This is how the DEI sausage gets made.

In the last D-Files, I showed how outside sinister forces got their foot in the door at Walt Disney Animation, beginning with Raya and the Last Dragon and under the banner of #MeToo and gender equity. Rather than naturally developing female and minority talent, Disney, under the leadership of Jennifer Lee, chose to force 50/50 equity at the studio, like Mickey Mouse cleaning up the Yensid's laboratory in Fantasia.

The result of Lee's "wish" may have destroyed the animation industry in America in one fell swoop. The unintended (or some would say intended) consequences of her actions were the creation of a toxic work environment where everyone is walking on eggshells and intent on shoving out veteran talent and ushering in an army of activists dead set on transforming the company in a way that Walt Disney himself would not recognize.

Because there simply were not many women, minorities, or Women of Color in animation, or even in animation school, DEIsney just started sliding into WOC's DMs on social media and hiring them.

(This is now common, by the way.)

Instead of hiring formerly trained artists from traditional institutions like Cal-Arts, Disney (with the help of Women in Animation) explicitly recruited from social media sites, including Tumblr and Reddit--a fact confirmed by numerous sources.

To be clear, Tumblr was not inherently problematic. Most of my contacts used Tumblr to host their portfolios and included links to the site on their CV. What mattered was that your social media profile checked the right boxes (i.e., "female" and "not White"). Today, that box has revised to "female-presenting."

Actually, Tumblr is very problematic. Tumblr was the Petri dish for growing this repulsive leftwing SJW toxic mold.

Tumblr is/was the Ground Zero for everything bizarre, weird, and toxic going on in social media and the media generally today. It was a training filed for zealous, mentally-ill Marxist revolutionaries.

So don't be a cuck, Film Threat.

One source said as long as gender quotients in hiring were being met, "it didn't matter what your experience was, as long as your 'stuff looked good' you can work for Disney Animation...and any animation studios--Paramount, Dreamworks, Netflix, Warner Bros, etc."

Another source noted that Tumblr was "UNEQUIVOCALLY" the base for new talent.

Women from the social media site were quickly scooped up and placed on Raya and the Last Dragon, along with other animated shows and features. Talent was always an afterthought. It was more important that these women could pad the quotas and become useful foot soldiers for the cause of DEI. Once in, the activists were asked for referrals, and now they were in a position to hire other artists from their "friend squads." They were now hiring based seemingly on their politics; these "friend squads" quickly created a powerful contingent not just at Disney.

The existence of these "squads" began to radically shift the power structure at Disney Animation, which led to radical changes in the long-held Disney traditions of animation (more on this in the D-Files, Part 4).

Let's talk about quality. The vast majority of the newly hired Tumblr talent is self-taught. There's nothing wrong with that as an artistic starting point. Successfully copying your favorite artists is the first indicator that one has minimal talent. The problem is that Tumblr is not art college and will not give you the proper training required to grow. Tumblr-based artists are constantly being affirmed by fellow Tumblr artists...which breeds an unhealthy level of narcissism and bad habits. Constructive criticism is the key to growth, but online criticism of one's art is always taken personally and inevitably sparks drawn-out struggle sessions of hurt feelings followed by personal attacks. Best to keep your criticisms to yourself if you want to be part of the "friend squad."

It is well-known in the art community Tumblr has a bad reputation. In fact, "Tumblr cartoons" is a term for awful animation featuring bad design and uninspired storytelling. One source told me, "Tumblr was Ground Zero for this mess we're in. Along with a sub-part portfolio, these artists had not yet completed their 'ten thousand hours,' and they brought bad art habits with them into the big animation studios." Some artists also find Tumblr cartoons too preachy or heavy-handed, sacrificing subtlety and nuance to align with "The Message."

Hey, he said Tumblr was Ground Zero!

Indeed! My words exactly.

Tumblr "artists" got scooped up by Marvel and DC. These two woke basketcases hired anti-talent after anti-talent off Tumblr, based on nothing but race, sex, and status as a trans person.

And you can see what happened to Marvel and DC. Both are on the glidepath to bankruptcy.

Social media isn't exactly the breeding ground for building a healthy community and interpersonal interactions. Tumblr communities foster an echo chamber effect where certain ideas or ideologies are reinforced without much critical discussion or diversity of thought. Relevant here is a new form of woke storytelling where villains are no longer needed, or female protagonists don't need no man to save them. Can someone remind me what the definition of "incel" is? Tumblr became the perfect breeding ground for activists perfect for Disney's new "reimagined" storytelling.

These recruits had a very specific personality. In them, Disney found their value as influencers, not artists. As one source puts it, "[Disney] was more than ready to hire influencers than a more reserved person with actual talent. Influencers have the potential to bring in their fan base to 'replace' whatever old fan base was there before. Unfortunately, Disney gave these influencers too much credit to do exactly that." In other words, Disney overestimated their artistic talent and underestimated their ability to attract an audience.

But of course, you can't hire an army of anti-talented, zero training, zero experience WOCs and trannies off Tumbler without clearing out the... Old Deplorables.

"The goal was to clear out as many 'Old White Guys' as possible at Disney Animation..."

...

When these recruits started doing their highly coveted jobs, they struggled to succeed at a job they weren't qualified to have in the first place. Attempts to offer help or mentoring from the "Old White Guys" were met with an undeniable cold shoulder. One veteran animator described the new hires as having "open disdain for the 'Old White Guys.'" Comments veterans made during creative meetings were met with snarky replies by the youngsters. In a moment of entitlement, one young female POC said after a notes session, "They won't listen to MY ideas."

Many of these anti-talents began leaving DEIsney when they became frustrated at having to, you know, actually learn how to draw. (Some were moved from "art" to the "story" division -- which may explain why DEIsney's writing is so terrible.)

During one creative meeting, there was a discussion of why people were leaving the studio in droves. Regretfully, one artist said, "We're getting tired of being disrespected," and the response was met with 'Yeah, but YOU don't know what it's like to be a woman!'" The actual details of this interaction are much more disturbing.

Disney could not reach 50/50 male/female equity without clearing out the "Old White Guys." They needed to go, and outright firing them was not an option. The tactic was simple: first, exasperate, and then attack.

It started with "demotions" for the "Old White Guys" in an attempt to demoralize them. The targets were given mundane and inconsequential scenes to work on, regardless of their vast experience...scraps for the dogs. Second, if they questioned or complained about their assignment, they were given impossible scenes to work on in an impossible amount of time. When the work was turned in, the new emboldened recruits harshly criticized their work to the point of humiliation. The goal was to make life so miserable that they'd quit or be forced to fall in line with the new normal. If that didn't work, something worse was waiting in the wings.

Much more at the link.

Hey Film Threat, I know you already know this, but you really should call for emails from insiders in the nearly-dead comic book industry for your next exposee. The comic book industry is simply further down the track to bankruptcy. Where the comic book industry is now, is where all media companies are following.

Once again, for those of you who are Auditory Learners, here's their podcast discussing the article.

Bonus: America First Legal has begun a federal civil rights lawsuit against DEIsney, alleging racial and sexual discrimination against straight white men.

Which will be easy to prove, because they published a DEI mandate specifying that women and minorities must make up at least 50% of most jobs. Legal Mindset says that affirmative action becomes an illegal quota system when you attach a mandatory number to it.

The Walt Disney Company has been hit with a federal civil rights complaint alleging the company's DEI policies are unlawful and discriminate against white American men, Christians, and Jews.

America First Legal filed the complaint against Disney on Wednesday. The group cited publicly available documents published on Disney's official sites as well as leaked internal documents showing how executives have made diversity, equity, and inclusion a central part of Disney's hiring practices.

..

At the heart of America First Legal's argument is that Disney has implemented de-facto quotas in its hiring, which violates employment law.

These quotas are often disguised as "diversity and inclusion policies" but in some cases, Disney has publicly listed actual percentages when it comes to hiring for its productions.

...

"It is patently unlawful to consider racial, ethnic, and sex-based characteristics in hiring, training, compensation, and promotion," America First Legal said in its complaint. "Decades of case law have held that policies that impose racial balancing or quotas in employment, training, or recruitment, such as those presented on Disney's websites, are prohibited."

Oh: And America First Legal is soliciting additional cases from white heterosexual men denied employment and forced out of jobs by DEIsney:

Legal Mindset says that the DEIsney's codified quota system is illegal on its face and no amount of expensive lawyering or "Pixie Dust" will change that.

("Pixie Dust" is an insider insult regarding DEIsney super fanbois, who they call "Pixie Dusters.")