At Disney, John Musker is an animation filmmaking legend who, alongside collaborator Ron Clements, penned and directed several of the studio’s biggest animated hits of the past four decades – “Aladdin,” “The Little Mermaid,” “Hercules” and “Moana”. That’s not all though as his other work for the studio has included “The Princess and the Frog,” “The Great Mouse Detective” and “Treasure Planet”. In short, the man knows his Walt Disney Company.
In a new interview with Spanish outlet (via ) at this year’s Animayo International Summit in Spain, Musker called out the studio for prioritizing political messaging over story in its more recent fare: “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. 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.
You don’t have to exclude agendas, but you have to first create characters who you sympathize with and who are compelling.” When asked about the mixed reception and the complaints of ‘going woke’ his film “The Princess and the Frog” received, a film which included Disney’s first Black princess, he responded: “We weren’t trying to be woke, although I understand the criticism.” On the topic of Disney’s live-action remakes, he understand.