‘Absolutely cruel’: Creators of soon-to-disappear shows call out Disney for erasing their hard work

As Disney senselessly moves to purge Hulu and Disney Plus of 50 television shows and movies, creators and writers of these soon-to-disappear projects have chosen to speak up about their displeasure surrounding the decision, which will effectively render it impossible to legally watch their creative works.

The removal of Howard, a documentary about LGBTQ+ icon Howard Ashman, caused special outrage. Right ahead of Pride month, the conglomerate decided to remove the documentary about the man who saved Disney and began its Renaissance period. Many pointed out the hypocrisy of the decision to remove a project dedicated to a gay man while Disney is fighting against Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ anti-LGBTQ+ legislation.

Others chose to point out that protest and defiance are what won gay rights over, and that Gay Pride should be Gay Wrath this year. It’s only 11 days away, after all.

Eliza Clark, showrunner of Y: The Last Man — which will be removed in the purge — expressed dissatisfaction and exasperation with the decision, which will keep new audiences from discovering the property.

Meanwhile, Kristen Schaal, who starred in also-removed series The Mysterious Benedict Society, and who has acted in multiple lucrative projects for Disney, concurred with Clark.

Director Julia Hart, whose work on Stargirl is being removed from Disney Plus as well, chose to express her grief about the loss of her hard labor, which involved plenty of sacrifice on her end.

Writer John Bickerstaff, who wrote for the recently canceled Willow, expressed a sentiment many share.

Bickerstaff’s thread also explains that these removed series cannot serve as tax write-offs for the global conglomerate, because the studio has already profited by releasing them. And, in fact, Disney owns some of the properties outright anyway, such as Willow. As such, Bickerstaff speculates that the reason for these removals is actually due to residuals.

If such an explanation is true, then Disney is acting incredibly harshly and ignobly. The company is valued at billions of dollars and its intellectual properties are so beloved that they have a material effect on cultures around the globe. Why should the creators, writers, and workers of these projects not receive residuals for their hard work? And the fact that Disney would be doing so during the writers’ strike, which is all about residuals and paying workers their fair share from streaming services, sends a clear message against paying creatives livable wages. And, of course, these shows deserve to be available so that the work that was put into them can be appreciated.