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

[DKampy]

That's a good point, but even remakes of much earlier films have done well. The Jungle Book, for example, was very profitable, despite being tonally and narratively quite unlike the animated version.

I agree with your take that Zegler’s comments are given more weight than reality…. But there is no doubt in my mind that there is pre-Covid and Post-Covid with regards to people attitudes which I won’t relay to try and stray from politics….just to say some items would not get so much of a peep even 5 years ago.,. But would have people in an uproar today…As someone mentioned( might of be you)LeFou is gay… and IMO it was not subtle

 

[DKampy]

And it came out two years earlier than The Wizard of Oz, which did not seem to hurt the enthusiasm or awareness of Wicked Pt.

Wicked’s success had more to do with the Broadway show’s popularity the people nostalgic for the Wizard of Oz

 

[Tony the Tigger]

I agree with this, but the money Disney really wanted does not exist. Nobody needed this film, nobody wanted this film. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is 88 years old. Exactly whose nostalgia is this remake intending to milk? Should they be playing the film in nursing homes?

We'll see how Stitch does. Mufasa did a little better than I expected and Stitch is one of the only popular legacy IPs left that they haven't milked dry. I am hoping the film flops honestly, I don't want Disney (or any other corporation) to be rewarded for such a stupid product.

Probably shouldn’t use the word “nobody” while spewing your snobbery.

 

[Chi84]

Because the “Snow White is a dated IP that no one really remembers or cares for” is a transparently pathetic excuse conjured up by a few posters here over the course of the last week.

Disney’s Snow White is a year older than Superman, and two years older than Batman. And it came out two years earlier than The Wizard of Oz, which did not seem to hurt the enthusiasm or awareness of Wicked Pt. 1.

Maybe the demarcation point for when IP is hopelessly old is 1938?

I don’t know what it is about the animated Snow White that made it so much less interesting to me than the others you mentioned.

Maybe it was the lack of depth in the characters or the absence of either action or a good love story.

@Casper Gutman had a good analysis of it earlier. I’ll try to find and quote it.

 

[TalkingHead]

Honest question, with the Bambi remake having been canceled, how many more original animated features are potential grist for the mill?

The Rescuers 1 & 2, Robin Hood, The Fox and Hound, the 80s titles that aren’t recognizable enough properties to be worth the expense…

Point being they’re quickly running out of movies to pull from. So I guess they’ll go back to sequels for everything.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

Wicked’s success had more to do with the Broadway show’s popularity the people nostalgic for the Wizard of Oz

But Wicked the, musical the movie is based on, is full of references to the MGM movie and only works as an alternate Oz retelling if you know what that was.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

Honest question, with the Bambi remake having been canceled, how many more original animated features are potential grist for the mill?

The Rescuers 1 & 2, Robin Hood, The Fox and Hound, the 80s titles that aren’t recognizable enough properties to be worth the expense…

Point being they’re quickly running out of movies to pull from. So I guess they’ll go back to sequels for everything.

The solution was to move up the timeline of potential remakes to drawn from.

At first they ignored post-2000 movies. Now we're getting Lilo and Stitch, Moana and Tangled.

Pre-2000, there's really only Hercules left if they actually commit to doing it. Everything else they thought about like Hunchback, Aristocats, Sword in the Stone etc is not going forward.

 

[Farerb]

Honest question, with the Bambi remake having been canceled, how many more original animated features are potential grist for the mill?

The Rescuers 1 & 2, Robin Hood, The Fox and Hound, the 80s titles that aren’t recognizable enough properties to be worth the expense…

Point being they’re quickly running out of movies to pull from. So I guess they’ll go back to sequels for everything.

Lilo and Stitch and Moana are upcoming. Both were already filmed.

Hercules is in development, but has been in development for a long time and there hasn't been any progress.

Maleficent 3 is also in development.

There are talks about a Tangled remake.

Other than these and Frozen, I don't see any remake that is viable enough to make money.

 

[DKampy]

But Wicked the, musical the movie is based on, is full of references to the MGM movie and only works as an alternate Oz retelling if you know what that was.

I understand that….But Wicked’s(the film)success delve from being based on perhaps the most popular Musical of the last 20 years…. There is a reason that this film has succeeded where other Wizard of Oz features did not

 

[LittleBuford]

There is a reason that this film has succeeded where other Wizard of Oz features did not

Return to Oz is criminally underrated!

 

[Chi84]

Because the “Snow White is a dated IP that no one really remembers or cares for” is a transparently pathetic excuse conjured up by a few posters here over the course of the last week.

Disney’s Snow White is a year older than Superman, and two years older than Batman. And it came out two years earlier than The Wizard of Oz, which did not seem to hurt the enthusiasm or awareness of Wicked Pt. 1.

Maybe the demarcation point for when IP is hopelessly old is 1938?

I found the earlier analysis and I think it explains better than just the date why the film felt dated:

Snow White has survived as a BRAND separate from the film itself, yes, although even there she’s not one of the more popular princesses.

When I discuss the historical context, I’m not talking about the usual Disney talking point of SW as an artistic innovation, something that is true but doesn’t alter the actual content of the film. The actual film Snow White feels like something from an era with entirely different expectations and understandings in a way something like Casablanca doesn’t.

The protagonists of Snow White have no character arc or real agency. Snow herself harkens back to silent film damsels rather than reflecting, say, the willful female leads of the contemporary screwball comedies. Frankly, she acts like a child. The Prince is an utter nonentity. Compare the nonexistent character growth and development of SW and the Prince to that of Gepetto and Pinocchio just a few years later. The only characters who experience meaningful growth are the dwarfs, secondary characters.

The film has few if any, thematic throughlines. Action doesn’t rise and fall in the expected way - there’s a brief set-up, a long series of gags, and a perfunctory conclusion. It’s essentially structured as an extended short.

The film is still a masterpiece, of course, but more then any other Disney film it feels like an artifact from another time.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

Other than these and Frozen, I don't see any remake that is viable enough to make money.

Big Hero Six remake that integrates it into the MCU?

"Live Action" Zootopia that's just hyper realistic CGI this time?

I feel like Disney will keep trying for awhile

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Goalpost moving is easy. Trying to untangle the unique blend of false assumptions and dichotomous thinking in the post he was responding to could result in permanent damage.

And yet…numb there tries to “splain away” corporate mistakes each day…which to be fair most don’t do…

But still…he persisted.

The hate network thing got real old too from some. But at least that’s understandable tactics: create a boogeyman that can never be quantified to claim a “win”

 

[Screamface]

"Live Action" Zootopia that's just hyper realistic CGI this time?

A photoreal A Bugs Life done with less emotion and expression than the live action Lion King!

Seriously, they should maybe look at doing live action Treasure Planet or Atlantis. Films they can be less precious with and also can exist a bit separately from being a live action remake because most people probably aren't aware or remember them.

 

[Casper Gutman]

Because the “Snow White is a dated IP that no one really remembers or cares for” is a transparently pathetic excuse conjured up by a few posters here over the course of the last week.

Disney’s Snow White is a year older than Superman, and two years older than Batman. And it came out two years earlier than The Wizard of Oz, which did not seem to hurt the enthusiasm or awareness of Wicked Pt. 1.

Maybe the demarcation point for when IP is hopelessly old is 1938?

When did you last watch the original Snow White? I’ve discussed, in depth, why it doesn’t conform to the cinematic conventions that audiences have come to understand as fundamental to film. And no, that isn’t a new take, I made a similar post years ago because more or less faithfully adapting Snow has ALWAYS been a fools errand.

Your invocation of Superman and Batman is particularly silly. Those characters have grown and developed over tens of thousands of comic issues published every single month (usually several times a month) for decade after decade. This is what gives comic characters their unique longevity - they constantly adapt to cultural, political, and social trends. They continually experiment and throw out what doesn’t work. It’s precisely the reason comic character adaptations work so well.

You would have tremendous difficulty faithfully adapting the first Superman comic for a modern audience. This would be a Superman who couldn’t fly, just leap, a Superman without Perry or Jimmy or Lex or Kryptonite, a Superman who didn’t fight supervillains but instead spent most of his time tackling what would now be termed “social justice” issues, slumlords and sweatshop bosses and other ordinary scum of the Depression era. It would be a Superman who had none of the humanity or soap opera elements with which Marvel revitalized the industry in the 60s, a cardboard, depthless figure. It would be a Superman that was already outdated and fading in popularity by 1945!

No one denies Snow White is a masterpiece and a vital part of Disney and Hollywood history. The kneejerk attacks on anyone who examines the film critically in any way, however, displays an unhealthy idolization that is quite different from actual love and appreciation. Frankly, this rejection of nuance and critical thought is a fundamental problem in this thread and this country.

 

[Chi84]

And yet…numb there tries to “splain away” corporate mistakes each day…which to be fair most don’t do…

But still…he persisted.

The hate network thing got real old too from some. But at least that’s understandable tactics: create a boogeyman that can never be quantified to claim a “win”

My comment was just on a very specific subject matter.

 

[Casper Gutman]

Big Hero Six remake that integrates it into the MCU?

"Live Action" Zootopia that's just hyper realistic CGI this time?

I feel like Disney will keep trying for awhile

The absolute last thing society needs is a “live action” Zootopia.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Big Hero Six remake that integrates it into the MCU?

"Live Action" Zootopia that's just hyper realistic CGI this time?

I feel like Disney will keep trying for awhile

As long as king yutz keeps giving himself contract extensions

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

My comment was just on a very specific subject matter.

This is where we are…years of throwing these not clever “darts” in the box office thread.

You can try to compartmentalize the comments to “diffuse” it…I can appreciate that.

But it doesn’t change the history of the downright ugly here. For my part…that’s my bad. But I just say it when my opinion differs…not this kindergarten “I never said THAT” or “what do you mean?” Low brow stuff.

This thread should be closed. Facts were optional long ago.

The excuses for snow white bombing…because nobody ever wanted it for a hot minute…is apparently Snow White is just not acceptable for such a cosmopolitan world now.

Belle made $1.3 bil…and she was taken hostage and put into a cell by a werewolf…but that scanned…apparently?

 

[Casper Gutman]

But Wicked the, musical the movie is based on, is full of references to the MGM movie and only works as an alternate Oz retelling if you know what that was.

Wicked has existed for decades as a hit musical and cultural phenomenon. It tells a story that is complete in itself and does not require familiarity with the original. It is an enormously different take on some of the same material with clear (to the point of excess) themes.

Had Snow White used the original as a springboard for something totally new - say, the Shaolin Monk idea - it would still have faced an uphill battle but it wouldn’t be entirely dependent on nostalgia for a nearly 90-year-old original the way the live-action remakes are.

How did Oz the Great and Powerful do?