Is Disney actually too 'woke'? We asked 12 of the company's most passionate fans

Business Insider

29-04-2025

Is Disney too "woke," not "woke" enough, or not "woke" at all?
In our highly polarized political environment, asking a dozen people may yield a dozen different answers. But what do Disney's most passionate fans think?
Business Insider spoke with 12 of these superfans — sometimes referred to as "Disney adults" — and a clear takeaway emerged: They generally said they believed the company should take a stand on social issues and promote inclusivity, even if it meant getting caught in an anti-woke backlash.
CEO Bob Iger seems keenly aware of Disney's precarious task of trying to appeal widely to fans across the US and the world. Prominent conservatives have for years accused the company of being too " woke" — or generally too committed to progressive ideals. Iger said in 2023 that the company's "mission needs to be to entertain," meaning its content should "not be agenda-driven." Following Donald Trump's presidential win, Iger was uncharacteristically quiet.
That said, none of the Disney superfans BI spoke with — who were of varying ages and political convictions, and live in different parts of the US — said they felt the company had gotten too "woke."
Several said they felt Disney could be making a costly mistake by shying away from Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) policies amid political backlash in the second Trump administration.
"There's a big audience out there that supports those initiatives and wants to see inclusivity, and they use their dollar to show their support for brands that support a world that is open and inclusive," said Trisha Daab, who was married at Disney's parks in 2005.
Disney didn't respond to a request for comment for this story.
'So what if Disney is woke?'
For much of the last decade, Corporate America has often loudly supported progressive issues.
In that era, Disney was widely viewed as a champion of DEI causes. The company prioritized diverse hiring in the mid-2010s, started a "Reimagine Tomorrow" initiative for underrepresented groups in 2020, and added more non-white and LGBTQ+ characters into its shows and movies — including a gay protagonist in Pixar's "Strange World" and a same-sex kiss in "Lightyear."
Decisions like these made Disney a lightning rod of criticism among conservatives. But many of the Disney superfans who spoke with BI said they viewed the moves as a way to make everyone feel welcome.
Daab, who writes Disney-related stories for magazines and websites, said she'd seen how much non-white children love seeing princesses who look more like them, for example.
"I hope Disney doesn't shy away from that," she said.
Other Disney superfans echoed that idea.
"If every Disney movie was, let's just say the story of Snow White, and it was the same look, the same characters, the same storyline — it's not interesting anymore, and it's not reflective of the population," said Shae Noble, a Disney superfan based in Washington state.
Francis Dominic, a Disney-focused content creator and social-media influencer, said the company shouldn't have to apologize for making its movie characters or parks staff more diverse.
"So what if Disney is woke?" Dominic said.
Disney's casting of Latina actor Rachel Zegler as Snow White in the 2025 remake set some critics off, since in the original fairytale, Snow White got her name from having "skin as white as snow."
Dominic pushed back on the critics: "It's not factual — it's a fairytale."
Jay Yee, a 62-year-old Disney adult in New York City, said he wasn't sure if Disney had become "too woke." But the company shouldn't be responsible for representing same-sex couples or transgender people in stories designed for children, he said. It's a parent's job — not a company's — to initiate conversations on those topics, he added.
Max Traughber-Crismon — a self-described liberal Democrat living outside Portland, Oregon — said that while Disney isn't too "woke," he believes it "overcorrected" with "in-your-face" social messaging in movies like "Strange World."
"It's trying to put every personality, every gender, everything into one thing versus saying, 'Hey, we can have differences, and it's OK not to include everybody with everything,'" Traughber-Crismon said.
Can anything please the critics?
Disney is no stranger to the culture wars.
The company made waves by resisting a Florida law designed to give parents control over LGBTQ+ issues taught in public schools, known by critics as the "Don't Say Gay" bill. Then-CEO Bob Chapek tried to stay neutral, before reversing course after employees protested. This angered some conservatives, and some progressives were still frustrated.
Heightened political pressure in the second Trump era has led many companies — like Target, Google, Meta, and Amazon — to rethink their DEI practices. Even Disney has followed suit.
In turn, some Disney adults feel the company has "backtracked," in the words of lifelong Disney fan Ellie Banks.
"I don't know if they're focused on core values necessarily, other than I think they're going to go where the money flow is," Banks said. "If they feel that there is a larger amount of people that are supportive of one ideology, I think they're going to lean into that ideology."
However, pandering to conservatives could backfire for Disney, as it might alienate progressives without winning back its detractors. Several Disney adults pointed to Target's flip-flopping on DEI as a cautionary tale.
John Telyea, who's married to fellow Disney adult Shae Noble, said Disney should try to avoid alienating people generally, though that's much easier said than done.
"No matter what you do, you're going to make somebody upset," Telyea said.
'Politics takes the magic out of the Happiest Place on Earth'
While some Disney superfans were passionate about the company's stance in the culture wars, several fans said they only care about quality content and experiences. In their view, Disney shouldn't be a political brand.
"I think it's really important to let the creative process drive itself without too many, in general, outside agendas on either side," said David Lewis, a Disney-focused travel planner based in Mississippi.
Lewis said he didn't see "Snow White" in theaters, but it wasn't because of a boycott. He said he didn't make time to see it, though he's excited to watch it with his princess-obsessed daughter once it's on Disney+.
For Disney parks aficionados like Florida-based Melania Murphy, Disney World can be an escape from a chaotic world. That's why she has little interest in online battles about the culture wars.
"Politics takes the magic out of the Happiest Place on Earth," she said.