Disney Is Being Sued for ‘Toy Story 4’s’ Duke Caboom
By George Robbins
Disney is well known now for how large they have become over the years due to how well they can attract crowds. Their ability to bring in the crowds has only expanded over the years due to the fact that they now have so many franchises under their belt. This has made it all the more realistic for them to create a company which manages to span such a large portion of the world. Disney has reached the point where pretty much nothing can really phase them and they seem to have taken advantage of that fact over recent months. That still hasn’t changed the fact that they have a lot to deal with, including plenty of controversies.
As of recently, Disney has had their hands full with the controversies surrounding the live-action version of the movie ‘Mulan.’ A majority of the controversy surrounding the movie focuses heavily on two things that people have taken offense to at the moment. One of those things is the whitewashing of the crew for the movie, but the second is seen as being much more serious. That would be the fact that some people view the special thanks in the movie as being acceptance from Disney towards the cultural genocide currently going on in China. This has been the biggest source of controversy Disney has had to deal with recently.
Unfortunately this is not the only form of controversy they have had to deal with as they have been receiving criticism due to their park division. For those unaware, the Disney Parks have been opened to some degree in all different parts of the world and it has upset a lot of people. More specifically, many people domestically are upset by this fact and it has been a vocal issue. Like many of the controversies we have seen recently though, it was not something that actually lasted all that long and people stopped being as angry as they were. The biggest issues people had, and still have, in regards to the Parks issue is the fact that employees are able to work even if they test Covid-positive and they also feel that the parks opened too soon.
Needless to say, Disney has been catching flak on all flanks recently and it is not really any surprise why at this point. This seems like a trend that will only continue as this pandemic goes on and probably even beyond it because of how these things are being handled. Disney hasn’t just had controversies within the past couple of months as they have also been trying to deal with movie releases within the coming months as well. Now that it seems that theaters are having issues drawing in crowds, they have been thinking about pushing back their movie release dates yet again. All of these things just keep stacking up on them and it definitely doesn’t seem like it is going to stop any time soon.
On the brighter side of things, it would appear that Disney is still having their employees work hard to get their content up and running. What this means is that projects are still getting worked on so that they can eventually have some kind of release. Among the discussed projects were the upcoming Marvel films, upcoming Pixar release, and even among possible Pixar releases, the possibility that we may see a ‘Toy Story 5’ in the not too distant future. ‘Toy Story‘ released back in the 90’s and gave Pixar their real start as an animation company. It was among the first major CGI-only films and it helped create an entire industry.
Needless to say, ‘Toy Story’ has cemented its place in the annals of animated movie history and it will remain in that place for all time. Animated films have certainly changed along with technology, but ‘Toy Story’ was so well put together that every new addition to the Pixar series feels like it belongs. It doesn’t feel like they are just adding on to a series to make it longer; as time goes on the movies and the characters in them move along as well. Every movie has its own story and remains highly interesting to crowds no matter the age. Unfortunately, Disney’s curse as of late for contracting controversy has made its way into the ‘Toy Story’ end of things as well.
It would appear as though Disney and Pixar are going to be sued now for supposedly using the likeness of stuntman Evel Knievel in ‘Toy Story 4.’ As already stated, the likeness of the well-known stuntman was apparently used in the most recent entry for the ‘Toy Story’ series and some people aren’t happy about it. K&K Promotions, who manage the late performer’s likeness, have filed a lawsuit against Disney, Pixar, and a number of subsidiaries for the unauthorized homage to the man. They allege that Disney deliberately avoided any reference to Knievel in promotional interviews in order to keep themselves from directly referencing the man. It isn’t hard to see where they are coming from, but at this point they could just be seen as being money-grabbing because paying homage to a character is fine until money is involved.