Is Disney Doing Enough for Inclusion?
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A few weeks ago, Anthony Mackie, known for his role as The Falcon in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, asserted that the MCU needs more diversity behind the camera in his Variety’s Actors on Actors interview with Daveed Diggs. The entire time that he has worked with Marvel, there has been one Black producer, Nate Moore. However, Mackie pointed out, “when you do Black Panther, you have a Black director, Black producer, a Black costume designer, a Black stunt choreographer. And I’m like, that’s more racist than anything else. Because if you only can hire the Black people for the Black movie, are you saying they’re not good enough when you have a mostly white cast?” Though it is spectacular that many Black people received the opportunity to work on such a successful film like Black Panther, Mackie makes an interesting point. One should question why Disney and/or Marvel have never hired these artists and creators. Will they make it a point to hire them in the future?
The lack of diversity at Disney isn’t new. According to a report conducted by USC Annenberg Media, Diversity and Social Change Initiative, “Disney did not distribute a single movie by a Black director in the last decade that appeared in our sample of 1,000 top films.” Looking at films made from 2007 to 2016, the report presented how out of the 101 Walt Disney Studios films distributed, 5 of those were directed by women and 4 were Asian directed. Even in a new USC Annenberg report for films from 2007 to 2019, out of the 164 directors Walt Disney Studios hired, only 10 were from underrepresented groups. That’s quite a small difference in three years.
Walt Disney Pictures is in the top 10 highest-grossing film production companies. In a survey conducted by Ampere Analysis, research found that 18-24 year-olds and households with children were most likely to subscribe to Disney+. Therefore, as one of the powerhouses of entertainment, the company has a responsibility to act as a role model and present an accurate depiction of the world.
In the same Actors on Actors interview, Mackie continued that Disney should work toward diversity, “because it starts to build a new generation of people who can put something on their résumé to get them other jobs. If we’ve got to divvy out as a percentage, divvy it out. And that’s something as leading men that we can go in and push for.” Therefore, that the company should at least set a goal for how many people of color they have on the film crew. Eventually, those crew members of color will have their talent recognized and have higher chances of working on bigger and more projects. It starts with the studio practicing mindfulness and consciously seeking out POC for the job.
Even Anthony and Joe Russo, directors of Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, supported Mackie’s statements. Joe Russo, specifically, stated, “I think we can always all do better at diversity constantly in this business in every facet of every industry, so he’s not wrong at all. So, I think that we all have to work harder to keep endorsing and supporting diversity on both sides of the camera.” Perhaps, if more cast and crew members from Disney Studios support the want for change, then it could actually happen.
For example, Splash Mountain, the famous log ride found at various Disney amusement parks, will also be getting some renovations. The ride’s original design took inspiration from 1946 film Song of the South, a post-Civil War era film set in the south, pervaded with racially problematic stereotypes. However, due to petitioning from Disney fans, Disney has agreed to change Splash Mountain. The ride will now focus on Disney’s 2009 animated film, The Princess and the Frog, which features the first black princess, Tiana. One can get so distracted by the animatronics and catchy tunes during Splash Mountain, that some may not even know that it has a controversial history.
Along with honoring the first Black princess, Disney Pixar’s newest animation film Soul has its first Black protagonist, Joe Gardner. Joe (Jamie Foxx) is a music teacher with a passion to be a jazz musician. But, just as he gets the chance to achieve his dream, an accident causes his soul to separate itself from his body. From there, Joe learns more in depth about souls, personalities, and how they develop. You can watch the official trailer below.
The film stars a large Black cast (Jamie Foxx, Daveed Diggs, Angela Bassett, and more) with playwright Kemp Powers as co-director. Apparently, in the development of the film, Pixar carried out an “internal culture test”. In an interview with Variety, producer Dana Murray explained what exactly that meant. She elaborated, “It’s [done with] employees at Pixar who are African American. We pulled them together to be a part of our process. They were helping us with the characters and their stories, just making sure that they were authentic.”
Back in 2011, Disney took a similar approach in the making of Pixar’s Coco. To honorably capture Mexican culture and Día de los Muertos, director Lee Unkrich and other team members went to Mexico, and recorded his experiences with people and places to better encapsulate the environment and culture when he put it on screen. However, understanding that as a white male he has no relations with this other country and its culture, Unkrich released his grip on the reigns of the project. He worked with playwrights, cartoonists, “Latino cultural consultants”, and others to share ideas about how to approach the film. Eventually, Coco’s Mexican-American screenwriter Adrian Molina became director alongside Unkrich. When Coco finally released in 2017, the film received positive feedback, which praised the film’s cultural authenticity.
Just like Coco came to theaters not long after Trump’s dismantling of DACA and insistence of the wall, Soul is coming in the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement. When asked about if there was any relation in the film to any aspect of the BLM movement, Murray replied, “We’re definitely not trying to tell a story about someone’s experience of being Black, but we wanted to make sure that we were telling a great story about character who is Black. So we hope that it’s a love story, not only to the African-American community, but to New York City.” The premise for the film definitely sounds refreshing. However, maybe it would be interesting to see Disney tackle these current events and issues in their work. Pixar’s Soul had an original release date on June 19th, but has been pushed back to November due to the pandemic. Hopefully, it comes soon. We could use some lightheartedness in the midst of this chaos.
Disney seems like it’s on some path to varying their stories and diversifying their employees. It’s still lacking in some areas, of course. But, these current times might have them rethinking how they can change. Although it’s primarily Disney’s responsibility to be aware of their actions, it also takes individuals like Anthony Mackie to call out where they see a problem. Then, the problem is out in the open and can be properly addressed.
