Disney Review 2026: Movies, Company, Princesses, App, Download, Shop, Login, User Experience and FAQs

Quick Verdict

Disney is one of the most complicated entertainment companies to review honestly in 2026 because what it sells and what it actually delivers have drifted so far apart. The intellectual property is still beloved. The original characters and stories that built the company over a century still carry real emotional weight for millions of people worldwide. But the corporation operating under the Disney name today has become something most of those people would barely recognize. Theme park prices have become inaccessible for average families. The streaming app is a mess of pricing tiers and login frustrations. The princess franchise has been recycled through expensive live-action remakes that have left audiences cold. The company's reputation in consumer polls has fallen to only fair. And a long list of corporate controversies, from labor violations to disability access lawsuits to AI data practices, has eroded the trust that was once Disney's single greatest asset. We rate Disney as a company and consumer brand 1.2 out of 5 in 2026. The movies can still be wonderful. The corporation running them has a great deal to answer for.

At a Glance: Icon Polls Ratings

Here is how Disney scored across the areas we evaluated in our 2026 research:

What Is The Walt Disney Company in 2026?

The Walt Disney Company was founded in 1923 by Walt Disney and his brother Roy O. Disney. It started as a small animation studio in Los Angeles and spent the following century building the most recognizable entertainment brand in human history. Mickey Mouse, Snow White, Cinderella, Bambi, the theme parks, ESPN, ABC, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, National Geographic. By 2026 Disney controls more of the world's popular culture than any other single private company.

The current CEO is Bob Iger, who returned to the role in 2022 after his successor Bob Chapek's tenure became widely regarded as damaging. Iger's second act has been focused on cost-cutting, a restructuring into four main business divisions (Entertainment, ESPN, Parks Experiences and Products, and Disney Plus), and an attempt to restore the creative confidence that the company lost in the early 2020s after a string of expensive underperformers.

In terms of raw box office performance, the story in 2026 is genuinely impressive. Disney accounted for 27.5 percent of the entire domestic US box office in 2025 with $2.49 billion in ticket sales. Zootopia 2 became the highest-grossing animated film in Disney's history. Pixar's Hoppers opened strong with a 94 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Upcoming 2026 titles including The Mandalorian and Grogu, Toy Story 5, and Avengers: Doomsday are expected to generate further billions.

But the company's reputation, its moral authority, its relationship with the average family, and the experience of actually being a Disney customer in 2026 are a different story. The Axios Harris Consumer Reputation Survey placed Disney in only the fair category in its most recent reporting, a dramatic fall for a company that once sat confidently in the excellent tier. That fall did not happen because of bad movies. It happened because of how Disney operates as a corporation, and that is what this review addresses directly.

Disney Movies in 2026: The Highs, the Lows, and the Remake Problem

The movie business is where Disney still demonstrates genuine creative capability, even if the results are inconsistent. In 2025, Disney had four films in the top ten highest-grossing domestic releases. The company has been on what analysts describe as a two-year hot streak after a difficult 2022 and 2023 period where expensive films underperformed and creative criticism mounted.

The 2026 theatrical slate is ambitious. The Mandalorian and Grogu arrives as the first Star Wars theatrical release since 2019. Toy Story 5 heads to cinemas in June, following the franchise's consistent ability to earn over a billion dollars per installment. Avengers: Doomsday, with Robert Downey Jr. returning to the MCU as a new character and the Russo Brothers back in the director's chairs, is the most anticipated film of the year by most industry measures. Hoppers, a Pixar original about a young woman who transforms into a beaver to save a pond from developers, opened strong with critical enthusiasm in early 2026.

But the live-action remake strategy that Disney has pursued aggressively over the past decade continues to produce mixed results at best and genuine disasters at worst. The Snow White remake cost an estimated $336.5 million to produce and earned only $205.7 million at the box office, generating a loss of approximately $170 million. The film drew public backlash that began before release and never recovered. Compare that to Lilo and Stitch, another live-action remake that earned over a billion dollars and connected authentically with audiences, and you see the inconsistency that defines this era of Disney filmmaking.

A National Research Group survey published in early 2026 found that 72 percent of viewers want more original films from Hollywood studios and 43 percent believe there are too many franchises. Disney's model is almost entirely built on franchises and remakes, which creates a structural tension with what audiences say they want. When the films land, as with Zootopia 2 or Inside Out 2, audiences respond enthusiastically. When they feel like product, as with many of the live-action princess remakes, the rejection is equally emphatic.

Disney Princesses: A Legacy Being Consumed by Its Own Remakes

The Disney princess franchise is among the most commercially valuable intellectual properties in entertainment history. Cinderella, Snow White, Aurora, Ariel, Belle, Jasmine, Mulan, Pocahontas, Tiana, Rapunzel, Merida, Moana, and Elsa have collectively sold hundreds of billions of dollars worth of merchandise, inspired theme park attractions on every continent where Disney operates, and introduced generations of children to storytelling.

The original animated films that created these characters are genuinely extraordinary works of art in many cases. They are the reason Disney has the reputation it has. The films of the Disney Renaissance from 1989 through the late 1990s, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King, Mulan, represent some of the most accomplished musical storytelling in cinema history. The Pixar collaborations extended that legacy through Brave, Frozen, Moana, and Encanto.

The live-action princess remake era that Disney has been pursuing since 2014 is a different proposition. The commercial logic is obvious. Take a beloved property with built-in audience recognition, update it visually, cast it with recognizable names, and release it into a market where the title alone guarantees opening weekend interest. The problem is that the creative execution is almost never as good as the original. The animated films succeeded because of their artistry. The live-action versions typically reproduce the story with diminished magic and maximum brand exploitation.

The Snow White remake is the clearest example of this strategy going catastrophically wrong. The film lost an estimated $170 million at the box office. The backlash was vocal and widespread before the film was even released, driven partly by creative decisions in the adaptation and partly by public statements from the lead actress that alienated a portion of the film's core audience. The company proceeded with the release anyway rather than reconsidering. The result was one of Disney's most expensive theatrical failures in recent memory.

The princess brand itself is under no immediate threat. Children still adore Cinderella. Frozen merchandise still sells at extraordinary rates. Moana connected deeply with Pacific Islander communities in ways that transcended typical franchise engagement. But the live-action remake pipeline, and the princess characters' representation in the Disney theme parks and shops, increasingly feels less like celebration of a legacy and more like extraction of value from one.

Disney Plus: The App, Download, and Streaming Experience

Disney Plus launched in November 2019 and within its first year had accumulated over 73 million subscribers. The early promise was clear: a clean, family-friendly streaming library containing Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, and National Geographic content at a price well below Netflix. For a few years, it delivered on that promise reasonably well.

By 2026 the Disney Plus experience has become something considerably more complicated. Here is the current pricing structure as of our research:

Prices as of March 2026. Disney Plus also offers an Extra Member add-on for an additional fee to allow a second household to share a subscription. Prices subject to change and promotional rates available through select carriers including Verizon and Spectrum.

The Login and Account Experience

The Disney Plus login experience has generated a notable volume of complaints in 2026. Trustpilot reviewers describe the frontend movie logon service as reminiscent of a late 90s service, tedious and painfully outdated. Others describe being forced through multiple authentication screens, receiving emails with codes that never arrive, and being unable to log in to cancel a subscription. One reviewer described navigating through seven pages of confirmation prompts just to cancel their account, noting that Disney seemed designed to make cancellation as difficult as possible.

The app itself is available for download on iOS, Android, smart TVs, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, PlayStation, and Xbox. The download and initial installation is standard. The navigational structure within the app is where users report more friction. The integration of Hulu content alongside Disney Plus content within the same interface has created a browsing experience that feels cluttered rather than convenient for many subscribers. Finding where Disney Plus ends and Hulu begins requires more attention than it should.

Content Quality vs. Library Depth

The Disney Plus library is genuinely extensive. The Marvel Cinematic Universe, the full Star Wars catalog, the Disney animation vault, every Pixar film, National Geographic documentaries, and ESPN-adjacent sports content all live within the platform. For households with children, the value proposition is real. For adults without children, the content that feels genuinely compelling is narrower.

The platform has also been criticized for removing content without clear notice, price increases that occurred multiple times in a short period, and the decision to move certain content behind a premium tier or to require cinema tickets before streaming becomes available. The windowing strategy, where major films are held from Disney Plus for months after theatrical release to protect box office returns, frustrates subscribers who pay the monthly fee expecting timely access to new releases.

The Disney Shop Experience

The Disney Shop, accessible at shopDisney.com and through dedicated retail locations, is the company's primary merchandise platform for consumers who want to buy Disney-branded products outside of the parks. The site carries an enormous catalog ranging from children's toys and clothing to collectibles, home goods, and officially licensed apparel across all of Disney's IP categories.

The shopping experience on ShopDisney generates consistent complaints around pricing, quality, and customer service. Consumer reviews describe merchandise that does not match its online descriptions, items shipped in poor condition, and a customer service operation that is difficult to reach and slow to resolve issues. The pricing across most product categories reflects the premium Disney charges for its brand name rather than for product quality that justifies the markup.

The company's intellectual property practices extend to the shop in ways that occasionally generate controversy. Disney's history of aggressive copyright enforcement, including legal actions against small businesses and private individuals who use Disney characters without authorization, stands in ironic contrast to a company that built its early library by taking inspiration from public domain fairy tales and folklore. The trademarking of terms and characters that exist in the cultural commons has generated ongoing criticism from artists, small business owners, and legal scholars.

For parents buying Disney merchandise for children, the experience at ShopDisney is functional but not exceptional. Items frequently go out of stock without restocking timelines. Limited edition drops sell out instantly and then appear on secondary markets at inflated prices, driven in part by Disney's own artificial scarcity strategies. The exclusive content that Disney parks offer versus what is available online creates pressure to visit the parks, which feeds directly into the theme park pricing discussion.

Theme Parks: The Biggest Trust Problem of All

Walt Disney's original vision for his theme parks was that they would be accessible places of joy for ordinary American families. That vision has been abandoned so thoroughly that it is worth documenting in some detail.

A family of four visiting Walt Disney World for a single day in 2026 will spend somewhere between $600 and $1,200 depending on their choices, before accounting for flights, hotel accommodation, or food inside the park. Individual park tickets now start around $109 per person per day on the cheapest available dates and can exceed $200 per person on peak days. The Lightning Lane system, which replaced the free FastPass service, requires additional fees on top of admission to skip queue lines. Individual ride reservations within Lightning Lane cost extra on top of the basic Lightning Lane access fee. Parking adds further cost. Food and drink within the parks is priced at a level that strains the average family budget.

The Disability Access Service situation is one of the most damaging stories surrounding Disney's theme parks in recent years. DAS, which allowed guests with disabilities to receive equivalent ride access accommodations without standing in long queues, was significantly overhauled. Many guests who had relied on DAS under the previous system were denied under the new system and offered alternative accommodations that many disabled guests and disability rights organizations described as inadequate. A class action lawsuit has been filed. At the 2026 annual shareholder meeting, a proposal requesting an independent review of Disney's accessibility and disability inclusion practices was put to a vote. Disney's board recommended shareholders vote against it. Only five percent of shareholders supported the proposal.

PissedConsumer tracks Walt Disney World reviews and records an average of 2.0 stars from 311 customer reviews, with 33 percent of users likely to recommend the parks to a friend. The most common themes are expensive pricing for declining value, rude or unhelpful cast members, excessive crowds, and malfunctioning attractions. Trustpilot reviewers of the broader Disney company describe the sentiment that Disney has lost its way, focusing more on profits than on delivering a positive experience.

The Company Behind the Magic: Corporate Ethics in 2026

No review of Disney as a company is complete without addressing the pattern of corporate behavior that has accumulated over decades and intensified in the past few years. These are not abstract concerns. They are documented, verified, and consequential for consumers who spend their money on Disney products and experiences.

Labor and Employee Treatment

In 2017, Disney reached an agreement with the US Department of Labor to pay $3.8 million to 16,339 employees after it was found that charging employees for their own costumes had pushed the income of many workers below the federal minimum wage. The same settlement addressed violations of overtime and payroll recordkeeping regulations at Walt Disney Parks and Resorts. The image of a company with a $165 billion market capitalization paying workers below minimum wage is one that the company's marketing department works hard to prevent people from connecting to the Mickey Mouse iconography.

Disability Access and the DAS Controversy

The overhaul of the Disability Access Service has been one of the most sustained sources of negative coverage for Disney's theme parks in 2025 and 2026. The previous system was admittedly being abused by some visitors who misrepresented their needs. The new system, critics argue, went too far in the other direction, denying legitimate accommodations to guests with invisible disabilities including autism, PTSD, and anxiety disorders who cannot stand in traditional queue environments. The class action lawsuit is ongoing, the shareholder proposal for independent review was voted down by the board, and guests continue to report being denied access in ways that prevent them from experiencing the parks.

Political Controversies and Brand Trust

Disney's involvement in the Florida Parental Rights in Education Act controversy in 2022, and the subsequent feud with then-Governor Ron DeSantis that resulted in the company losing its special self-governing district status, drew the company into explicitly partisan political territory in ways that damaged its reputation with a significant portion of its customer base. While some customers supported Disney's public statements, others felt the company was overstepping its role as an entertainment provider. The damage to brand trust was measurable and contributed to the decline in consumer reputation polls.

In early 2026, the cancellation of Jimmy Kimmel's late night show on ABC following political pressure generated a new wave of consumer backlash, with multiple Trustpilot reviewers citing the decision as the final reason they canceled their Disney Plus subscription. The specific policy decisions matter less than the pattern they reveal: Disney is a company that makes decisions based on financial and political pressure rather than consistent principles, and that inconsistency has consequences for consumer trust.

AI and Data Practices

On March 24, 2026, Disney announced it was exiting its licensing deal with OpenAI following OpenAI's announcement that it would be shuttering its Sora text-to-video application. The AI industry's relationship with Disney remains complex, with ongoing questions about how AI systems trained on Disney's copyrighted materials relate to the company's intellectual property rights and what protections exist for creative workers in Disney's studios.

What Disney Gets Right and What It Gets Wrong

What Still Works

Genuine creative excellence when the films land, with Zootopia 2, Inside Out 2, and Hoppers demonstrating that Disney animation at its best remains world class

The Disney Plus content library is extensive, particularly for families with children, and covers Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, and National Geographic under one subscription

Avengers: Doomsday, Toy Story 5, and The Mandalorian and Grogu represent a strong 2026 theatrical slate with real audience anticipation

The princess franchise characters themselves, the original animated versions, remain beloved by children and adults worldwide

Disney's physical parks, despite their pricing problems, still deliver technically impressive rides and attractions when they are operational

Some Disney princesses have genuinely expanded representation, with characters like Moana, Tiana, and Mirabel offering children of color meaningful central characters to connect with

What Disney Gets Wrong

Theme park prices have made the Disney experience inaccessible for average families, with a single day for four people potentially costing over $1,000 before meals or accommodation

The live-action princess remake strategy has produced expensive failures like Snow White at a $170 million loss while diluting the original characters' legacy

The Disability Access Service overhaul at theme parks resulted in a class action lawsuit and a shareholder proposal that Disney's board voted against rather than engaging with

Disney Plus login and cancellation experiences generate consistent complaints about confusing interfaces and deliberately obstructive cancellation flows

The ShopDisney merchandise experience is marked by premium pricing that does not consistently reflect premium quality

Labor violations documented in the 2017 Department of Labor settlement involving minimum wage breaches for theme park employees

Corporate reputation has fallen to only fair in consumer polling, driven by political controversies, pricing concerns, and a perceived shift from customer focus to profit extraction

AI and data practices remain an active concern for creators and consumers watching how Disney uses and licenses its intellectual property in the AI era

How Disney Compares in the Entertainment Landscape

Disney vs Universal: Universal Entertainment has closed the gap on Disney as a theme park destination significantly over the past decade. Universal's Wizarding World of Harry Potter, the Jurassic World attractions, and the forthcoming Epic Universe expansion have given families a genuine alternative to Disney parks at comparable pricing but with fresher experiences. On streaming, Peacock is not a serious challenger to Disney Plus in terms of content depth, but Universal's parent company Comcast's potential merger activity could change that picture in the medium term.

Disney Plus vs Netflix: Netflix remains the dominant streaming service by subscriber count and arguably by the breadth of its original content for adult audiences. Disney Plus wins for family-oriented content and branded franchise material. Netflix invests more heavily in original non-franchise content. For households with children, Disney Plus at $9.99 per month for the basic tier is a reasonable value. For adults, Netflix's library is more compelling for the same price point.

Disney vs Dreamworks and Illumination: In animation specifically, DreamWorks and Illumination have both carved out significant market share that Disney once held almost exclusively. The Super Mario Galaxy Movie from Illumination in 2026 is projected to be a major box office performer. Shrek, Kung Fu Panda, Minions, and the How to Train Your Dragon franchise demonstrate that audiences will invest in non-Disney animated characters when the storytelling connects. Disney's advantage remains its princess and superhero IP, but competitors have proven that brand loyalty is not unconditional.

Frequently Asked Questions About Disney (2026)

1. Is Disney Plus worth subscribing to in 2026?

For families with children, yes with some caveats. Disney Plus at $9.99 per month with ads gives access to the full Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, and National Geographic library, which is genuinely valuable for households that watch family content regularly. The 4K upgrade to the ad-free tier at $15.99 per month is worth it for serious home theater users. The concerns are the price increases that have occurred multiple times since launch, the cluttered interface that has become harder to navigate as Hulu content was integrated, the windowing policy that delays new theatrical releases from appearing on the platform, and the login and cancellation experience that multiple users describe as deliberately obstructive. If you subscribe, set a reminder for your renewal date and monitor your billing. Cancellation should be straightforward but reviewers consistently describe it as requiring more steps than it should.

2. What Disney movies are coming out in 2026?

Disney has a significant 2026 theatrical slate. Hoppers, a Pixar original about a young woman who transforms into a beaver, was already in cinemas as of March 2026 and performing well both critically and commercially. The Mandalorian and Grogu, the first Star Wars theatrical release since 2019, arrives May 22. Toy Story 5 follows in June from Pixar. A live-action Moana adaptation is scheduled for July. Avengers: Doomsday, the most anticipated film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in years, is set for December with Robert Downey Jr. returning and the Russo Brothers directing. Disney also has a new Walt Disney Animation Studios original planned for Thanksgiving. The slate is among Disney's strongest in years in terms of anticipated audience interest, though past performance has shown that anticipation does not always translate to box office success or audience satisfaction.

3. How do I log in to Disney Plus?

To log in to Disney Plus, visit disneyplus.com or open the Disney Plus app on your device. Enter the email address and password associated with your account. If you have enabled two-step verification, a code will be sent to your registered email or phone. If you are not receiving the login code, check your spam folder, verify that your registered email address is correct, and try requesting the code again. If you are locked out of your account entirely, the account recovery option on the Disney Plus login page will walk you through verification steps. For persistent login issues, Disney Plus support is available through the in-app help center or at help.disneyplus.com. Phone support is available but call volumes can result in significant wait times.

4. What are Disney's most iconic princesses?

Disney's princess franchise spans more than eight decades of animated filmmaking. The classic era princesses are Snow White (1937), Cinderella (1950), and Sleeping Beauty's Aurora (1959). The Disney Renaissance brought a more active generation including Ariel from The Little Mermaid (1989), Belle from Beauty and the Beast (1991), Jasmine from Aladdin (1992), Pocahontas (1995), and Mulan (1998). The modern era added Tiana from The Princess and the Frog (2009), Rapunzel from Tangled (2010), Merida from Brave (2012), Elsa and Anna from Frozen (2013), Moana (2016), and Raya from Raya and the Last Dragon (2021). Mirabel from Encanto (2021) is not an official Disney Princess by the company's own classification but has become one of the most beloved recent additions. The franchise's legacy in the original animated format remains largely positive, while the live-action remakes have produced much more mixed responses.

5. How much does a Disney World trip cost in 2026?

A trip to Walt Disney World in 2026 is one of the most expensive family vacation options available in the United States. A single day ticket for one adult varies from approximately $109 on the cheapest available dates to over $200 on peak days. A family of four buying tickets for three days at average pricing would spend roughly $1,200 to $1,800 on tickets alone before accounting for the Lightning Lane and Lightning Lane Premium services, which require additional fees to skip standard queue lines. Disney resort hotel accommodation adds $200 to $600 or more per night depending on the resort tier. Food and dining inside the parks averages $15 to $30 per person per meal at table service. A full week-long family vacation to Walt Disney World including tickets, accommodation at a Disney resort, food, and Lightning Lane access can easily exceed $8,000 to $12,000 for a family of four. Consumer reviews consistently describe feeling that the value no longer matches the cost.

6. Is Disney good for kids in 2026?

The content Disney creates for children remains genuinely valuable in most cases. The animated films in particular, from the classics through Pixar's recent output, represent some of the best storytelling and craftsmanship in children's media anywhere in the world. Disney Plus gives children access to an enormous library of age-appropriate content. The parks, if accessible, provide experiences children remember for life. The concern for parents is what surrounds that content. The princess remakes have been criticized for messaging choices that some parents find confusing relative to the original films. The theme park accessibility situation, with the disability access changes affecting families with autistic children and other disabilities, has made the parks difficult or impossible for some families. And the aggressive merchandise and pricing strategies mean that the Disney experience has an extractive commercial dimension that is hard to fully separate from the genuine creative joy.

7. What happened to Disney's Snow White remake?

Disney's live-action Snow White remake, released in 2025, became one of the company's most discussed financial failures in recent years. UK financial filings revealed the film cost $336.5 million to produce but earned only $205.7 million at the box office, generating a loss of approximately $170 million. The film faced significant public backlash that began before release and continued through its theatrical run. Commentary around creative decisions in the adaptation and statements made by the lead actress in press appearances contributed to audience reluctance that never recovered. Disney's Q1 2026 financial results showed operating income in its entertainment division fell 35 percent to $1.1 billion, partly attributed to increased production costs. The loss stood in particularly sharp contrast to the Lilo and Stitch live-action remake released in the same period, which earned over a billion dollars globally.

8. Can I download the Disney Plus app and how does it work?

The Disney Plus app can be downloaded for free from the Apple App Store for iOS devices, Google Play Store for Android devices, and is available as a built-in or downloadable app on most major smart TVs, streaming sticks (Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV), and gaming consoles (PlayStation and Xbox). The app is free to download but requires a paid subscription to access content beyond limited free previews. Once logged in, you can browse content by brand (Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, National Geographic), search for specific titles, create user profiles with parental controls, and on the Premium or higher tier plans, download content for offline viewing. The app has received criticism for its interface, particularly since Hulu content was integrated alongside Disney Plus content, creating a browsing experience that some users find confusing. Login and cancellation processes have been described as unnecessarily complicated by a meaningful number of subscribers.

9. Is the Disney Shop worth buying from?

ShopDisney at shopDisney.com offers officially licensed merchandise across Disney's full IP catalog, from children's toys and clothing to collectibles and home goods. The practical answer to whether it is worth using depends on what you are buying. For items that are exclusive to Disney and not available elsewhere, the Shop is your only source. For items that are widely available through third-party retailers like Amazon or Target, you will typically find the same licensed product at a lower price through those channels. Common complaints about ShopDisney include inconsistent stock availability, items going out of stock with no restock timeline, premium pricing that does not always reflect premium quality, and customer service that is slow to resolve issues with damaged or incorrect shipments. Limited edition collectibles and theme park-exclusive merchandise tend to have the strongest proposition for collectors willing to pay the premium.

10. Why has Disney's reputation dropped?

Disney's decline in consumer reputation polls, from the excellent tier to only fair in the Axios Harris Poll, reflects a multi-year accumulation of trust erosion rather than any single event. The primary factors are the transformation of theme park pricing from something ordinary families could afford to an experience that requires significant financial planning, the disability access controversy at the parks that resulted in a class action lawsuit and a shareholder proposal that Disney's board voted against, documented labor violations including a settlement for below-minimum-wage pay for theme park employees, the political controversies surrounding the Florida Parental Rights in Education Act and subsequent retaliatory government actions, the Snow White remake's expensive failure that highlighted creative issues, and the frustrating digital experience of Disney Plus with its complex pricing tiers and login barriers. Individually, any one of these could be managed. Together, they represent a company that has consistently prioritized financial extraction over the customer relationship, and that pattern has consequences in a media environment where consumers have more choices than ever.

Icon polls Verdict

Reviewing Disney in 2026 requires holding two things in your head simultaneously. The first is that the creative work, the genuinely great animated films, the best of Pixar, the moments when the princess stories transcend their commercial packaging and connect with something real in children's imaginations, that work is still being done. It is real and it matters. The people inside Disney who make those films are doing something valuable.

The second thing is that the corporation packaging, marketing, and monetizing that creative work has become something that would be unrecognizable and almost certainly unacceptable to Walt Disney himself. Theme parks priced out of reach for the middle-class families Walt built them for. A streaming service designed to capture subscribers and make cancellation difficult. A princess franchise being strip-mined through expensive remakes that repeatedly underperform. Labor violations. Disability access rollbacks. A reputation that has fallen from excellent to only fair in the span of a few years.

The 1.2 out of 5 rating we assign to Disney as a company in 2026 is not a rating of Zootopia 2 or Hoppers or the Toy Story franchise. It is a rating of Disney as a corporate citizen, a consumer experience provider, and an organization that has had immense advantages, immense goodwill, and immense creative resources, and has repeatedly chosen to trade on that goodwill rather than earn it. The movies can still be wonderful. Go see them. But go in knowing what the company behind them has chosen to become.