It’s fair to say that President Donald Trump is a controversial figure. Throughout his campaign and into his presidency, Trump has sparked heated debates about a countless number of political issues. This exchange of passionate opinions has even extended into the subject of Disney. The latest of these controversies is whether or not President Trump will have a speaking role in the Hall of Presidents at Walt Disney World.
Disney CEO Bob Iger confirmed the addition of our 45th president to the attraction in a call with Wall Street analysts last November. “We’ve already prepared a bust of President-elect Trump to go into our Hall of the Presidents at Disney World.” The attraction closed in mid-January to make the addition and is expected to re-open at the end of June.
Until then we look to an article by Kevin Wong on the website Motherboard for more details. Wong interviews a source close to Walt Disney Imagineering on whether or not we will hear President Trump’s voice. According to his source, the answer is probably no.
“Given how polarizing the president is right now, Disney Parks & Resorts is currently trying to find [a solution] that approaches middle ground,” said the source in an interview with Motherboard. “They want to include our 45th commander-in-chief in this 45-year-old theme park attraction, while at the same time, not seem to endorse or support some of Trump’s more controversial policies.”
It has been recent show addition to hear the the current president speak in the Hall of Presidents. Bill Clinton was the first to record a speech, followed by George W. Bush, and Barack Obama. Although President Trump will appear on stage, the Imagineers will likely revert back to the pre-1993 format of the show. This older version only had George Washington and Abraham Lincoln addressing the audience.
Disney has received multiple anti-Trump petitions (the largest has collected close to 15,000 signatures) which urge Disney to keep the President Trump robot silent. But it might not only be public pressure keeping the audio-animatronic President quiet. It could be President Trump himself that’s causing the issue. Disney has reportedly been reaching out to Trump since January but no compromises have been made to keep things moving.
“That’s a part of this—just getting time with him [to record],” said the source. “I guess there’s also been some back-and-forth on his proposed script, which is something they’re hoping to use as a ‘Get Out of Jail Free’ card. If he’s not available to record, they can use that as a legitimate excuse… that’s kind of what Disney’s hoping for.”
When Wong reached out to both Disney and the White House for comment, they both declined.
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Source : Motherboard
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