Hint: it involves money.
Recently, we got the first teaser of Disney’s live-action remake of Aladdin. It was just a mood piece—though not exactly cryptic, come on, it’s Aladdin—but it revealed the style of the new film and included a couple iconic lines of dialogue. For certain viewers of the teaser, though, like screenwriter Terry Rossio, who has a writing credit on the film, that’s the source of a lot of frustration.
So strange that literally the only words spoken in the new Aladdin trailer happens to be a rhyme that my writing partner and I wrote, and Disney offers zero compensation to us (or to any screenwriters on any of these live-action re-makes) not even a t-shirt or a pass to the park.
— Terry Rossio (@TerryRossio) October 12, 2018
According to Rossio, one of four writers credited on the film, Disney’s live-action remakes are not included in the terms of the deal laid out by the studio for royalties, and as such, Disney is under no legal obligation to compensate creators of the original films.
The studio owns the content on an animated feature. When the films were made, no one foresaw a live action remake so nothing was contracted. Disney has been approached many times for some kind of compensation fee (I asked for a Disney pass) but they answered no, zilch, nada.
— Terry Rossio (@TerryRossio) October 12, 2018
This is messy but vital stuff. It’s easy to forget that these properties, which often become long-term moneymakers for companies like Disney, were created by people who deserve a fair share for what they create. While I can’t corroborate Rossio’s story—we’ve reached out to Disney and will update if we hear back—it resembles other well publicized cases of creators not getting compensation for their creations or otherwise not getting what they think is a fair share at the bargaining table. Alan Moore and DC Comics comes to mind.
So, when and if you see the new Aladdin, just remember that, well, not everything is sunshine and roses in corporate contract land. It never is.