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Studio Behind ‘Django Unchained’ Pulls Plug on Action Figures

Jan 18, 2013  •  Post A Comment

A set of “Django Unchained” action figures appears to be going off the market, with the studio behind the movie, The Weinstein Co., announcing that it is pulling the figures from distribution, the Los Angeles Times reports.

“Re-imagining the slave narrative should be left to the professionals. That was the word Friday when the Weinstein Co. announced that it has asked toymaker NECA to discontinue the ‘Django Unchained’ action figure dolls after receiving complaints that the dolls were offensive and trivialized the horrors of slavery,” the piece reports.

The Rev. Al Sharpton, through his National Action Network, has called for a boycott of the figures. Civil rights activist, Naji Ali, director of Project Islamic Hope, called for pulling the toy line, saying at a news conference: "I actually enjoyed the movie, but we cannot support this type of commercialization."

In a statement, The Weinstein Co. said: "In light of the reaction to the ‘Django Unchained’ action figures, we are removing them from distribution. We have tremendous respect for the audience and it was never our intent to offend anyone.

"They were meant to be collectibles for people 17 years and older, which is the audience for the film."

The studio indicated that action figures have been made for all Quentin Tarantino movies, and that production of the new line occurred as a routine step in the marketing process. The “Django Unchained” line features “8-inch versions of plantation owner Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio), slave-turned-freeman Django (Jamie Foxx), dentist-turned-bounty-hunter Dr. King Schultz (Waltz), house servant Stephen (Samuel L. Jackson) and slave Broomhilda von Shaft (Kerry Washington),” the Times notes.

"Django Unchained" is closing in on $130 million in U.S. box office receipts, becoming Tarantino’s top-grossing movie of all time.

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