The sequel abandoned homage’s ambivalence for open metaverse-as-mall depiction.

Evidence

The first film in the series is similar to Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Chip ’n Dale: Rescue Rangers in its desire to pay homage to the meaningful cultural artifacts of its creators’ youth and wrestle with its own status as commodity. The sequel doesn’t bother pretending to offer anything but a realistic depiction of the metaverse Disney is building all around us: a fully branded virtual shopping mall and arcade that dispenses with anything ­resembling public or communal space that isn’t monetizable. — Andrew deWaard, Derivative Media, 437

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the reader’s core question about whether ownership structure causes aesthetic form — this is a concrete textual shift (homage to open branding) tracking Disney’s consolidation.