A new rumor has sprung up, this time from a trusted source close to the channel Overlord DVD. The popular YouTube channel has been featured here before and has repeatedly gotten some major leaks that turned out to be true. The rumor brought to the public today is that Disney’s own internal polling has revealed that their political perception has moved too far to the left and that the company needs to remove themselves from ideological statements. This lines up with Disney’s response to the legislation in Florida dealing with sexual curriculum in kindergarten through third grades.
The full video from Overlord DVD is provided below:
One of the interesting things about this rumor is that it coincides with an interview completed by The Walt Disney Company CFO Christine McCarthy. The Chief Financial Officer is known to make major gaffes when chatting publicly, but she also is well-received by CEO Bob Chapek and Chair of the Board Susan Arnold… in part because of her ability to manage the pandemic financial affairs in a way that positioned Disney for major financial gains.
In the interview with a Morgan Stanley conference, McCarthy had the following to say in regards to the war in Ukraine:
“Theatrical release of films in Russia is not the only thing that we have. Many parts of our business have different relationships and business ventures in Russia. We have had some licensing and theatrical distribution. But that [2%] is what the overall exposure of our company is… So it is not a significant number for us.”
— Christine McCarthy, per Deadline Reporting
Part of the reason this is so interesting is that McCarthy brings up “exposure”. That is, how badly Disney can be damaged by severed ties with Russia. What McCarthy doesn’t reveal is the exposure the company has with China… and clearly, China is strongly linked with Russia and the invasion of Ukraine. China, for example, played a major role in determining the time frame for the invasion; they also are embedding state-sanctioned reporters with the Russian military to provide state-approved broadcasts within China. That may indicate a Beijing that wants to solidify its population’s support for invasion warfare.
Wow.
Chinese media is embedded with the Russian army and going into #Mariupol. pic.twitter.com/90toMk0bpY— Julian Röpcke🇺🇦 (@JulianRoepcke) March 8, 2022
But what do Ukraine, Russia and China have to do with moderating political positions in the United States? Well, let’s return to the “exposure” term:
Yes, Disney may only have 2% of their financial interests coming from Russia, but that dramatically changes when it comes to Mainland China. Though China has been on a streak of forbidding Disney films in the land of the CCP, Disney still has massive stake in the Chinese economy. The Walt Disney Company has two theme parks under the Chinese communist control — the two theme parks together account for many billions of dollars in hard assets that cannot be moved. Thus far, Disney has not made an attempt to distance themselves from the liability of China potentially taking the theme parks from them. This becomes more relevant if Beijing decides to invade Taiwan — an action that looks more likely, not less, as of late.
China Says It Seeks to Resolve Taiwan
In addition to the theme park problem, Disney also does far more business in China than it does in Russia. Though the specific numbers are not provided, we do know that the Asian Pacific region provides Disney with something like 16% of their total revenue. It has also been the marketplace that Disney has counted on for continued growth beyond a nearly complete saturation of the western market. Yes, Disney could count on India to provide a new marketplace for growth, but India may not be as keen on Disney as the Chinese people were. So while Disney only has 2% vested economic interest in Russia, it may have more than 10% in China.
Thus, it is not surprising that Disney is moderating. With Republicans projected to win back the congress in the next midterms, and the very real potential that Disney could be divested of its China properties following a Taiwanese invasion, the company will need to have as many people on board in America as they can muster. Moderating their political positions based on internal polling is likely just one small step in a multitude of actions they’ll need as the world situation changes.
Of course, all of this is moot if Russia is dramatically defeated or China announces they no longer want to “resolve” Taiwan. But I wouldn’t count on those outcomes in the near term.
For the latest on all things that should be fun, keep checking out That Park Place. And let us know in the comments what your thoughts are about all of this. We really do read them, engage with them, and sometimes even shift our own thinking based on what our readers have to say!
