Disney’s upcoming live-action film “Peter Pan & Wendy” has been panned for pushing a “woke agenda” by featuring girls portraying the Lost Boys.
The backlash stemmed from a new trailer released Wednesday that shows the moment Wendy arrives in Neverland and encounters the Lost Boys, only to discover some girls among them.
“But you’re not all boys,” a puzzled-looking Wendy points out.
“So?!” one of the girls shoots back.
The reboot, which is scheduled to premiere on Disney’s streaming platform, Disney+, features young British actors Alexander Molony and Ever Anderson as the titular characters of Peter Pan and Wendy, “Black-ish” alum Yara Shahidi as Tinker Bell, and Jude Law as Captain Hook.
Many viewers did not take kindly to Disney’s decision to alter the classic J.M. Barrie story and expressed their indignation on Twitter.
“idc i WILL be streaming. just need them to take the girls out of the lost boys though i’m so sorry i’m all for girl power but the whole point of the lost boys is that they’ve never seen a girl before,” one unhappy critic wrote.
“The Lost BOYS are girls now, smh… And considering the rest, I’m genuinely surprised they didn’t just name the film ‘Wendy,’ at this point,” opined YouTuber Jayne Theory.
Others were not impressed with the entire setup, with Twitter user kwaylewis writing: “Looks terrible. Hook looks bad, Tinkerbell isn’t Tink and the Lost Boys became girls now?”
Some viewers blasted Disney for hiring Shahidi, who is black, to play Tinker Bell, who is famously blond and blue-eyed in the original, instead of creating a new character for a person of color (POC).
“Disney couldn’t care less about making new stories with Poc characters, they just put poc ppl to play white characters, and that shows 1) how lazy Disney is 2) how racist this is, it’s like they don’t think poc ppl deserve their own stories (beside like 3 animated movies?)” fumed a user named Alex.
Fans raised similar issues when Disney cast black actress Halle Bailey as Ariel in the upcoming live-action version of “The Little Mermaid.”
With the release of the “Peter Pan & Wendy” teaser, Disney’s critics have identified a pattern in the company’s new approach to kids’ entertainment, accusing the Mouse House of foisting a “woke” agenda on young viewers.
“The diversity nonsense at Disney continues,” Twitter user Noble Brown sniffed. “Tinkerbell is black/The Lost Boys now have girls among them/Truly a reflection of the UK in 1911, exactly as JM Barrie envisioned.”
Another Twitter user, Jordy Sayler, exclaimed, “Disney just can’t give up on their Woke agenda!”
The original 1953 film version of “Peter Pan” is currently streaming on Disney+ with a content advisory alerting viewers that the film “includes negative depictions and/or mistreatment of people and cultures,” apparently referring to an offensive and stereotypical portrayal of indigenous characters.
The release of the “Peter Pan” reboot comes on the heels of two major box office flops for Disney, “Strange World” and “Lightyear,” which both featured LGBTQ characters.
Last month, Disney announced 7,000 layoffs and drastic cost cuts totaling $5.5 billion after losing 2.4 million subscribes on Disney+ following a price hike.
Just weeks later, Disney suffered another blow when it lost control of Walt Disney World’s self-governing district in Florida to Gov. Ron DeSantis.
The Republican went after the company as payback for Disney’s vocal opposition to his so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law, which bars teachers from discussing sexual orientation and gender in kindergarten through third grade.
“Today the corporate kingdom finally comes to an end,” DeSantis crowed at a bill-signing ceremony this week. “There’s a new sheriff in town, and accountability will be the order of the day.”
