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

[Ghost93]

Elio's box office failure contrasted with the box office success of sequels like Inside Out 2, Moana 2 and a live action remake of Lilo & Sitch does not bode well for the future of original animation at Pixar. The state of cinema is very bleak.

I am ready for Bob Iger to leave the company for good however. Chapek was worse, but he's also clearly the fall guy for a lot of decisions that Bob Iger had made many years ago. It's shocking how badly Disney has managed to significantly hurt ALL of their acquired brands — Marvel, Star Wars and now Pixar.

In the past, Disney animation has had numerous rough patches (The mid-to-late 40s, the 70s and 80s and the 2000s). But the financial failures of their animated movies were often offset by the financial successes of their live action movies or movies released through companies they owned like Touchstone. But now it seems like all of the Disney-owned brands are flailing and the only movies that are doing well are the ones that are lazy nostalgia cash-grabs.

 

[coffeefan]

Since we don't know the state it was in March 2024, we don't know how much more was changed. From that trailer it had a completely different vibe. Sure it keep story elements but the original trailer went in a completely different direction. Instead, we got a story where a kid is so depressed about losing his parents and wants to leave Earth ("die?"). He is happy about getting abducted. He meets alien-Heimlich and stops the bad guy.

It's the same type of changes of story we saw in the Good Dinosaur. We got the same box office results.

So, is your point that Pixar should be fully free to realize their artistic vision in films? If so, I agree, but just know that cuts both ways.

 

[Phroobar]

So, is your point that Pixar should be fully free to realize their artistic vision in films? If so, I agree, but just know that cuts both ways.

You have to have a good story and a trailer that makes people want to see such story. This movie was lacking in both when compared to most Pixar movies. It felt dumbed down. Even IO2 was mostly just a rehash of the original.

In the past, they hit home runs almost every time. Coco was the last home run. Why haven't the Pixar faithful seen this movie yet?

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

The original teaser for Elio came out almost 3 years ago and had a somewhat different story and characterization. The original tease was posted before the film gained rewrites.

Interesting

Do you know why the story change/rewrites?

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

So, is your point that Pixar should be fully free to realize their artistic vision in films? If so, I agree, but just know that cuts both ways.

…depends on who you ask…I guess?

 

[Casper Gutman]

With the exception of the remarkable success of Sinners, it’s very hard to imagine worse results at the box office this year. Success has nothing to do with quality or imagination or any other creative trait. Lilo and Dragon and Minecraft and any other derivative garbage takes in a billion or so while really great movies, even if tied to less prominent IPs, bomb spectacularly.

A lot of posters didn’t understand or agree with my “meme movie” rant, but events aren’t assuaging my fears. Storytelling, character arcs, emotional resonance- meaningless. “Movies” are a succession of unrelated images and/or phrases the audience can respond to with mechanical familiarity.

I’m not just ranting against IP here. I don’t mind IP. IP can tell new, resonant stories - look at Thunderbolts*. You know what would be IP that leveraged nostalgia for Lilo? A direct hand-drawn sequel telling a new, emotionally meaningful story. But we got the memes.

The situation is genuinely dire. What’s frightening isn’t the execs - they’re the same mostly greedy, cowardly fools who have been making big-budget media for a century. Something has changed, really changed, in the audience. A profound change, and not one that’s limited just to explicitly fictional media consumption. Something much deeper and more destabilizing seems to be going on.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

With the exception of the remarkable success of Sinners, it’s very hard to imagine worse results at the box office this year. Success has nothing to do with quality or imagination or any other creative trait. Lilo and Dragon and Minecraft and any other derivative garbage takes in a billion or so while really great movies, even if tied to less prominent IPs, bomb spectacularly.

A lot of posters didn’t understand or agree with my “meme movie” rant, but events aren’t assuaging my fears. Storytelling, character arcs, emotional resonance- meaningless. “Movies” are a succession of unrelated images and/or phrases the audience can respond to with mechanical familiarity.

I’m not just ranting against IP here. I don’t mind IP. IP can tell new, resonant stories - look at Thunderbolts*. You know what would be IP that leveraged nostalgia for Lilo? A direct hand-drawn sequel telling a new, emotionally meaningful story. But we got the memes.

The situation is genuinely dire. What’s frightening isn’t the execs - they’re the same mostly greedy, cowardly fools who have been making big-budget media for a century. Something has changed, really changed, in the audience. A profound change, and not one that’s limited just to explicitly fictional media consumption. Something much deeper and more destabilizing seems to be going on.

Very bad box office year…for sure

I however will not blame the customers here. The studios have to deliver product and they are not.

Unlike the degradation of wdw…which is about 90% on bad or uniformed customers

 

[Casper Gutman]

Very bad box office year…for sure

I however will not blame the customers here. The studios have to deliver product and they are not.

Unlike the degradation of wdw…which is about 90% on bad or uniformed customers

I think you have that backward.

And there is quality product. The audience is rejecting it.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

Most U.S. Exhibition Execs Think ‘Traditional’ Moviegoing Has Less Than 20 Years as ‘Viable Business Model,’ According to New Survey

More than 50% of U.S. movie theater exhibition executives say they believe "traditional moviegoing" has less than 20 years as a viable business model.

variety.com

 

[Disney Irish]

Most U.S. Exhibition Execs Think ‘Traditional’ Moviegoing Has Less Than 20 Years as ‘Viable Business Model,’ According to New Survey

More than 50% of U.S. movie theater exhibition executives say they believe "traditional moviegoing" has less than 20 years as a viable business model.

variety.com

Some of us have been trumpeting this for a few years now, always being shouted down that it’ll never happen. Guess the industry has caught up and now saying the same thing.

 

[brb1006]

Interesting

Do you know why the story change/rewrites?

Elio getting rewrites might have to do with changing directors during production. Some posts on Twitter/X has a few tidbits of the original's film plot. It's similar to how Brave's original premise was changed when Lasseter got involved early in production. The original story for Brave sounded truly engaging and interesting.

 

[Disney Analyst]

Most U.S. Exhibition Execs Think ‘Traditional’ Moviegoing Has Less Than 20 Years as ‘Viable Business Model,’ According to New Survey

More than 50% of U.S. movie theater exhibition executives say they believe "traditional moviegoing" has less than 20 years as a viable business model.

variety.com

Yep. As expected. Unless it's a BIG event, or a meme, or viral, no one cares anymore. People can save money, and wait to watch it on one of the many streamers we pay for.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I think you have that backward.

And there is quality product. The audience is rejecting it.

I assure you I don’t.

At least about the parks.

We’ve been over the movies 1000% times. For some reason…and it’s surely multiple factors…the mass demand is dropping or not developing at all. It’s a few things at a minimum

Perhaps the “quality” is there…but Disney - in particular - isn’t in the quality game. They’re in group sales

They want stitches…not elementals.

 

[Tha Realest]

I think you have that backward.

And there is quality product. The audience is rejecting it.

The quality of Disney’s product is debatable. You can’t solely blame audiences for not showing up - it is the job of studios to develop and market compelling projects.

Many on here have suggested that audiences have been conditioned to wait for projects to reach a streamer (particularly the Pixar to D+ pipeline). That may partially explain the reception to Lightyear, but not Elemental and Inside Out 2 (two projects of unquestioned quality).

Maybe they’ve just been conditioned to not buy what Disney’s occasionally selling after a really mixed bag, quality wise.

Snow White had the misfortune of being, by all accounts, a bad film which followed bad live action projects like The Little Mermaid and Aladdin. Likewise, Thunderbolts may have been good, but it too followed a slurry of very mid theatrical releases and unnecessary TV series.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

The quality of Disney’s product is debatable. You can’t solely blame audiences for not showing up - it is the job of studios to develop and market compelling projects.

Many on here have suggested that audiences have been conditioned to wait for projects to reach a streamer (particularly the Pixar to D+ pipeline). That may partially explain the reception to Lightyear, but not Elemental and Inside Out 2 (two projects of unquestioned quality).

Maybe they’ve just been conditioned to not buy what Disney’s occasionally selling after a really mixed bag, quality wise.

Snow White had the misfortune of being, by all accounts, a bad film which followed bad live action projects like The Little Mermaid and Aladdin. Likewise, Thunderbolts may have been good, but it too followed a slurry of very mid theatrical releases and unnecessary TV series.

Mmmmm hmmmm

The mistake often made is thinking that bombs aren’t having a cumulative effect.

The evidence mounting is that they do.

String 3 marvel flops together in a row and they cause casual fans that are just as important as the comic shop ones are going to drift towards “marvel sucks”…and stay away

 

[brb1006]

What'd I tell you guys? @brb1006 is an absolute blessing of information and knowledge to this site!

I'm looking forward to the follow up info on new Characters being used in the Parks as marketing for new movies! But for now, I've never known someone who deserves a long cat nap more than brb1006.

Good evening, finally got a chance to create a follow up post dedicated to Disney (and Pixar Characters) making appearances at the Disney Parks. Took a while to response due to my area being in the beginning of a heat wave (Going to be in the 90's and 80's this week) and out Wi-Fi (both on Cable and Online) was briefly offline due to the heat. Good thing I made fresh lemonade and saved some Water Ice (Mango is my favorite flavor). Besides that, I had a lovely sleep (with air conditioning).

Anyway back to my follow up post.

As stated previously, I will mostly speak from a WDW perspective when it comes to Disney bringing in newer Disney/Pixar characters in the parks. But will occasionally bring up the overseas Disney Parks.

Remember when I mentioned that MGM Studios/DHS used to be the only resort where guests were able to meet newer Disney (later Pixar) characters at the Walt Disney World Resort? Well that's because MGM/DHS focused more on modern film and television. Compared to Magic Kingdom which prioritized on being "Timeless and Nostalgia", Epcot was "Futuristic", and Animal Kingdom being a blend between past and modern and focuses more on "Wildlife and the environment". Currently, DHS is the only park at WDW where Disney Junior and DTVA (Disney Television Animation) characters (mainly Phineas and Ferb) are given proper presence at the resort.

After DHS stopped making parades promoting newer animated films in 1998. The building that once held "The Magic of Disney Animation" (now "Star Wars Launch Bay") was the only location where guests meet newer Disney Characters (such as Chicken Little alongside Bolt and Mittens) and used to regularly swap characters. That building is where both Lilo and Stitch used to meet before appearing at other resorts at WDW.


For a long period, Buzz Lightyear and Woody used to be exclusive to MGM/DHS and appeared in tons of advertisements before becoming meetable at MK in recent years. The same extends to Jessie who briefly only appeared at DHS after the release of Toy Story 2.

I remember in some episodes of "The Disney Dish Podcast" with Jim Hill and @lentesta. Jim recalled seeing an afternoon screening of Toy Story in 1995 at Downtown Disney (now "Disney Springs"). After the film was over, he drove to MGM Studios where he managed to catch the first performance of the Toy Story Parade.

Interestingly, Flik and Hopper made their first park appearance at the now closed "It's Tough To Be A Bug" 4D show before Flik and Princess Atta became meetable characters at Animal Kingdom a few years later.

Not long after the release of Zootopia, both Judy and Nick used to make daily meet and greets at The Hyperion Theater at DCA at the Disneyland Resort.


But at WDW, both characters made their Disney Parks debut in 2016 for a special event that promoted the film's release at AK. It took a while for Judy and Nick to become meetable at WDW until the 2016 Christmas season when they meet guests during MVMCP. Previously they lead the "Zootopia Party Patrol" for MNSSHP.

I also forgot to mention, that the true last time Disney made a pre-parade for a newly released Disney Animated Film is "Bolt" from 2008.


For some unexplained reason, since in the mid 2010s WDW has gotten very tardy when it bringing newer characters from newly released films into the WDW Parks. While Disneyland alongside the international Disney Parks (Paris, Tokyo, Shanghai, and Hong Kong) are much quicker when it comes to making newer Disney/Pixar characters for newly released films. As of 2025, Mei-Mei and Ming (Turning Red), Ian and Barley (Onward), Joe Gardner (Soul) have yet to make a live appearance at WDW. There was a time when bringing newer Disney (and Pixar) Characters to the Disney Parks (mainly WDW) was a much faster process.

BTW, I highly recommend visiting "Disney Chris". It's a Disneyland fansite dedicated to archiving audio of various Disneyland Parades, Shows, Entertainment of the past and present. His "Disneyland Audio Tour" section for parades is where I discovered that Disneyland used to do "Movie Premiere Pre-Parades" promoting newly released animated films or re-release of older Disney Animated Films. The last Pixar pre-parade was for Ratatouille in 2007 and Bolt in 2008 for Disney Animation Studios.

Disneyland Audio Tour - Chapter 5

disneychris.com

The "Movie Premiere Pre-Parades" was the very first time guests got to see newer Disney Characters in-person. Shame that practice has retired after 2008.

 

[Phroobar]

Yep. As expected. Unless it's a BIG event, or a meme, or viral, no one cares anymore. People can save money, and wait to watch it on one of the many streamers we pay for.

They've been predicting that for decades now. Ever since home theaters and huge TVs hit the market, traditional theaters where supposed to die. Yet they find ways like retro movie nights, film festivals, waiter service, imax, big recliners, multiple screenings. The theater experience has evolved.

 

[Disney Irish]

They've been predicting that for decades now. Ever since home theaters and huge TVs hit the market, traditional theaters where supposed to die. Yet they find ways like retro movie nights, film festivals, waiter service, imax, big recliners, multiple screenings. The theater experience has evolved.

The big difference between now and then is that previously it was a few in the industry that said it, now a majority of the theater owners themselves are saying it. At a certain point it no longer becomes just a few crying about some technology changes and rather its an industry wide change that is upending the norm, so maybe its time to actually listen.

 

[Disney Irish]

Mmmmm hmmmm

The mistake often made is thinking that bombs aren’t having a cumulative effect.

The evidence mounting is that they do.

String 3 marvel flops together in a row and they cause casual fans that are just as important as the comic shop ones are going to drift towards “marvel sucks”…and stay away

I don't think anyone is really discounting that about some Disney quality issues, but rather saying its not ONLY that that is the problem here. There is a widespread issue happening within the industry, something that a few of us have talked about for years, and its causing the box office to react differently than it had in previous decades. This isn't normal, even if some want to stick their head in the sand and say its not happening. Of course some will try to chalk it up to "Disney caused this themselves and it only affects them", but then what about the rest of the box office? You have some movies that break through but its not like the "old days", they are becoming fewer and farther between. The box office is continuing to head in the wrong direction, and it doesn't look to be changing that trend, ie this isn't just a single year issue.

 

[Disney Analyst]

They've been predicting that for decades now. Ever since home theaters and huge TVs hit the market, traditional theaters where supposed to die. Yet they find ways like retro movie nights, film festivals, waiter service, imax, big recliners, multiple screenings. The theater experience has evolved.

I think the specialty experiences may thrive and can survive (i.e. VIP Cineplex here, adult only, recliners, food and drinks), but we are definitely going to see mass normal theatres suffer.