Disney Can’t Win With Its New Movies

If you are a fan of Disney and its movies, then you probably know that the studio giant has been STRUGGLING at the box office lately. It seems that Disney can’t release a movie without backlash or mediocre reviews. Disney CEO Bob Iger has admitted that, over the last few years, Disney’s standards were not what they had been in the past. That may have been a not-so-subtle jab at now-fired CEO, Bob Chapek.

Related: Bob Iger Admits Disney “Lost Focus” in Its Movies

And while many fans may agree that Disney movies are not what they used to be, there is one even bigger question. Whose fault is it?

The answer to that might not be Disney.

One of the near-constant complaints is that Disney isn’t making original movies anymore. So many people say that they are sick of sequels and live-action remakes. However, when you look at box office numbers, it’s not the original films that are bringing in the money.

Let’s take a look at the chart below, but ignore movies from Marvel and Lucasfilm. As you can see, Disney’s most successful film of the year was the live-action remake of The Little Mermaid. Now, The Little Mermaid was a really good remake, but it was a remake nonetheless.

Many thought that the movie would fail because Disney cast a black actress, Halle Bailey, as Ariel. So, it’s possible that more people went to see it as a way to fight the racism that both Bailey and Disney faced.

But if you look at Disney’s new original movie, Elemental, it only did about half as well as a remake. Fans absolutely adored the new story, but a lot of them didn’t go to the theaters to see it.

Elemental has a 93% Audience score on the website Rotten Tomatoes. Fans loved the timely and beautiful story Disney and Pixar told. The animation on the film was also next level. But none of that helped in terms of box office numbers.

Disney’s Newest Movie is Also Struggling

On November 22, Disney released another original animated film, Wish. Wish was made in conjunction with the studio’s 100th anniversary celebration. Disney touted the new movie as a nod to classic animation and Disney storytelling.

There is the traditional heroine, Asha, who dreams of more for her life and the people who live in the Kingdom of Rosas. Asha is up against a more classic type of Disney villain, King Magnífico. There are even talking sidekicks and gorgeous songs that seem very “Disney”.

Despite all that, people STILL aren’t going to the theaters to watch it. Although, the ones who do seem to enjoy it as well. They freely admit that it is not as good as “classic” Disney animated movies, but still enjoyable.

The thing that we need to remember is that even classic Disney animated films are, for the most part, not Disney stories. Movies like Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), Cinderella (1950), Sleeping Beauty (1959), Aladdin (1992), and Beauty and the Beast (1991), are all based on fairy tales written long before Disney made them into animated hits.

Related: Elemental Just Made Pixar History! 

So, for all the moaning people do about Disney creating sequels and remakes, those are the films they appear to want to see in theaters. Because even the solid original animated films can’t get enough butts in the seats.

Is Disney Too Woke?

In addition to complaints about sequels and live-action remakes, Disney is constantly accused of being “woke”. In addition to trolls attacking Disney for casting a black actress as Ariel, the company is frequently attacked for the characters in its newer films and television shows.

Disney’s new films and television shows are featuring more characters living “non-traditional” lives. Both Lightyear and Strange World featured same-sex couples. Baymax! — a series created for Disney+ also showed, in a minor role, a person who was openly transgender.

Disney has been at the core of conservative attacks, as those mainly on the right ask Disney to return to the stories that they used to tell. Many of those stories involve straight, white couples, with two straight children. However, Disney executives have repeatedly said that Disney will continue to create movies that represent the modern world we live in.

So, What Can Disney Do?

It seems that one of the biggest reasons people are not going to movie theaters like they used to is because of streaming. Streaming became exceptionally popular during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, and Disney released several high-profile movies, like Mulan and Cruella, straight to Disney+

If Disney wants to encourage more people to buy tickets to see the newest films in theaters, then they may want to consider extending how long it takes for the movie to make it to streaming.

Why bother to go to the theater if you know that it will be available to stream in two or three months?

Back in the days before streaming, if you didn’t go see the movie in a theater, you would have to wait months before it was available on VHS, DVD, or Blu-ray. So, Disney may want to consider going back to the old model.

We also need to remember one important thing, if we don’t go to the theaters to see original movies like Wish and Elemental, there is a risk that Disney will stop making them.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are the writer’s and may not reflect the sentiments of Disney Fanatic as a whole.

What is your favorite Disney animated film? Let us know in the comments!