Comedian Nate Bargatze slammed Disney during a recent interview, arguing that the company’s boss doesn’t care about its audience.
Speaking with Esquire magazine, Bargatze said that one of his influences in comedy has always been Disney founder Walt Disney because he cared deeply about his customers. But sadly, that culture is now gone.
“Now Disney is run by a guy [Bob Iger] that’s just a businessman,” he explained. “Well, that guy doesn’t care about the audience. None of this happens without them.”
Like Disney — the original — Bargatze views his role on stage as a servant of the people, a man anointed with the grand task of making them laugh away their stress.
And he does exactly that, but without using any profanity or making any crude references.
Case in point:
(Video Credit: Netflix)
All this matters because, while his all-clean stand-up career is winding down (he reportedly only plans to do one or two more specials), he’s preparing to launch a Disney-like network of his own.
“His audacious plan after stand-up is to be the next Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse, the creative genius and the face,” Esquire explains. “He’s going to make movies and TV shows, mint merchandise, publish books, produce podcasts, lend his name to cruise lines, and create a farm system for young comedians.”
He even plans to build a Nashville-based theme park called Nateland.
“I’ll be honest with you, I bet we’re closer than people think,” he said about the park. “But it’s still a little bit of a ways off.”
But before he can really get going on the park, he needs to fully establish his company, Nateland Productions. So far, the company has roughly a dozen employees, including CEO Felix Verdigets.
“Entertainment seems to me in this mode of heartland, a word that’s been overused a bazillion times,” Verdigets told Esquire. “Everyone is capitalizing on it right now, and some of it is going to feel inorganic. What’s going to separate our content is that this is how we’ve always done it. It’s very authentic, it’s very organic.”
“What Disney has is Mickey Mouse. What Nateland has is Nate,” he added.
Not to mention a bunch of talented comedians aspiring to work for him.
Hey @natebargatze, when you officially launch “Nateland,” I’d love to take part in it. I’m an upcoming aspiring actor/comedian/entertainer who would love to make his big break somewhere. So if you’re interested, contact me. Let’s make it happen!!!
— Brandon Collins (@obrandoncollins) May 8, 2025
The goal is to produce family-friendly content for everybody.
“It’s a restoration of the entertainment ecosystem Bargatze remembers growing up with in the ’80s and ’90s, like the TGIF slate of shows on Friday nights,” Esquire explains. “Entertainment the whole family can enjoy together—the kind his strict, born-again parents allowed him to watch.”
“I don’t think anybody’s even trying to make stuff for everybody,” he told the magazine.
As an example, he pointed to “Succession,” a highly acclaimed HBO family drama that was outperformed by many other programs, including even “Survivor.”
“Everybody has lives, everybody has kids, everybody has stuff to go do,” he said. “They don’t want to sit and worship your art. There’s got to be a balance of appreciating Succession and appreciating King of Queens. Those worlds have to exist together. Now you have too many Successions. There’s nothing that’s a palate cleanser.”
“You know what? Maybe the Successions are a little bit easier to make because you’re making it for such a specific audience. You get the runway to make it for five, six years because it’s cool. What if no one watches? It doesn’t matter,” he added.
Bargatze believes the problem is that most entertainment these days is designed for specific audiences. But he also believes he can overcome this obstacle.
“I think there’s no one trying to do it,” he said. “People still go to concerts. I do shows in front of 15,000 people who are laughing and paying attention for an hour. I see it in every single city. People want to go do something, and you’re just not giving them something to go do.”
Disney certainly isn’t, unless, of course, you’re into transgender madness or racial nonsense.
Writers and editors can be contacted at [email protected] with feedback, tips, or corrections.
V. Saxena is a staff writer with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University. Saxena also contributes to BizPac Review.
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