'Strange World' Disney's 2022 Animated Film

[mickEblu]

To me it's more an open question. I don't think the same-sex kiss in Lightyear particularly affected how people who went to see it enjoyed the film. Is it that this time around people didn't know?

I get it. My post wasn’t directed at you although you did inspire it. I think we can’t dismiss the fact that these movies were back to back. Big miss on Disneys part. What happens when you have 1/2 the country thinking you have an agenda and include those scenes in back to back animated PG films? Now you “definitely” have an agenda and have created a new identity for yourself. The consumer thinks “oh ok that wasn’t just a one off or every once in a while type thing. This is the new Disney.”

Or maybe it wasn’t a mistake. Maybe they knew exactly what they were doing.

 

[MrPromey]

I haven't seen the film, but honestly also surprised and puzzled by the CinemaScore apparently being the lowest for any Disney animated film... ever. The critics' reviews don't suggest that should be the case, nor does anything anyone has said on here. Are people really showing up and getting annoyed about the inclusion of same sex attraction in the film (as the RottenTomatoes comments/reviews suggest), or is there some reason this film really isn't connecting with people?

Well, there is also an interracial relationship that is a lot more hands-on both figuratively and literally.

I'm sure if you were to make a Venn diagram of people unhappy about those two things, instead of two overlapping circles, it would look a lot like a single circle.

There is a weird moment where the teen kid, in talking to his grandfather, talks about his grandfather's idea of how to impress a love interest as "kind of toxic" which felt heavy-handed in the world of zoomer buzzwords to toss in there. He's not wrong in the sentiment but it's odd that they chose that word to use in this movie that is otherwise pretty free of politically charged slang. I winced a little when he said it because my thought was "is he about to call gramps a boomer now?" but that's as far as it went.

Regarding him, there is the weird thing that of the three main characters representing three different generations, it is only the teen that apparently doesn't need to deal with personal growth or maturity, even though his rash actions more than once, are what creates half the drama - stowing away on the ship to begin with, going off on his own, having no idea what he's doing to "rescue" his dad, ending up in need of rescue himself as a result and then storming off on his own when mad at his dad at one point into a "strange world" where everything seems out to kill everyone - all really dumb moves and they never suggest at any point that he learns anything about his own behavior from any of this.

Both dad and grandad learn stuff and grow from their experience and they learn something from the teenager about being better humans but somehow, the teen appears to learn nothing - just gains confidence in who he already is which... felt a little one-sided but I say that as a guy around the age of the dad so maybe that's just sour grapes on my part.

I know it sounds like that was a major issue for me but it really wasn't. I just point it out because it was the one thing that stood out for me, personally.

Don't get me wrong - I didn't not find this to be a remarkable movie. Some people appear (in my opinion) to be gushing in praise for it in a way that I don't feel the finished product quite deserves but it seems like people with personal reasons for wanting it to succeed yelling back at the crowd eager to see it fail for their own personally reasons and I get it.

The funny (but not ha-ha funny) is this movie could have had so many cool toys.

They would have been much cooler than the big-headed mini-figures currently in happy meal boxes, for sure.

 

[MrPromey]

Except that sexuality and gender identity have very little to do with one a other and the decision to lump them into a single "movement" is harmful to everyone involved.

The gay and lesbian community with have a much easier time finding acceptance in middle America of they hadn't linked their fortunes to the acceptance of genderf--- and skoliosexual.

For what it's worth, I have some very close friends who are gay and they've informed me that they never received their mail in ballots for the vote to combine any of these movements.

As one put it to me, there was a RuPaul's Drag Race marathon the night of the official vote and he feels like that was just one part of a larger disenfranchisement campaign.*


*To be clear, I'm not making that up - there really was such a conversation but he was speaking with sarcasm to make the point that there really is no such thing as the monolithic "gay community" you hear pundits talk about or people pretending to speak for and that especially, generationally, things can be seen very differently, possibly more so than in the hetero "community" due to the amount of change that's happened over the last 30-40 years. Felt the need to clarify since I know, in politically charged topics, people tend to search out things to attack or take offense from.

 

[TP2000]

I feel bad for people who have nothing better to do on Thanksgiving weekend except gloat and do happy dances because a movie they don’t like and have no intention of ever seeing got low box office results.

What else would we do in our free time?

I already did the Black Friday run yesterday with friends at a few Big Box stores. Where I was reminded...

The price of giant 4K TV sets at Best Buy is so ridiculously low now, no wonder Americans were happy to be trained by Bob Chapek to stay home and wait for it on Disney+ for 8 bucks whenever Burbank releases animation from Pixar or Disney! What a boneheaded decision that turned out to be, and I'm convinced (with no evidence, just my gut) that it's a big part of what led to his sudden firing and current corporate turmoil and money problems.

Now I'm sitting here waiting for the car to be washed before I head out to dinner tonight. So I have time to pull up the official numbers for Friday. It's ugly. Strange World has gone from a modest expectation of $30 to $40 Million this weekend, to a lowered estimate of $26 Million after the first day, to now hoping against hope to simply break the $20 Million mark for this five day holiday weekend we all enjoy.

What's interesting is that the minor Christian film The Chosen has made more money than Strange World in five more days of showings, and is only showing in 179 theaters but is making over $3,400 per theater. Strange World is in a whopping 4,700 theaters, but is pulling in less than a third of that per theater.

It's gonna be ugly in Burbank on Monday morning when some studio execs slink back to work, I can tell you that.

 

[MrPromey]

Why wouldn't that apply to Wakanda Forever? I don't think anything about what you're describing is unique to kids.

When I was younger, I had an older friend who used to run Halloween pop-up shops. Think Spirit but before Spirit became the de facto standard for this.

Anyway, I'd work in some of his locations every now and then to help out and the one thing that always struck me is how people would come in and spend hundreds of dollars on their own costumes and accessories for an adult party and then when it came time for their kid's trick-or-treating costume, balk at paying $30-$50 for the licensed one they wanted.

My point being, lots of people are willing to spend money on themselves that they aren't necessary willing to spend on their kids.

... and just like in the costume shop, people without kids have even more money to spoil themselves with when it comes to wanting to see something "on the big screen" to get the full effect.

 

[RobWDW1971]

It's gonna be ugly in Burbank on Monday morning when some studio execs slink back to work, I can tell you that.

You know who will be walking proudly into the office (fashionably late) on Monday?

The DEI staff who just spent their 10 day Thanksgiving "break" sitting at Intelligentsia in Silver Lake having their lattes tweeting out to their friends how "important", "historic", and "groundbreaking" this movie is.

"Profits" and "making entertainment for the masses" are concepts for those archaic business people.

 

[TP2000]

And why was Strange World in 4,700 theaters? Wakanda Forever is only in 4,200 theaters and is doing nearly quadruple the per-theater business! Wakanda Forever needs more seating capacity, yet Strange World is playing to crowds 25% the size and gets an extra 500 theaters?

I'd be fascinated to learn how mega-studios like Burbank convince theater chains how many theaters to give up for each film. Their strategy this Thanksgiving clearly didn't work. If any of our industry folks here could fill us in on how that decision is made on theater capacity, I'd be quite thankful for the background knowledge there.

Also, the tone from the media today is now using the word "bomb" concerning Strange World.

Disney's $180M animated movie bombs at box office amid CEO shake-up

Disney's animated film "Strange World" starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Dennis Quaid and Lucy Liu, tanked over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend at the box office.

www.foxbusiness.com

‘Strange World’ Is a Historic Bomb for Disney on a Weak Thanksgiving Box Office Weekend

Overall grosses are worse than Thanksgiving 2021 as the third weekend of "Wakanda Forever" is blowing out new releases

www.yahoo.com

Disney’s ‘Strange World’ Stands to Lose $147 Million — World of Reel

Disney’s animated movies generally fare very well with audiences, but their latest offering is turning into somewhat of a fascinating enigma.

www.worldofreel.com

 

[TP2000]

You know who will be walking proudly into the office (fashionably late) on Monday?

The DEI staff who just spent their 10 day Thanksgiving "break" sitting at Intelligentsia in Silver Lake having their lattes tweeting out to their friends how "important", "historic", and "groundbreaking" this movie is.

"Profits" and "making entertainment for the masses" are concepts for those archaic business people.

Nailed it!

The industry folks like that are insufferable. But I have faith in free enterprise. I mean, you can't keep vaporizing $180 Million here, $200 Million there, and come out of a corporate crisis and layoff scenario like Burbank currently faces and still have any real influence on movie production. At least I would hope not.

I simply must retain my faith in free enterprise and the power of free markets to speak louder than tweets from West LA hipster enclaves.

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

Minions:Rise of Gru grossed $370M at the domestic box office four months ago.

Which leads to the several hundred million dollar question, is that confirmation D+ is hurting Disney box office or simply a result of Minions being a better product than what Disney is currently putting out?

It also creates a follow up question… I love the minions but I’d never subscribe to Paramount+ (is that were Minions will end up?) solely to see minions, yet Disney seems to be dooming box office results by pushing movies quickly to D+ to drive subscriptions, is this strategy even pushing people to get D+ or is it just encouraging fans who would be subscribers anyway not to go the the theater?

 

[MrPromey]

I'm trying to think, is "Lilo & Stitch" Disney's only mainline (aka no marvel, pixar, lucasfilm, etc) "sci-fi" hit? It's not entirely sci fi in its setting, but it does star an alien.

Strange World isn't exactly Sci-Fi either, though.

Maybe some sort of retro-steampunk-scifi-fantasy but there are no space ships. the technology has a retro ascetic because it's based on a discovery that allowed them to leapfrog as a civilization but if this were in our reality, it would take place in the past... and dispite what the name of the movie and the trailer suggests, there are not spaceships and they never even leave the planet they're from.

 

[SuddenStorm]

Nailed it!

The industry folks like that are insufferable. But I have faith in free enterprise. I mean, you can't keep vaporizing $180 Million here, $200 Million there, and come out of a corporate crisis and layoff scenario like Burbank currently faces and still have any real influence on movie production. At least I would hope not.

I simply must retain my faith in free enterprise and the power of free markets to speak louder than tweets from West LA hipster enclaves.

Now let's hope some of that blowback makes it into the parks division before the stateside parks become unrecognizable.

 

[BrianLo]

I was NOT cheering against this movie in the least, but they really messed this one up in a spectacular fashion. For that I am not the least bit surprised.

They kind of botched Encanto too, but it found its word of mouth and the Christmas D+ release helped it find life post theatrically. Sort of like a Little Mermaid. Though I don't think Disney Animation itself is in a doldrum, it's hard to say that coming off Encanto, which will likely stand the test of time in the Moana and Frozen camp.

Wish is a palate cleanser. For which Iger deserves no credit, but will benefit from it.

 

[TP2000]

I was NOT cheering against this movie in the least, but they really messed this one up in a spectacular fashion. For that I am not the least bit surprised.

They kind of botched Encanto too, but it found its word of mouth and the Christmas D+ release helped it find life post theatrically.

Agreed on botching whatever marketing they had for Strange World. Encanto's marketing was only mildly better, and that hit Bruno song came out of nowhere as a viral sensation and caught Burbank off guard. That song went way over my head because I didn't know how to dance to it. But I know the kids liked it.

But, Encanto was doing more than double the box office business on Black Friday 2021, even though their marketing of it wasn't good. And Encanto was in 750 fewer theaters than Strange World is in this weekend!

Seriously, how did Strange World get put into 4,700 theaters this weekend? There's gotta be a story there...

 

[Chi84]

I was NOT cheering against this movie in the least, but they really messed this one up in a spectacular fashion. For that I am not the least bit surprised.

They kind of botched Encanto too, but it found its word of mouth and the Christmas D+ release helped it find life post theatrically. Sort of like a Little Mermaid. Though I don't think Disney Animation itself is in a doldrum, it's hard to say that coming off Encanto, which will likely stand the test of time in the Moana and Frozen camp.

Wish is a palate cleanser. For which Iger deserves no credit, but will benefit from it. Savvy b*****d.

Encanto had 8 original songs by Lin-Manuel Miranda. I know many adults who couldn’t wait to see it for that reason alone.

 

[MisterPenguin]

I saw Strange World tonight.

It was good. Ok. Not great. Certainly not *bad*.

It could have made me laugh more. The emotional scenes could have been more intense. Certainly no ugly crying. It was like everything was turned down from 10 to 7. Except the visuals, but even then... the palette was too same-ish thruout the movie.

It certainly didn't deserve its CinemaScore of 'B' compared to other 'B' movies, IMO.

Critics:
RT 'Fresh' -- 73%
RT rating -- 63
Metacritic -- 65

Audience:
RT rating -- 68
IMDB rating -- 55
CinemaScore -- B

While it bombed financially, the scores are fair to good.

 

[crispy]

It will be interesting to see how this compares to Puss in Boots: The Last Wish. I keep reading that there has been no marketing for Strange World, but I have seen a ton of commercials on TV, YouTube, etc. I have seen one commercial for Puss in Boots and that was at the movie theater when we saw the Rise of Gru.

 

[mickEblu]

What else would we do in our free time?

I already did the Black Friday run yesterday with friends at a few Big Box stores. Where I was reminded...

The price of giant 4K TV sets at Best Buy is so ridiculously low now, no wonder Americans were happy to be trained by Bob Chapek to stay home and wait for it on Disney+ for 8 bucks whenever Burbank releases animation from Pixar or Disney! What a boneheaded decision that turned out to be, and I'm convinced (with no evidence, just my gut) that it's a big part of what led to his sudden firing and current corporate turmoil and money problems.

Now I'm sitting here waiting for the car to be washed before I head out to dinner tonight. So I have time to pull up the official numbers for Friday. It's ugly. Strange World has gone from a modest expectation of $30 to $40 Million this weekend, to a lowered estimate of $26 Million after the first day, to now hoping against hope to simply break the $20 Million mark for this five day holiday weekend we all enjoy.

What's interesting is that the minor Christian film The Chosen has made more money than Strange World in five more days of showings, and is only showing in 179 theaters but is making over $3,400 per theater. Strange World is in a whopping 4,700 theaters, but is pulling in less than a third of that per theater.

It's gonna be ugly in Burbank on Monday morning when some studio execs slink back to work, I can tell you that.

View attachment 681190

I’d love to be a fly on that wall in the meeting with the animation department.

“Hey guys ummm, so we tried…. yeahhh, as you’re well aware, and can see. Uhhhh mayyybe

(Speeds up speech x3)

weshouldgobacktomakingmovies likewedidfrom1937to2019.

(Takes Breath)

(Back to normal speech)

That seemed to work out better for us. What do you think? No? Ok. Fine. One more. Just one more but that’s it. Ok? But not Wish, that’s ones too important.”

 

[Sir_Cliff]

What remains to be seen is if this will just all be looked at as a weird short little blip in this countries and Disney history (that unfortunately also claimed Splash Mountain) or will things continue. They certainly can’t continue losing money on their animated films. Can’t imagine shareholders will be too happy with that. Or maybe they take a break and try again in 5-10 years? I can see them testing the waters every once in a while. Or maybe everyone will “settle” on the fact that we have a new Disney and people will watch the IP/ movies they’re interested in and avoid the movies they re not interested in.

All it takes is a couple charming, story first movies to get most of the critics back on their side. And no cringey dialogue. Having the Gay character talk about toxic masculinity in a rated PG animated film is just… WOW. Lol. I mean talk about being out of touch AND going from zero to 100. Nobody want this. 1/2 the people this movie caters to probably cringed. The more I think about it. This is Generational thing. It’s isn’t Black/ White. Gay/ straight. Not even as much Conservative/ Liberal as we’d like to believe. They really trying to cater to the vocal minority of Gen Z which has no doubt all been sped up due to the power/ reach of Social Media. This and the internal pressure from employees I suspect.

Society will keep changing, I guess we just don't know how. Either way, a Disney animated feature in the 1950s was different from one in the 1990s which will naturally be different to one in the 2020s in the way they reflect changing social values. Maybe in 10 years a gay character wouldn't be remarked upon in a Disney animated film, or maybe it would be unthinkable. Hard to predict!

What seems unique about this moment, for better or worse, is the way in which culture wars have become hyper-charged and there is increasing pressure for a company like Disney to pick a side on which to fight. At least from what @MrPromey described, it does seem like Disney may have pitched some of the dialogue and plot at just the right frequency to hit existing sensitivities regarding a narrative around a certain cohort of young people being uniquely enlightened and righteous and everyone else needs to atone for their ignorance and listen to their wisdom. I'm sure it's that heavy-handed in the film, but you would hope the people writing the film would be able to step back and consider how some plot and dialogue decisions might read to a significant portion of their audience and, for example, also suggest the younger character could grow by listening to the older characters as well.

 

[MisterPenguin]

You can't really judge a movie from the Cinemascore. Every Disney movie has gotten an A- or above until Strange World. So it's B rating is really like a C- or D.

Rotten Tomatoes keeps fluctuating, right now it's at 60 for verified audience and 38 for all audience.

No *animated features* got below an A-.

Plenty of live action films did: Nutcracker and the Four Realms (B+); A Wrinkle in Time (B); Tomorrowland (B).

Also a B is a B. Nice try tho, into somehow spinning it into a C- or D. That's the realm of Fant4stic (C-) or Ghost Rider 2 (C+).

Meanwhile the critics who usually give Disney great grades are at, 76 for top critics and 73 for all critics.

Are these the same critics who gave Eternals a 47?

We're back to your astounding bending of facts and logic and the fallacious scenarios you set up:

​

If a Disney movie gets bad ratings, it's a bad movie.​

​

If a Disney movie gets good ratings, it's because those critics always give good ratings, therefore, it's really a bad movie.​

I know I'm not convincing you. I'm posting it so that our dear audience understands the twisted bias of your analysis.

 

[MrPromey]

Society will keep changing, I guess we just don't know how. Either way, a Disney animated feature in the 1950s was different from one in the 1990s which will naturally be different to one in the 2020s in the way they reflect changing social values. Maybe in 10 years a gay character wouldn't be remarked upon in a Disney animated film, or maybe it would be unthinkable. Hard to predict!

What seems unique about this moment, for better or worse, is the way in which culture wars have become hyper-charged and there is increasing pressure for a company like Disney to pick a side on which to fight. At least from what @MrPromey described, it does seem like Disney may have pitched some of the dialogue and plot at just the right frequency to hit existing sensitivities regarding a narrative around a certain cohort of young people being uniquely enlightened and righteous and everyone else needs to atone for their ignorance and listen to their wisdom. I'm sure it's that heavy-handed in the film, but you would hope the people writing the film would be able to step back and consider how some plot and dialogue decisions might read to a significant portion of their audience and, for example, also suggest the younger character could grow by listening to the older characters as well.

As for the uniquely enlightened youth, yes, that's pretty much it but I want to emphasis that it's only a sort of minor quibble and one I didn't really fully notice until thinking about things after.

Yeah, both I and my ten year old son noticed he kept doing dumb things that put himself and others in danger and also sidelined things more than once (teenager does dumb emotionally charged thing - news at 11, right?) but it wasn't until thinking about things after that I realized there never were any consequences for him (or an apology) for any of it.

Less than thirty seconds of combined dialog probably could have fixed that.

Anyway, I don't think it was enough to sink the whole movie and I'm not sure how many other people would notice that since I tend to pick things apart in movies way more than is probably healthy.