'Strange World' Disney's 2022 Animated Film

[BuddyThomas]

Here's the extremely valid reason, that is indisputable as a concern for Burbank leadership right now...

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Those are simply the facts. Hard, cold, calculating facts that don't care one bit about feelings or artistic merit.

Do you like any movies or tv shows with gay characters in them? Or do you just want to post charts over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over again?

 

[BuddyThomas]

I was thinking about this. Lightyear took a beloved character, reimagined it and added a bit of progressive 'flair', and it bombed.
Disney just tried again with an original story- so no built in audience- added some progressive flair and it bombed.

Up next is The Little Mermaid, which is now a remake of a beloved film but with progressive flair. I'm curious to see how it does, since between these three films you have an adaptation of an IP that's progressive, an original story that's progressive, and a remake that's progressive. So far they've all bombed.

Mermaid has a “progressive flair” because it has a black actress in the title role?????????? That thread was locked due to all the bigots on here, by the way.

 

[TP2000]

I was thinking about this. Lightyear took a beloved character, reimagined it and added a bit of progressive 'flair', and it bombed.
Disney just tried again with an original story- so no built in audience- added some progressive flair and it bombed.

Up next is The Little Mermaid, which is now a remake of a beloved film but with progressive flair. I'm curious to see how it does, since between these three films you have an adaptation of an IP that's progressive, an original story that's progressive, and a remake that's progressive. So far they've all bombed.

Agreed. It's very concerning and quite sad.

I'm actually more concerned about Wish than I am about The Little Mermaid remake. Wish was originally pitched to the fans as a love letter of sorts from Disney for it's 100th Anniversary. If it follows the trendy HR mandates again and has a Lesbian princess, or a gay pivot of any kind really, it's going to bomb. Again.

And as the 100th Anniversary animated film, that's going to be a tough thing to have happen to Disney and its legacy. Just sort of sad, really.

The actress who voices as the star of Wish is very vocal on Social Media about pushing gay boundaries in film and media and culture, so that's not a good sign. But money talks, and there's still time before Wish is released, so perhaps the progressive elements of the film will be removed and it will go a traditional Disney route. That might be the silver lining for Strange World's epic failure?

She doesn't have to have a prince, her pet goat could work instead. But I do hope they tread lightly with Wish.

 

[BuddyThomas]

Agreed. It's very concerning and quite sad.

I'm actually more concerned about Wish than I am about The Little Mermaid remake. Wish was originally pitched to the fans as a love letter of sorts from Disney for it's 100th Anniversary. If it follows the trendy HR mandates again and has a Lesbian princess, or a gay pivot of any kind really, it's going to bomb. Again.

And as the 100th Anniversary animated film, that's going to be a tough thing to have happen to Disney and its legacy. Just sort of sad, really.

The actress who voices as the star of Wish is very vocal on Social Media about pushing gay boundaries in film and media and culture, so that's not a good sign. But money talks, and there's still time before Wish is released, so perhaps the progressive elements of the film will be removed and it will go a traditional Disney route. That might be the silver lining for Strange World's epic failure?

She doesn't have to have a prince, her pet goat could work instead. But I do hope they tread lightly with Wish.

This post is just sad. A gay man lamenting the fact that gay characters are included in a movie.

 

[SuddenStorm]

Agreed. It's very concerning and quite sad.

I'm actually more concerned about Wish than I am about The Little Mermaid remake. Wish was originally pitched to the fans as a love letter of sorts from Disney for it's 100th Anniversary. If it follows the trendy HR mandates again and has a Lesbian princess, or a gay pivot of any kind really, it's going to bomb. Again.

And as the 100th Anniversary animated film, that's going to be a tough thing to have happen to Disney and its legacy. Just sort of sad, really.

I would agree with this- Disney has always been known for their animation first and foremost, except for the occasional live action hit.

The actress who voices as the star of Wish is very vocal on Social Media about pushing gay boundaries in film and media and culture, so that's not a good sign.

It's always reassuring when this is what the creatives are discussing, and not the quality or artistic merit of what they're creating.

 

[SuddenStorm]

Mermaid has a “progressive flair” because it has a black actress in the title role?????????? That thread was locked due to all the bigots on here, by the way.

At a time when DEI is front and center of Disney's marketing, and there's more focus on ethnicity than in the 2010's- reimagining a beloved princess to be a different race would be considered progressive, yes. I'm not saying it's good or bad, it just is- and pretending the casting is something different is foolish.

That said, I hope she absolutely nails it as Ariel and that the live action remake is more like the Jungle Book, and less like The Lion King or Beauty and the Beast. From what I've seen the actress looks to be delightful and talented. I would much prefer that she had been given the opportunity to be an entirely original Disney Princess in a new story with new music, instead of being relegated to remaking a film that doesn't need a remake.

 

[TP2000]

Do you like any movies or tv shows with gay characters in them? Or do you just want to post charts over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over again?

Off the top of my head...
Will & Grace circa 1998-2003 (before they got mean and snotty in their '17 season).
Schitt's Creek, which I will have you know I was watching immediately from the first episode on Pop before all the cool kids finally caught on by Season 2. Anything with Catherine O'Hara is mandatory viewing in my home, and has been since SCTV in the early 80's.
Dumpster Queens on YouTube. I also watched Go-Go Boy Interrupted on YouTube back in about 2019.
I do not watch Drag Race, but I absolutely LOVED the Drag Race recaps done by Damiana Garcia and Tanya Roberts as "RuPals". Much funnier than the actual Drag Race show.
I also could watch Drew Droege do his Chloe Sevigny impersonations for hours! I die.
I have been a Coco Peru fan for decades, and have seen her on stage several times. That YouTube of her looking for the Wonder Woman Crock Pot at various San Fernando Valley WalMarts is magically delicious!
The Match Game takeoff done in an LA gay bar that has a name I can't say here was hysterical in person!

Much of that stuff above is rated at least PG-13, if not R. If not R+ or outright obscene. But in the company of adults in the right environment, it's truly fabulous.

Lesley Gore. She's always been one of my favorites. I saw her at the Palm Springs Follies one year. Shameful that she was taken so young, and never was recognized by the awful people who run the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland.

 

[SuddenStorm]

Schitt's Creek, which I will have you know I was watching immediately from the first episode on Pop before all the cool kids finally caught on by Season 2. Anything with Catherine O'Hara is mandatory viewing in my home, and has been since SCTV in the early 80's.

This show is an absolute treasure, and has been enjoyed by everyone I know who's seen it. It might be time I rewatched it.

 

[mickEblu]

Agreed. It's very concerning and quite sad.

I'm actually more concerned about Wish than I am about The Little Mermaid remake. Wish was originally pitched to the fans as a love letter of sorts from Disney for it's 100th Anniversary. If it follows the trendy HR mandates again and has a Lesbian princess, or a gay pivot of any kind really, it's going to bomb. Again.

And as the 100th Anniversary animated film, that's going to be a tough thing to have happen to Disney and its legacy. Just sort of sad, really.

The actress who voices as the star of Wish is very vocal on Social Media about pushing gay boundaries in film and media and culture, so that's not a good sign. But money talks, and there's still time before Wish is released, so perhaps the progressive elements of the film will be removed and it will go a traditional Disney route. That might be the silver lining for Strange World's epic failure?

She doesn't have to have a prince, her pet goat could work instead. But I do hope they tread lightly with Wish.

A Lesbian princess in an animated movie celebrating the 100th anniversary? I can’t imagine they would think that’s a good idea even before the Strange World and Lightyear results. But wouldn’t be the the first time they surprised me the last few years. How much do you think this is the “inclusion committee” and how much the actual artists pushing for this stuff? I can’t imagine the financial people or execs want any of this unless they had really bad data and/ or foresight. They probably just didn’t have the guts to say “No.”

 

[TP2000]

This show is an absolute treasure, and has been enjoyed by everyone I know who's seen it. It might be time I rewatched it.

I remember trying to tell people about it after its second or third episode, and the blank looks I got from friends and family. Fast forward three years and they were all pretending they were experts at it. I smiled back politely.

Again, for decades now if it's got Catherine O'Hara in it, it's mandatory viewing the second it becomes available.

 

[BuddyThomas]

Off the top of my head...
Will & Grace circa 1998-2003 (before they got mean and snotty in their '17 season).
Schitt's Creek, which I will have you know I was watching immediately from the first episode on Pop before all the cool kids finally caught on by Season 2. Anything with Catherine O'Hara is mandatory viewing in my home, and has been since SCTV in the early 80's.
Dumpster Queens on YouTube. I also watched Go-Go Boy Interrupted on YouTube back in about 2019.
I do not watch Drag Race, but I absolutely LOVED the Drag Race recaps done by Damiana Garcia and Tanya Roberts as "RuPals". Much funnier than the actual Drag Race show.
I also could watch Drew Droege do his Chloe Sevigny impersonations for hours! I die.
I have been a Coco Peru fan for decades, and have seen her on stage several times.
The Match Game takeoff done in a bar that has a name I can't say here was hysterical in person!

Much of that stuff above is rated at least PG-13, if not R. If not R+ or outright obscene. But in the company of adults in the right environment, it's truly fabulous.

Lesley Gore. She's always been one of my favorites. I saw her at the Palm Springs Follies one year. Shameful that she was taken so young, and never was recognized by the awful people who run the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland.

No Queer as Folk, no The L Word, no Heartstopper, no Pose, no Special, no Love Victor, no Looking, no Tales of the City, no Boys in the Band, but yeah, you’ve got Leslie Gore. Got it.

 

[BuddyThomas]

A Lesbian princess in an animated movie celebrating the 100th anniversary? I can’t imagine they would think that’s a good idea even before the Strange World and Lightyear results. But wouldn’t be the the first time they surprised me the last few years. How much do you think this is the “inclusion committee” and how much the actual artists pushing for this stuff? I can’t imagine the financial people or execs want any of this unless they had really bad data and/ or foresight. They probably just didn’t have the guts to say “No.”

Or maybe the time of straight white people being the only ones portrayed on screen is OVER. Sorry to disappoint you.

 

[TP2000]

No Queer as Folk, no The L Word, no Heartstopper, no Pose, no Special, no Love Victor, no Looking, no Tales of the City, no Boys in the Band, but yeah, you’ve got Leslie Gore. Got it.

No to all of those, I haven't even heard of several of them. But I forgot about Armistead Maupin's Tales of The City!

I loved that one in the 1990's. I watched the remake/last season of it a couple years ago and enjoyed it also. But not quite as much as I loved the original 1990's episodes. I thought they handled the coming home and closure aspect of it all for Mrs. Madrigal very well in that last season, however. Plus the interesting and factual history they wove into it, which all pre-dated Stonewall as the real first rebellions that happened on the West Coast; San Francisco or that donut shop in LA that had a gay riot in the early 1960's. I also liked that they made the ultra-woke girl the villain.

 

[mickEblu]

Or maybe the time of straight white people being the only ones portrayed on screen is OVER. Sorry to disappoint you.

Thank you for apologizing.

 

[LittleBuford]

As I have stated approximately ten billion times, the innocent gay crush in Strange World comprises less than five minutes of screen time in total. It is no big deal at all. There is absolutely no reason why a gay teen character should not be included in a movie, when gay teens exist in the world, and there is absolutely no reason why a supposed gay man should be objecting to less than five minutes of screen time in a movie he has not seen.

Moreover, there are pre-teen gay children for whom such representation is very important. The lack of it during my childhood certainly contributed to the years I spent in a state of closeted self-loathing.

 

[BuddyThomas]

Thank you for apologizing.

If you think I was apologizing for anything, you should possibly reconsider.

 

[LittleBuford]

I was thinking about this. Lightyear took a beloved character, reimagined it and added a bit of progressive 'flair', and it bombed.
Disney just tried again with an original story- so no built in audience- added some progressive flair and it bombed.

Up next is The Little Mermaid, which is now a remake of a beloved film but with progressive flair. I'm curious to see how it does, since between these three films you have an adaptation of an IP that's progressive, an original story that's progressive, and a remake that's progressive. So far they've all bombed.

Can you specify what you consider “progressive” about the actual storyline of Lightyear?

 

[mickEblu]

Can you specify what you consider “progressive” about the actual storyline of Lightyear?

I’m going to go out in a limb and say the two women kissing and getting pregnant.

 

[TP2000]

Speaking of San Francisco, let's add in Beach Blanket Babylon to the list! I saw that several times in various eras; from the early 1980's to the 2010's. It got a bit too Canadian Bus Tour there towards the end, but I was really sad that it closed. And just two months before Covid. Might it return? I'm not sure you could do that sort of thing now.

But I sometimes find myself humming "San Francisco, Open Your Golden Gate!" in traffic.

 

[RobWDW1971]

Conversation from another thread about Disney's plummeting brand reputation from the general public. Reposting here as the failure and controversy of this film is just another point of erosion of this one trusted and beloved family entertainment brand:

More information from the 2022 Axios/Harris poll, a widely recognized corporate brand poll that Disney has touted in the past, in 2019, Disney was #5, rated "Excellent" as it had been for years.

Fast forward just three years later and the company has shockingly dropped from #5 "Excellent" to #65 "Good". A nearly 100 year old brand took just three years of terrible cultural and controversial decisions to fundamentally change the public's perception and reputation of its brand.

And the low reputation is on points that used to be heart and soul of the brand: Trust. Ethics. Citizenship. Culture.

We are talking about the Walt Disney Company here, not Best Buy (which BTW now rates 14 places higher than Disney).

A brand and the trust of the public is an exceptionally fragile thing and the saying usually goes "when you're in a hole, stop digging", but Disney seems to be bringing in the steam shovels. Oh, and you know who won't be getting fired for the destruction of one of the world's most beloved brands? The DEI staff that has ruled the company for the past three years.

Truly a shame to see The Walt Disney Company now ranked below 64 other companies including Kohls, Walgreens, Lowe's, Target, Netflix, etc. Shocking actually.

Will be interesting to see in the 2023 poll with the continued controversies this year if the brand will get an expected "dead cat bounce" after a huge fall like this or the decline will solidify or fall even further (if that is even possible).

But as another poster put it so eloquently and succinctly, "Disney doesn't care about Midwest moms". Indeed - how's that working out for you, Disney?