'Strange World' Disney's 2022 Animated Film

[Disney Irish]

When Paul Reubens voiced Rex in 1986, he was known to most Americans for Pee-Wee's Big Adventure, a PG rated comedy film from 1985.

A year after Star Tours opened in January, 1987, Pee-Wee Herman had a big TV special called Pee-Wee's Christmas Special, a show that is still mandatory viewing in my house this time of year. Paul Reuben's legal problems came along many years after his 1980's fame and voice acting as Rex in Star Tours. After being the key word there. Years after.

And unlike Jaboukie's music video that would get me banned from this site for life, I can link Pee-Wee's hilarious opening musical number to his Christmas special here and wish everyone a very Merry Christmas!



My God, that's just so good! Charo, for goshsakes!

Jaboukie could learn a thing or two from Pee-Wee about subtlety and subversive messaging.

The point was that Disney didn't distance itself from him even after his arrest for let us say "not kid friendly" theater activities or his recent arrest this summer related to inappropriate photos. His voice can still be heard at Disneyland today, and in the recent Star Wars Rebels show.

So whether before or after being hired Disney has a history of using talent that far from spotless.

 

[TP2000]

So whether before or after being hired Disney has a history of using talent that far from spotless.

If Paul Reubens had been arrested for sexual misconduct in 1985, do you think WDI would have hired him in 1986 to voice Rex in Star Tours? Cause I don't.

Although now, it wouldn't surprise me if some celeb was arrested for sexual misconduct or drug use in 2023 and then showed up voicing a new attraction at Disneyland in 2024, with plenty of fawning publicity to go with it.

Which is part of what is causing parents to re-think their automatic approval of Disney branded products and films.

 

[Heppenheimer]

In this case, I agree that audiences don't know this individual let alone who he was playing. I disagree that general audiences don't usually know who the actors who voice animated characters are because whenever there's a big celebrity, the studios go out of their way to make sure everyone knows who is voicing who. Like Rihanna in Home or The Rock in Moana. Obviously that wasn't the case here.

That being said, I don't think people are aware of how many concerned parents use Facebook to keep tabs on what content is safe for their children. If there really were reports of this actor's song circulating around on Facebook, you can bet that all the parent groups were warning each other. I haven't seen anything for this movie, but I saw a lot of parents freaking out over Turning Red and Lightyear for having questionable content. When I was in school, anytime there was a big-budget children's movie that could possibly taint "Christian values," the parents would all get together and warn our school board and administration and then our principal would take the time to warn us to not watch such-and-such movie. Word of mouth spreads especially in conservative circles.

Wow, I went to Catholic school my whole childhood and they never did this for any movie. Not even for The Last Temptation of Christ.

 

[Heppenheimer]

Keep in mind, there was a conservative backlash against the Hunchback of Notre Dame at the time — with Christians disliking how sexual Esmeralda was and feeling that Frollo painted Christians in a negative light. The release of Hunchback also coincided with backlash to Disney giving benefits to same-sex couples.

Of course, while not nearly as profitable as Aladdin or the Lion King, The Hunchback of Notre Dame did gross $325 million on a $100 million budget, and it was the fifth highest-grossing movie worldwide of 1996. Not comparable at all to Strange World's box office performance.

I really don't remember any backlash against Hunchback. The Disney version barely even deals with religion, unlike the novel, where Frollo is a cleric and religious hypocrisy is a major theme.

 

[Californian Elitist]

Yeah, he's gross, but I came to terms with the idea of separating the art from the artist (or one piece of art by the same artist from another) a long time ago. I have no problem watching The Cosby Show with my kids, or rewatching an old Chris Benoit wrestling match. Pretty much every celebrity is degenerate at best and abhorrent at worst so I need to sever some things in order to be at peace with consuming any pop culture whatsoever.

Exactly. One piece of work, a part-time job, essentially. Why should an actor have to change themselves for one Disney project?

As you said they’re all weirdos.

 

[LittleBuford]

If Paul Reubens had been arrested for sexual misconduct in 1985, do you think WDI would have hired him in 1986 to voice Rex in Star Tours? Cause I don't.

You comment on this comparison (involving an arrest for sexual misconduct) yet somehow missed the point of my earlier, and more relevant, reference to Demi Moore. There is something very, very puzzling about the spin you’re trying to put on this.

 

[Heppenheimer]

Someone from “Gen Z” knows who Haley Mills and Ann Miller were? That seems………..interesting……or something.

That's actually a relief. I'm sick of hearing the pop culture of yesterday dismissed by the current young generations because "that came out before I was born."

By contrast, a poll in my high school in the 90s had The Beatles as one of the 10 most popular bands (I don't remember their actual rank).

 

[TP2000]

You comment on this comparison (involving an arrest for sexual misconduct) yet somehow missed the point of my earlier, and more relevant, reference to Demi Moore. There is something very, very puzzling about the spin you’re trying to put on this.

Let me Google Demi Moore and that timeline. I'm not familiar with it at all. She's always bugged me, to be honest.

I'll be back...

 

[Californian Elitist]

Also, this isn’t the 50s and 60s, although that period of time had their own problems that people love to either gloss over and/or romanticize.

Annette Funicello was charming and, in general, not very talented. She couldn’t sing, her acting was whatever, and she could hold an 8-count, albeit not always on beat. Beautiful and mediocre. Love her, but…

 

[Disney Irish]

If Paul Reubens had been arrested for sexual misconduct in 1985, do you think WDI would have hired him in 1986 to voice Rex in Star Tours? Cause I don't.

Yes I do, and many other transgressions.

For example they hired Tim Allen, who was had a previous arrested for drug trafficking, to be not only be the lead of their family friendly show on ABC but also to go onto voice Buzz and play Santa.

Point is that over the years Disney has dealt with talent who were in past or were currently involved in non-kid friendly activities. It just seems that some talent was more tolerated by the public than others.

 

[LittleBuford]

Point is that over the years Disney has dealt with talent who were in past or were currently involved in non-kid friendly activities. It just seems that some talent was more tolerated by the public than others.

I’m not sure we’ve seen any evidence that “the public” doesn’t tolerate Jaboukie Young-White.

 

[Disney Irish]

I’m not sure we’ve seen any evidence that “the public” doesn’t tolerate Jaboukie Young-White.

True, I was counting our follow posters here as part of the public.

 

[TP2000]

You comment on this comparison (involving an arrest for sexual misconduct) yet somehow missed the point of my earlier, and more relevant, reference to Demi Moore. There is something very, very puzzling about the spin you’re trying to put on this.

It's not spin, it's just my opinion and thoughts on a fascinating tale of historic box office failure.

As for Ms. Moore, I Googled. She appeared on the cover of Oui magazine (Gawd, I'd forgotten about mags like that! So trashy!) in January, 1981. She claims she was only 16 at the time. By the mid 1980's her movie career took off, and she broke out into stardom when she was in St. Elmo's Fire in 1985. I absolutely hated that movie, and it bugged me because I really liked the pop song that sprang from it. Ms. Moore then went on to star in a dozen or so movies for the next decade, becoming a genuine A Lister by the early 1990's by starring in hugely successful films like A Few Good Men, and Indecent Proposal and Disclosure. I don't remember any topless scenes she may have done, and Wikipedia doesn't mention it, but I imagine there were some as those are mostly R Rated movies of that time.

In 1995 she was chosen to be the voice of Esmerelda. After she had cemented her name as a legit A Lister in a range of various major movies.

Jaboukie circa 2022 is something entirely different than Demi Moore circa 1995. Although both annoy me.

 

[Californian Elitist]

Also, this isn’t the 50s and 60s, although that period of time had their own problems that people love to either gloss over and/or romanticize.

Annette Funicello was charming and, in general, not very talented. She couldn’t sing, her acting was whatever, and she could hold an 8-count, albeit not always on beat. Love her, but

I had never heard of him until two weeks ago, but that's unsurprising considering my demographic and personal tastes in entertainment. I imagine most American parents of small children had never heard of him either.

But more parents of small children (the biggest demographic for a Disney film like Strange World) are now aware of him, and have seen his latest song lyrics printed out online in chat groups or Facebook posts. And now I have also read his lyrics.

I will be playing my cherished Motown Christmas album tonight to cleanse my brain.

But most importantly to this discussion: I find the decision by Burbank execs to hire this particular performer, with his known record of being very raunchy and often profane, to be questionable at best and idiotic at worst. What were they thinking? That parents with Internet connections weren't going to find out he was the Ethan Clade voice actor?

The business decision to hire Jaboukie, out of all the thousands of voice actors and minor celebs in the world, makes the failure of Strange World even... stranger. It's just one piece of the puzzle, but the puzzle is really weird.

What was Burbank thinking?!?!

Most people, parents included, don’t care about this at all. Nothing is strange about this. Disney has hired a stand-up comic to voice one character before.

Lots of nothing going on here.

 

[Californian Elitist]

What if America did know who Jaboukie was, and if his lyrics were printed in major media to read and digest?

Burbank is probably breathing a sigh of relief that the issue stayed relatively hidden and buried in Facebook groups made up mostly of unknown Midwest moms.

It's just one interesting angle to this disastrous movie, and likely at least a small part of the reason marketing was so thin and rare for Strange World after they spent $180 Million on it.

LOL.

Not a sigh of relief.

 

[TP2000]

Point is that over the years Disney has dealt with talent who were in past or were currently involved in non-kid friendly activities. It just seems that some talent was more tolerated by the public than others.

Or because it was pre 1997, most American parents didn't have unfiltered access to online information about movies and the stars in them.

In 2022, any parent can find out anything about the latest Disney film. And a lot of that information is no longer coming from Burbank's approved publicity machine, but is rather coming from fellow parents the next town over.

Burbank must really hate that sometimes.

 

[Disney Irish]

It's not spin, it's just my opinion and thoughts on a fascinating tale of historic box office failure.

As for Ms. Moore, I Googled. She appeared on the cover of Oui magazine (Gawd, I'd forgotten about mags like that! So trashy!) in January, 1981. She claims she was only 16 at the time. By the mid 1980's her movie career took off, and she broke out into stardom when she was in St. Elmo's Fire in 1985. I absolutely hated that movie, and it bugged me because I really liked the pop song that sprang from it. Ms. Moore then went on to star in a dozen or so movies for the next decade, becoming a genuine A Lister by the early 1990's by starring in hugely successful films like A Few Good Men, and Indecent Proposal and Disclosure. I don't remember any topless scenes she may have done, and Wikipedia doesn't mention it, but I imagine there were some as those are mostly R Rated movies of that time.

In 1995 she was chosen to be the voice of Esmerelda. After she had cemented her name as a legit A Lister in a range of various major movies.

Jaboukie circa 2022 is something entirely different than Demi Moore circa 1995. Although both annoy me.

Guess you never saw The Scarlet Letter from 1995, or Striptease from 1996.

 

[TP2000]

Annette Funicello was charming and, in general, not very talented. She couldn’t sing, her acting was whatever, and she could hold an 8-count, albeit not always on beat. Love her, but...

So true! I love her too, but...

Most people, parents included, don’t care about this at all. Nothing is strange about this. Disney has hired a stand-up comic to voice one character before.

Lots of nothing going on here.

Really? Here's a test whether it's a lot of nothing...

Try typing Jaboukie's latest lyrics in this thread or link to his latest music video, and see how far we get. That post would rightly be shut down immediately for wildly offensive material and obscenely adult subject matter.

And that was the guy Burbank chose to voice Ethan Clade? Why? No one else answered their calls?

 

[TP2000]

Guess you never saw The Scarlet Letter from 1995, or Striptease from 1996.

No. I stopped reading Wikipedia once I got to the point she would have been cast as Esmerelda.

Was she topless in Striptease? I imagine she'd have to be with a title like that!

 

[LittleBuford]

I don't remember any topless scenes she may have done, and Wikipedia doesn't mention it, but I imagine there were some as those are mostly R Rated movies of that time.

Not only were there topless sex scenes, but there was also the (in)famous Vanity Fair cover of her naked and pregnant. That was published in 1991.

I bring this up not to imply that Demi Moore did anything wrong—I don’t think she did—but to underscore the fact that she had a well-established reputation for raunchy behaviour by the time Disney cast her.

It doesn’t surprise me that you’re dismissing the comparison.