'Strange World' Disney's 2022 Animated Film

[TP2000]

You certainly have a talent for spinning a very rich narrative out of very little material. You've repeated your line about Strange World so many times now that one would believe it to be a cold hard fact backed up by actual data. Even I have to remind myself that what you're now describing as "a big part" of the film's failure was, the other day, secondary to other factors:

Through this conversation here we've had a lot of people weigh in. My thoughts have changed on the matter, not radically, but shifted a bit.

We had two posters here talk about how their Facebook groups and Social Media accounts were full of concerned parents talking about the Strange World plot, and thus deciding not to see it.

That's part of why my opinion on Strange World's massive box office failure has shifted. Apparently, a lot of American parents were concerned about the film.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

Disney should announce waaaaaaaay ahead of time that Elemental and Wish are not going to appear on D+ for at least 120 days after the theater premiere. They need to get ahead of this "I'll just wait for it to be on Disney+" sentiment.

I think it's too late for that. They've now conditioned their audience (intentionally or not) to except certain releases at specific times of year, or to be released within so many months.

I used to be someone who saw Disney movies in theaters and buy the DVDs all the time. Now I don't. That's partially because the quality of their home video releases tanked a long time ago (no more 5-10 hours of bonus features that's for sure), but also because it makes no sense to pay a premium to watch something that I've already pre-paid for in a sense.

Disney+ guarantees that they get a certain monthly amount from me, but not much, if anything, more.

 

[TP2000]

You're wrong in at least 4 ways.

1. The Argentina national team does not have any black players.

2. Less than one percent of the population of Argentina is black. On a roster of 26, it would be mathematically more unusual if they did have black players than if they don't.

It always makes me chuckle when hard facts and statistical data ram into HR Inclusion strategies or Faculty Lounge musings about the unwashed masses.

Per the US Census of 2020: 14% of Americans are Black. 6% of Americans are Asian/Pacific Islander. Let that sink in.

Census.gov

The Census Bureau's mission is to serve as the nation's leading provider of quality data about its people and economy.

www.census.gov

 

[TP2000]

As they did with She-Hulk, WandaVision (reported $25M/episode) and many other direct-to-consumer content.

Seriously? WandaVision was $25 Million per episode? Why???? It was a dramedy with special effects.

How much per episode did NBC spend on Alf in the 1980's I wonder?

$25 Million per episode??? And all I really remember about it is that catchy song and how clever and fun it was to watch the neighbor lady's hairdo change each decade.

 

[TP2000]

I think it's too late for that. They've now conditioned their audience (intentionally or not) to except certain releases at specific times of year, or to be released within so many months.

Yup. I imagine the Disney+ financial journey of the 2020's will be written about in future business books.

It helped lead to the sudden firing of Bob Chapek, and brought back Bob Iger who cooked up the Disney+ strategy in the first place.

I just don't get how Disney+ works long term, it never pencils out for me in my pea-sized brain. Spending $180 Million for Strange World, or $250 Million for Wakanda Forever, doesn't help the Disney+ business case either.

 

[LittleBuford]

Through this conversation here we've had a lot of people weigh in. My thoughts have changed on the matter, not radically, but shifted a bit.

We had two posters here talk about how their Facebook groups and Social Media accounts were full of concerned parents talking about the Strange World plot, and thus deciding not to see it.

That's part of why my opinion on Strange World's massive box office failure has shifted. Apparently, a lot of American parents were concerned about the film

When I first waded in, your position was—or at least appeared to be—pretty much what it is now. It seemed to shift a bit when I pushed you on the matter, but you’ve since gone back to your earlier stance. It’s difficult to know what your true thoughts are, and the fact that you are quite the raconteur—you are witty, I’ll give you that—makes it even harder to disentangle sincerity from spin.

I find @MisterPenguin’s interventions helpful in this regard.

 

[MisterPenguin]

Through this conversation here we've had a lot of people weigh in. My thoughts have changed on the matter, not radically, but shifted a bit.

We had two posters here talk about how their Facebook groups and Social Media accounts were full of concerned parents talking about the Strange World plot, and thus deciding not to see it. T

That's part of why my opinion on Strange World's massive box office failure has shifted. Apparently, a lot of American parents were concerned about the film .

Thank-you Mr. Gallup for that unassailable gathering of data through scientific polling.

 

[Willmark]

Through this conversation here we've had a lot of people weigh in. My thoughts have changed on the matter, not radically, but shifted a bit.

We had two posters here talk about how their Facebook groups and Social Media accounts were full of concerned parents talking about the Strange World plot, and thus deciding not to see it.

That's part of why my opinion on Strange World's massive box office failure has shifted. Apparently, a lot of American parents were concerned about the film .

(This has been a fascinating thread to read).

Disney is (likely) at a crossroads, whether they know it or want to acknowledge it. A company if it is to survive, ultimately has to focus on one thing: $; it has to care about only one color: green.

In order to get to those objectives it has to appeal as widely as possible. Ideally it would garner childless adults and families of four to watch their movies as they once did. It has to draw in everyone possible.

Disney has to choose now because they aren’t going to (largely) get both anymore. People can argue the how’s and why’s all they want. Not going to change anytime soon. That ship had sailed. Will there be some overlap? Likely some, but that seemingly is narrowing as years go by.

To take it a step further: regardless of what anyone thinks, wants to believe as to the reason SW bombed, one fact it remains: that it did. Disney can either look at why that happened and change their approach or continue on the same path. They are likely going to get an answer if their next movie bombs to the tune of 150 million+

On a personal note I have no horse in this race; kids are past the point of Disney/Pixar movies and we’re unlikely to go to the parks anytime soon if ever again. Wife is a fan of Disney (I’m not). That said no one should be surprised if parents object to what is in a movie. That’s their right as a parent no matter how much anyone thinks that is misguided or wrong.

 

[Phroobar]

I haven’t bought a cd or bluray in probably 3 or 4 years now, digital is easier to find and doesn’t take up space in my house. Prior to a few years ago I bought everything on disks though and still have about 500 physical Blu-ray’s taking up space.

I had a vhs collection that I replaced with dvds that I replaced with Blu-rays… in ten years my guess is I’ll be replacing my Blu-ray’s and 4K downloads with whatever the next improvement is. I ultimately switched to downloads because I didn’t want to buy new 4K bluray players to replace my couple year old 1080p bluray players, I simply came to the conclusion that technology moves so fast that buying physical doesn’t make sense for me anymore.

One thing I do is rip those discs to computer and stream them via Plex. That way the discs can be stored away without case and you watch the movie anytime you want. The problem with buying digitally is you don't own the movie. They can take away your viewing rights at anytime.

 

[Prince-1]

I guess my point is why stream something early for $22-$35 from Amazon or Disney+ when you can get the phyiscal media for under $10 or $20. That way you keep the movie forever. I guess it is still cheaper than the movie theater at $11-15 and odds are you get a bigger screen at home.

Because a lot of people no longer have a DVD player. And what movie costs $35 to stream???

 

[Californian Elitist]

When I first waded in, your position was—or at least appeared to be—pretty much what it is now. It seemed to shift a bit when I pushed you on the matter, but you’ve since gone back to your earlier stance. It’s difficult to know what your true thoughts are, and the fact that you are quite the raconteur—you are witty, I’ll give you that—makes it even harder to disentangle sincerity from spin.

I find @MisterPenguin’s interventions helpful in this regard.

He also admitted to me that there’s no proof regarding the reasons Strange World has done so poorly two days ago.

 

[CaptainMickey]

Because a lot of people no longer have a DVD player. And what movie costs $35 to stream???

Disney+ has really disrupted the theatrical box office business, but has completely killed another cash cow, the physical media market. They were almost collector items, especially Disney movies. For decades, for most of my favorite Disney movies, I purchased a VHS copy, a DVD copy, a remastered collectors edition DVD, a Blu-Ray copy and a 4k copy over the years whenever a newer special edition was released with some new additional "Exclusive content" at minimum $20 per pop. Hundreds of dollars a year on movies I already mostly had a copy of already. Ande we always would grab a copy of the newest releases as they came out, and we already saw all of them in the Theaters. Since Disney+ came out, I haven't purchase one Disney DVD. Disney+ costs less then 4 DVDs per year. Going to be interesting to see how they get the new math to work out.

 

[RobWDW1971]

International numbers coming into view - after three weekends in most key markets, cumulative is a horrific $23M and weekly changes dropping steadily.

For example, just looking at a couple of historically strong markets for Disney animated films, here is some perspective compare to other 2022 major wide-release animated films after three weekends of release:

Mexico (total to date after 3 weekends):
Minions:Rise of Gru $28.6M
Lightyear $16.4M
Strange World $1.7M

United Kingdom (total to date after 3 weekends):
Minions:Rise of Gru $27.5M
Lightyear $10.3M
Strange World $2.2M

Story is similar in most of the key markets, with the lowest CinemaScore in Disney animated history by those that actually saw it, it is being soundly rejected around the world.

 

[_caleb]

(This has been a fascinating thread to read).

Disney is (likely) at a crossroads, whether they know it or want to acknowledge it. A company if it is to survive, ultimately has to focus on one thing: $; it has to care about only one color: green.

In order to get to those objectives it has to appeal as widely as possible. Ideally it would garner childless adults and families of four to watch their movies as they once did. It has to draw in everyone possible.

Disney has to choose now because they aren’t going to (largely) get both anymore. People can argue the how’s and why’s all they want. Not going to change anytime soon. That ship had sailed. Will there be some overlap? Likely some, but that seemingly is narrowing as years go by.

To take it a step further: regardless of what anyone thinks, wants to believe as to the reason SW bombed, one fact it remains: that it did. Disney can either look at why that happened and change their approach or continue on the same path. They are likely going to get an answer if their next movie bombs to the tune of 150 million+

On a personal note I have no horse in this race; kids are past the point of Disney/Pixar movies and we’re unlikely to go to the parks anytime soon if ever again. Wife is a fan of Disney (I’m not). That said no one should be surprised if parents object to what is in a movie. That’s their right as a parent no matter how much anyone thinks that is misguided or wrong.

I'm pretty sure Disney already chose against chasing mass/general audiences at the cinema box office as their primary business for content. That's what Disney+ is. The current strategy–developed by Iger, implemented (poorly) by Chapek–is to leverage data to do smaller (*supposed to be lower-budget) films/series and go deeper with niche content for niche audiences and connect that effort to parks, experiences, and products.

Now, might they be rethinking this strategy (or, at least the timing of it? Sure. But they're already billions of dollars into this, so I'm not sure they can just reverse. And, as we've discussed on other threads, people will still come out to the movies, but they aren't going to the movies like they used to.

 

[TP2000]

When I first waded in, your position was—or at least appeared to be—pretty much what it is now. It seemed to shift a bit when I pushed you on the matter, but you’ve since gone back to your earlier stance. It’s difficult to know what your true thoughts are, and the fact that you are quite the raconteur—you are witty, I’ll give you that—makes it even harder to disentangle sincerity from spin.

I find @MisterPenguin’s interventions helpful in this regard.

I have always thought of this discussion board like a lively cocktail party. You talk, you chat, you hear other opinions. Through that process you weigh new ideas and concepts, and your own opinions or thoughts can change. Evolve.

The same thing happened with Strange World. I had no idea that the kid in this movie was gay until a week or so before it opened, and I learned about it in this thread. At that time I thought "Who the hell even knows this movie exists? It's barely being marketed anywhere!"

But now I think that the gay character (in a children's movie, remember) had a decent chunk of the blame here as to why audiences were staying away. Yes, the marketing still was awful. But why didn't Burbank market it after they spent $180 Million on it? According to this thread , American parents were reportedly talking about Ethan Clade on Facebook and parenting Social Media outlets and the news about Ethan was spreading,

This whole thing is quite fascinating! I've never seen Disney bury an expensive movie like this. At Thanksgiving!

I imagine that as more information comes out, if it ever does, that my opinion on why Strange World failed so spectacularly might even change again. Anything is possible!

 

[Heppenheimer]

Disney+ has really disrupted the theatrical box office business, but has completely killed another cash cow, the physical media market. They were almost collector items, especially Disney movies. For decades, for most of my favorite Disney movies, I purchased a VHS copy, a DVD copy, a remastered collectors edition DVD, a Blu-Ray copy and a 4k copy over the years whenever a newer special edition was released with some new additional "Exclusive content" at minimum $20 per pop. Hundreds of dollars a year on movies I already mostly had a copy of already. Ande we always would grab a copy of the newest releases as they came out, and we already saw all of them in the Theaters. Since Disney+ came out, I haven't purchase one Disney DVD. Disney+ costs less then 4 DVDs per year. Going to be interesting to see how they get the new math to work out.

That original VHS release of The Little Mermaid definitely became a collector's item, but not for a reason that Disney wanted...

 

[TP2000]

He also admitted to me that there’s no proof regarding the reasons Strange World has done so poorly two days ago.

There is no proof of anything for any of this. No one has produced, or likely can produce, internal Burbank documents that show why they barely marketed this film on purpose, what the test screening results were and their demographics on who disliked it most, or why Ethan Clade's original casting call from 2018 morphed into the Ethan Clade character that arrived on screen three weeks ago. Also why the Strange World toys and merch designed and manufactured were never put on the shelves for Target's Christmas season.

But that's why we're all here talking; weighing in with our own ideas and opinions and thoughts on what must have happened to create one of the worst box office bombs in Disney Animation history.

 

[TP2000]

International numbers coming into view - after three weekends in most key markets, cumulative is a horrific $23M and weekly changes dropping steadily...

The Numbers site has also just updated its global box office this afternoon, after a data dump of box office numbers from around the world from this past weekend.

Strange World continues to underperform at an even greater rate in foreign countries than it has in the USA, historically speaking with previous family animation. It's not just an American thing. If anything, Strange World was more popular in America that it is overseas.

 

[GimpYancIent]

International numbers coming into view - after three weekends in most key markets, cumulative is a horrific $23M and weekly changes dropping steadily.

For example, just looking at a couple of historically strong markets for Disney animated films, here is some perspective compare to other 2022 major wide-release animated films after three weekends of release:

Mexico (total to date after 3 weekends):
Minions:Rise of Gru $28.6M
Lightyear $16.4M
Strange World $1.7M

United Kingdom (total to date after 3 weekends):
Minions:Rise of Gru $27.5M
Lightyear $10.3M
Strange World $2.2M

Story is similar in most of the key markets, with the lowest CinemaScore in Disney animated history by those that actually saw it, it is being soundly rejected around the world.

The viewing audience being turned off and not having interest in seeing Strange World immediately after the trailers circulated should have been a clue. The doubling down and making it shown only in theaters made things worse. It should have gone straight to D+ Disney is having difficulty reading the audience. In entertainment it's about giving people what they want not to force feeding the audience what you want. The results are clear to see.

 

[TP2000]

“Inherently trusted” for what?

It used to be inherently trusted for this statement below. Burbank used to brag about it constantly...