A Spirited Valentine ...

[GiveMeTheMusic]

Which is why we don't see Giselle/Amy Adams from Enchanted roaming the parks...

You don't see Giselle in the parks because the movie has been largely forgotten and the character sold no merch. Add to that the dress was larger than anyone could possibly believe - she only appeared in pre-parades because her dress was too cumbersome.

The idea that Disney has to pay Adams and that's why the character isn't in the park is an urban myth.

 

[rael ramone]

In other news a nice article from The Atlantic about how the Disney acquisition of Pixar has driven Pixar to creative bankruptcy and reduced it to merely pushing sequels to previously successful movies.

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/06/how-pixar-lost-its-way/524484/

Notice the theme once Iger gets his claws on something he squeezes the value out of it entirely

I wonder if Toy Story 4 will be a 'Requel'....

 

[FigmentJedi]

I wonder if Toy Story 4 will be a 'Requel'....

It's basically a romantic comedy about Woody and Bo Peep getting back together again.

You know, something that they could have easily done as another Holiday Special for Valentine's Day instead of subjecting us to a full movie.

 

[Bairstow]

In other news a nice article from The Atlantic about how the Disney acquisition of Pixar has driven Pixar to creative bankruptcy and reduced it to merely pushing sequels to previously successful movies.

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/06/how-pixar-lost-its-way/524484/

Notice the theme once Iger gets his claws on something he squeezes the value out of it entirely

You found another article expressing a negative outlook on Disney and are spinning it as criticism as Bob Iger, who isn't mentioned in the article at all. How refreshing!

Anyway, the article isn't very compelling. Pixar has never made a worse film than Cars 2, which was before the acquisition, and sequel or not, Toy Story 3 is the best of the series and came after. The author barely pays lip service to Inside Out, which ranks with the very best work the studio has ever done.

If there's a greater trend in Pixar's trajectory, it has too many aberrations to draw conclusions yet, and doesn't match up with the timing of the Disney purchase anyway.

 

[HMF]

Anyway, the article isn't very compelling. Pixar has never made a worse film than Cars 2, which was before the acquisition, .

The acquisition was 2006, Cars 2 was 2011.

 

[Bairstow]

The acquisition was 2006, Cars 2 was 2011.

Thanks.

...not that the original Cars is much better.
All of those feel more like pet projects of Lasseter as much as they are feature-length commercials for die-cast toys.

 

[njDizFan]

You found another article expressing a negative outlook on Disney and are spinning it as criticism as Bob Iger, who isn't mentioned in the article at all. How refreshing!

Anyway, the article isn't very compelling. Pixar has never made a worse film than Cars 2, which was before the acquisition, and sequel or not, Toy Story 3 is the best of the series and came after. The author barely pays lip service to Inside Out, which ranks with the very best work the studio has ever done.

If there's a greater trend in Pixar's trajectory, it has too many aberrations to draw conclusions yet, and doesn't match up with the timing of the Disney purchase anyway.

It's simple math. Out of the first 10 Pixar films there was only 1 sequel. 7 out of the next 11 films are/will be sequels. And IMHO I would only list Inside Out as the only film that could stand up with the original 10. It's branding, franchising for the sake of merchandise and theme park synergy.

Let the story writers free to create the IPs that will become the next generation's Toy Story, Nemo or Cars.

 

[FigmentJedi]

You can't really say that the extended Cars franchise is something "the big bad Bob Iger" forced Pixar to do when it's very clear that John Lasseter has an unhealthy obsession with his barely-explained world of anthropomorphic vehicles. Like Cars 2 was all John's idea stemming out of imagining Mater getting into wacky hijinks around the world while on the international press tours for the first movie and wanting to repurpose a deleted Spy Movie at the Drive-In scene into a full feature. Carsland being that incredibly detailed was also all John Lasseter exerting his influence to get it done that way. Then there's the fact that Cars is the only Pixar series with an Lucasfilm Story Group-style franchise continuity oversight guy.

And finally, Cars 3 seems to be going hard on trying to redeem the franchise's reputation after Cars 2 when most people had written it off as kids garbage even with Cars 1.

 

[ford91exploder]

You can't really say that the extended Cars franchise is something "the big bad Bob Iger" forced Pixar to do when it's very clear that John Lasseter has an unhealthy obsession with his barely-explained world of anthropomorphic vehicles. Like Cars 2 was all John's idea stemming out of imagining Mater getting into wacky hijinks around the world while on the international press tours for the first movie and wanting to repurpose a deleted Spy Movie at the Drive-In scene into a full feature. Carsland being that incredibly detailed was also all John Lasseter exerting his influence to get it done that way. Then there's the fact that Cars is the only Pixar series with an Lucasfilm Story Group-style franchise continuity oversight guy.

And finally, Cars 3 seems to be going hard on trying to redeem the franchise's reputation after Cars 2 when most people had written it off as kids garbage even with Cars 1.

I don't think it's Lasseter pushing the Cars movies as 'Cars' merchandise SELLS really well so I think the Cars push is straight from the top as lets face it Cars 2 was cringeworthy and basically unwatchable by anyone over the age of six. We Also are getting Toy Story rebooted which is clearly unnecessary as the last one wrapped up the story arc nicely, and 'The Incredibles 2' as well

 

[ford91exploder]

It's simple math. Out of the first 10 Pixar films there was only 1 sequel. 7 out of the next 11 films are/will be sequels. And IMHO I would only list Inside Out as the only film that could stand up with the original 10. It's branding, franchising for the sake of merchandise and theme park synergy.

Let the story writers free to create the IPs that will become the next generation's Toy Story, Nemo or Cars.

Exactly instead of pushing sequels as Iger is doing to Pixar.

 

[MisterPenguin]

Thus is modern business strategy. Exploit existing IP that provides low risk, low cost with mid to high return. So if product is only marginally received, a sufficient margin is realized.

Yeah, not doing sequels is leaving money on the table. If you're an artist and you made big money with your novel about sandwiches or a painting of a twister, would any of us have the artistic integrity to not write another food novel or create another weather painting? How many plays about royal families did that hack, Shakespeare, write?

Furthermore, if there's more stories to tell, why not tell them? I don't remember there being a Law Against Art that dictates that the only true art is when the artist tries something completely different.

And further furthermore, if people want more stories of cars or toys or fish... why not?

Besides, Pixar would have had another 'unique' film out in Newt if it weren't for another company's similar Rio. And Coco is most likely delayed because of that other Day of the Dead animation.

Besides besides, the last original, Dinosaur, wasn't exactly an artistic masterpiece. There's no guarantee of higher quality art simply because they do something 'original.'

 

[ford91exploder]

This speaks volumes of what is happening to Disney. I see it every week.

It's hard to watch something which brought so much joy to our family and friends being destroyed for the sake of short term profit.

 

[ford91exploder]

love Clay Travis

I like how he writes about the BUSINESS of sports

 

[ford91exploder]

They price more and more people out of the cost of basic living then act surprised when people stop buying pointless things.

Same thing that's happening to retail, People say retail is dying and not spending on clothes and stuff, Well when Housing/Energy/Food costs are exploding somethings got to give and that's discretionary spending. aka Retail, It's not about Amazon being the big meanie eating up all sales people simply are not BUYING if they don't need it.

 

[ford91exploder]

You found another article expressing a negative outlook on Disney and are spinning it as criticism as Bob Iger, who isn't mentioned in the article at all. How refreshing!

Anyway, the article isn't very compelling. Pixar has never made a worse film than Cars 2, which was before the acquisition, and sequel or not, Toy Story 3 is the best of the series and came after. The author barely pays lip service to Inside Out, which ranks with the very best work the studio has ever done.

If there's a greater trend in Pixar's trajectory, it has too many aberrations to draw conclusions yet, and doesn't match up with the timing of the Disney purchase anyway.

It's no secret that I think that Disney is being run into the ground, Just as have so many great American companies before them due to the greed in the executive suite. Heck Home Depot under Bob Nardelli almost suffered the same fate till the founders forced the BoD to fire Nardelli and company.

It is interesting that more and more the business press is also beginning to agree that Disney is not being run correctly.

 

[rael ramone]

One thing that the Market is telling us (besides it's not good for your half of your business to be staring at Deteriorating Fundamentals) is that:

Customers Want Experiences Not Plush

While Brick & Mortar Retail is taking it on the chin right now, the Airlines, even with all the bad press that they have been getting (and multiple airlines, not just UAL, which if my calculations are right is up 15% since they had the poor doctor dragged off the plane) are going higher, part of which is that the deliver people to places where they can have Experiences...

This is a time for $DIS to fix P&R so it can be a much stronger foundation for when Media & TV can no longer lead.

Focus on each section of the Resorts delivering their share of Experiences instead of their share of Plush Sales.

The first place is obviously the stores themselves. Make the stores part of the Experience (to an extent this happens in World Showcase [when they aren't trying to sell futbol jerseys & frozen plush] and Animal Kingdom). Have items that genuinely add to the Theme. Then it isn't about how a piece of real estate contributes to sales of plush, it's how it contributes to guest satisfaction (and guest return and guest recommendations).

Have IP serve Theme instead of Theme serve IP.

An advantage that the Parks & Resorts have over the Real World is, while it can't deliver the authenticity that can only be found in the Real Thing, you can deliver a reasonable substitute where you can experience a wide array of cultures and time periods in a relatively short period of time and on a relatively smaller footprint. Build on those Themes. Extend them to other areas of the parks where the themes are Science, Nature, Fantasy, Adventure, History, and Film. And extend them to the resorts. Make sure the resorts fully embrace Theme, right down to the furniture and beddings (Animal Kingdom Lodge sounds like a more richer Experience then Animal Kingdom IKEA Lodge).

Focus on Timeless Themes and Commit to Them.

Instead of IP overload (followed by IP overlay), build on timeless themes, delivered in full dimension and depth (and not the type of depth that requires 3D glasses). If building new resorts, consider other areas of the world that would deliver a rich Experience (especially representing areas that are cost prohibitive to visit and/or dangerous). Commit also means upkeep.

And a Full Commitment to give the Experience Depth.

The difference between receiving Adequate Service and Superior Service often comes down to the compensation that those who deliver the Service receive. Service is more Aspirational when it's delivered by those who Aspire to do their Best. Depth is also in Experiences that have Substance to them, that both Entertain as well as Inform. Laugh and Play and LEARN together....

 

[MisterPenguin]

It's no secret that I think that Disney is being run into the ground,

It's not a secret because you say it a few dozen times in several hundred threads.

But anyways, for how many years have you been saying it is being run into the ground? Why isn't it already in the ground? And how many years until it is finally grounded?

 

[rael ramone]

It's basically a romantic comedy about Woody and Bo Peep getting back together again.

You know, something that they could have easily done as another Holiday Special for Valentine's Day instead of subjecting us to a full movie.

Just googled about it.... wonder if they'll recast Bo Peep with Meg Ryan....

 

[Mike S]

Thanks.

...not that the original Cars is much better.
All of those feel more like pet projects of Lasseter as much as they are feature-length commercials for die-cast toys.

I like the original but feel like Cars 2 should've never happened and Cars 3 should've been Cars 2.

 

[FigmentJedi]

I don't think it's Lasseter pushing the Cars movies as 'Cars' merchandise SELLS really well so I think the Cars push is straight from the top as lets face it Cars 2 was cringeworthy and basically unwatchable by anyone over the age of six.

It's pretty much both, that it sells well and John's a huge enough gearhead that he's more then eager to keep expanding it.

People attribute waaay too much of Pixar's creative success to John. Especially when outside the first two Toy Story movies, all the critical masterpieces were directed by different people in that Braintrust like Docter or Bird and that much of Pixar's success pre-buyout can be attributed to Joe Ranft's work in the story department, but he died in a car crash shortly before Cars came out.

Also, I just haven't liked the idea of John Lasseter having all that power ever since he decided to boot Chris Sanders off of American Dog to turn it into Bolt.