'Strange World' Disney's 2022 Animated Film

[_caleb]

Disney thought they were going to monetize visitor data with Next Gen but that didn’t quite work out as planned.

What’s the TWDC jargon that means “the opposite of monetization?”

 

[lazyboy97o]

What’s the TWDC jargon that means “the opposite of monetization?”

I.T.

 

[Sharon&Susan]

D+ didn't help it but the physical media market was dying already. New cars no longer come with a CD player built in, DVD players are hardly being made or sold, etc. It is just the way things go when it comes to technology.

The Virgin Disney: "A new disk version of Muppet Christmas Carol with "When Love is Gone" wouldn't sell very well."

The chad Universal: "4k The Trouble With Harry and Howard the Duck lol."

 

[jeangreyforever]

The Virgin Disney: "A new disk version of Muppet Christmas Carol with "When Love is Gone" wouldn't sell very well."

The chad Universal: "4k The Trouble With Harry and Howard the Duck lol."

Apparently Iger's not a fan of extended editions hence why under his regime, Disney movies never got their extended versions released on Blu-Ray or 4K. That's why we never got Pocahontas on Blu-Ray with If I Never Knew You. Same reasons why the Blu-Rays of the Muppet Christmas Carol and Bedknobs and Broomsticks were the theatrical editions. The Lion King lost the Platinum Edition bonus song as well (although that was for the best) and only Beauty and the Beast retained its special edition but I think they got rid of that for the 4K as well.

 

[TP2000]

A little bird landed on my bar cart this evening and told me some news.

Apparently the young man who voiced Ethan Clade this November in Strange World is also a singer, and quite vocal on Social Media. His name is Jaboukie Young-White and he is openly gay, as most of us now know. In September, just weeks before Strange World opened in theaters, he released a new dance club song that has a double-meaning title that I can't repeat, and obscene and raunchy lyrics that I can't repeat. His music video includes sexually provocative dance moves that would have gotten me thrown off the dance floor at The Velvet Turtle if I had ever dared try them in my youth.

I will not link to the video or the lyrics. But Google the words Jaboukie new song if you dare and aren't at work.

This song was apparently what set many parents into high alert online over Strange World in November. He's the young star of the movie, after all.

Believe it or not, I'm not a total prude. I don't think he should have not released the obscene and raunchy song, if that's where his artistic talents in life truly lie. I get it that times change and many young musicians feel the need to openly discuss sex, raunch, and profanity in songs now. But if Jaboukie felt he needed to release that song, he should have perhaps waited for a month or two after his Disney animated film is released at Thanksgiving and marketed (poorly) at children.

Just thought I'd throw that out there as a piece of this baffling box office puzzle. Apparently many parents were discussing it online in parenting groups a month ago, even if it never got brought up here by most of us childless adults. (Or if it did get brought up here, it was in one of those posts that was quickly deleted)

 

[TP2000]

And now that I said that above, can you imagine what Burbank execs thought as they watched his music video on YouTube about seven or eight weeks before Strange World premiered?

Even if the Burbank execs can't/won't admit it in public, I have to believe some of them at least blanched at the lyrics and dance moves from their new young star and said "Aw... shoot!"

 

[LittleBuford]

A little bird landed on my bar cart this evening and told me some news.

Apparently the young man who voiced Ethan Clade this November in Strange World is also an actor and a singer, and quite vocal on Social Media. His name is Jaboukie Young-White and he is openly gay, as most of us now know. In September, just weeks before Strange World opened in theaters, he released a new dance club song that has a double-meaning title that I can't repeat, and obscene and raunchy lyrics that I can't repeat. His music video includes sexually provocative dance moves that would have gotten me thrown off the dance floor at The Velvet Turtle if I had ever dared try them in my youth.

I will not link to the video or the lyrics. But Google the words Jaboukie new song if you dare and aren't at work.

This song was apparently what set many parents into high alert online over Strange World in November. He's the young star of the movie, after all.

Believe it or not, I'm not a total prude. I don't think he should have not released the obscene and raunchy song, if that's where his artistic talents in life truly lie. I get it that times change and many young musicians feel the need to discuss sex, raunch, and profanity openly in songs now. But if Jaboukie felt he needed to release that song, he should have perhaps waited for a month or two after his Disney animated film is released at Thanksgiving and marketed (poorly) at children.

Just thought I'd throw that out there as a piece of this baffling box office puzzle. Apparently many parents were discussing it online in parenting groups a month ago, even if it never got brought up here by most of us childless adults. (Or if it did get brought up here, it was in one of those posts that was quickly deleted)

And Demi Moore had been in controversial sex scenes and posed nude while pregnant (to much disapproval) before Disney cast her as Esmeralda.

The number of parents who know or care about these things isn’t enough to make a film fail. Yes, I’m sure there has been a great deal of chatter in certain (principally online) circles, just as there was among those parents who decried the Harry Potter books and films as a gateway to witchcraft. But such people are a vocal minority, and it would be unwise to extrapolate very much from their complaints.

 

[TP2000]

And Demi Moore had been in controversial sex scenes and posed nude while pregnant (to much disapproval) before Disney cast her as Esmeralda.

And Julie Andrews did a topless scene 15 years after starring in Mary Poppins. Stuff happens when it comes to "art".

The number of parents who know or care about these things isn’t enough to make a film fail. Yes, I’m sure there has been a great deal of chatter in certain (principally online) circles, just as there was among those parents who decried the Harry Potter books and films as a gateway to witchcraft. But such people are a vocal minority, and it would be unwise to extrapolate very much from their complaints.

Which was my point. It is another piece of the larger puzzle why this film failed.

And in certain parenting circles, it set off all the alarms and confirmed their fears about where Disney family films were now headed. We weren't talking about it here, but parents knew about it elsewhere.

It wasn't the only reason for the film's massive failure, but it certainly helped hammer a few nails in the coffin. I find it interesting the timing for the most part. He couldn't have waited a month or two after the movie opened to release his raunchy sex song?

 

[LittleBuford]

And Julie Andrews did a topless scene 15 years after starring in Mary Poppins. Stuff happens when it comes to "art".

That misses the point I was trying to make, and indeed moves the goalposts of your own argument. We’re discussing what happens before a film’s release, not after.

 

[TP2000]

That misses the point I was trying to make, and indeed moves the goalposts of your own argument. We’re discussing what happens before a film’s release, not after.

I guess my point was that Jaboukie should have waited until after Strange World opened in theaters to release his raunchy song. What was the point of doing that barely two months before he stars in a Disney film at Thanksgiving? Shock value? Career advancement for the shock value?

Whatever his motivation was, I find it to be ill-advised.

If raunchy sex songs for trampy dance clubs are your true artistic calling, wait a few months after you cash your Disney cartoon checks to sing them. I don't blame the average Ohio mom of an 8 year old for being alarmed at that music video.

 

[Heppenheimer]

And now that I said that above, can you imagine what Burbank execs thought as they watched his music video on YouTube about seven or eight weeks before Strange World premiered?

Even if the Burbank execs can't/won't admit it in public, I have to believe some of them at least blanched at the lyrics and dance moves from their new young star and said "Aw... shoot!"

Maybe they felt something slightly akin to Warner Bros. execs reading the latest headline about Ezra Miller?

 

[mary2013]

That’s the danger of this strategy, if releasing movies quickly on D+ is driving subs it would likely do the opposite and drive away subs if they ended the practice.

Your second and third paragraph described us, and probably millions of other families, to a tee.



I can’t see the long term strategy either, 200 million subs at $10 a month is $24 billion a year, a boatload of money but when you factor in Chapeks statement about spending $30 billion a year on D+ content and then factor in losing a few billion a year in theatrical sales, a few billion a year in video sales, etc its a massive loser.

The income is there, it’s the spending that makes no sense. If it’s necessary to spend like drunken sailors to get subscribers it would seem just as likely you’d have to keep spending like drunken sailors to keep them.

I thought the $30 billion was for content across ALL media, not just D+. This would include movies, other streamers, broadcast and cable TV. Or did I get that wrong?

 

[Disney Irish]

I thought the $30 billion was for content across ALL media, not just D+. This would include movies, other streamers, broadcast and cable TV. Or did I get that wrong?

Yes that is correct, it was across all its businesses including linear TV and sports. However the increase of $8B over prior years was due to a push for content for streaming.

 

[doctornick]

I can’t see the long term strategy either, 200 million subs at $10 a month is $24 billion a year, a boatload of money but when you factor in Chapeks statement about spending $30 billion a year on D+ content and then factor in losing a few billion a year in theatrical sales, a few billion a year in video sales, etc its a massive loser.

The income is there, it’s the spending that makes no sense. If it’s necessary to spend like drunken sailors to get subscribers it would seem just as likely you’d have to keep spending like drunken sailors to keep them.

Personally, I have always thought that the monthly cost of subscription services being so "cheap" and staying there seems naive. I don't think any could really be profitable long term at that cost. I expect that the endgame in today's dollars of subs is more like $25 a month with an ad tier around $15 a month. The low prices right now are just to build up subscribers and (try to) get them hooked on the service. The higher prices will seem more acceptable once pretty much all the services go into the same range and some services shut down or merge.

And then that combined with longer term contracts (not monthly) to lessen churn and it is a business model that can work. But, yeah, you probably need to spend a ton on content to have both good enough and sufficient contact to keep people interested consistently.

 

[RobWDW1971]

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,

Yes, this is a truly bizarre situation as people act as if it takes an archeological dig to find the conversations that are openly happening in the marketplace around the film. Just click on the Rotten Tomatoes All Audience (click on Tomatometer score to toggle to "All") and scan the comments for Minions:Rise of Gru (87% All Audience Score) and Strange World (40% All Audience Score). The comments are similar in "Verified" (those that have registered to show they bought their ticket through certain chains/sites), but "All" gives you more of sense of the broader conversation happening on review sites, Twitter, Facebook, etc.

Minions: The Rise of Gru | Rotten Tomatoes

Discover reviews, ratings, and trailers for Minions: The Rise of Gru on Rotten Tomatoes. Stay updated with critic and audience scores today!

www.rottentomatoes.com

Strange World | Rotten Tomatoes

Discover reviews, ratings, and trailers for Strange World on Rotten Tomatoes. Stay updated with critic and audience scores today!

www.rottentomatoes.com

Just scan a few hundred of the messages in each forum and while Minions is nothing but comments about the cute minions, colors, action, etc., on Strange World the gay character, strong environmental message, etc. are mentioned repeatedly (both pro and con opinions).

You could argue those are "review bombers" with an agenda, but it doesn't change the fact that those are the comments that are being seen by the moviegoing public and topics being discussed in the real world. Of course, nobody, even Disney, could say exactly what impact those conversations are having on the box office, but to pretend the conversations are not happening and it isn't having any impact is just disconnected happy talk.

BTW, this is what Disney Theatrical Marketing's social media group does all day, which is to capture the conversations online and package and report up to management what is being said before/after a film opens. It is a critical part of their process so although on this site we are pretending these conversations aren't happening, I can assure you Disney management is getting very detailed reports on these conversations and brand impact studies, which I would have to imagine would be quite concerning.

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

Personally, I have always thought that the monthly cost of subscription services being so "cheap" and staying there seems naive. I don't think any could really be profitable long term at that cost. I expect that the endgame in today's dollars of subs is more like $25 a month with an ad tier around $15 a month. The low prices right now are just to build up subscribers and (try to) get them hooked on the service. The higher prices will seem more acceptable once pretty much all the services go into the same range and some services shut down or merge.

And then that combined with longer term contracts (not monthly) to lessen churn and it is a business model that can work. But, yeah, you probably need to spend a ton on content to have both good enough and sufficient contact to keep people interested consistently.

I’m sure prices will continue to rise but those seem a bit steep. We’re huge Disney fans (with a lot of disposable income) and I don’t think we could justify $25 a month, not when we’re already paying for Netflix, Amazon prime, and cable, I think $20 would be our cap (with Hulu and ESPN), after that I think they’d hit diminishing returns.

 

[LittleBuford]

Of course, nobody, even Disney, could say exactly what impact those conversations are having on the box office, but to pretend the conversations are not happening and it isn't having any impact is just disconnected happy talk.

No-one is pretending those conversations aren’t happening. The question is whether they’re widespread and influential enough to have caused the film to flop. To read some of the posts here, you’d think the whole world was abuzz with contentious Strange World chatter, when the truth is that relatively few people are aware of the film’s existence, much less of the supposed controversy surrounding it.

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

Just scan a few hundred of the messages in each forum and while Minions is nothing but comments about the cute minions, colors, action, etc., on Strange World the gay character, strong environmental message, etc. are mentioned repeatedly (both pro and con opinions).

It feels like Disney is in the same situation pro sports were a few years ago, Disney is trying to implement social change but a lot of their audience just wants to forget about the worlds problems and be entertained.

Disney exists primarily on escapism, I suspect they’ll remember that pretty quickly after another flop or two.

Disneys been much more subtle in their message than sports was but it’s still taken the focus off simple entertainment and I think that’s hurting the bottom line.

 

[Californian Elitist]

Some of y’all are just now discovering Jaboukie Young White, and it shows. Anyone who follows him knows his material has been raunchy and for adults since he entered the business, which was at least five years ago. Disney had no problem hiring him, obviously.

 

[erasure fan1]

I expect that the endgame in today's dollars of subs is more like $25 a month with an ad tier around $15 a month.

I know, at least for me anyway, no chance I would ever pay either of those prices. The service is barely worth the $8 that it was. The $11 isn't worth it to me. They go too long between anything substantial. So once this current month is done, so am I. Then I'll just wait until there's a few things fully out then I'll reactivate. Lather rinse repeat. The service isn't sustainable at those prices because Disney can't seem to manage a budget to save its life.