What Is Disney Doing With Drag Queens?

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Disney's latest movie, "A Wrinkle In Time," premieres this year on March 9, in Disney Digital 3-D, Real D 3D and IMAX 3D. With their latest release, Disney was inevitably going to market and promote their show to get audiences to go and see the movie. The story is deemed a sci-fi fantasy adventure film, and stars Reese Witherspoon, Oprah Winfrey, Mindy Kaling,  Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Michael Peña, Storm Reid, Zach Galifianakis and Chris Pine.  Ava DuVernay directs this film, and the story is based on the novel of the same name written by Madeleine L'Engle and published in 1962. The film follows a girl on a journey, with the help of three astral travelers, who is searching for her father who went missing after he discovered a new planet.

Marketing over social media is nothing new for the entertainment giant, Disney, but this time around they mixed things up a bit. Along with the usual trailers, interviews and social media channels, Disney incorporated something else in the marketing mix: drag queens. You read that right! Disney called on the help of drag superstars Alyssa Edwards, Bob the Drag Queen, Kim Chi and Shangela to create their own take on the astral travelers looks in the film. Alyssa Edwards recreated Witherspoon's character, Mrs. Whatsit. Bob the Drag Queen created a look from Kaling's character, Mrs. Who. Kim Chi and Shangela both were responsible for recreating Winfrey's character, Mrs. Which.

Each of these drag queens have gained notoriety from being on "RuPaul's Drag Race," a popular reality show in which drag queens compete to be the best through a series of challenges presented by RuPaul. The show is about to enter its tenth year of programming, and has recently become a mainstream success after being such a niche market for so long. It is because of this that Disney chose to promote their movie with drag queens. First internet stars from YouTube were used for promotions, and now it's drag queens! What a crazy time we live in! I love it!

Alyssa Edwards' version of Mrs. Whatsit

Bob the Drag Queen's take on Mrs. Who

Kim Chi's Mrs. Which look

Shangela's drag version of  Mrs. Which

Comments

  1. AbbyMarch 5, 2018 at 4:06 PM

    I actually really wanted to see this movie! One of the main reasons was because of all the starts in it. I never wouldve thought the costumes came from the help of drags queens! After reading this, I wonder if it could be looked in a negative way. Yes drag queens/trans people are become more popular but asking their advice for "time travellers." As if the producers are insinuating the know drag queens look crazy so they can help us make these people like the same too. Exciting to see the way things have changed though.

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  2. UnknownMarch 6, 2018 at 11:19 AM

    What a world we live in. It is unsurprising that Disney reached out to the drag queens. The more consumers Disney can reach, the better. So many people have such a high interest in competition and competitors. Now it seems that even Disney is addicted to RuPaul's Drag Race. HA! I love it. The unique and fun marketing tool worked on me. I am now much more interested in watching the movie than before. Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Adelyn HelmsMarch 10, 2018 at 12:04 AM

    Yes, Disney! I think this is an awesome PR move on their part. I am and have always been a huge Disney fan but I am aware they are a company who is often called out on their more traditional or conservative values. I do however think Disney is too smart of a company to not notice it as well and it looks like they are making an effort in little ways to show the world they are much more open than some of their past material might make it seem. I think drag is absolutely beautiful and its exciting to see a huge cooperation like Disney celebrating drag too.

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