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

[Disney Irish]

Shareholders care about making a profit you know this.

If Disney could control their movie budgets they could make the movies they want and keep their Stakeholders happy and at the same time keep their Shareholders happy by making movies that are profitable.

Shareholders care about the overall profitability of the company, not individual movies. As long as the overall entertainment division is profitable, which it has been, they don't care if movies go over budget.

 

[Chi84]

The Prince makes out with a corpse. That has to count for something.

Right I forgot that he “saves” her by kissing her. Didn’t even have to slay a dragon.

Some heroic guy there. Can’t slight him!

 

[MagicMouseFan]

“But she called the prince a stalker!”

This is the prince who doesn’t have a name and isn’t in the film long enough to invoke the stalking laws.

He shows up, Snow White looks and him and it’s true love. Presumably the guy in the remake has to work at least a little harder. Apparently that’s offensive.

Come on, guys. How little effort are you willing to expend in the name of true love?

I don’t know? Ask my wife. Why do many women love that scene? What makes it so iconic?

 

[Chi84]

I don’t know? Ask my wife. Why do many women love that scene?

How many women are your wife?

 

[Farerb]

So weird how many "Disney fans" are just okay trashing the film that literally made Disney what it is just to prop up a lousy remake that will be completely forgotten in a few months.

 

[MagicMouseFan]

How many women are your wife?

How many roles does she play in life? A lot, she is awesome. I’m trying to keep up.

 

[Disstevefan1]

Shareholders care about the overall profitability of the company, not individual movies. As long as the overall entertainment division is profitable, which it has been, they don't care if movies go over budget.

I gotta give this one to you.
Fact is, the only stock in my portfolio in the green at the moment is Disney.

And the fact is, the reason I keep Disney is because I am a fan of the company even though I disagree a lot with what they do at WDW and in the movies.

I do think Disney is too big to fail.

 

[Chi84]

How many roles does she play in life? A lot, she is awesome. I’m trying to keep up.

See, she deserves a prince who is at a minimum willing to slay a dragon!

 

[Casper Gutman]

So weird how many "Disney fans" are just okay trashing the film that literally made Disney what it is just to prop up a lousy remake that will be completely forgotten in a few months.

Yes, it's a masterpiece that revolutionized film and I love it.

Yes, it's a product of its time and there are a lot of things to make fun about it.

Both these things are true. Being a fan means being able to acknowledge both. In fact, anyone who professes to love Disney but can't acknowledge the silly or even bad things about Disney isn't so much a "Disney Fan" as a 'Brand Loyalist."

This goes to a broader point. You don't show your love for something by angrily refusing to acknowledge its faults and lashing out at people who are honest about it. The "love" that that produces is a shallow, meaningless shell of a thing. The good doesn't matter as much without the bad.

This is true of patriotism as well, of course.

 

[Disney Irish]

So weird how many "Disney fans" are just okay trashing the film that literally made Disney what it is just to prop up a lousy remake that will be completely forgotten in a few months.

The thing is that not everyone agrees its actually "trashing" the original.

 

[Farerb]

Yes, it's a masterpiece that revolutionized film and I love it.

Yes, it's a product of its time and there are a lot of things to make fun about it.

Both these things are true. Being a fan means being able to acknowledge both. In fact, anyone who professes to love Disney but can't acknowledge the silly or even bad things about Disney isn't so much a "Disney Fan" as a 'Brand Loyalist."

This goes to a broader point. You don't show your love for something by angrily refusing to acknowledge its faults and lashing out at people who are honest about it. The "love" that that produces is a shallow, meaningless shell of a thing. The good doesn't matter as much without the bad.

This is true of patriotism as well, of course.

Fairytales are about symbolism, they are not meant to be taken literally. This attitude is why we don't get good fairytale movies anymore.

 

[Ghost93]

The Prince makes out with a corpse. That has to count for something.

That wasn't making out, it was a tender kiss goodbye.

 

[Disney Irish]

That wasn't making out, it was a tender kiss goodbye.

For a girl he only met for 30 seconds. It wasn't a long relationship is the point, especially not one that would warrant the need for a "goodbye kiss" as if he was a grieving widow.

 

[Chi84]

So weird how many "Disney fans" are just okay trashing the film that literally made Disney what it is just to prop up a lousy remake that will be completely forgotten in a few months.

At the very most we're disputing the notion that a remake would not have to be updated in any way.

 

[WoundedDreamer]

You assume that Shareholders care how much they spent on their latest movie. I never really see one question at any shareholder meeting or earnings call from anyone complaining the movie budgets are too high.

Also stakeholders have a different priority than monetary. So they don't care about budgets either.

The only people that care about budgets are those that are focused on trying to mark the latest film a "flop".

Shareholders care about profitability of the firm. The shareholders that ask questions at annual meetings are generally small retail investor "super fans." They tend to be more interested in the company's content than the company's performance. The actual number of retail investors who are in this group is comparatively tiny. The vast majority of shareholders (including institutions, pensions, hedge funds) are very concerned with the profitability of The Walt Disney Company. That includes box office grosses.

The Walt Disney Company has more than ten studio releases due in 2025. Because of this diversification, Disney is well positioned to handle individual poor performing films. However, multiple movies underperforming in a year can absolutely impact overall profitability and performance. Each film does matter, but the impact is blunted by diversification.

@Disstevefan1 is presenting a reasonable strategy for dealing with the shifting media landscape. By reducing budgets, Disney can accept lower box office grosses while turning handsome profits. The only complication are audiences expectations. Will audiences accept films that are less flashy? The other way to reduce budgets is to have projects more fleshed out when they are approved. That could reduce expensive reshoots, but that might hamper the creative team's ability to adjust to the film as it's realized. It's tricky business.

 

[Chi84]

That wasn't making out, it was a tender kiss goodbye.

I'm fairly sure he was kidding around in response to my post.

 

[Casper Gutman]

Fairytales are about symbolism, they are not meant to be taken literally. This attitude is why we don't get good fairytale movies anymore.

Fairytales embody the ideals and beliefs of the time in which they are told. Thus, they change depending on the time in which they are told. Disney changed all the fairytales it made into films from earlier versions - this is why silly people constantly complained about "Disney-fication" as though it was wrong or unusual. The people complaining about the new version changing the animated version are making the exact same dumb mistake.

 

[Disstevefan1]

So weird how many "Disney fans" are just okay trashing the film that literally made Disney what it is just to prop up a lousy remake that will be completely forgotten in a few months.

The film that made the company came out in 1937 and it made so much money it allowed Walt to build his studios and pay off debts.

 

[MagicMouseFan]

For a girl he only met for 30 seconds. It wasn't a long relationship is the point, especially not one that would warrant the need for a "goodbye kiss" as if he was a grieving widow.

Also… a wooden marionette could never turn into a boy if we are getting real about things.

 

[Farerb]

Symbolism? What does the kiss at the end of the movie symbolize?

Snow White's journey symbolizes a coming of age. A little girl becoming a woman. Eating the apple is the loss of innocence we experience as we grow up, but also the entire scenery with Snow White evokes life while the Queen evokes death and decay, hence why when she eats the apple the entire atmosphere changes from sunny to raining, as if the world died with her, and the power of true love is what wakes Snow but also brings life to the world again.