John Musker, who co-directed the original animated movies The Little Mermaid and Aladdin, believes Disney is in need of a “course correction,” saying the studio needs to move away from political messaging and back toward entertaining audiences.
He also criticized Disney’s recent live-action remake of The Little Mermaid, which bombed with audiences around the world.
In a recent interview with the Spanish outlet El Pais, John Musker took his former studio to task.
“I think they need to do a course correction a bit in terms of putting the message secondary, behind entertainment and compelling story and engaging characters,” Musker said.
“The classic Disney films didn’t start out trying to have a message. They wanted you to get involved in the characters and the story and the world, and I think that’s still the heart of it,” he added. “You don’t have to exclude agendas, but you have to first create characters who you sympathize with and who are compelling.”
Later in the interview, he dissed The Little Mermaid remake.
“They didn’t play up the father-daughter story, and that was the heart of the movie, in a way. And the crab — you could look at live animals in a zoo and they have more expression,” he said.
Along with Ron Clements, John Musker directed several Disney animated movies that are now considered some of the best the studio has released, including The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, and Moana.
Musker retired from Disney in 2018.
In recent years, Disney has experienced an unprecedented string of box-office flops as audiences have stayed away from the studio’s left-wing sermonizing.
The unprecedented losing streak is shocking for a studio that used to mint money at the cinema thanks to brands like Pixar, Marvel, and Lucasfilm. Woke messaging — including aggressive promotion of the LGBTQ agenda — has turned off millions of paying customers.
Recent bombs include The Marvels, Wish, and the latest Indiana Jones sequel. The Little Mermaid remake also flopped along with Pixar’s Elemental and Marvel’s latest Ant-man sequel.
Disney recently laid off a stunning 7000 workers worldwide in an effort to pull itself out of its financial troubles.
Follow David Ng on Twitter @HeyItsDavidNg. Have a tip? Contact me at
