Is Disney’s Slump a Sign of Great Things to Come?

The Walt Disney Company has seen its fair share of trouble in the recent past. The Mouse House, famous for its unerring standards of production and entertainment, has received much criticism and backlash for its choices recently—creative or otherwise. Disney has been accused of being woke for numerous reasons—think the retheming of Splash Mountain to Tiana’s Bayou Adventure at Walt Disney World Resort and Disneyland Resort, or the casting of Black actress Halle Bailey in the recent The Little Mermaid live-action remake.

Disney’s propensity for live-action remakes

When it comes to its film productions in particular, however, Disney has had no shortage of hardship, despite some notable successes through its other properties—think Star Wars, Marvel, and the like. While 2023 has already been a good year for the Walt Disney Company due to its Marvel productions of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, it’s also seen some misses, for example, with Pixar’s latest Elemental.

One of the ways that Disney appears to be combating this slump is through announcing and working on live-action remakes of many of its animated films. The Mouse House has announced Moana and Bambi already and has been working on Snow White. Its other titles slated for release this year include the highly-anticipated Haunted Mansion, other Disney remake, and reboot, of an older, formerly successful movie with Eddie Murphy.

MovieWeb’s take on Disney’s slump

Many have raised issue with Disney’s repeated and apparent penchant for going back to tried and tested movies and have even wondered if the Mouse House’s time is over, considering its perceived inability to bring out a new, original creation. However, one outlet recently suggested that the company might be on the cusp of a creative Disney renaissance precisely because it seems close to dire straits.

A recent article on MovieWeb pointed out that despite Disney’s recent downward trend, it still is an aspirational company for many creatives. Disney is presently “digging in its own well” or proverbial gold mine to maintain its profits, but there will come a time when there is nowhere left to dig.

When the Walt Disney Company reaches this inevitable point, MovieWeb posits that the influx of creatives who still aspire to be a part of the Disney name will deliver on their talent and bring us the next generation of Disney storytelling. As the article puts it,

They will no longer be resigned to special sections of Disney+ that tout Pride or inclusion because the company will have embraced enough of a spectrum of individuals that these concepts are no longer niche.

The article argues what Disney will need is the right kick in the wallet—money often being the only language corporations the size of Disney understand and respond to—and the hope is if (or when) the Mouse House faces that stimulus, perhaps then we will find ourselves seeing the dawn of a new Disney day.