The Disney empire has launched the careers of many young stars. Some have succeeded as they transitioned into adulthood. Others struggled to overcome the hurdles of child stardom.
Disney Channel star Bella Thorne seems poised to join the former, but she hasn't escaped the intense scrutiny of working for the Mouse House.
"When you're with Disney, you're judged very harshly," Thorne told HitFix. "More with fans and the media and what they think of you and how they think you should look and be and ... you know. 'You're ugly,' 'you're fat,' 'you're too skinny,' 'you have no boobs.' I get all those comments, all day long, and you know what? If I was just on film, I wouldn't get them."
Thorne starred on Disney Channel's "Shake It Up!" for three seasons and appears in Disney's new movie "Alexander and the Terrible Horrible No-Good Very Bad Day." Her candid response falls in the middle of other Disney star testimonies about their time under the company's thumb.
Joe Jonas and his brothers feared making any mistake in public because of the ramifications it could have had on their careers with Disney. The trio had to sugarcoat their lyrics, behave appropriately with their teenage fans and appear like clean-cut, wholesome young men.
"We went along with it at the time, because we thought Disney was our only real shot, and we were terrified that it could all be taken away from us at any moment," the elder Jonas brother told Vulture in 2013.
Miley Cyrus has done everything to escape the shadow of her "Hannah Montana" image. Her Disney Channel show lasted four seasons and she starred as the secret pop star character in the feature film "Hannah Montana: The Movie."
"When I was on Disney, the thing that gave me the most anxiety was not knowing what to do with myself when Disney wasn't there to carry me anymore," Cyrus told Elle in April.
The "Wrecking Ball" singer does credit Disney with her work ethic today, which has led to her successful transition to adult superstardom.
"I got the most intense training. There's times where I wish I could have just started as a new artist, but the world has kind of allowed me to do that," Cyrus said. "I feel really lucky - a lot of kid stars get all crazy or stuck in what they were, so they can't actually become what they're meant to be."
Zac Efron appreciates the lift that Disney gave his career through the "High School Musical" franchise. The extra media attention on Efron led to substance abuse problems, but he took control of the problem by checking into rehab last year. After all that, he puts none of the blame on Disney.
"['High School Musical'] was in every sense of it, the luckiest break in the world," Efron told Flaunt magazine in 2013. "The wrong thing to do - and that's what all these interviews now are trying to get me to say - is to turn on it, to like sh*t on it, call it crap. But that's insane."
