BTW, spoilers are ahead ... so beware. Anyway, here's what's going on -- everyone's buzzing about the 'Rescue Rangers' flick on Disney+, which has been viewed by many as a spiritual sequel to 'Who Framed Roger Rabbit?' ... namely, in the fact that toons and humans unite.

There's tons of cameos -- most of which are very self-aware and "meta" -- but one, in particular, has gotten backlash ... the boy who never grows up turns out to be the big bad.

Pan describes why he turned evil to the main characters at one point, describing how the studio kicked him to the curb as he started to age and how he grew jaded. The disturbing thing -- to many, at least -- is that this plot accurately reflects Bobby Driscoll's own downfall.

If you're unfamiliar, BD was a child star working with Disney a lot back in the '40/'50s -- he even played Peter in the classic animated hit, and is said to have served as the inspiration behind Pan's look -- but eventually parted ways with the studio and died young after falling into drugs and homelessness. He was even buried in a pauper's grave, unidentified.

Rumor has it ... Bobby himself was allegedly canned by Disney as soon as he hit puberty and was no longer desirable. At least that's the urban legend ... something Disney themselves seem to be alluding to and/or poking fun at with adult Pan in this new movie.

Therein lies the controversy -- people think it's mad disrespectful to dip into Driscoll's story -- either intentionally or not -- for a few laughs and punchlines in this Mouse House movie.

While you could argue that this is Disney making fun of/criticizing their own alleged history when it comes to this dark lore ... others feel it's unwarranted territory to make a point, especially since Driscoll may have, in fact, spiraled as a result of how Disney treated him.

Aside from this seemingly cringeworthy reference, people are saying 'Rescue Rangers' is actually pretty damn good ... and a burst of nostalgia we haven't seen in a while.