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

[brideck]

their traditional mission statement of making movies for American families with small children

Trivia question: In what way is the current movie not one for families with small children?

You're going to respond with box office prattle about how it's a flop, etc.... So sure, it's not connecting with the masses. But in what way is the content of the movie not made for the audience you have identified?

 

[Chi84]

Clearly there are differing opinions on the usefulness of AI.

I think it's fine if you want a quick answer to something that has no consequences but that's about it.

I prefer not to read long AI generated text but unless it violates the TOS (and I think it's close) I can easily skip over it.

 

[Chi84]

Trivia question: In what way is the current movie not one for families with small children?

You're going to respond with box office prattle about how it's a flop, etc.... So sure, it's not connecting with the masses. But in what way is the content of the movie not made for the audience you have identified?

Good lord if it's not for families with small children, who is it for?

If you know the answer will be "prattle" (and I foresee a 100% chance of that) why ask the question?

 

[Disstevefan1]

Foreigners must also be controlled by the Hate NetworkTM that's being run out of a few podcast studios in the Midwest.

Hate is a strong word.

For me its - I am not going to buy a ticket for this move instead I will wait till its "free" on Disney+ NetworkTM


PS. Boy those few Midwest podcasts must have a HUGE audience!!!!

 

[brideck]

Good lord if it's not for families with small children, who is it for?

If you know the answer will be "prattle" (and I foresee a 100% chance of that) why ask the question?

Well, I'm shamelessly hoping that by identifying the nature of the stock response ahead of time I'd get them to stop and think and provide a real answer, but if wishes were ponies...

 

[TP2000]

Sounds a lot like what happened with Eisner after he left….

That actually took at least five years, if not a decade. There were a lot of bad vibes around Eisner when he departed against his will. And he was persona non grata in Burbank for several years afterward.

But a decade later, by 2015, his legacy had restored itself just a bit.

 

[Farerb]

That actually took at least five years, if not a decade. There were a lot of bad vibes around Eisner when he departed against his will. And he was persona non grata in Burbank for several years afterward.

But a decade later, by 2015, his legacy had restored itself just a bit.

Eisner drove Disney Animation to the ground. Sabotaged theatrical films like Treasure Planet and had Disney Toons make cheap sequels that devalued hand drawn animation, worse he released some of them in theaters and that severely damaged Disney's brand.

Roy Disney is what saved Disney for a short time until he died, he was the only one who still cared about Disney's legacy. Disney Animation benefited until 2016 thanks to Musker and Clements but after they left, it all went downhill.

 

[Agent H]

That actually took at least five years, if not a decade. There were a lot of bad vibes around Eisner when he departed against his will. And he was persona non grata in Burbank for several years afterward.

But a decade later, by 2015, his legacy had restored itself just a bit.

Yeah I know. I was pointing out how fickle people are sometimes. They hate someone’s guts and then decide years later that they actually weren’t that bad. The point I’m making is that it’s more nuanced than that. In the case of both Eisner and Iger.

 

[TP2000]

Trivia question: In what way is the current movie not one for families with small children?

You're going to respond with box office prattle about how it's a flop, etc.... So sure, it's not connecting with the masses. But in what way is the content of the movie not made for the audience you have identified.

Do I prattle? Oh, dear.

While they certainly didn't turn Snow White into a PG-13 raunchy teen movie, they didn't really stick to the original script for this PG (which is the new G for hilarious reasons) movie aimed at young girls.

Both starring actresses were given official Talking Points at 2022's D23 Expo explaining how this was no longer a "love story" and instead the Princess in the story was on a "leadership journey" to show her father she could be fair, brave and true. Was Ms. White going to give a TED Talk to the dwarves about that leadership journey, I wonder?

And she was not going to be saved by the Prince! Yuck! He's a stalker, and she doesn't need a man and he could be cut entirely from the movie. "That's Hollywood, baby!", as Miss Zegler smirked into the cameras at D23 Expo.

They appear to have taken this movie in a weird, HR-approved direction and rewrote the story. Or at least the version that was supposed to come out in 2023 was that version. Who knows what they added or cut after 15 months of editing and re-writes for its 2025 version? It's easy to imagine there was some panic in Burbank.

That's their right to do all that as a studio with a product they own, and which made their studio possible in the first place. But it's not really the romantic and Princessy story of Snow White as it's portrayed in the theme parks and previous media from Disney.

If they want to make a PG rated movie about an ancient girl who is on a leadership journey in her father's footsteps, go right ahead. But that's not what Snow White was, and whatever the heck they just did rewriting and reframing Snow White obviously didn't work with family audiences both here and overseas.

 

[Agent H]

Do I prattle? Oh, dear.

While they certainly didn't turn Snow White into a PG-13 raunchy teen movie, they didn't really stick to the original script for this PG (which is the new G for hilarious reasons) movie aimed at young girls.

Both starring actresses were given official Talking Points at 2022's D23 Expo explaining how this was no longer a "love story" and instead the Princess in the story was on a "leadership journey" to show her father she could be fair, brave and true. Was Ms. White going to give a TED Talk to the dwarves about that leadership journey, I wonder?

And she was not going to be saved by the Prince! Yuck! He's a stalker, and she doesn't need a man and he could be cut entirely from the movie. "That's Hollywood, baby!", as Miss Zegler smirked into the cameras at D23 Expo.

They appear to have taken this movie in a weird, soulless, HR-approved direction and rewrote the story. Or at least the version that was supposed to come out in 2023 was that version. Who knows what they added or cut after 15 months of editing and re-writes for its 2025 version? It's easy to imagine there was some panic in Burbank.

That's their right to do all that as a studio with a product they own, and which made their studio possible in the first place. But it's not really the romantic and Princessy story of Snow White as it's portrayed in the theme parks and previous media from Disney.

If they want to make a PG rated movie about an ancient girl who is on a leadership journey in her father's footsteps, go right ahead. But that's not what Snow White was, and whatever the heck they just did rewriting and reframing Snow White obviously didn't work with audiences.

Ok but none of that explains why it “ isn’t for families with small children”.

 

[TP2000]

Ok but none of that explains why it “ isn’t for families with small children”.

It's not the traditional Princess movie any more. It's become a Leadership Journey story, apparently.

A parent could easily take their 8 year old daughter to this PG rated movie, but few seem to be doing that.

The mass market of families with small children doesn't seem to exist for this new version of Snow White.

 

[Disstevefan1]

Trivia question: In what way is the current movie not one for families with small children?

Snow is absolutely for small children.

The question is, does the parent want to pay for tickets for themself and their children to watch Snow?

 

[brideck]

It's not the traditional Princess movie any more.

I guess I missed the memo that stated that only traditional Princess movies were for "families with small children."

 

[TP2000]

Good lord if it's not for families with small children, who is it for?

I imagine that's the question Burbank execs are asking themselves this weekend after it flopped.

Who did they make this movie for exactly? And at $250+ Million, no less! Because no one really showed up for it.

 

[LittleBuford]

I only offer up the latest box office data and facts here, I don't discuss the plots of movies I have never seen.

A reminder of this poster’s stated position (which he’s reiterated multiple times despite continually doing exactly what he claims not to do).

 

[Disney Irish]

I guess I missed the memo that stated that only traditional Princess movies were for "families with small children."

Not only that, but how is it not a “traditional” princess movie just because additional story beats were added?

 

[Casper Gutman]

Where is the attempt to rehabilitate and champion Perlmutter coming from? It certainly isn’t coming from film or comic fans or historians. Is it just political? Is there some YouTube commentator pushing it?

 

[WorldExplorer]

The obvious logical response is that they made this to lure in all the people who have watched and loved the original over the last 88 years; the people who keep buying the merchandise they keep selling, keep standing in line for the meet and greets, kept buying the home video releases, kept going to rereleases, keep booking the character meal, etc...plus general Disney fans.

The actual problem with that is that they took the movie and stripped of its iconic elements, rewrote the main character, and wrote in a whole movie's worth of new characters that no one gives a crap about, while replacing whole songs that have been popular for generations already. So if you liked Snow White you probably won't actually like this because they removed most of the stuff that made it Snow White and went off on a tangent with irrelevant stuff.

The answer to "Who is the audience for a Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs remake?" is obvious.

The answer to "Who the hell is the audience for the broken mess that is Snow White (2025)?" is a mystery.

 

[TP2000]

I guess I missed the memo that stated that only traditional Princess movies were for "families with small children."

That was generally the mass market these movies pulled in (and usually made tidy profits off of) for the first 80 years or so.

Who this movie is for exactly would appear to be part of its problem. In addition to the odious PR disaster that the starring actress created for herself and her employer, plus a healthy dose of idiotic HR-approved decisions by executives stuck in a Silver Lake brunch bubble. And Peter Dinklage being kind of a jerk.

There's not just one single reason this thing flopped globally. It's a laundry list really, a perfect storm of 2020's poor decision making by big companies and executives and stars who want to remake their core audience by sheer will.

Probably best to just stick with the usual Princess shtick from now on, and that includes involving a two dimensional Prince and 4th grade level romance in the story. Because I can't imagine that the Bibbidy Bobbidy Boutique is going to be able to sell a bunch of size XS corporate pantsuits for 6 year old girls who want to pretend they are on a leadership journey.

Coming soon to Disneyland and Magic Kingdom... Bibbidy Bobbidy Boutique, Presented by Ann Taylor!

 

[TP2000]

The obvious logical response is that they made this to lure in all the people who have watched and loved the original over the last 88 years; the people who keep buying the merchandise they keep selling, keep standing in line for the meet and greets, kept buying the home video releases, kept going to rereleased, keep booking the character meal, etc...plus general Disney fans.

The actual problem with that is that they took the movie and stripped of its iconic elements, rewrote the main character, and wrote in a whole movie's worth of new characters that no one gives a crap about, while replacing while songs that have been popular for generations already. So if you liked Snow White you probably won't actually like this because they removed most of the stuff that made it Snow White and went off on a tangent with irrelevant stuff.

The answer to "Who is the audience for a Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs remake?" is obvious.

The answer to "Who the hell is the audience for the broken mess that is Snow White (2025)?" is a mystery.

Thank you! You said it all much better than I apparently can this afternoon.