[imagesource:flicks]

Disney has suffered its worst box office opening ever after the release of the supposedly ‘woke’ animation film Elemental, which has been slammed by some fans after including the studio’s first non-binary character.

It’s not the first woke-bomb to hit the studio after last year’s Strange World and Lightyear also failed to impress the woke-fatigued animation fans.

Many on social media claimed these films were an example of “go woke, get broke”. Strange World was accused of trying to educate children about sexual preferences through Jaboukie Young-White’s gay main character and his teen romance, while Lightyear raised the ire of some parents for including a lesbian kiss scene.

The new Pixar movie is set in the world of anthropomorphic elements made up of fire, water, land and air, with a story focused on a water and fire element falling in love. Peeps seem to be recoiling from a non-binary water element called Lake with they/them pronouns.

For those who have been living in a cave for the last few years, woke is a term that means ‘someone who is very aware of social and political unfairness.’ The word itself has been weaponised by both sides of the woke-line, and these days it’s a pricey gamble for companies and studios when they decide just how woke they should be.

Put a gay person in your movie and the conservatives freak out. Leading man a white dude? Then your racist. And god forbid you get a slightly darker-skinned actress to play Cleopatra. That’s black-washing.

In the end, everyone is unhappy and wants to boycott you. Meanwhile, the kids just want to watch cartoons and have some popcorn.

It seems that everyone who has an audience is obsessed with proving a point, and whether this has a place in children’s entertainment is a good question. Whatever happened to the ‘good guy versus the bad guy’ animation? Tom never caught Jerry because his intention was to hurt him, so he loses because eating a friend is wrong and being kind is the way to go. Simple, and relevant to every ‘community’ on the planet.

Mind you, Jerry was always a little camp, and if they ever do a reboot of the popular cartoon, he’ll likely be voiced by that dude from Will and Grace. You know, the gaaayyy one. Tom will likely be played by Idris Elba. A safe choice.

Pixar’s non-binary water elemental seems to be the reason people don’t like the film, and if that is indeed true, it’s more a case of people being too sensitive than the studio being too woke.

Either way, the woke backlash is in full swing and everybody is both a target and a victim. Which one apparently depends on who the main character in your favourite cartoon is. How sad.

Have a look at the trailer for the ‘outrages’ animation below, but be trigger-warned, there’s a non-binary cartoon character.

[source:expressuk]