by Fred Jackson
(AgapePress) – The bad times continue at Disney. USA Today reports Disney Studios chairman Peter Schneider resigned yesterday following disappointing openings for Disney's two top summer films, Pearl Harbor and Atlantis.
The newspaper says the word came as Disney theme park business continues to suffer losses. Merrill Lynch analyst Jessica Cohen estimates attendance at Disneyland and Walt Disney World fell as much as 8% this quarter from the same period last year. The report also notes that in an effort to deal with low ticket sales at Disneyland, the park has slashed entry prices for families who live in Southern California.
The Catholic League and the American Family Association, along with many other pro-family groups, began a boycott of Disney in the early months of 1996 because the company had moved away from its pro-family standards. According to AFA Journal, the boycott was precipitated by two major problem areas that AFA felt tarnished Disney's once pristine family-friendly image: the often vulgar, violent, and anti-Christian films produced and distributed through Disney subsidiary Miramax; and the promotion of the homosexual agenda throughout the Disney corporation. Earlier this year, the Journal ran an article documenting why AFA feels the five year-old boycott should continue.
AFA has been joined in the boycott by several Protestant denominations since it began, including the Southern Baptist Convention, General Council of the Assemblies of God, Congregational Holiness Church, and the Free Will Baptists. Also coming alongside have been pro-family organizations like Focus on the Family, Concerned Women for America, and Catholics United for the Faith.
Since the boycott, not only have Disney's entertainment enterprises fallen off, but also Disney-owned ABC has run into financial difficulties. The network recently announced a series of job cuts, including its religion reporter position.
(This update courtesy of Agape Press.)
