What’s ACTUALLY killing Disney? Film producer weighs in



For many, many years, Disney was America’s favorite family entertainment conglomerate. But the tides seem to be turning. More and more people across the country are abandoning Disney, leaving the company in a massive revenue deficit.

What exactly is causing Disney to decline? Is it progressive films (aka box office flops), the threat of AI, or a combination of the two?

American actor and film producer Matthew Marsden joins James Poulos on "Zero Hour" to discuss what’s going on.

Disney has “absolutely destroyed what made that brand brilliant,” says Marsden. “You’re seeing it now with the woke ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.”’

For those who don’t know, this progressive "Snow White" remake will feature no prince and no dwarves because apparently those two things are offensive, and a Latina actress will star in the role of Snow White because whiteness, as we’ve been told, needs to be done away with.

“If you have an established IP … even though it's made millions of dollars [and] it's been hugely successful, some screenwriter comes along and he goes, ‘Do you know what, I can improve that,’ and they change it,” says Marsden.

Which is exactly what they’re doing with "Snow White." Despite the fact that the original is a beloved classic, the screenwriters and producers are turning the script upside down to create what will inevitably become yet another woke disaster.

“Just make the movie of the book,” pleads Marsden. “It's sold X amount of a million copies; people want to see it up on screen … it's really simple.”

“When you see that happen, they're always successful for the most part,” he continues.

“Tech is part of the problem here too,” adds James, because many screenwriters wrongly assume that putting “CGI in every scene” means “people will get it and they'll watch it because it's got technology in it … and that doesn’t work.”

“So if that doesn’t work, and woke-ifying things doesn’t work, then you’ve got stagnation,” he continues.

Based on Disney’s profit margins, it certainly seems like the company is in a state of stagnation.

To hear the full conversation, watch the video below.


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Repealing Disney's special district could unintentionally increase taxes, Florida officials warn



Tax officials and state legislators are warning that by stripping Disney of its self-governing privileges, Florida Republicans could be putting taxpayers on the hook for more than $1 billion in bond debt.

Florida Republicans on Thursday passed legislation in the state House that dissolves the Reedy Creek Improvement District — a special district given to the Walt Disney Company in 1967 for the Walt Disney World Resort.

For decades, Disney has held the right to tax and regulate itself, so long as whatever projects the company builds in the theme park follow building codes and other federal and state laws. Under this arrangement, Disney pays for public services within the area of the theme park, including local police, fire departments, and infrastructure such as public roads and bridges and takes on authority and responsibility similar to a county government.

But Republicans, upset with how the company has publicly opposed legislation that would keep sexual orientation and gender identity discussions out of kindergarten through third-grade classrooms, acted this week to remove Disney's special privileges. They say that private companies should not hold special privileges in law, and that once the law is repealed, local county governments will assume the power to collect taxes and govern Disney's theme park.

But tax officials from those counties warn that the repeal legislation could have unintended consequences, CNBC News reported.

Scott Randolph, a Democratic tax collector for Orange County, said that the Reedy Creek district collects an estimated $105 million annually in tax revenue, but those taxes won't automatically get transferred to Orange and Osceola counties — the local governments that would have jurisdiction over parts of Disney World should the Reedy Creek district be dissolved.

"If you dissolved Reedy Creek, that $105 million in revenue literally goes away, it doesn't get transferred," Randolph told CNBC.

He explained that Reedy Creek is an "independent tax district," which means that the tax revenues Disney generates from its property are in addition to local taxes the company already pays, not in substitution for them.

According to CNBC, Disney is the largest taxpayer in central Florida, paying over $280 million in property taxes to Orange and Osceola counties between 2015 and 2020.

If the Reedy Creek district goes away, the tax payments to Orange and Osceola counties would remain the same, while the counties would be forced to pick up the additional cost of operating the public services and infrastructure that Disney currently pays for, Randolph said.

The counties would also inherit Disney's debt in the form of Reedy Creek bond liabilities, which are valued between $1 billion and $1.7 billion, CNBC said.

Democratic state Senate Minority Leader Gary Farmer told CNBC that taxpayers in Orange and Osceola counties could be saddled with more than $2 billion in bond debt, as tax authorities are increasing their estimates of Reedy Creek's liabilities as they look into the issue.

"This is a very real impact, the extent of which we don't fully understand yet," Farmer said. He estimated that the debt could be worth as much as $1,000 per taxpayer.

"If the counties are left holding the bag, the state might have to come to their aid," Farmer said. "So it's not even just a tax issue for these two counties. It affects every taxpayer in the state of Florida."

Republicans insist that taxpayers will not be stuck with a bill if Disney loses its special privileges.

State Rep. Randy Fine, who fought for the repeal legislation, said tax revenue that Disney currently pays itself would be transferred to local governments and should cover the costs of added public services.

"Those taxes will continue to be paid," he told CNBC. "They will just be paid to Orange and Osceola county instead of this special improvement district. The taxpayers could end up saving money because you've got duplicative services that are being provided by this special district that are already being done by those municipalities."

Randolph said it's not so simple. In an interview with WFTV-TV, he said state laws prevent the counties from raising sales taxes or impact fees to cover the costs of assuming Reedy Creek's public services. Taxes levied by the county are required to be levied on everyone, so even taxpayers who don't live in the Reedy Creed district would have to pay increased taxes if the counties took that option.

Another option is to increase property taxes anywhere from 20% to 25% to cover the additional costs, Randolph said.

He criticized the legislature for repealing the Reedy Creek Improvement District without adequate time to consider the consequences.

“They’re dissolving something the size of the city of Orlando in 72 hours,” Randolph said. “This is not the way to run a state.”

DeSantis and Florida Republicans move to strip Disney World of its self-governing powers



Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday announced that state legislature will consider repealing special privileges that give Disney quasi-government powers over the area where the Walt Disney World Resort is located.

The governor said at a press conference that when lawmakers meet in special session this week to redraw the state's congressional maps, their agenda will be expanded to consider repealing all special districts enacted before 1968, including the Reedy Creek Improvement District where Walt Disney World is located.

In addition to congressional reapportionment, this week's special session will include termination of legacy special districts and removal of exemptions from the big tech accountability law.pic.twitter.com/67sF4E113I
— Ron DeSantis (@Ron DeSantis) 1650374955

The move would strike a blow against Disney after the company inserted itself into a political controversy over Florida's Parental Rights in Education law, which bans classroom instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity in K-3 grades and restricts such discussions to what state standards determine are age- or developmentally appropriate settings.

Facing pressure from left-wing employees to fight DeSantis, Disney released public statements opposing the law, stating, "Our goal as a company is for this law to be repealed by the legislature or struck down in the courts, and we remain committed to supporting the national and state organizations working to achieve that."

DeSantis responded to the company's demands by telling Disney executives to go pound sand and earlier this month suggested that the legislature should repeal laws that essentially give Disney self-governing control over nearly 40 square miles in Central Florida and around Orlando.

Now it appears the governor and state legislature will follow through on that suggestion.

The Reedy Creek Improvement District that includes Walt Disney World Resort explains on its website that Florida law states "that landowners within the Reedy Creek Improvement District, primarily Walt Disney World, would be solely responsible for paying the cost of providing typical municipal services like power, water, roads, fire protection etc. Local taxpayers, meaning residents of Orange and Osceola County, would not have to pay for building or maintaining those services."

If the law is repealed, Disney would lose the right to govern itself like a city. The theme park's land would fall under the jurisdictions of Orange and Osceola counties and would be subject to the taxes, rules, and regulations of those county governments.

State Rep. Spencer Roach, a Republican who represents the Fort Myers area, tweeted on March 30 that legislators had met twice to discuss repealing the 1967 Reedy Creek Improvement Act, which grants Disney its special privileges.

On Tuesday, Roach said he is "proud that we are taking action to correct this aberration to the free market."

The government should never use the power of the state to pick winners & losers in the marketplace. No more corporate welfare," he said.

The Wonderful World of Insanity: Disney Goes Woke | Ep 272

The Wonderful World of Insanity: Disney Goes Woke | Ep 272