematic image for our guests; specifically young girls. Specifically, in terms of the portrayal of an unrealistic body image as well as dependency of approval and/or attention from Peter Pan, as seen in previous incarnations of the character. We feel these traits are no longer representative of our inclusive focused values and thus, are currently in process of redesigning an updated Tinkerbell (sic) for modern audiences.”
The news was unknown until Inside the Magic wrote about it this week.
Disney panelist Jonathan wrote:
At present, Tinker Bell does not hold a “meet and greet” opportunity at the Walt Disney World Resort. Of course, she does make her evening flight over Magic Kingdom Park at the end of the Happily Ever After nighttime fireworks show! During our recent visit, my family had an amazing view of “Tink” from just outside the Plaza Restaurant! Another way to see Tinker Bell “live” is during the Festival of Fantasy Parade! The parade takes place daily at Magic Kingdom Park! Please keep in mind that character appearances are subject to change.You can also see “Tink” in other forms on the Peter Pan’s Flight attraction and in Mickey’s PhiharMagic! Both are in Magic Kingdom Park! Of course, Tinker Bell has her own “Fab 50” statue in Magic Kingdom Park as well! You might need to ask a Cast Member to point out her statue location as it can be one of the more challenging statues to find!
Elaine from Seinfeld would like Jonathan because he loves the exclamation point. Sheesh.
You can still meet her at Disneyland in California.
Anyway, Disney has been “fixing” supposed “problematic” issues with its characters and movies with its “Stories Matters” initiative in 2019:
The Stories Matter team privately flagged other characters as potentially problematic, with the findings distributed to senior Disney leaders, according to two current Disney executives, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss confidential information.
In 2022, The New York Times mentioned Disney marked Tinker Bell “because she is ‘body conscious’ and jealous of Peter Pan’s attention.”
The team also flagged Captain Hook because Disney could face “accusations of discrimination or prejudice against individuals with disabilities because he is a villain.”
The film portrays Native people in a stereotypical manner that reflects neither the diversity of Native peoples nor their authentic cultural traditions. It shows them speaking in an unintelligible language and repeatedly refers to them as “redskins,” an offensive term. Peter and the Lost Boys engage in dancing, wearing headdresses and other exaggerated tropes, a form of mockery and appropriation of Native peoples’ culture and imagery.
In February 2023, Disney bowed to China by removing an episode of The Simpsons in Hong Kong due to a remark about “forced labor camps where children make smartphones.”
Disney+ is unavailable in China since the “law forbids foreign streaming services.”
In November 2021, Disney+ removed the sixth episode of The Simpsons’ 16th season because it referenced Tiananmen Square.
The family visited China, including Tiananmen Square. The square at the site repeats China’s talking point about the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre.
It also has a line of tanks with one of Marge’s sisters in front of them, referring to the infamous tank man.
Proud Family: Louder and Prouder, a reboot of Proud Family, depicts America as a racist country:
In the cartoon, that last line was punctuated by four black students glaring while the only white student on the stage with them held a sign that read “still has not atoned for.”“Slaves built this country,” they shouted again, claiming, “We made your families rich,” as they listed plantation owners, northern bankers, New England ship-owners, the Founding Fathers, and current senators among those who had profited on the backs of slaves.The cartoon even included the debunked “Hands up, don’t shoot” claim that originated after the Michael Brown shooting in Ferguson, Missouri.
After George Floyd’s death, outraged people demanded Disney close Splash Mountain since The Song of the South inspired the ride.
They petitioned the theme park to redo the ride around Princess Tiana from The Princess and the Frog.
Tiana’s Bayou Adventure will open this year.
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