Over the last five years, Disney released several films that were weirdly — and perhaps unintentionally — subversive. Tim Burton’s “Dumbo,” which came out just nine days after the studio finalized its purchase of 20th Century Fox, is a movie about how the worst thing an artist can do is sell out to the corporate owners of an amusement park. Burton would know.
Chris Buck and Fawn Veerasunthorn’s “Wish” celebrated the studio’s 100th anniversary by telling a tale about how hoarding intellectual property is the most evil thing anyone can do. The only way to atone for that sin: for the rulers of a magic kingdom to give all their IP back to its original creators.