'Strange World' Disney's 2022 Animated Film

[Prince-1]

I wonder what other box office flops have generated (currently) 122 pages of comments. Maybe Home on the Range?

 

[Rich T]

Regardless of your opinion on the article's conclusions, these are the types of stories the general public is seeing about Disney.

Combined with the continued erosion of the Disney brand in recent polls, this should be very concerning for Disney executives trying to maintain their position as the trusted mass market family entertainment brand.

https://www.foxnews.com/media/go-woke-go-broke-liberal-movies-books-tv-bombed-2022

Anything I see labeled as Fox News immediately goes in the circular file. The ceramic one with the silver handle.

 

[BuddyThomas]

Regardless of your opinion on the article's conclusions, these are the types of stories the general public is seeing about Disney.

Combined with the continued erosion of the Disney brand in recent polls, this should be very concerning for Disney executives trying to maintain their position as the trusted mass market family entertainment brand.

https://www.foxnews.com/media/go-woke-go-broke-liberal-movies-books-tv-bombed-2022

Spending New Years Day posting stuff from Fox “news” on a Disney fan board? How totally predictable.

 

[TP2000]

I’m surprised we didn’t see/hear any whining about the interracial couple agenda.

Because it is no longer 1963. Nor is it 1983. It's 2023, and that social dynamic is absolutely no longer unique or any big deal.

Who in the United States does not currently have some friends or family who are a mixed couple of some sort?
Americans now live in the present, not the past.

 

[Chi84]

Because it is no longer 1963. Nor is it 1983. It's 2023, and that social dynamic is absolutely no longer unique or any big deal.

Who in the United States does not currently have some friends or family who are a mixed couple of some sort?
Americans now live in the present, not the past.

Hmm, I wonder how that social dynamic came to be no longer unique or any big deal.

Some Americans live in the past.

 

[TP2000]

Hmm, I wonder how that social dynamic came to be no longer unique or any big deal.

The Vietnam war really began it, as white and black servicemen were dating Asian women and many of them married Asian women after their service. It was a bit shocking at first, but became normalized by the latter years of that war in the early 1970's.

That coincided with the Civil Rights movement, but it was Vietnam that I think really started the ball rolling.

Some Americans live in the past.

A few do. Of all races and creeds, really. But the vast majority do not. It's 2023. Who the heck does not know a mixed race couple now?

 

[Chi84]

The Vietnam war really began it, as white and black servicemen were dating Asian women and many of them married Asian women after their service. It was a bit shocking at first, but became normalized by the latter years of that war in the early 1970's.

That coincided with the Civil Rights movement, but it was Vietnam that I think really started the ball rolling.



A few do. Of all races and creeds, really. But the vast majority do not. It's 2023. Who the heck does not know a mixed race couple now?

The point is that behaviors that are shocking become normalized when people come to understand them as common and non-threatening.

Social progress is driven in many ways. Perhaps we can achieve it this time without a civil rights movement.

 

[TP2000]

That’s not totally fair: Puss in Boots is a sequel starring an established character with a built-in fan base (I was actually surprised it didn’t open bigger). Strange World was (is) a tough sell, even if it had been a great film instead simply a decent one.

And yet, with the exception of Pixar franchises and now Frozen, what Disney animated tentpole film has ever had an established franchise to launch from? Moana, Encanto, Inside Out, Raya, Mulan, Soul, Luca, etc., etc., They're all new, unique storylines with new, unique characters the audience has never seen or met before. Strange World was just the next one in the lineup. Followed by Elemental, and then Wish.

What's undeniable is that non-Disney studios are able to produce family animation for a smaller production budget, and then have those family films perform wildly better than Burbank's recent attempts at that same demographic and audience.

I want to make the record clear I do NOT agree with TP2000's uninformed claims that Strange World existed only to check boxes. His weird obsession with cheering on Strange World's downfall is baffling.

Trust me, my posting factual data here has done absolutely nothing to dissuade people from seeing Strange World. If anything, this wild and wacky thread has convinced even more people to see it than if this thread never existed. I helped sell tickets to Strange World!

Yet the facts still remain, regardless of anything any of us here say or do. Strange World flopped during the same holiday season that Puss In Boots did quite well. Especially in foreign markets, where Strange World flopped even harder than the USA. Why is that?

Puss In Boots hasn't even opened yet in several huge foreign markets. Puss In Boots doesn't open for several more weeks in the United Kingdom, South Korea, Japan, etc. but it's overseas totals are still quite large compared to Strange World.

Box Office Stats Domestic & Global for Sunday, January 1st, 2023

But I do agree that from an artistic standpoint, Puss in Boots is the better movie.

Apparently, you aren't the only one to think that. Global audiences also agree. Which should make Burbank rethink their current strategy.

 

[BuddyThomas]

Because it is no longer 1963. Nor is it 1983. It's 2023, and that social dynamic is absolutely no longer unique or any big deal.

Who in the United States does not currently have some friends or family who are a mixed couple of some sort?
Americans now live in the present, not the past.

After all the posts you have put on here about how the gay content is inappropriate, you seriously just posted the above?

 

[TP2000]

After all the posts you have put on here about how the gay content is inappropriate, you seriously just posted the above?

I do feel gay content is inappropriate for children's movies aimed at those aged under about 11 or 12. Certainly movies aimed at 8 year olds or younger. I have absolutely no problem with tasteful gay content in PG-13 mainstream movies aimed at teenagers or older.

But that has nothing to do with the demographic reality of the USA in 2023. Who doesn't know a mixed couple of some sort today?

 

[BuddyThomas]

I do feel gay content is inappropriate for children's movies aimed at those aged under about 11 or 12. Certainly movies aimed at 8 year olds or younger. I have absolutely no problem with tasteful gay content in mainstream movies aimed at teenagers or older.

But that has nothing to do with the demographic reality of the USA in 2023. Who doesn't know a mixed couple of some sort today?

Ladies and gentlemen, a gay man just posted the above. Let that sink in.

 

[TP2000]

Ladies and gentlemen, a gay man just posted the above. Let that sink in.

And I'm happy and proud to stand behind that personal opinion of mine!

Apparently a majority of parents with small children around the world share that opinion too. Which really makes me question Burbank's current business strategy regarding these family animated movies aimed at children. And their parents who buy the tickets.

 

[BuddyThomas]

And I'm happy and proud to stand behind that personal opinion of mine!

Apparently a majority of parents with small children around the world share that opinion too. Which really makes me question Burbank's current business strategy regarding these family animated movies aimed at children. And their parents who buy the tickets.

That's pretty freaking sad. And you speak for YOURSELF, not the "majority of parents". You said it yourself, it is 2023. We have marriage equality for God's sake, but you clutch your pearls because there is a five minute gay crush in a Disney movie? Sad, sad, sad. You said it yourself, it is 2023....except, I guess, when it comes to gay people. Unreal.

 

[Ghost93]

That's pretty freaking sad. And you speak for YOURSELF, not the "majority of parents". You said it yourself, it is 2023. We have marriage equality for God's sake, but you clutch your pearls because there is a five minute gay crush in a Disney movie? Sad, sad, sad. You said it yourself, it is 2023....except, I guess, when it comes to gay people. Unreal.

I do think like 10 years from now, if gay marriage is still legal in all 50 states and there isn't a major regression of our rights, that depictions of gay couples in family movies won't be nearly as controversial as it is nowadays. My sister is a counselor at a school and she says that Gen Z and younger generally don't care at all about LGBTQ issues and that they are much more open about it. I think as older generations die off and newer ones who grew up in a time of more LGBTQ acceptance get older, it will eventually be as non-controversial as interracial marriages are.

I also think for that reason, Strange World will age well. What may be seen by some as "woke" by 2022's standards will be seen as no big deal by 2032's standards.

 

[TP2000]

That's pretty freaking sad. And you speak for YOURSELF, not the "majority of parents".

The majority of parents spoke for themselves at the box office this holiday season. Simple fact. The free market of consumer choice is always the most efficient and clearest way to deliver a message on the worth of a product.

You said it yourself, it is 2023. We have marriage equality for God's sake, but you clutch your pearls because there is a five minute gay crush in a Disney movie? Sad, sad, sad. You said it yourself, it is 2023....except, I guess, when it comes to gay people. Unreal.

Correct (mostly). I don't have pearls to clutch except for some cufflinks I bought in Japan, but I agree with a majority of parents who do not feel it's appropriate to include gay content in a film aimed at small children. About age 11 or 12, depending on the child's development, is where I draw the line. As I understand it, that's about where most modern parents also draw the line, and I tend to agree with them.

That issue of homosexuality in children's films has nothing to do with racial issues in the character development of family films.

Which is why the mixed race couple in Strange World wasn't a blip on anyone's radar. Virtually no one cares about that in 2023. It definitely would have been an issue sixty years ago, and it could have been an issue forty years ago, but it's certainly not an issue today.

 

[Prince-1]

Anything I see labeled as Fox News immediately goes in the circular file. The ceramic one with the silver handle.

Smart man.

 

[Prince-1]

And I'm happy and proud to stand behind that personal opinion of mine!

Apparently a majority of parents with small children around the world share that opinion too. Which really makes me question Burbank's current business strategy regarding these family animated movies aimed at children. And their parents who buy the tickets.

Sorry but your logic is completely flawed. You are just assuming the movie failed because parents boycotted it because of an innocent crush a boy has on another boy and you overlook the most obvious reason it failed which is that Disney failed to market it for whatever reason. I mean you must have some proof to back up your claim that, "Apparently a majority of parents with small children around the world share that opinion too" and not from some biased right wing rag. I mean, it is the norm for some people on here to post their opinion and state it as a fact and always seem to fail to provide proof.

 

[Californian Elitist]

Because it is no longer 1963. Nor is it 1983. It's 2023, and that social dynamic is absolutely no longer unique or any big deal.

Who in the United States does not currently have some friends or family who are a mixed couple of some sort?
Americans now live in the present, not the past.

It is a big deal to a lot of people, particularly racists. You think there aren’t Americans out there who refuse to date outside their own race for racist reasons and see the inclusion of interracial couples as part of the “left agenda?”

The Unite the Right rally was back in 2017, not that long ago. It’s 2023 and we still have sundown towns and active Ku Klux Klan chapters across the States. You used to live in Orange County, CA, or, as I like to call it, Orange KKKounty. You likely mingled with the kind of people I’m talking about on a daily basis.

 

[TP2000]

It is a big deal to a lot of people, particularly racists. You think there aren’t Americans out there who refuse to date outside their own race for racist reasons and see the inclusion of interracial couples as part of the “left agenda?”

I dated two Black men in the Carolinas several decades ago (but not at the same time!). Trust me, I am fully aware of the opinions the Black community held on inter-racial couples back then. And that still exist today.

The Unite the Right rally was back in 2017, not the long ago. It’s 2023 and we still have sundown towns and active Ku Klux Klan chapters across the States. You used to live in Orange County, CA, or, as I like to call it, Orange KKKounty. You likely mingled with the kind of people I’m talking about on a daily basis.

I went to a dinner party up in OC last week, in my old neighborhood. I was seated across the table from a Japanese-American man and his Chicano wife, both in their 60's and have been married for almost 40 years. The party hostess would be someone people would identify as Black, her husband is white. (This is their second marriage for both, they've been married about 15 years)

I have absolutely no idea what dinner parties you've been invited to in OC, but mingling with avowed racists has not been my experience at all for the past several decades when I lived there. I would definitely remember something like that.

 

[Chi84]

Which is why the mixed race couple in Strange World wasn't a blip on anyone's radar. Virtually no one cares about that in 2023. It definitely would have been an issue sixty years ago, and it could have been an issue forty years ago, but it's certainly not an issue today.

Mixed race couples were subjected to decades of ugly prejudice and mistreatment. How many years have to pass before it’s okay for kids to see same-sex relationships in films? Maybe we can just be better this time.