The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers was filmed around the same time as the Black Lives Matter protests in response to George Floyd's death last year -- something star Emilio Estevez pushed for the show's producers to acknowledge.
"Here’s what’s interesting. Coming out of the independent world where I was making movies that I felt had to be socially relevant and had to be meaningful, I jumped into doing [Game Changers]," Estevez told Vanity Fair. "It’s set in the Twin Cities, Minneapolis/St. Paul. We started filming the year and in the same city that George Floyd was murdered. And yet here we were making five hours of television, and we don’t mention it."
"So I pushed back at the producers and at the studio," Estevez continued. "I said, 'You know, guys, we have to acknowledge this. We’re in the middle of a pandemic.' I got on my soapbox and I cried out that I can’t play a character who’s complaining about owning a million-dollar piece of real estate in downtown Minneapolis when the city’s on fire around us. And the pushback was, 'This is a show that people need that doesn’t remind them of what’s happening in the world right now. That is the Disney brand. We’re not going to acknowledge the virus; we’re not going to acknowledge the systemic racism; we are going to be comfort food as we shoot these episodes.'"
Estevez went on to reveal he got into a "huge argument" with Game Changers' showrunners about the issue, adding "I said, 'Look, you’ve got to check your own privilege here. We have an obligation as artists, as storytellers to speak to the times that we’re living in.' And there was pushback." However, when asked if this affected his commitment or feelings about reviving The Mighty Ducks franchise, he said "No. I understood it. There’s a lot at stake financially in doing a show like this and committing to five hours of content... So, obviously this interview got a lot darker and deeper probably than either of us were expecting."
The full synopsis for The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers reads,
In the 10-episode season set in present day Minnesota, the Mighty Ducks have evolved from scrappy underdogs to an ultra-competitive, powerhouse youth hockey team. After 12-year-old Evan Morrow (Brady Noon) is unceremoniously cut from the Ducks, he and his mom, Alex (Lauren Graham), set out to build their own team of misfits to challenge the cutthroat, win-at-all-costs culture of youth sports today. With the help of Gordon Bombay (Emilio Estevez), they rediscover the joys of playing just for love of the game.
The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers stars Lauren Graham, Emilio Estevez, Brady Noon, Maxwell Simkins, Swayam Bhatia, Luke Islam, Kiefer O’Reilly, Taegen Burns, Bella Higginbotham, and DJ Watts. New episodes premiere Fridays on Disney+.
Source: Vanity Fair