Disney is in some hot water with Black Portuguese actors for the company’s handling of the Portuguese translation of Pixar’s latest film, Soul.
In an open letter posted to Instagram (also reported by Algrave Resident/PortugualResident.com), actor Hoji Fortuna called out Disney and Pixar hiring white Portuguese speaking actors to dub the voices of its Black characters, including Joe Gardner, voiced by Jamie Foxx, Joe’s mother Libba, voiced by Phylicia Rashad and jazz saxophonist Dorothea, voiced by Angela Bassett. Together with social change entrepreneur Myriam Taylor, journalist and entrepreneur Paula Cardoso and lobbyist Juliana Santos Wahlgren, Fortuna wrote how Black Portuguese creatives need the same chances white Portuguese creators receive.
“We are aware of the logistics involved in creating a story that challenges the persistent narrative that places in its core characters of non-diverse backgrounds,” the group states. “However we would like to point out that all the efforts you went through towards achieving the goal of increasing the black representation in your media products, in regards to the Portuguese version of the movie [Soul] were completely contradicted by having an almost entirely white cast interpreting the characters of the film.”
“This has not happened for lack of Black qualified performers in Portugal,” the letter continues. “It has happened as a result of a persistent and systemic race disparity practice in the Portuguese media, that results in the invisibilization of Black performers who constantly struggle to get roles in entertainment projects and when they do get those roles are never the protagonists.”
The group also wrote that if Disney believes in “”making sure that racist practices are not tolerated among its ranks and products,” then they hope the company will make “a clear statement concerning this particular matter, in order to prevent situations such as this from happening again.”
The group also requested that Disney create “concrete measures” to compensate Black Portuguese actors who were “unjustly cut off from this opporutnity of seeing themselves represented in such an important project for the Black community worldwide.” They also ask for Disney to consider recasting the Portuguese version.
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In a separate Instagram post, Fortuna also posted several pictures showing the American cast versus the Portuguese cast. “As you can see #diveristy and #blacklivesmatter Not racist at all!” he wrote as a sarcastic retort to Disney’s casting decisions.
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The open letter was posted to Instagram three days ago, and Fortuna’s separate post was uploaded six days ago as of this article.
