Latinos and women, among others, have targeted Disney with protests on social media over two hot-button issues in the last week. 

A petition on Change.org protesting the Disney Princess makeover of the Merida character from Pixar’s Brave has garnered over 107,000 signatures as of this writing.  Merida’s new look for the Princess line is skinnier, sexier, in fancier clothes, and unarmed.  The petition argues that “by making her skinnier, sexier and more mature in appearance, you are sending a message to girls that the original, realistic, teenage-appearing version of Merida is inferior; that for girls and women to have value -- to be recognized as true princesses -- they must conform to a narrow definition of beauty.”

Brenda Chapman, the first director on Brave (she was replaced during production), called the makeover “a blatantly sexist marketing move based on money” in a letter to the Marin Independent Journal.  Disney has not shown any signs of backing down on the redesign, yet.

Disney did change course on another issue last week when it withdrew ten trademark applications for “Dia de los Muertos,” the name of the Mexicon holiday called “Day of the Dead” in English, after protests.  A Change.org petition charged that Disney was “trying to appropriate and exploit Mexican religion and culture” by attempting to trademark the term in such categories as toys, cereals, and jewelry. 

Over 20,000 people signed the petition, and by Wednesday, Disney had caved, according to the Los Angeles Times.  Disney released a statement explaining its withdrawal of the trademark filings.”Disney’s trademark filing was intended to protect any potential title for our film and related activities,” it said.  “It has since been determined that the title of the film will change….”

These two events, both of which blew up within a week, illustrate the power that people that pay attention to entertainment can have if the circumstances are right.  It will be interesting to see if Disney backs down on the Brave character makeover as it did on its movie title.