For more than a decade, Sean Bailey has run Disney’s animated film “reimagining” factory with quiet efficiency and superhero-sized results. Disney’s animated classics are treasured by fans, but most showcase ideas from another era, especially when it comes to gender roles: Be pretty, girls, and things might work out. The reimaginings, as Mr. Bailey refers to his remakes, find ways to make Disney stories less retrograde. “We want to reflect the world as it exists,” Mr. Bailey said. But that worldview — and business strategy — has increasingly put Disney and Mr. Bailey, a low-profile and self-effacing executive, in the middle of a very loud, very unpolite cultural fight.

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Persons: Sean Bailey, ”, King ”, Bailey, Rachel Zegler, Yara Shahidi, Tinker Bell, Peter Pan, Wendy, ” Mr, — Organizations: Disney