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Disney Concerned About Violence In Their Own Games

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Bob Iger, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The Walt Disney Company, has announced that the company will take a closer look at violence in their video games following the Newtown school shooting. Iger says that the team at Disney will take a good look at everything they’ve got that could be considered near the line or over the line with regards to violence. He conceded that Disney titles very, very, rarely feature violence, but he still wants to make sure that they’re asking themselves the right questions in terms of that standard.

“[We will} take stock in everything we’ve got that can be considered near the line or over the line”

“Fortunately at Disney there’s very little [violent content], but I still want to make sure we’re asking ourselves the right questions in terms of that standard, and also [ensure] we’re willing to be a part of a dialogue in today’s world that I think is pretty necessary in terms of what our role is and what our role should be.”

173 thoughts on “Disney Concerned About Violence In Their Own Games”

      1. Infact , I remember seeing loads of really horrible subliminal messaging from disney in their old cartoons! Sex words hidden all over their films lol.

        1. Those ssx words are the work of people whit alot of time in there hands but there most violent game must have ben epic mickey 2, it bought the worst in almost everyone who bought it.

      2. Incredibles- had a LOT of dead super-heroes., Finding Nemo had a barracuda eat Marlin’s wife, Ursula in the Little Mermaid died from being impaled by a ship!!! I mean, this is the violence they are talking about right? Thats all the violence I know about in any Disney movies…

          1. While they own the company, it’s not really under the Disney label.

            The Walt Disney company has produced a lot of mature content including R-rated films. They just did/do so under subsidiaries like Hollywood Pictures or Miramax.

            Star Wars 1313 will be under the Lucas Arts name and not Disney Interactive.

            Double standard? Yeah, kind of. But I think the main thing they’re worried about is the Disney label. Anyway, that game was in development before the acquisition. Disney will have little input. Kind of like the Marvel Studio games and films before Disney acquired Marvel.

    1. That made me laugh! Maybe, just maybe; it may be due to the fact that the development team that works on the Kingdom Hearts games might be working on a title called Final Fantasy Versus XIII.

        1. I really hope you’re not being serious. A different team is working on the Final Fantasy XIII trilogy, while the entire team that works on Kingdom Hearts is developing VS XIII.

    1. lol I was thinking “bye bye Incredibles re-runs.” anyone else remember the scene where the super-hero gets lodged in the airplane engine??? Doubt that will fly now with them worrying about “violence.”

  1. Disney concerned about violence? Strange, some disney films I watched when I was younger had killed parents in them. Oh and R.I.P. Kingdom Hearts 3.

    1. America needs to learn to just mourn the loss of those in Aurora, not make it into anything else. The shooter will now go down in history thanks to the media.

    1. Sorry I know the link leads to nothing but type in ‘radar/disney-tv tropes’ and go to the link that says just that. Waiting for you is a whole page of what Disney hid from everyone O.o

  2. Well this is odd. What does a 20 something who was mentally disturbed and shot up 1st graders have anything to do with potential violence in Disney games? I can understand if this kind of violence was coming from youngsters, but really?

      1. Exactly, that’s my point. They’re being overly cautious about an incident irrelevant to games, let alone Disney products.

  3. What violence?? Let’s solve the problem that unfortunately killed those kids, guns, then talk about the violence in all media!!

    1. The issue is not the guns themselves, but the people who use them to kill innocent people. That guy was either straight up insane, or drugged by the government to make a scene in order for the government to take away our right to bear arms, so they can slowly erode our rights and have even MORE control over us. We truly don’t know but no normal person goes into a school and shoots up children. And no form of media can EVER make someone have such a major change of heart. People who do such things make me sick.

      1. Compare the US crime rates to other countries with stricter gun control. Sure, it’s not the guns that give people the mindset, but it sure as hell is the guns that people turn to in times of insecurity or hatred. In regards to video games, the UK receives the same games America does, so I agree with you that the argument about video game violence is a load of bull.

        To be honest though, I think the US constitution and how Americans blindly sticks to it is a load of nonsense. It was written over 200 years ago by people who didn’t face the problems we do today. When America has the Westboro Baptist Church getting away with picketing soldier’s funerals under the first amendment and people getting away with owning assault rifles and gun magazines with more than 10 bullets, then you know the constitution needs to be amended to fit the modern times.

        Also, while we’re on the topic of the US constitution, why don’t the American people have a right to affordable health care? I would have thought the right to be fit and healthy would be more important than the right to be able to shoot someone? And why is that so many Americans are so opposed to more affordable health care, yet they go up in arms about the possibility of not being able to own assault rifles? Those are some seriously messed up priorities.

        So let’s just sum up:
        America:
        – Has no right to affordable health care.
        – Has Westboro Baptist Church.
        – Has a right to own guns.
        – Has the highest gun mortality rate in the world.
        – Plays the game video games as the UK.

        UK:
        – Has the National Health Service.
        – Westboro Baptist Church is banned from entering the country, because we know the difference between free speech and hate speech.
        – Has strict laws on gun control.
        – Has a gun crime rate that’s A LOT lower than the United States.
        – Plays the same video games as the US.

        1. Joshawott you are SOOO ignorant. Just because its been a couple of years since the constitution was written(200 years is nothing, America is one of the youngest empires) does not mean that we need to just abandon it when it works so well, that is how corruption starts and how Americans lose their rights. Banning guns will solve absolutely nothing. If someone wants a gun they will find one and they will use it. All banning guns will do is ruin it for everyone else. We have a right to bare arms here in America it is a freedom we want to keep. On the topic of healthcare you have to understand that Obama is a complete and utter moron. Obama-care will not solve the “Affordable Healthcare” problem, so do not let the “Affordable Healthcare Act” fool you. It is by NO MEANS affordable in any way. When people have to start paying for Obama-care in a few years they will have more debt than ever. Also, not everyone is even covered by the act. The whole thing is an absolute sham and isn’t even legal!!(They only got away with it because they labeled it as a “tax”…A TAX!!!!) Thats whgat Americas needs right now isn’t it? More taxation….. friggen democrats. Ruin everything…

          1. “Banning guns will solve absolutely nothing.”

            Funny, we banned them in Australia after a massacre and haven’t had any issues since.

            1. Maybe because you don’t have a Mexico beneath you that could easily sneak in Automatic weapons to anyone that wants them. Where do you think most of the guns come from anyway? Drugs? You name it, comes from Mexico.

              1. >Believes America is the only country that has drugs and guns imported

                If you’re a criminal gang you’ll import it either way. Massive gun & drugs bust happened in Australia not too long ago.

          2. “It works so well”? I’m terrible sorry, but that is complete and utter bullshit. If it works so well, then how come there are constantly school massacres in the United States? How come the United States is FAR HIGHER in the gun crime rates than ANY OTHER WESTERN COUNTRY? In 1992, there was a similar massacre in the UK, so we increased gun control and there hasn’t been one since. In America, they seem to happen more often than my bowel movements. Try saying that the current gun control laws work well to the faces of the parents who lost their children because you live in a country that prioritises a person’s right to carry a weapon over the right of their child’s safety.

            Also, Obama doesn’t want to ban all guns whatsoever. He wants to reintroduce a ban on assault rifles and ban magazines with more than 10 rounds. What kind of normal civilian needs those?

            And this “If someone wants a gun they will find it anyway” argument is one only made by idiots. Should we legalise murder because anyone who wants to murder will murder? No. More control on gun ownership will mean that there are less guns available to be used for the wrong reasons by perfectly normal people who find themselves in a bad situation (for example, someone has a moment on insecurity over finding out a partner has an affair and grabs their trust “Protection Gun”).

            So no, YOU are the ignorant one.

            In the United Kingdom, we pay for the NHS straight out of our taxes. And you know what? Nobody gives a damn.

            1. Live Free of Die. Would rather live with the rights to guns and every once in a while someone dies then have my rights taken from me. Once the government starts to take a little of your rights they’ll start to take them all. We already can’t get onto a plane that electronically strips you naked. Our government already spies on us via satellites. Now they want our guns and they can’t have them. No matter how many children die at school They wanna fix the problem then they do it the right way without violating everyone else’s rights. Position police officers at public schools and certify teachers so they may carry guns incase of an emergency.

              1. Wait wait wait…you want people to have freedom, yet you also want police patrolling every school? Please, tell me how that isn’t contradictory.

                Also, “the government will take all our rights away”…put your bloody tin foil hat back on and go back to your basement bunker while cradling yourself in the corner muttering about the rise of imaginary Hitler.

                  1. I’d hold off on that :P We’re getting hammered by fires, floods and very severe weather at the moment, heck I’m on standby to be deployed to the emergency zone.

        2. Also on the issue of Westboro Baptist church…we in America know the difference between freedom and not. Hate speech is free speech non-the-less, it doesn’t make it right, but it is still free. Speech in America can ONLY be limited if it is a matter of National Security. This might come as a shock to you, but even flag burning over here is completely 100% legal. I could go into the middle of Times Square and burn one-hundred American flags and not get sent to jail. Again, it doesn’t make it “morally” right, but we have rights over here and we NEED to protect them at all costs.

            1. You laugh? America is the most free country to live in. I fail to see what is so funny. Checked out Australia and you are not allowed to purchase a gun for “self defense” as that is not an appropriate reason. In America that IS THE REASON to own a gun. That is a right guaranteed by the 2nd Amendment to the United States Constitution.

                1. And fire fighters aren’t free from the fear of being gunned down at housefires either. What a free country the US is!

                  1. At english class today my teacher said that when she was in america and saw a 6-year old with a pink gun. Don’t attack me american users but the parents were letting the kid so O_o

                2. My High School has a police officer stationed at my school. He’s been here for years. HECK! Has his own office! Anyone tries something he’ll take them down. I feel perfectly safe at my school. If every other school took the initiative to assign police to schools we wouldn’t have such a problem.

                    1. Right, what about all those kids who were killed? Where’s there freedom? huh?

                      OH BUT THE GUNZ! No one cares about the guns. You want self defence? Just use anything, that’s what we do in Australia.

                    2. I agree if you hate some 1 so much atleast have the decenci of doing whit your own hands like they use to do in my granpa times.

                  1. Your school must be pretty bad if a police officer needs his own office there. If there’s a problem at school that needs police attention, they just y’know, phone the local station?

                    1. Actually the worst we have had is a bomb threat. The officer is there “just incase” something might happen in the future. No gun shootings here in NH, it is very peaceful. America is worst in Washington DC and in it’s other big cities.

                  2. That is kinda pathetic that you need an officer at a school. If he is there to take care of anyone armed with a gun then I wouldn’t call america free.

              1. Actually, New Zealand has been rated the most free, USA is number 7. I’m happy no one is allowed to purchase a gun in Australia, last time I checked Australia is a lot safer than the US. What’s the bet this guy is in the NRA? Bunch of crackpots they are.

                    1. Freedoms? What about the kids huh? The kids who ere shot? You think they deserved that? Fuck you’re as despicable as N Runs It.

                    2. Who said that I think the kids deserve it? That is the Westboro Baptist church that thinks that. I want to protect the right to bare arms plain and simple. Not the killing of innocent children. I think there is a way to protect the children in public schools AND keep our rights guaranteed by the 2nd Amendment intact.

                    3. Well, everyone’s rights will go up the creek anyway when China takes over, so eh I’m done arguing ;)

                    4. >America would bomb china before they take over

                      I can see why you’re still in school. China + all it’s alliances = WE’RE FUCKED.

                    5. Yeah, I made a joke. But, seriously you can’t actually believe China will take over the world right? Even if America wasn’t the one who bombed them I am sure someone would take them out. Also, China isn’t the only one with alliances. America is one tough cookie.

                    6. China and it’s alliances make up the biggest armies in the world. They could take the world whenever they want with the forces it has, it honestly is surprising they haven’t tried to yet. And America is not one tough cookie, far from it. Most countries hate America.

                    1. You do realize I am an adult? Same as you and Jellybean I am sure. I am more aware of what goes on in this world than most others. I am not a democratic drone like half of my country is blindly following an idiotic leader.

                    2. I couldn’t care for politics either, I’m just not a fan of people owning guns so easily. Heck Australia just discovered a flaw in its system too that needs to be fixed being visually impaired people can get a gun licence (My face dropped when I read that) If America brought in a system like Australia or heck just ban Semi automatic guns, there would be less people dying.

          1. In the United Kingdom, we have freedom of speech. However, we also know when it’s crossed the line. When it is only used with the intent to hurt others and spread hatred, then it’s wrong. The right for an individual to feel secure and be free from persecution far outweighs that of allowing someone to say whatever they want.

            1. Freedom of Speech doesn’t cross the line unless it is a matter of National Security. The way it should be. The U.K is too socialist.

                  1. Living in the UK, I can tell you for a fact that our Prime Minister is the head of the Conservative Party and the majority of the Cabinet are Conservatives.

                    1. Okay and the amount of taxes you pay are FAR greater than what we pay so you can all have your “Free Healthcare.”

                    2. @Live Free – it won’t let me reply to your comments for some reason, so here’s my reply here.

                      Please do yourself a favour and fucking look up what “Socialism” actually is. In fact, I’ll help you:
                      socialism:
                      noun
                      1. a theory or system of social organization that advocates the vesting of the ownership and control of the means of production and distribution, of capital, land, etc., in the community as a whole.
                      2. procedure or practice in accordance with this theory.
                      3. (in Marxist theory) the stage following capitalism in the transition of a society to communism, characterized by the imperfect implementation of collectivist principles.
                      Compare utopian socialism.

                      From Dictionary.com.

                  1. @Joshawott, I can’t reply to you either. Your healthcare system is socialized. The government controls it through taxation. <SOCIALISM. Look it up. Type into google.com "England Socialized Healthcare."

                    1. You’re confusing “Social Health Care” with “Socialism”, which are two completely different things. Besides, even if that was the case, there’s nothing with socialism – in fact, I’d prefer it over the capitalism we have today.

                1. UK, is just as liberal as the Democratic Party in the US. Compare what US Conservatives, and UK Conservatives agree in… Not much really.

  4. Ok, I don’t get why people think that violence in video games causes violence real life. I have been playing Halo since I was 4-5 years old, and I haven’t killed any one. I haven’t gotten into a fight, haven’t even wanted to kill anyone. Same thing with movies. I don’t get why people think that violent media creates violent people. Especially video games

    1. I’m not an expert but I noticed after we got the results for our maths test I got the best level in my set (7a, it was a level 7 test) I noticed the students who played the violent games non-stop got lower marks than I did (some got an “N” which was bad for them). Just an observation, but that means that those who play the gun games alot have lower IQ? Not to affend anyone here, since it looks like you guys have your actions in control.

      1. lol! Violent video games have nothing to do with intelligence level or your IQ or anything like that. That is a HUGE stereotype. Almost all of the new generation plays some form of video game that is attributed to “some form” of violence, yet their are many smart kids out there. The kids that scored lower than you just “happen” to also play violent video games. That was hardly an accurate assessment.

        1. I can see what you mean and I did miss the word could in there. But they played the violent games (cod for example) nearly all the time to the point were they continue to think about it and rush the test as they finished the test really early. But as I am only in year 8 (and you clearly know much more about this than I do) I should just leave it to you. I also read another comment about you planning to get a law degree. I wish you best of luck on it!

        1. Nobody in set 1 year 8 bother revising because we simply can’t be bothered to. Mainly because we have to revise over the christmas holidays ;_;

  5. Hopefully its something other game developers are thinking of too. Almost imperceptably, we can easily be desensitized to horrible things- it makes for a colder generation of people. Glad to see this post.

    1. Desensitized? We can’t truly be desensitized by violent video games. I kill stuff in video games all of the time, but when you see it in real life, its real, you ARE affected by it. I don’t believe that any form of media can truly desensitize you. You may think its been done to you, but when you see the real thing, or even a pictureof the real thing you will be affected by it. The only desensitizing, is you get used to seeing the violence in video games, and movies, and reading it in books, but real life is real and your brain knows it.

      1. ^This^. Also, when you kill someone you live with that until you die, and can really affect your feelings you will remember when you killed someone if you try to kill someone again, then you have to carry that with you until you die as well (if you killed another person).

  6. Supposively the US government wants to make it illigal for children under the age of 17 to play M games. Not just the sale to minors, but the actual ability to play it! Disney might be sided with that Idea. I hope not.

    1. …I know ridiculous right!? Playing an M rated game had NOTHING to do with the kids who died at that Aurora school. The U.S government needs to focus on REAL life violence, not FAKE video game violence..imbeciles…

    2. ….How?

      Well no one should find out that I watched Blood+ when I was in 2nd grade, then…or that my nephew in 1st grade plays GTA lol…O_O

  7. Sure, go ahead and mess up Disney Infinite. Buying and collecting tons of figures, as well as a yearly release is unacceptable. I just want this Skylanders fad to be over with…

  8. Every time someone dies at the hands of some loon with a gun they turn it into a big thing! It is so stupid. They took down Ke$ha’s song “Die Young” from the radio just because of the title. They are trying to ban everyone’s guns and now Disney is worried their content is too “violent.” Seriously, America needs to grow up and face facts that NONE OF THIS MATTERS! Instead of banning pop songs and making kiddie companies even more childish why don’t they assign police officers to every school in the country and invest in some actual security. All this other bullshit is..well, bullshit!!! Not worth it and very annoying. Face it America, people die and sometimes by a gun. Live Free Or Die…

    1. SherlockHolmesWillFightBilbo

      I don’t wanna get into a gun control discussion/argument but do you know how many schools there are in the country?

      1. About 98,817 public schools I believe. There are 683,396 full time state, city, university and college, metropolitan and non-metropolitan county, and other law enforcement officers in the United States. Your point? If we could assign one of two cops to each school then we would see a decrease in mass shootings. Also, we need stricter laws that test people before they can receive a gun to determine if they are mentally stable enough to own one in the first place. Not only this, but certify teachers so they are allowed to carry firearms to school in the rare case of an attack on the school. The problem is the U.S gov.t is unwilling to spend the money when we piss it away on crap like “Obama-care” and “Medicare” and crap. We need to get our priorities straight and banning guns isn’t the solution. That is just the solution the gov.t wants because it is “least expensive.” Sorry, I know you didn’t want an argument :P

        1. SherlockWillFightBilbo

          Yeah, it’s fine. I agree with stricter tests on people to obtain guns, but in the case of Newtown, the shooter took the gun from his mother. It wasn’t his own gun. Obviously, the other shootings are different stories, like the crazy Aurora business.

          However, what evidence supports the claim that one or two police officers at each school (talking about universities and private schools with crazy-big campuses) to possibly help defend a school from a possible shooting will LOWER the amount of shootings?

          If teachers take firearms to school, along with police officers, then, in my own opinion, we’re just living in fear, fighting guns with guns, and surrounding children and making them grow accustomed to guns.

          I also agree with the government prioritizing better :P

          Sorry if I’ve made some sort of error or appear naiive or ignorant or anything else. I don’t keep up in politics very well.

  9. I can’t FUCKING understand how they do this – Animal Crossing, the best selling 3DS game OVERALL in Japan; and it’s predecessor selling in the top ten ALL TIME DS games – has taken over THREE years to get here. THREE. And it’s already out in Japan. We’ve waited over THREE years JUST for a fucking release date. And when they release some trash like fucking BRAIN AGE, it gets a release date as SOON as it’s announced. My only question here is: why do they do this? My theory is a. either Nintendo’s leaders either have a strong racist hate for the rest of the world of b. Nintendo of America is the most clueless company in the world and Reggie does nothing all day but be a useless figure head and dick around with “epic memes!” to please Nintendo’s shitty fanboy fanbase. HOW can they fuck up this much? We got City Folk (undeniably the shittiest, worst Animal Crossing) BEFORE Japan, so I’m gonna guess it’s the racism. Nintendo fucking hates the rest of the world. This is 100% bullshit. How can one company be this incompetent and horrible to its fanbase?

  10. lol – No violence in Disney? I’m calling BS.

    Not that I’m against violence in movies/games, I’m not. But who’s kidding who here?

  11. IT’s like the fucking United Nations.
    “America, Fuck Yeah!”
    “If only everyone were as mature as Britain!”
    “When all ya got are Kangaroos, no one shoots each other!”
    “Mexico is fulla Gangstas!”

    I not sure if I should laugh or cry.

  12. I hope this is just some PR stunt because they’re not doing the same for their movies, which have increasingly gone so far into the PG-13 realm. If not, then I wouldn’t mind if this is pertaining to their specific brand (Epic Mickey), and not the purchased assets like Marvel and Star Wars. Star Wars 1313 has a lot of potential.

    Either way, this is retarded. Countless studies have found that there is no causal link between violent media and violent behavior. Even with the studies that claim it may lead to aggression couldn’t produce any conclusions to whether or not it leads to someone becoming a mass murder. And besides, those studies have been criticized due to the fact they don’t control for variables (family environment, exposure to real-life violence, or genetic predisposition), has a low sampling rate, and doesn’t use a reliable measure for aggression. I understand how game developers want to be respectful. No one wants to consume violent entertainment so soon after a tragedy like this, but imposing long-term censorship is just needless and won’t solve the problems with real-life violence which are highly systemic within our society. It goes beyond the violent media and the proliferation of assault rifles.

  13. It’s sad how some people think video game violence is connected to murder, and other violence.

    Sure video games can effect some sort of mind to do something sometimes but that’s like saying everything does, everything you see causes some sort of effect.

    Anyway this is in fact, really dumb. I hope disney reads more science articles trying to prove that’s it’s mainly not connected or not at all. Especially since there recent Mickey games is mild non-bloody “violence”.

  14. Nintendo Troll Slayer

    America Sucks for these reasons:

    The #1 fattest country ever.
    Too many unfunny comedy shows like Family Guy
    Nintendo won’t release white handhelds
    Many games from Japan don’t come there at all.
    Too many immature nerds like Bill and Neutron dissing a Japanese company
    Everyone eats nothing but burgers everyday.
    It’s where all the internet porn comes from
    Anime isn’t very popular there anymore

    Japan ROCKS for these reasons:

    Very good video games
    The Kawaii stuff
    The food
    They have the most advanced and latest technology
    Where Nintendo and Sony come from
    Where all the good RPGs come from

    I hope i’m not offending anybody who reads there. These are simply based on my OPINIONS, not facts.

  15. what I like is there is an American (yank) twat who decide to shoot people cause in America, and the rest of the world had to suffer from it. We (the rest of the world) know in America it more acceptable to see a cop shouting a burglar on TV than seeing a black man and white woman having sex. I think they shout forbid selling weapon and stop all their TV reality show which contains more sex and violence than a Quentin Tarantino’s movie. And to conclude if they were stop selling: “Call of Duty 45 – dark moon mission 69” to 12-15 years old kids, maybe it would be lower weak mind to act…. just a thought

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