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    Disney self-government in peril after Florida House vote

    By SHOOTUpdated:No Comments938 Views
    The newly painted Cinderella Castle at the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World is seen with the the crest to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the theme park Monday, Aug. 30, 2021, in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. The idea was presented to Florida lawmakers 55 years ago: Let Disney form its own government and in exchange it would create a futuristic city of tomorrow. That city never materialized, but Walt Disney World became an economic juggernaut, and its government retained unprecedented powers. Five decades later, Gov. Ron DeSantis is asking lawmakers to end Disney’s government in a move that throws a wrench into decades of symbiotic relations between the company and state government.(AP Photo/John Raoux, File)

    By Anthony Izaguirre

    TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) --

    The Florida House of Representatives on Thursday gave final passage to a bill that would dissolve Walt Disney World's private government, handing Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis a victory in his feud with the entertainment giant over its opposition to a measure that critics have dubbed the " Don't Say Gay " law.

    The move could have huge tax implications for Disney, whose series of theme parks have transformed Orlando into one of the world's most popular tourist destinations, and serves to further sour the relationship between the Republican-led government and a major political player in the state.

    For DeSantis, the attack on Disney is his latest salvo in a culture war waged over policies involving race, gender and the coronavirus, battles that have made him one of the most popular GOP politicians in the country and a likely 2024 presidential candidate.

    The dispute with Disney began with the company's criticism of a new law barring instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten through third grade as well as instruction that is not "age appropriate or developmentally appropriate."

    In March, Disney said it would suspend political donations in the state and added that it would in turn support organizations working to oppose the new law. DeSantis and his fellow Republicans then lashed out at Disney, and have defended the law as reasonable.

    "Disney and other woke corporations won't get away with peddling their unchecked pressure campaigns any longer," DeSantis wrote in a fundraising pitch Wednesday. "If we want to keep the Democrat machine and their corporate lapdogs accountable, we have to stand together now."

    The bill passed by the legislature on Thursday would eliminate the Reedy Creek Improvement District, as the Disney government is known, as well as a handful of other similar districts by June 2023. The measure does allow for the districts to be reestablished, leaving an avenue to renegotiate its future. It now moves to DeSantis' office to be signed into law.

    Democrats have criticized the proposal as clear retaliation against the company and warned that local homeowners could get hit with big tax bills if they have to absorb bond debt from Disney — although such details are far from clear.

    Disney is one of Florida's biggest private employers, last year saying it had more than 60,000 workers in the state. It is not immediately clear how the company or local governments around its properties would be affected if the district was dissolved.

    The creation of the Reedy Creek Improvement District, and the control it gave Disney over 27,000 acres (11,000 hectares) in Florida, was a crucial element in the company's plans to build near Orlando in the 1960s. Company officials said they needed autonomy to plan a futuristic city along with the theme park. The city never materialized, however; instead, it morphed into the Epcot theme park.

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    Tags:Gov. Ron DeSantisThe Walt Disney Co.



    On the set of the first Agatha Christie show where mysteries are solved with the internet

    Friday, November 7, 2025
    Antonia Thomas, left, and and Josh Dylan appear on the set of the Agatha Christie series "Tommy & Tuppence" in Beaconsfield, England on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025. (Photo by Scott A Garfitt/Invision/AP)

    The scene: Outside a stately English home, a man and a woman attempt to solve a mystery. What's unusual about this picture?

    They're using the internet.

    In a departure from what could be the logline for many a cozy English mystery before it, "Agatha Christie's Tommy & Tuppence" marks the first time Agatha Christie's work has been modernized for an English-speaking TV audience. In this six-part drama premiering next year, there are phones, social media and TikTok alongside the usual murky secrets, red herrings and nefarious crimes.

    Speaking in late October on the set of the BritBox contemporary series shooting in the U.K., writer and executive producer Phoebe Eclair-Powell says the makers were thrilled to get permission from Christie's estate and have been careful not to "simplify" solving classic puzzles, like a locked room mystery, with new tech.

    "We have used it, but carefully, sparingly, and when we think actually that it's enhanced the original story that it's adapted from," explains Eclair-Powell.

    She says that it's been a "tricky" part of the process, but one they hope Christie herself would approve of.

    In Japan, Korea, India and Sweden, there have already been Christie characters living in the modern age, but this is the first contemporary adaptation in the author's native language.

    "Phoebe came to us with a brilliant take on the stories which put them in the modern day and because of the energy & vitality of these characters it felt completely natural to say yes!" Christie's great-grandson James Prichard, who manages the literary rights to her estate, wrote in an email.

    The Associated Press joined stars Antonia Thomas ("The Good Doctor") and Josh Dylan ("The Buccaneers") in the library of a... Read More

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