Ryan Shea

Disney has been no stranger to controversies surrounding their filming productions, as seen with films like the 2020 remake of Mulan. However, while most people are concerned over their film production, many tend to overlook what goes on with their merchandising production. To say it’s unsavory would be sugarcoating it.

If one is to remain unaware of the hidden truths, they would most likely assume that any sort of merchandise Disney produces, be it clothing, toys, or branded souvenirs, is made in-house in mass bulk. The truth, however, based on multiple investigations from human rights foundation Sacom, is that most Disney products are made in a Chinese factory in the city of Shenzhen known as Sturdy Products. Sturdy is also said to be the creator of toys for companies and brands such as Matchbox, Fisher-Price, Barbie, and so on. If the story were to end here, then there wouldn’t be too much room for concern. The thing is, there are multiple catalysts as to why a human rights group like Sacom would conduct investigations into this.

In 2011, Sacom not only made an investigation into Sturdy Products, but they also managed to pull some employees off to the wayside for personal interviewing. According to the employees, their working conditions were harsh with no respect for their individuality, they had to sign contracts that forced them into overtime far past what Chinese law would deem legal, working over 120 hours worth of overtime per month as opposed to the legal 36 hours, and what makes the whole ordeal shadier is that Sturdy had allegedly bribed their employees with higher wages to willingly spread misinformation about the status of the factory. During the interview, one of the employees pulled aside said, “A female worker committed suicide because she was always scolded. However, I feel helpless because it is not easy for me to find another job.” That was just what was relayed through the interviews, though, as Sacom’s internal investigation uncovered that not only did Sturdy Products utilize child labor as young as at least 14 years old, but also that the factory had poor ventilation and chemical outbreaks that had their sources hidden away during audits. Though Disney is not the only one guilty of entrusting merchandise production to Sturdy Products, as companies like Fisher-Price are equally to blame, one has to wonder what their motivation for relaying production of their merch to a factory that infringes on human rights would be.