Disney (and others) at the Box Office - Current State of Affairs

[Agent H]

As I said elsewhere, I would wait and see what actually changes if anything.

But in general its not hard to believe they would put a "pause" on such initiatives until a time when it can be received more friendly. This is common in business.

I will wait and see but given the win or lose and inside out changes I fear for the future

 

[MagicMouseFan]

I will wait and see but given the win or lose and inside out changes I fear for the future

Inside out was a great film. Kids loved it. What did they change?

 

[Agent H]

Inside out was a great film. Kids loved it. What did they change?

It was a great film but they removed a plot line where Riley was going to be confirmed to be gay and/or bisexual I hate it more for what it represents than it’s impact on the actual movie which is still really good!

 

[Casper Gutman]

As I said elsewhere, I would wait and see what actually changes if anything.

But in general its not hard to believe they would put a "pause" on such initiatives until a time when it can be received more friendly. This is common in business.

We are already seeing very significant changes. There is no need to wait.

There is a very real danger that the creative folks Disney needs will become reluctant to work with the company. The reaction of the Marvel and Pixar fiefdoms will also be very important.

 

[Casper Gutman]

It was a great film but they removed a plot line where Riley was going to be confirmed to be gay and/or bisexual I hate it more for what it represents than it’s impact on the actual movie which is still really good!

I’m fairly certain this was just a rumor. The changes to Win or Lose are confirmed, however, and we have reliable reports of changes made to Captain America and the next Pixar feature.

 

[Disney Irish]

We are already seeing very significant changes. There is no need to wait.

There is a very real danger that the creative folks Disney needs will become reluctant to work with the company. The reaction of the Marvel and Pixar fiefdoms will also be very important.

I know you like to blow this horn commonly, but I'm a bit more optimistic that internally the company is not reacting in a way that would put creatives at risk.

 

[Agent H]

I’m fairly certain this was just a rumor. The changes to Win or Lose are confirmed, however, and we have reliable reports of changes made to Captain America and the next Pixar feature.

I did find an article about it but I’m stupid or very unlucky when it comes to URLs possibly both so I can’t link it what happened with Captain America?

 

[BrianLo]

Well the opening numbers are proving interesting. It’s definitely not an obvious failure and it’s definitely not blowing the doors off.

It’s doing better than I thought it would… I look forward to weeks of debates. But officially it’s not a ‘The Marvels’ or Strange World bomb.

My math has it not really struggling to clear its 450 break even. Unless the cinemascore is in B territory or these worldwide weekend projections (190M) are terribly inaccurate.

 

[TalkingHead]

Popular movie podcasts running titles like “Marvel’s Rock Bottom” aren’t going to help word of mouth. This thing’s second weekend drop may be historic.

 

[easyrowrdw]

HP is not as popular as it once was. It's mostly a millennial relic.

It was one of the biggest phenomena in the world so it's definitely not that anymore. But I don't think it's a millennial relic by any means. Anecdotally, the books are very popular with my kids and their friends and I still see a lot of HP merchandise for kids in stores. Last year, digitals sales of Harry Potter books were almost 50 million pounds (over $60 million). And the video game was the best selling game of its year - though millennials probably accounted for a good bit of that.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

There is a very real danger that the creative folks Disney needs will become reluctant to work with the company.

This was already an ongoing issue with Disney. Creative people feeling their work was compromised to fit corporate's or executive directives, or just feeling like a part of a machine to crank out movies.

 

[Agent H]

This was already an ongoing issue with Disney. Creative people feeling their work was compromised to fit corporate's or executive directives, or just feeling like a part of a machine to crank out movies.

Where have you heard this? It’s not like they pulled a Warner bros.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

Where have you heard this? It’s not like they pulled a Warner bros.

This has been true of the company for decades. It's why Don Bluth famously quit, as did a lot of future name talent in the 80s.

Over the years, Disney has lost creatives like Chris Sanders, kicked people out because of changes to their animation department, or those they felt were controversial. They are not known for stability and there's a reason why so much of the company's product is sequels and remakes.

You don't work at Disney to have your vision come to life. You work there to support the company's goals. Sometimes the two go hand in hand, but certainly not always. Even if your project gets made, it could be dropped by publicity or go straight to streaming with little fanfare. This is not a unique to Disney problem, but they are also not exempt from such behaviour.

 

[Agent H]

This has been true of the company for decades. It's why Don Bluth famously quit, as did a lot of future name talent in the 80s.

Over the years, Disney has lost creatives like Chris Sanders, kicked people out because of changes to their animation department, or those they felt were controversial. They are not known for stability and there's a reason why so much of the company's product is sequels and remakes.

You don't work at Disney to have your vision come to life. You work there to support the company's goals. Sometimes the two go hand in hand, but certainly not always. Even if your project gets made, it could be dropped by publicity or go straight to streaming with little fanfare. This is not a unique to Disney problem, but they are also not exempt from such behaviour.

Okay yes sometimes creatives come and go creative people tend to disagree with each other and the corporate machine I’m not blaming them or anything it’s just a fact

 

[doctornick]

You don't work at Disney to have your vision come to life. You work there to support the company's goals. Sometimes the two go hand in hand, but certainly not always. Even if your project gets made, it could be dropped by publicity or go straight to streaming with little fanfare. This is not a unique to Disney problem, but they are also not exempt from such behaviour.

I think the bold is the key part though. Disney isn't providing unfettered creative freedom, but I don't think any major studio does. If a creative feels like Disney is interfering too much they can always leave of course, but I'm skeptical they'd find another studio that is substantially better in this regard. It's just the way the industry is.

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

I think the bold is the key part though. Disney isn't providing unfettered creative freedom, but I don't think any major studio does. If a creative feels like Disney is interfering too much they can always leave of course, but I'm skeptical they'd find another studio that is substantially better in this regard. It's just the way the industry is.

This was my first thought also, even if Disney tones down their public statements they’re still going to be one of the most progressive work places around. Disney was inclusive long before being inclusive was popular, I don’t think that’s going to change simply because they are playing it safe in search of a broader audience and more money.

Stories may get watered down a bit for the masses but that’s true at every studio, unless the creatives want to self produce an indie film for Sundance their work options are pretty limited.

 

[Casper Gutman]

It’s neat that we’ve decided government repression of speech is no biggie. Good thing history never happens and nothing ever really changes.

 

[Agent H]

It’s neat that we’ve decided government repression of speech is no biggie. Good thing history never happens and nothing ever really changes.

Just so we’re clear I know he’s being sarcastic I do not support government repression of free speech

 

[Disney Irish]

It’s neat that we’ve decided government repression of speech is no biggie. Good thing history never happens and nothing ever really changes.

I don't think anyone here has "decided" that or is really even ok with it. But we're on a Disney Fan forum, not in a position to effect any change within TWDC or the current administration. So not sure what you'd have anyone here do other than have pages and pages and pages of arguments back and forth on the topic, something that the Mods would end up cleaning up anyways, and we'd still be in the same spot having no impact either way.

If you're that passionate about it then I suggest doing something about it IRL, if you aren't already. But what that should be, well that is up to you to decide.

 

[Disstevefan1]

Disney was inclusive long before being inclusive was popular became a metric.

FIFY. And 100 percent true. And today’s Disney should shut up and just be the inclusive company they have always been and stop saying, “look at how inclusive we are” on social media. The workplace will know and word will spread naturally like it did before social media.