'Strange World' Disney's 2022 Animated Film

[DKampy]

Pretty much everyone who has seen it and posted a review on here has had positive things to say. Those reviews go ignored by the contingent of people who have NOT seen it, brag that they will NOT see it, and yet are absolutely and completely thrilled that it got low box office as they continue to trash something that they have not seen, for reasons they won’t admit but that are all too obvious.

In response to ticket prices it does vary where I live…I can still see a movie for $7.oo for a matinee at a theater near me…we often choose a different theater which is about 9.00 Matinee..both owned by Marcus…it isa nicer theater the one by us does not even have recliners…we usually go to matinees every sunday…if you live in middle America I think ticket prices are closer to $10.00

 

[MisterPenguin]

How many stinkers can they afford to put out before they find their position?

Close to a dozen...

 

[BuddyThomas]

In response to ticket prices it does vary where I live…I can still see a movie for $7.oo for a matinee at a theater near me…we often choose a different theater which is about 9.00 Matinee..both owned by Marcus…it isa nicer theater the one by us does not even have recliners…we usually go to matinees every sunday…if you live in middle America I think ticket prices are closer to $10.00

Price of Avatar in NYC. Good thing I don’t want to see it:

You

 

[DKampy]

Price of Avatar in NYC. Good thing I don’t want to see it:

View attachment 681573View attachment 681573You

I would say Avatar is probably $15.00 here on the ultra screen 3d matinee…figuring probably 2.00 more for the large screen and another $2.00 for 3d…which is probably how one should see it…once again I usually go by matinee prices…as we only go at night every once in awhile

 

[erasure fan1]

You don't get it? Let me spell it out for you:

What resonates today with older people isn't an indication of what the future of the industry will look like. A movie studio that wants to survive beyond the short run has to position itself for what younger generations are going to want in the future.

Again, I don't get it. So their aiming for a younger generation? Why? The most successful movies hit all generations. When you aim for only one generation, you tend to lose. Guess who brings the younger generation to the movies? It's the adults. If you lose them, you lose the kids too.

Disney is trying to position itself for the future. What we're seeing now: the move to streaming, the balance between tried-and-true and "whatever the kids are into these days" is a tricky one. But it's not going to work to keep doing versions of the old stuff

Here's the thing. You can't abandon the fans that got you to where you are. It rarely works. Ask Microsoft how well positioning itself for the future worked by ignoring the core gamer and focusing on Kinect. Two generations later and they're still playing catch-up. Disney was one of the best at making movies everyone could appreciate.

 

[BuddyThomas]

I would say Avatar is probably $15.00 here on the ultra screen 3d matinee…figuring probably 2.00 more for the large screen and another $2.00 for 3d…which is probably how one should see it…once again I usually go by matinee prices…as we only go at night every once in awhile

I mean, the running time is three hours and ten minutes long. The last movie I remember with this long of a running times was Reds, and it came with an intermission.

 

[Heppenheimer]

Ten dollars? Where do you live? Here, you can barely get in the door of a theatre for under $20.00 per ticket. We almost went to Glass Onion in the theatre just for the big screen, even though we have Netflix, but we decided on Bones and All instead, which turned out to be fantastic.

Believe it or not, the small theater closest to us has matinee tickets for as low as $5, and their most expensive tickets are only $15.

I should also add that I live in a sparsely populated region of northern Vermont.

 

[BuddyThomas]

Believe it or not, the small theater closest to us has matinee tickets for as low as $5, and their most expensive tickets are only $15.

I should also add that I live in a sparsely populated region of northern Vermont.

Sounds perfect.

 

[Heppenheimer]

Regarding the unattractive look to many of Strange World's characters, I just found this old footage on YouTube. When the film was initially in development several years ago by famed Disney producer Don Hall, the look of the people in the film was more natural, and far more Disney looking.

Also, according to the YouTube video, the original casting call for Ethan Clade's voice actor mentioned endless qualities and characteristics and personality traits of the bi-racial 14 year old they were creating as Ethan. What was missing entirely from that original casting call years ago was that Ethan was gay, which seems a pretty important plot point for an actor to portray. Things that make you go...

But back to the aesthetic look of the Strange World character. Here's a sketch of Ethan Clade from early in the film's development. He looks like a normal human that Disney animation would typically create...

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But by the time the film ended up in mostly empty theaters this past weekend, the aesthetic look of Ethan Clade (and all of Strange World's people) had turned into something completely different. And completely unlike typical Disney animation. And not particularly attractive or aesthetically pleasing.

View attachment 681553

As I learned of the various plot twists and spoilers of this film, I did find it to be a really unique story. It's an idea that seems to have potential. But what if they had made the aesthetics of the film look more traditionally Disney (AKA attractive) and had throttled back the HR Committee ladies who apparently forced every category of "Important Representation!" into this film instead of just focusing on the story and the family dynamic that is universal?

The plot twists and story here in Strange World sounds genuinely unique and clever, even promising. But they shot themselves in the foot with the actual film and are in the process of vaporizing at least $100 Million dollars at a time of corporate crisis. Why???? And whose advice did they take to make the changes they did to Strange World? And how do they keep from repeating that mistake again???

The more I see of these character designs, the more I get the impression of off-model Rankin/Bass stop motion animation figures, only significantly less charming.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

A pseudo claymation artstyle would have done this movie wonders. If you can't tell I love movies using CGI to look like other things. : P

 

[erasure fan1]

I could rattle off an extensive list of films such as The Wizard of Oz and It’s a Wonderful Life that initially tanked at the box office but that are still right here with us…

That is very true, we've seen it many times for sure. But comparing strange world with the wizard of Oz and it's a wonderful life?

Just a quick search shows me for Oz

the film placed seventh on Film Daily's year-end nationwide poll of 542 critics naming the best films of 1939

I don't think there is any chance strange world makes it onto the top 10 list for 2022.

 

[TP2000]

Buddy, the film was resoundingly rejected by audiences. It is not being trashed by a small but vocal contingent of haters on the internet. It did not just fail, it failed at a historical level.

No kidding. It also was a giant bomb in foreign countries overseas, in the mostly Western European and British Commonwealth nations that allowed it to be shown.

Speaking of that, the final exact tallies are now in from this weekend. Previous figures in media stories had been estimates to the nearest $100K from industry sources, but the theater chains reported exact sales this afternoon.

Here's the exact damage from the five day holiday weekend run for Strange World...

So, $18,855,156 for domestic box office.

With the 9 Million and change it got in Western Europe and British Commonwealth countries (thank you Western culture!) plus Japan and South Korea (thank you General MacArthur!), Strange World has a total box office thus far of $28.8 Million. Off of a production budget of $180 Million, and a modest marketing budget.

 

[Disney Analyst]

I feel like we are getting into the mud with this.

I enjoyed the movie, as you all know. I do not see this film as one that should have performed as badly as it has - but it has.

I stand firm that there are a few major factors at play here:

• A post-pandemic box office
• A streaming landscape with Disney+ as the second most popular service in the world (meaning HUGE audience numbers that now have a choice to save money, and watch from comfort of their home)
• The handling by Disney of their animated projects since 2020 - which has changed audience behaviour for Disney Animated / Pixar films. This handling looks to have resulted in poor marketing / awareness of this film, and many who know of the film may still be waiting for it to be on their TVs in 45 days.

Yes, there are succesful projects coming out in this Post-Pandemic theatrical landscape, but they are not really the norm right now. The box office has not recovered, and there is much discourse out there, about what films will still manage to be successful under this changed landscape. If you're not a REALLY popular IP, or a major Blockbuster... good luck.


I don't think MOST on here want Disney to fail (although some do come across as gleeful at the prospect). But I sincerely hope Disney can turn this around, or they leverage this to work in their favour with Disney+.

 

[TwilightZone]

I feel like we are getting into the mud with this.

I enjoyed the movie, as you all know. I do not see this film as one that should have performed as badly as it has - but it has.

I stand firm that there are a few major factors at play here:

• A post-pandemic box office
• A streaming landscape with Disney+ as the second most popular service in the world (meaning HUGE audience numbers that now have a choice to save money, and watch from comfort of their home)
• The handling by Disney of their animated projects since 2020 - which has changed audience behaviour for Disney Animated / Pixar films. This handling looks to have resulted in poor marketing / awareness of this film, and many who know of the film may still be waiting for it to be on their TVs in 45 days.

Yes, there are succesful projects coming out in this Post-Pandemic theatrical landscape, but they are not really the norm right now. The box office has not recovered, and there is much discourse out there, about what films will still manage to be successful under this changed landscape. If you're not a REALLY popular IP, or a major Blockbuster... good luck.


I don't think MOST on here want Disney to fail (although some do come across as gleeful at the prospect). But I sincerely hope Disney can turn this around, or they leverage this to work in their favour with Disney+.

Also total absolute lack of SYNERGY. I guess that goes hand in hand with marketing, but I like to see synergy as kind of its own thing.

But I don't think it failed because it starred a gay character. I didn't even know it did until this week.

 

[SuddenStorm]

It’s a resounding success because it is a quality movie and whether you like it or not, just because the initial box office was low, it now exists. I could rattle off an extensive list of films such as The Wizard of Oz and It’s a Wonderful Life that initially tanked at the box office but that are still right here with us….but of course, you already know that “mate”.

Pretending this movie at all compares to The Wizard of Oz and It's a Wonderful Life has to be the hot take of the century.

 

[_caleb]

Again, I don't get it. So their aiming for a younger generation? Why?

Disney needs to position itself for the future. They see the writing on the wall that people are not going to theaters in the same way they used to and that the past business model, no matter how successful, is not sustainable in the future.

Hence their huge bet on direct-to-consumer. They’re hoping that’s the model that will prevail after the last AMC multiplex closes (which could be sooner than you might think).

The most successful movies hit all generations.

That has been true in the past. But a film that is a hit across all generations is an increasingly illusive thing. And there’s TONS of money to be made by going deep with niche audiences, which Disney has been talking about for some time now.

When you aim for only one generation, you tend to lose. Guess who brings the younger generation to the movies? It's the adults. If you lose them, you lose the kids too.

There are four generations in Disney’s audience: Boomers, GenX, Millennials, and Gen Z. They all have members who are old enough to drive themselves to a movie, but all of them are going less than people did in the past.

Here's the thing. You can't abandon the fans that got you to where you are. It rarely works. Ask Microsoft how well positioning itself for the future worked by ignoring the core gamer and focusing on Kinect. Two generations later and they're still playing catch-up. Disney was one of the best at making movies everyone could appreciate.

But they also can’t stay stuck with an audience who is shrinking, changing their spending habits, and literally dying.

What we’re seeing in the production (and box office failure) of Strange World is a misstep as Disney trys to sort out the balance between catering to the base and positioning for the future.

 

[SuddenStorm]

"Iger said he wouldn’t make any dramatic proclamations about Disney’s work-from-home policies but said he felt creative businesses worked best when employees were together in-person."

I've long thought executives/white collar workers working from home while theme park workers have to go into work each day is a divide that has to create animosity within a company.

Work from home as an option when someone is feeling under the weather- or if there's extenuating circumstances of some kind. But going to the office should 100% be the norm for most jobs.

 

[TwilightZone]

But going to the office should 100% be the norm for most jobs.

I don't think for most jobs, but animation definitely needs the extra edge of collaboration.

 

[BuddyThomas]

Pretending this movie at all compares to The Wizard of Oz and It's a Wonderful Life has to be the hot take of the century.

Not what I said.

 

[TP2000]

I enjoyed the movie, as you all know. I do not see this film as one that should have performed as badly as it has - but it has.

I stand firm that there are a few major factors at play here:

• A post-pandemic box office

I just think that's an excuse at this point, the waning weeks of 2022. I could buy it last Thanksgiving, even though Spiderman did huge box office numbers a year ago. But now? It seems like a weak excuse that nervous execs use to paper over their management faults.

The box office data shows that for the past year Americans will turn out in huge numbers and pack multiplex theaters to the brim if the movie appeals to them. Strange World clearly didn't appeal to them. We can't use Covid as the excuse any more, just like we can't use 9/11 or the Arab Oil Embargo of 1973 as the excuse either.

But I'm sure some nervous execs and industry types will still try to use Covid as an excuse for marketplace failure.

• A streaming landscape with Disney+ as the second most popular service in the world (meaning HUGE audience numbers that now have a choice to save money, and watch from comfort of their home).

Now there we go. That I agree with. I don't envy them with the mess they got into with Disney+. Hindsight is 20/20 and I can admit that the decisions they made in a very panicky 2020 when theaters were closed made sense at the time, but their exit strategy from that environment in 2021 and 2022 has been awful. They really have no one to blame but themselves, although many will happily blame Bob Chapek alone for the next six months or so.

• The handling by Disney of their animated projects since 2020 - which has changed audience behaviour for Disney Animated / Pixar films. This handling looks to have resulted in poor marketing / awareness of this film, and many who know of the film may still be waiting for it to be on their TVs in 45 days.

Exactly. See above with the mess they created themselves by handling Disney+ releases as they did.

Yes, there are succesful projects coming out in this Post-Pandemic theatrical landscape, but they are not really the norm right now. The box office has not recovered, and there is much discourse out there, about what films will still manage to be successful under this changed landscape. If you're not a REALLY popular IP, or a major Blockbuster... good luck.

I'm of the opinion that the "Post-Pandemic" landscape has more to do with very cheap streaming services delivering 4K media and Dolby audio onto giant and astonishingly cheap 70 inch screens that the average middle-class family can now afford. And that would have happened even without Covid.

The entertainment options a middle-class American family has now is unprecedented, and wildly different than just 10 years ago. That's not a problem exclusive to Disney's studios of various brands. But the past year of box office megahits has shown that if you make a movie that American families really want to see in the theater, they'll get up off the couch and leave the family room to see it.

I don't think MOST on here want Disney to fail (although some do come across as gleeful at the prospect). But I sincerely hope Disney can turn this around, or they leverage this to work in their favour with Disney+.

Agreed. But it's up to Disney to make films and entertainment that American families want to see. Really want to see! They do well with Marvel, thank God, but the rest of their studios are firing blanks in 2022. What changes in 2023 and '24, I wonder? Can they change? And can they change fast enough?