Disney Achieves Embarrassing New Milestone In Cinema

The Walt Disney Company (and all of the movie-making studios, theme parks, stores, et cetera under that umbrella) has gone through some decidedly-tough times as of late. Now, Disney has taken yet another hit — but not from Florida’s governor!

In a new article from Movieweb.com, Disney’s cinematic box-office failures have been tallied up in a particularly brutal fashion — with a sharp focus on Disney’s inability to recreate the lightning-in-a-bottle success of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.

There are plenty of Disney movies from the past that have focused on low-stakes, campy adventures — but those kinds of movies don’t typically do well with adults, unless they’re a kind of ‘comfort’ film that’s watched as superficial fluff and seen as a low-quality form of entertainment.

Because Pirates of the Caribbean was such a hit with audience members of virtually every age, Disney has obviously been eager to keep that money-maker going (with or without Johnny Depp in the role of Captain Jack Sparrow).

Movieweb.com has now pointed out some of the most abysmal films that came from Disney’s attempts to copy the success of the Pirates!

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

If you don’t remember this particular Disney movie from 2010, then some disgruntled video game fans or Disney fans will probably tell you that you’re better off for it.

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time was a huge failure, both for Disney and for the A-list actor (Jake Gyllenhaal) who played the lead character.

Whitewashing and poor writing were just two of the bigger problems with this video game adaptation, and even though it theoretically should have appealed to Pirates fans, Disney’s gamble did not pay off.

John Carter

John Carter has the dubious honor of being famous for its failure. The 2012 Disney movie was apparently “too weird for general audiences,” with a “space opera” style that left audiences far too dissatisfied to appreciate the renowned Oscar-winning director (Andrew Stanton) who brought Pixar films like Finding Nemo and WALL-E to life.

"Woola would find you anywhere on Barsoom." -Sola #JohnCarter pic.twitter.com/oYUmIEWZ

— John Carter (@JohnCarter) July 2, 2012

Do you remember John Carter? Has this movie joined your library as a sub-par yet entertaining adventure film, or did you skip it entirely?

The Jungle Cruise 

The Jungle Cruise is one of Disney’s more recent and transparent efforts to recreate the Pirates magic. The film did receive some positive reviews, especially from adults who appreciated its characters’ cheeky innuendo during that one scene, but overall the movie became yet another decent-but-not-great addition to the Disney collection.

Dwayne Johnson, a Disney darling who has starred in several Disney projects, might actually be showing up in the next Pirate of the Caribbean movie (if certain kidnapping accusations don’t ruin any plans)!

Johnny’s Solo Pirates Endeavors

Let’s not forget about the more recent Pirates of the Caribbean movies’ disappointing performances, either, while we’re contemplating Disney’s struggles in the box office realm.

Without the lovestruck A-list couple played by Keira Knightley and Orlando Bloom, the Pirates films were too heavy to be carried by Johnny Depp alone — and it showed.

The last few Pirates films have been far less popular with audiences than the first three films, so the very same franchise that Disney has been failing to recreate is, ironically, not doing as well these days!

When you think of Disney’s worst films and biggest box-office flops, which Disney movies come to mind?

Are Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time and John Carter among those movies — and have new live-action remakes like The Jungle Book and Peter Pan and Wendy (not to mention the upcoming Disney movie called The Little Mermaid) been disappointing in your experience, or are the new live-action Disney films becoming the best Disney movies in your opinion?