"You don’t have to exclude agendas" — Legendary filmmaker John Musker claims The Walt Disney Company is allegedly opting message over story

John Musker, the legendary Disney director, recently commented on how Disney has allegedly gone "woke" in recent times. He also thinks the company is now allegedly opting message over story and entertainment.

The co-director of many films, such as The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, and Moana, recently attended the Animayo International Summit in Gran Canaria, which was held from May 8 to May 11.

During an interview with Spanish publication El País at the event, Musker talked about Walt Disney Animated Studios and how the company allegedly prioritizes its audiences and stories over its "woke" messages. He continued:

"You don’t have to exclude agendas, but you have to first create characters who you sympathize with and who are compelling. 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 went on to say that, he thinks they should slightly alter their approach so that the entertainment value and interesting plot and characters take precedence over the message.

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John Musker commented on the recent works of Disney and gave his opinion on the operations of the company

Musker also criticized the company's recent animated movies (Image via Getty)

John Musker and Ron Clements have collaborated on many Disney films together, including The Great Mouse Detective, Aladdin, The Little Mermaid, Hercules, The Princess and the Frog, and Moana.

Recently, at the Animayo International Summit in Gran Canaria, Musker presided over the international jury that pre-selected an animated short movie that will be shortlisted for an Oscar. In the same event, he also delivered master lessons.

During the same, he gave an interview to the Spanish outlet El País, where he talked about the famous company and allegedly claimed that it has started putting social consciousness ahead of amusement.

The co-director of 2009's The Princess and the Frog with Ron Clements, said that the audiences reportedly thought that a film about a Black princess was "woke." Thus, he brought up the topic of "wokeness" at the billion-dollar company. He then justified himself and his team and while addressing the same, he said:

"We weren’t trying to be woke, although I understand the criticism," Musker remarked afterward, observing that it seems like message is being prioritized over plot in increasingly recent movies.

He continued:

"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 went on to say that the authorities should allegedly first develop fascinating characters rather than focusing on its "wokeness". Additionally, Musker also allegedly commented on the company's live-action remakes of the animation films:

"Companies are always like, 'How do we reduce our risk? They like this, right? We’ll just do it again and sell it to them in a different form.' Or they think, 'Well, we could make it better.'"

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Disney has been criticized before and accused of going "woke"

John Musker’s comment came after the series of backlashes that the company had faced in recent times. FOX reported that the company has faced significant criticism in recent years from critics who claim that the firm has pushed a "woke agenda".

The company has previously faced criticism due to the same reason (Image via Getty)

Furthermore, reportedly, this wokeness caused attendance to decline in the company's theme parks. Additionally, sources like Spiked noted that Disney's "wokeness" may be the reason for its downfall. The audiences are reportedly getting tired of the company's sudden change.