It’s the moment you’ve been waiting for — Laughing Place is ready to crown the 2020 Disney Turkey of the Year! A typical year sees many Disney successes, but there are always a handful of missteps along the way that we collect as our nominees. As usual, we’ve whittled down these embarrassments and disappointments to five, with only one of them being named our 2020 Turkey of the Year.
Before we reveal our champion, let’s take a look at the nominees and why each one made our list.
Lizzie McGuire Reboot Gets Stalled
It seems that the updated Lizzie McGuire series — which was announced to great fanfare at the 2019 D23 Expo — set a trend this year, shutting down production in January. However, in this case, the cause of the pause was showrunner and original show creator Terri Minsky leaving the project. According to reports, the two episodes that Minsky and crew turned in veered a little more adult than Disney+ was hoping. In turn, star Hilary Duff was among those asking for Disney to simply move the show to Hulu and let it be. Sadly, there hasn’t been much news since then. At the very least, we’re really hoping that those initial episodes will see the light of day in some capacity.
Club runDisney
Back in January, runDisney announced a new set of membership products meant to benefit runners who wanted to enjoy some extra perks to prepare them for their race weekends. With three tiers of membership priced between $265.43 and $798.43, some of the stated benefits included members-only merchandise, guaranteed race spots, exclusive bib designs, and more. While the concept seemed a bit too cash-grabby to begin with, it certainly doesn’t help that many runDisney races have either gone virtual or been canceled since. Will Club runDisney get a second shot? Let’s hope not.
The Mandalorian Season 2 Leaks
One of the best parts of tuning into the first episode of The Mandalorian when it debuted on Disney+ last year was discovering the character of The Child (colloquially known as Baby Yoda). While Disney has more than flooded the market with Baby Yoda merch now, the amount of credit they deserve for holding in that secret ahead of time really can’t be overstated. Unfortunately, this time around, casting and character leaks may have spoiled a few surprises. This can’t exactly be blamed on Disney but it’s a bit disappointing nonetheless.
Disney+ Discontinues Free Trial
Truth be told, this one could just as easily end up in our Festivus “Feats of Strength” section but we’re going to feature it here as well. Just before Hamilton’s arrival on the platform, Disney quietly removed the free trial from Disney+ in many markets. Prior to this, new users could try out the service for seven days before needing to pay up. On the one hand, it makes sense that Disney would feel they no longer needed this offer to entice customers (it certainly didn’t seem to slow down their growth) but, on the other hand, could you not throw us a bone? Well, not “us,” per se… but other people. Come on, Disney!
Jungle Cruise Boat Takes on Water at Magic Kingdom
It was just that kind of year, wasn’t it? Little did we know this was a metaphor for the weeks that followed…
Bonus Picks
In a change from previous years, we thought we’d add some quick “Dishonorable Mentions” before we get to this year’s top Turkey.
Kevin Mayer Leaving
The exec’s departure for Tik Tok early this year might have made our list had it not been more of a misstep for him than for Disney.
“Sneak Peak”
Disney occasionally makes spelling errors on their signage — some much more egregious than this example — but it’s always funny when it happens.
WandaVision Coming in 2021
It’s not that we can fault Disney for having to push release dates this year… but they insisted just weeks ago that WandaVision was still coming in 2020 before announcing a January debut. What gives?
McDonald’s Temporarily Pulls Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway Toys
This last-minute entry shows that we can’t have anything to look forward to without it being taken away. Okay, that’s probably a bit dramatic and hopefully these awesome toys will return quickly!
And the 2020 Disney Turkey of the Year is…
Everything COVID-19 Ruined
Wait, how did something that wasn’t even nominated end up taking the Turkey trophy? It’s 2020; plans change. While this annual post is meant to be a bit of fun, we can’t overlook the impact that the current pandemic has had on The Walt Disney Company and, more importantly, people around the world. With that, of course COVID-19 is our Turkey of the Year — now go away and don’t let the door hit you on the way out.
Do you agree with our 2020 Turkey? Let us know what you think should have won!