Disney

Bill Maher went in hard on Florida Governor, Ron DeSantis, for "demagoguing" the culture war issue over LGBTQ+ mentions in schools.

The "Real Time" host railed on DeSantis for the draconian action he took against Disney World, yanking their tax status and independence because the Mouse House took a stand against the "Don't Say Gay" bill.

Bill said he has every reason to hate Disney -- after all, they fired him for comments he made on "Politically Incorrect" -- a bonehead move, given the name of the show, right?

Nevertheless, Bill feels sorry for Disney because they seem to be in a no-win situation ... the left hated them when they didn't take a stand on the bill, and now they've taken a stand and the right hates them. As Bill said, Disney's initial response ... "We just make fairies and elves, riding teacups" ... and that triggered the left. Now that they won't donate to political campaigns of those who support the bill ... well, the right went nuts.

Atlantic writer, Caitlin Flanagan, said she hates the way Disney waffled, imploring the company to "have a backbone." Conservative, Mary Katharine Ham, took a different stance ... "The key might be neutrality on these big culture war issues."

Kim and Khloe Kardashian took their kids to Disneyland this week, and it highlighted the difficulty of being one of the most famous families on earth.

The Kardashians plunked down at least $3K for VIP access ... something that's available to everyone. For them, it's kinda a necessity, since they would be overwhelmed by fans if they stood in line and the trip would be a disaster for the kids.

Some fans were pissed when Disneyland staff shut down the teacup ride ... you see the brood in 3 of the teacups while the others remain empty, and that didn't sit well with some folks waiting in line. We're told the Kardashians didn't request that the ride be shut down to other guests ... Disneyland staff just did it. They did not shut down other rides for the fam.

This was True's first trip to the happiest place on earth, and we know that because Khloe apologized for photoshopping a prior pic -- taken last October -- to cover Stormi's face. Khloe confessed, and all is good.

Before this toddler (in her tiara) was a young model and marched onto the Disney Channel in 2011, she was beachin' it with her twin brother in hot, sunny Florida -- and eventually made her way to New York City.

Attending one of New York's most prestigious schools for the arts, this little princess in white made her big on-screen debut acting alongside Katherine Heigl back in 2008.

Still not positive about who the little girl decked out in sparkly sequins is? She reprised her Disney role in 2015 in the series "Bunk'd."

New York actor Chad Michael Murray was 22 years old when he landed the role of the popular jock Austin Ames aka 'Nomad' -- who winds up steering away from his father's plan for him to play professional football and instead scoops up his Cinderella -- in the 2004 high school movie "A Cinderella Story."

Chad was joined on the big screen with some big Hollywood names including Hilary Duff playing modern-day Cinderella, Sam, Jennifer Coolidge as the evil yet comedic step-mother, Fiona and Regina King as Sam's saving confidant, Rhonda.

Ashley Tisdale's look over the years is exactly what "I've We've Been Looking For!"

Here's a 17-year-old version of the New Jersey-born actress at an 'MY - TEE Summer Soiree' Hosted by actress Brittany Snow back in 2003. This was just years before she would star in Disney's iconic "High School Musical" and "The Suite Life of Zack & Cody" (left).

And, 19 years later ... the now 36-year-old mom may have switched her youthful smile to a mature smize, but that hasn't diverted her love and passion for health and beauty -- as she now has her own beauty company called Frenshe.

"We're All in This Together!"

The question is ...

Disney World is under fire after allowing a high school cheer group to march during a parade at the theme park with both chants and uniforms featuring racist Native American stereotypes.

A video of the performance spread quickly on social media Thursday featuring dozens of students from The Port Neches-Groves “Indianettes” High School drill team, a group out of Texas. Each member is dressed in fringed outfits, danced with moves similar to those seen in Native American cultures and chanted, "I-N-D-I-A-N-S scalp 'em, Indians, scalp 'em."

Of course, people were outraged, calling the incident racist and tagging the school's Twitter page -- which has seemingly since been deleted.

In a statement Friday, a Disney spokesperson said, "The live performance in our park did not reflect our core values, and we regret it took place. It was not consistent with the audition tape the school provided and we have immediately put measures in place so this is not repeated.”

In a somewhat parallel incident, it was last summer when the theme park removed all "native" characters from its Jungle Cruise attraction.

Identical twins Brent and Shane Kinsman were 5 years old when they ran across our screens while playing Kyle and Nigel Baker -- a boisterous set of twins who made up two of the dozen Baker children in the 2003 film 'Cheaper By The Dozen.'

The OG family comedy was packed with big named stars including Hilary Duff, Steve Martin, Bonnie Hunt, Dax Shepard and Ashton Kutcher were also cast in the movie.

Recently graduating from college, The Kinsman twins are now 24 years old and have plans to step back in front of the camera soon.

Ron DeSantis says Disney has joined a false narrative regarding a bill about LGBT education in grade schools there -- while also noting ... he's not backing down from making it law.

The Florida governor lashed out Thursday against what he called yet another "woke" corporation -- aka, Disney -- for trying to torpedo his party's efforts in passing HB 1557 ... which has also been colloquially dubbed as the "Don't Say Gay" bill.

During an event in Boca Raton, DeSantis said Disney isn't gonna make him cave on the issue -- namely, he's going to sign it for what he says is the best interest of families ... going on to point out what he sees as hypocrisy from a company that touts wholesome values.

ICYMI ... Disney caught a lot of backlash last week for initially staying quiet (at least publicly) on the bill, which has become a lightning rod of controversy for months now. Eventually, though, the Mouse House's CEO, Bob Chapek, said they screwed up on that front.

Chapek said Disney had always opposed the bill, but didn't want to take a position on it, as he and leadership apparently thought they could do more BTS -- via lobbying and/or just through their content ... some of which has been viewed as LGBT-friendly, especially lately.

But, after being rebuked by his own employees, he apologized ... saying Disney would, in fact, publicly oppose the bill -- and even expressed Disney's concerns to DeSantis personally.

This clip is basically DeSantis' response to Disney's balancing act ... and to everyone else who's up in arms about this, it seems. He's defiant, and doubled down on this sentiment in an email sent out to donors and supporters shortly thereafter -- again invoking "woke."

As far as what the bill actually says and what would become the law in the Sunshine State, it's worth a read in full. While there are different sections and components, the big sticking point has to do with what students in kindergarten through 3rd grade can or can't learn.

Essentially, this will ban classroom instruction -- either from a teacher themselves or a 3rd-party -- on sexual orientation and/or gender identity in those earlier grades -- while allowing for "age-appropriate" learning in higher grades ... with parents looped in at every juncture.

English child actor Hayley Mills was only 14 years old when she landed the role of the long-lost identical twin sisters Susan Evers and Sharon McKendrick -- who meet at summer camp and create hijinx after swapping homes -- in the 1961 classic movie "The Parent Trap."

While HM took on the gig of both daughters in the twinning movie ... The OG 'Trap' movie also included Maureen O'Hara as the loving mother, Maggie McKendrick ... and Brian Keith as the ranch living father, Mitch Evers.

Hayley Mills was also cast as the title role in the 1960 Disney film "Pollyanna" and one of the Jesus spotting siblings, Kathy Bostock, in the 1961 drama "Whistle Down the Wind."

There is not a new 'Little Mermaid' ride at Disney World, but guests might feel like it as major flash flooding left parts of the theme park underwater.

Disney's Hollywood Studios -- one of the 4 Disney parks in Orlando -- was inundated Monday night, but the unprepared tourists seemed to take in stride ... albeit, very wet strides.

As "When You Wish Upon a Star" blared some people were pushing strollers through knee-deep (for little kids) water.

You can imagine ... the younger park-goers were eating this up, having an absolute blast playing, skipping or just flopping down in the flooding. Not ideal for parents, but hey -- ya came all that way, might as well soak up the Disney magic.

The National Weather Service says an estimated 4 to 5 inches of rain ended up falling in the area. Gotta love Florida, baby!!!

Paul George is opening up about his struggles in the NBA bubble ... saying he couldn't sleep for 2 WEEKS -- and it played a huge role in his performance on the court.

The Clippers forward joined former teammate Serge Ibaka on his "How Hungry Are You?" cooking show recently ... and detailed how mentally and physically taxing his time at the Disney World campus in Orlando was in 2020.

"A lot of it was just weighing on me," George told Ibaka. "For one, I wasn't sleeping. No lie, I probably went a good week and a half, 2 weeks of 0 sleep. I would lay in bed and my mind would be racing."

PG told Serge that his lack of sleep was so concerning, he tried using different solutions -- from taking naps to therapy to using sleeping gummies to remedy the problem.

Of course, George was pretty inconsistent throughout the 2020 NBA playoffs ... and he says it was extra tough on him because there was no way to escape.

Ultimately, Paul admits his sleep deprivation negatively affected his performance on the court ... but he's not making excuses for blowing a 3-1 series lead against the Denver Nuggets.

"I ain't gon' make no excuses on it ... he said. "We just blew it."

Chicago-born child actor Isaiah Robinson was only 8 years old when he took on the role of the little lost boy Pockets -- who spots the Pan inside of Peter and delivers the classic line "Oh, there you are Peter" -- in Steven Spielberg's 1991 fantasy film "Hook."

Isaiah Robinson shared the big screen with an impressive list of actors including Dante Basco as Rufio, Julia Roberts as the fast-fluttering, Tinker Bell, Dustin Hoffman as the kid-stealing, Captain Hook ... and of course Robin Williams as the lost boy leader turned lawyer, Peter Banning ... a.k.a. Peter Pan.

Rockmond Dunbar is taking Disney and 20th Television to federal court over his ouster from "9-1-1" ... accusing the studios of discriminating against him based on his race and religion.

According to the lawsuit, obtained by TMZ, Rockmond claims he was the only Black male lead actor on the TV show and his dismissal severely damaged his career.

In the docs, Rockmond claims he submitted paperwork seeking both a religious and medical exemption for the COVID-19 vaccine, and says producers assured him they wanted him to remain on the show and his schedule would be adjusted to accommodate him being unvaccinated.

Instead, Rockmond claims he was barred from the set and assured his character's storyline would show him leaving temporarily, keeping open the possibility for him to return down the road.

But Rockmond claims that never happened either ... in his suit, he says Disney and 20th Television fired him in retaliation and refused to pay him the hundreds of thousands of dollars he says he's still owed.

What's more, Rockmond claims the studios not only refused to accommodate his vaccine exemption requests, but also deliberately made it sound like he was an anti-vaxxer ... and he says he essentially became persona non grata in Hollywood.

Rockmond's going after the studios for money, and he wants an injunction barring the studios from discriminating against anyone based on race or religion when it comes to vaccination policies.

We reached out to Disney and 20th Television ... so far, no word back.

The happiest place on Earth was the most hungover place on Earth on Monday ... 'cause the Los Angeles Rams' visit to Disneyland looked absolutely miserable for everyone who drank the night away after the Super Bowl.

Matthew Stafford's wife, Kelly, posted video of how it REALLY looks to hit up Disneyland fresh off celebrating a championship ... showing all the young kids having a blast -- and the parents riding the struggle bus (in this case, the Merry-Go-Round).

FYI -- the Staffords have 4 kids under 5 years old. Can you imagine rounding up the bunch with a splitting headache?!?

Of course, it's tradition for newly-crowned champs to hit up Disney ... but as we reported, the Rams were partying it up with Gunna until around 4 AM after the game.

Somehow, Matthew, Cooper Kupp and Aaron Donald were able to throw on a smile for the festivities ... with the trio getting the parade treatment.

The trio joined Mickey Mouse for the event ... hangin' on a Rams float waving at hundreds of fans while traveling through the confetti-filled theme park.

Donald even got to meet his fellow Donald -- Donald Duck -- and Cooper posed for some pics with some superheroes.

The fun doesn't end here -- the Rams get to celebrate again with another parade in downtown Los Angeles on Wednesday.

Dylan Postl is NOT here for Peter Dinklage's hot take on the "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" remake. Dylan says that the esteemed actor took things waaay too far... and as a result, he's actually hurting the dwarf community.

We caught up with the actor and former WWE wrestler Wednesday, and he doubled down on his stance, saying the fairytale remake actually gives 7 real-life people in the dwarf community a chance to star in a movie. He says getting work is elusive for these actors, so such roles are not only important ... they're life-sustaining.

Dylan says Peter's actually taking roles away from dwarfs and the little people community by being so critical ... the studios might back off such projects.

ICYMI, Disney decided to remake 'Snow White.' The "Game of Thrones" star had a lot to say about it. Peter said, on the one hand, Disney made a progressive move by casting Rachel Zegler, who's Latina, as the lead ... but on the other, Disney was tone-deaf when it came to its depiction of the 7 dwarfs.

Peter described the story as f***ing backwards"... and criticized Disney's portrayals of the dwarfs as primitive creatures who live in a cave. Turns out, they actually live in a cottage in the woods, but regardless ... he was not happy.

That's very different than Dylan's take -- he says there's absolutely no issue with how they're portrayed. He adds the dwarfs worked, had a lot of gems and were very dynamic ... as opposed to all checking one box.

Dylan took a slight jab at Peter, who didn't have much to say when he was cast as a dwarf in "Elf" or 'GOT' ... so Dylan feels it's disingenuous for him to be so vocal now.

Peter Dinklage thinks ‘Snow White’ has a little person problem, and while Brad Willams doesn’t disagree ... he does have some suggestions on how to make it work.

We talked to the comedian/actor -- who was born with dwarfism himself -- and he gave us his take on Dinklage ripping Disney for what he sees as a fundamental issue with the story of SW and its depiction of dwarfs.

Check it out ... Brad says he isn’t here to refute Pete one iota, because he actually concurs ... ‘Snow White’ is problematic as it stands. However, he hits us with some solutions on how to make it even more progressive than what Disney’s done so far in the casting ... i.e. Rachel Zegler, a Latina, in the title role.

In Brad’s happily ever after, the princess actually ends up with one of the cottage dwellers!!! Watch ... he rattles off some impressive reasons for Happy and co. to play love interests for Snow. Yes, stand-up is Brad's thing, but we think he's only half joking here and makes some solid points. His way, everyone wins ... at least that’s how BW sees it.

On a more serious note, Brad discusses how Hollywood needs to do a better job for little people in the biz, noting that Dinklage is NOT killing roles for other actor’s by saying what he said. That responsibility, Brad argues, ultimately lies with producers and writers ... who should look to be more inclusive in their scripts.

One last thing ... Disney has come out and said it's going a different route with the 7 dwarfs for the upcoming film, one which they say won’t harp on stereotypes the OG animated feature played up.