Disney Breaks Their Percy Jackson Promise, Race Swaps Grover And Annabeth (2024)

Disney Breaks Their Percy Jackson Promise, Race Swaps Grover And Annabeth (1)John F. Trent |

May 5, 2022

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Disney Breaks Their Percy Jackson Promise, Race Swaps Grover And Annabeth (2)

The Walt Disney Company continued to show their true colors as they broke another one of their promises with the race swapping of Annabeth Chase and Grover Underwood for their upcoming Disney+ series.

Disney Breaks Their Percy Jackson Promise, Race Swaps Grover And Annabeth (3)

Walker Scobell

RELATED: Disney Promises ‘Percy Jackson And The Olympians’ Disney+ Series Will Be “Closely Aligned” With Rick Riordan’s Novel Series

If you recall Disney promised when they first announced the series that it would be “closely aligned with Disney Hyperion’s best-selling book series by award-winning author Rick Riordan with more than 180 million books in print globally.”

That promise was broken when Disney announced the casting for the series that race swaps Annabeth Chase and Grover Underwood.

Disney Breaks Their Percy Jackson Promise, Race Swaps Grover And Annabeth (4)

Aryan Simhadri

In a press release, Disney announced Annabeth will be played by Leah Sava Jeffries while Grover will be portrayed by Aryan Simhadri. Disney previously announced that Walker Scobell would play Percy Jackson.

In Riordan’s first Percy Jackson book, The Lightning Thief, Grover is described in the opening pages, “He was scrawny. He cried when he got frustrated. He must’ve been held back several grades, because he was the only sixth grader with acne and the start of a wispy beard on his chin. On top of all that, he was crippled.”

Disney Breaks Their Percy Jackson Promise, Race Swaps Grover And Annabeth (5)

Source: Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief

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The description continues, “He had a note excusing him from PE for the rest of his life because he had some kind of muscular disease in his legs. He walked funny, like every step hurt him, but don’t let that fool you. You should’ve seen him run when it was enchilada day in the cafeteria.”

“Anyway, Nancy Bobofit was throwing wads of sandwich that stuck in his curly brown hair, and she knew I couldn’t do anything back to her because I was already on probation,” Riordan wrote.

Disney Breaks Their Percy Jackson Promise, Race Swaps Grover And Annabeth (6)

Source: Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief

While this description does not mention his race or skin color, an official graphic novel adaptation of the first novel by Robert Venditti and Attila Futaki and published by Disney’s Hyperion Books depicts him as white.

Disney Breaks Their Percy Jackson Promise, Race Swaps Grover And Annabeth (7)

Source: Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief

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This isn’t the first time Grover has been race swapped. In the first live-action adaptation of the book, distributed by 20th Century Fox back in 2010, saw Grover portrayed by Brandon T. Jackson.

Disney Breaks Their Percy Jackson Promise, Race Swaps Grover And Annabeth (8)

Source: Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief

However, this is the first time they race swapped Annabeth Chase. Riordan describes Annabeth in the book, “The last thing I remember is collapsing on a wooden porch, looing up at a ceiling fan circling above me, moths flying around a yellow light, and the stern faces of a familiar-looking bearded man and a pretty girl, her blond hair curled like a princess’s. They both looked down at me and the girl said, ‘He’s the one. He must be.’ ‘Silence, Annabeth,’ the man said. ‘He’s still conscious. Bring him inside.'”

Later in the novel, Riordan wrote, “She was probably my age, maybe a couple of inches taller, and a whole lot more athletic looking. With her deep tan and her curly blond hair, she was almost exactly what I thought a stereotypical California girl would look like, except her eyes ruined the image. They were startling gray, like storm clouds; pretty, but intimidating, too, as if she were analyzing the best way to take me down in a fight.”

Disney Breaks Their Percy Jackson Promise, Race Swaps Grover And Annabeth (9)

Source: Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief

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Clearly, Riordan provides a description of her hair color and her skin tone, none of those match up to Leah Sava Jeffries. However, it does match up to how she is depicted in the graphic novel.

Disney Breaks Their Percy Jackson Promise, Race Swaps Grover And Annabeth (10)

Leah Sava Jeffries

While Annabeth wasn’t race swapped in the first live-action film, they did fail to get her eye color and hair color correct as Alexandra Daddario kept her dark brown hair.

Disney Breaks Their Percy Jackson Promise, Race Swaps Grover And Annabeth (11)

Source: Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief

However, she did eventually dye her hair for the sequel, Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters.

Disney Breaks Their Percy Jackson Promise, Race Swaps Grover And Annabeth (12)

Source: Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters

RELATED: After Embracing Grooming Children Into LGBTQ+ Lifestyles, New Polls Show People Are Less Likely To Do Business With Disney As Well As A Growing Distrust For The Company

Author Rick Riordan fully endorsed the race swaps. Discussing Simhadri’s casting on his website he wrote, “In his auditions for Grover Underwood, Aryan won our hearts. He had me laughing out loud with his delivery and timing. He has a mixture of sweetness, humor and internal toughness that is perfect for our favorite satyr.”

He added, “Grover has some big flying shoes to fill, but Aryan is exactly the right guy for the job. He and Walker already have a great dynamic together. And the visual magic we will be using to give Aryan his satyr’s goat legs is next-level stuff. Wait until you see!”

Disney Breaks Their Percy Jackson Promise, Race Swaps Grover And Annabeth (13)

Source: Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief

As for Jeffries he wrote, “Out of all the talented actors we looked at for this role,Leah Sava Jeffries quickly became my number one choice for Annabeth.”

He added, ”Leah isexactly the way I imagined Annabeth in the books: smart, strong and courageous, a true daughter of Athena who has zero patience for the foolishness of a certain Seaweed Brain. Watching her act with Walker and Aryan, I saw Annabeth Chase come to life. As soon as you see her on the screen, you will know what I mean. The Wise Girl has arrived!”

As you can see, Riordan is clearly lying to himself as the description he wrote of the character does not match the casting at all.

Disney Breaks Their Percy Jackson Promise, Race Swaps Grover And Annabeth (14)

Source: Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief

Disney’s new adaptation titled Percy Jackson and the Olympians is expected to tell “the fantastical story of a 12-year-old modern demigod, Percy Jackson, who’s just coming to terms with his newfound divine powers when the sky god Zeus accuses him of stealing his master lightning bolt. With help from his friends Grover and Annabeth, Percy must embark on an adventure of a lifetime to find it and restore order to Olympus.”

Riordan is writing the pilot for the series alongside Jon Steinberg with James Bobin tapped to direct. Steinberg is also showrunning the series alongside his producing partner Dan Shotz.

Disney Breaks Their Percy Jackson Promise, Race Swaps Grover And Annabeth (15)

Source: Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief

RELATED: Major Media Companies Including Disney, WarnerMedia, Comcast, And Paramount To Run GLAAD Ad Promoting Transgenderism

This casting announcement and Riordan’s defense of it, not only shows another of Disney’s broken promises, but it highly indicates the series will be infected by the woke mind virus that has seemingly taken over the entire Walt Disney Company.

I expect the show to attempt to promote disordered lifestyles and immoral behavior in order to change “hearts and minds.”

Disney Breaks Their Percy Jackson Promise, Race Swaps Grover And Annabeth (16)

Source: Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief

RELATED: Disney CEO Bob Chapek Claims Company Is “A Force For Inclusion” But Doesn’t Want It Become A “Political Football”

Because that is indeed Disney’s credo now as made clear by the company’s Bob Chapek when he stated, “There’s a reason content is at the top of this list. For nearly a century, our company’s stories have opened minds, inspired dreams, shown the world both as it is and how we wish it could be, and now more than ever before, represent the incredible diversity of our society.”

“We are telling important stories, raising voices, and I believe, changing hearts and minds,” he declared.

Disney Breaks Their Percy Jackson Promise, Race Swaps Grover And Annabeth (17)

Bob Chapek attend the Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness World Premiere at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, CA on Monday, May 2, 2022.
(photo: Alex J. Berliner/ABImages)

What do you make of these casting decisions for Percy Jackson and the Olympians?

NEXT: More Disney Rot Exposed, Company Uses Benefits Programs For “Gender Affirmation Procedures” To Assist Their Employees And Children To “Transition”

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Mentioned This Article:Aryan Simhadri Disney Leah Sava Jeffries Percy Jackson Percy Jackson and the Olympians Rick Riordan

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Disney Breaks Their Percy Jackson Promise, Race Swaps Grover And Annabeth (2024)

FAQs

Disney Breaks Their Percy Jackson Promise, Race Swaps Grover And Annabeth? ›

That promise was broken when Disney announced the casting for the series that race swaps Annabeth Chase and Grover Underwood. In a press release, Disney announced Annabeth will be played by Leah Sava Jeffries while Grover will be portrayed by Aryan Simhadri.

Did they change the race of Annabeth in Percy Jackson? ›

Even though the series is currently trending online thanks to a lot of positive reviews, racist trolls are complaining about the fact that they race-swapped the character Annabeth Chase, who is the daughter of Athena. In the books, she's described as blonde but actor Leah Jeffries, 14, who plays her is Black.

Is Percy Jackson black in the book? ›

As described by the books, Percy has sea-green eyes, tan skin, and black (usually messy) hair.

Who is older, Annabeth or Percy? ›

Reyna Annabeth is a month older than Percy. She is 16-17 at the start but Percy doesn't turn 17 until the Son of Neptune. Aphrodite A.K Percy is around 16-17 whereas Annabeth would be around 15-16 as she is 15 at the end of the Percy Jackson series and he is 16.

Who does Grover end up with in Percy Jackson? ›

Grover Underwood is a satyr and a Lord of the Wild, along with Silenus and Maron. Grover is the satyr who found the demigods Thalia Grace, Nico and Bianca di Angelo, Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase, and Luke Castellan. Grover is currently in a relationship with Juniper the dryad.

Did Percy and Annabeth break up? ›

Go away idiot!" Annabeth cried, and stormed back to her cabin. "Fine!" Percy yelled. "Have it your way!" Annabeth and Percy have broken up. But Annabeth has a terrible secret that no one - besides Will Solace - knows about.

Is Annabeth Percy Jackson's girlfriend? ›

She appears first in the first novel of the series, The Lightning Thief. In the series she becomes close friends with Percy Jackson, later becoming his main love interest and girlfriend. Annabeth is architect of Olympus and one of the leaders in Camp Half Blood for half bloods/demigods.

Do Percy and Annabeth get married? ›

Yes, Annabeth is married to Percy Jackson, and has three kids: Cast, Ethan, and Zoe. How was Annabeth Chase born? Annabeth Chase is the half-blood daughter of the goddess Athena and the mortal man Frederick Chase.

Does Annabeth like Percy or Luke? ›

Nothing ever happens between Annabeth and Luke, but Percy gets jealous of the other demigod. Annabeth also outwardly admits she had a crush on Luke in The Mark of Athena, the third book in Riordan's Heroes of Olympus series.

Is Grover black or white? ›

the graphic novel The Lightning Thief (Riordan, Venditti, Futaki, & Vilarrubia, 2010) Grover has brown eyes and Caucasian skin.

Is Grover actually 24? ›

Grover's age is changed in the Disney+ series, with the show aging him down to 24 years old, compared to 28 years old in the books.

When did Annabeth get a crush on Percy? ›

Annabeth mentions that she had had a crush on him since she was 12, and that her feelings for him grew exponentially once he disappeared. Percy's love also grew exponentially to the point where he liked certain aspects of Camp Jupiter because he was thinking of their future.

How old is Annabeth in book 1? ›

Annabeth is only a month older than Percy, her birthday is July 12th (1993, according to the Percy Jackson facebook page). So she is 12 years old in The Lightning Thief.

Does Grover get a girlfriend? ›

In the fourth novel in the series, The Battle of the Labyrinth, listeners get to know Grover's girlfriend, Juniper. In this installment, the Council decides Grover has spent far too much time searching for Pan, and they give him a week to find the god before his Searcher's license is revoked.

Who will betray Percy? ›

Upon returning to Camp Half Blood, Percy is betrayed by his friend Luke, son of Hermes, who turns out to be the human hero whom Kronos used for the theft. Luke poisons Percy, and tells him before leaving that Kronos will rise and destroy the age of the gods. Western Civilization is unraveling.

Who does Grover have a crush on? ›

Juniper is a dryad (wood nymph), and her tree is a Juniper bush, hence her name. Juniper is Grover Underwood's girlfriend, as stated in The Battle of the Labyrinth.

Did they recast Annabeth in Percy Jackson? ›

The upcoming Disney Plus series Percy Jackson and the Olympians has been receiving backlash. Mainly because Disney Plus made the decision to cast black actress Leah Sava Jeffries as Annabeth Chase in the new Percy Jackson adaptation. In the original book series, Annabeth was white.

Did they change actors in Percy Jackson? ›

This makes two Whedonverse actors cast in the movie so far, both in roles recast from the first movie. Nathan Fillion is replacing Dylan Neal, and Anthony Stewart Head is replacing Pierce Brosnan, arguably proving once and for all that Rupert Giles beats James Bond.

What is Annabeth from Percy Jackson supposed to look like? ›

As far as her physical appearance, in the audiobooks Percy describes Annabeth Chase as looking like the "typical California girl," with blonde hair and curls that give her a Cinderella-esque appearance. She's tall—when she first meets Percy, she towers over him.

Who is the new Annabeth? ›

Leah Sava Jeffries had a feeling that her casting as Annabeth Chase in the new Disney+ series adaptation of Percy Jackson & the Olympians was going to elicit some racist backlash.

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