Disney+ faces Diary of a Wimpy Kid backlash for 'ruining Christmas'

Disney Plus is facing a backlash from parents over a new Diary of a Wimpy Kid adaptation that has been accused of ruining the magic of Christmas.

The cartoon film based on the beloved children's books by Jeff Kinney is called Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Christmas Cabin Fever and is streaming on Disney Plus with a 6+ age rating, but has left parents furious as its storyline gives the game away about Santa.

It includes scenes where the main character finds some hidden presents in his house ahead of Christmas Day, then receives the exact same gifts "from Santa" and people have been demanding the streaming service removes the film or ups the age rating before it spoils Christmas for their children.

Sharing a warning on X, one person wrote: "FAO parents of smallies Just an fyi…. The new diary of a wimpy kid movie on Disney gives away all the magic of Santa. He goes and finds the presents in the hot press and then at the end it’s the same presents left out from Santa. It’s rated 6+ A lot of very upset kids."

He later added: "Thanks to everyone who's retweeted etc Let's hope we saved a few kids Christmas lads Ho ho ho. #teamsanta"

Read more: The best Christmas films to watch on Disney+ this festive season (Evening Standard, 6 min read)

Parents were glad of the warning as one person replied: "Watched it last week with my 9 year old. Brutal. Why the hell would they do it," and someone else added: "Appreciate the heads up. Those poor kids the magic gone so young."

Someone else wrote: "@DisneyPlus need to pull that movie asap. Shocking oversight..."

While some parents shared that they were planning on pretending the film wouldn't download, another person recommended: "Here’s how you can avoid them from finding this movie on Disney. If you go into the profile they use (& any others they may try) change the age profile to 0+, they won’t be able to find any content that is rated older than that . Do this on the app on your phone."

Many others contacted Disney Plus on X to say that they were "annoyed and disappointed", as one person asked: "Can you consider removing it or increasing the age rating. It’s currently 6+."

One person commented to the streaming service: "Nasty shock for a lot of parents with kids of Santa age. Should be ashamed of yourselves! Diary of a wimpy kid is not suitable for kids of Santa age."

Someone else warned: "Parents of Santy kids - apparently the new diary of a wimpy kid Christmas movie has Santy spoilers make sure to AVOID x"

Expressing their shock at Disney, someone else wrote: "I mean bro they just outed Santa in the new Diary of a Wimpy Kid movie. I mean the company was founded on magic."