Disney axes Tinker Bell from meet & greets because “problematic”

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Disney World has quietly axed one of its classic characters from doing meet-and-greets at the park, which is a move that comes after the character was flagged internally for its controversial portrayal in films.

Tinker Bell, a character from Disney's (DIS) 1953 "Peter Pan" movie, first disappeared from Disney World during the Covid pandemic, along with every other character, as closures shut down the entire resort. When the theme park reopened, Tinker Bell never returned, and now her signage has reportedly been removed from Town Square Theater at Magic Kingdom, the only location where she used to conduct meet-and-greets with fans.

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The move from Disney comes after it confirmed her disappearance from meet-and-greets at the resort in February.

“Disney character ‘meet and greets’ do change in the Disney Parks,” wrote a planDisney representative in response to a question about Tinker Bell’s disappearance. “It’s always a good idea to keep an eye on the Walt Disney World Resort website for character updates”

Tinker Bell has reportedly faced scrutiny from Disney’s Stories Matter team ahead of the debut of Disney+ in 2019. The team reportedly flagged and labeled the character to Disney executives as "potentially problematic," claiming that she is “body conscious” and “jealous of Peter Pan’s attention,” according to a 2022 report from The New York Times.

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