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

[TP2000]

Fascinating discussion on A.I. here gang. I find it most interesting that it's seemingly fine to eliminate jobs with technology or outsource them entirely to cheaper foreign countries if the worker is blue collar, or an assemblyman, or an hour Cast Member at a theme park. But if new technology threatens white collar workers it's suddenly evil and bad? Huh.

On the topic of animation, Kung Fu Panda 4 has now opened in South Korea. It hasn't done nearly as well there as Elemental did, obviously. But quite telling that Kung Fu Panda 4 is now on track to beat Elemental at the global box office, and do that at less than half the cost of Disney and Pixar movies.

So who was the voice of the Panda? Anyone famous and highly paid?

 

[Disney Irish]

Fascinating discussion on A.I. here gang. I find it most interesting that it's seemingly fine to eliminate jobs with technology or outsource them entirely to cheaper foreign countries if the worker is blue collar, or an assemblyman, or an hour Cast Member at a theme park. But if new technology threatens white collar workers it's suddenly evil and bad? Huh.

Stop with all the hyperbole, no one ever claimed such as thing.

So who was the voice of the Panda? Anyone famous and highly paid?

Jack Black

 

[TP2000]

Its also funny the contradictions made here, the same poster who over in the DL forum is against Autopia turning electric is somehow for the advancement of AI to replace voice actors. Its funny really.

You have just wildly misrepresented my opinion on Autopia going electric.

The data discussed over in the Autopia thread merely shows the hypocrisy and low-information mischaracterization of what happens when you replace gasoline powered Autopia cars with EV Autopia cars that would need to be charged up overnight. To do so, you would plug the Autopia fleet into Anaheim's public utility system that currently uses natural gas and coal powered electricity generation to operate after sundown.

I would imagine an EV Autopia would be better artistically and thematically. You could do really fun stuff with torquey take-offs and wacky sound effects from an otherwise silent motor. But let's not pretend switching Autopia over to EV's will make the attraction powered by butterfly wings and beautiful thoughts. It will still be primarily powered by fossil fuels.

 

[Disney Irish]

You have just wildly misrepresented my opinion on Autopia going electric.

The data discussed over in the Autopia thread merely shows the hypocrisy and low-information mischaracterization of what happens when you replace gasoline powered Autopia cars with EV Autopia cars that would need to be charged up overnight. To do so, you would plug the Autopia fleet into Anaheim's public utility system that currently uses natural gas and coal powered electricity generation to operate after sundown.

I would imagine an EV Autopia would be better artistically and thematically. You could do really fun stuff with torquey take-offs and wacky sound effects from an otherwise silent motor. But let's not pretend switching Autopia over to EV's will make the attraction powered by butterfly wings and beautiful thoughts. It will still be primarily powered by fossil fuels.

Oh so you don't like when someone uses hyperbole and sarcasm. Pot calling kettle......

 

[TP2000]

Oh so you don't like when someone uses hyperbole and sarcasm. Pot calling kettle......

I love sarcasm! It's one of my favorite forms of wit and I'm pretty good at it myself. But what you just typed about Autopia wasn't sarcasm, it was weird misrepresentation of a completely different conversation. So I corrected it.

 

[TP2000]

Stop with all the hyperbole, no one ever claimed such as thing.

Would you like to rephrase this statement then? These jobs, and the people who do them, don't really matter if they are eliminated by technology or purposely sent to a cheaper country because they require very little intellect?

Because no offense to the steelworker, the line worker, or the lady wiring up a new refrigerator, those aren't creative jobs that require human intellect. They are manual labor jobs, that while admirable, don't require a lot of intellect to perform.

 

[Disney Irish]

I love sarcasm! It's one of my favorite forms of wit and I'm pretty good at it myself. But what you just typed about Autopia wasn't sarcasm, it was weird misrepresentation of a completely different conversation. So I corrected it.

I was being hyperbolic and sarcastic.

 

[BuddyThomas]

What was there to LIKE?

If you ask 70% of critics and 88% of audience members on Rotten Tomatoes- there was a lot to like.

 

[BuddyThomas]

Annnnnnnnnnnnnyway…..

Did anyone here happen to see Abagail over the weekend? I had been planning to go but we got invited to the Saturday opening night of Cabaret on Broadway at the last minute and on Sunday had another event. Curious what people thought of Abagail if anyone saw it.

 

[Disney Irish]

Would you like to rephrase this statement then? These jobs, and the people who do them, don't really matter if they are eliminated by technology or purposely sent to a cheaper country because they require very little intellect?

Nope, because there is a difference.

Also as was said by another poster that is the past, not the future. Should technology be used to replace workers in dangerous jobs, yes. Should it being used to replace all workers wholesale just because you can, no. That is the difference.

 

[Disney Irish]

Annnnnnnnnnnnnyway…..

Did anyone here happen to see Abagail over the weekend? I had been planning to go but we got invited to the Saturday opening night of Cabaret on Broadway at the last minute and on Sunday had another event. Curious what people thought of Abagail if anyone saw it.

I saw it, thought it was good overall but very predictable in my opinion. You had more fun at Cabaret.

 

[BuddyThomas]

I saw it, thought it was good overall but very predictable in my opinion. You had more fun at Cabaret.

Oh no. I didn’t have more fun at Cabaret. It got rave reviews in London but we thought it was a pretty horrible mess. A lot of the critics agreed, like this one:

Broadway review: Eddie Redmayne in Cabaret

A musical masterpiece returns. Manage your expectations.

www.timeout.com

Or this:

What is going on with the Cabaret reviews?

The show has opened on Broadway to a more muted response than it found in the West End

www.whatsonstage.com

Oh well, at least they had an open bar and at the after party, the champagne was flowing like the River Jordan.

 

[Disney Irish]

Oh no. I didn’t have more fun at Cabaret. It got rave reviews in London but we thought it was a pretty horrible mess. A lot of the critics agreed, like this one:

Broadway review: Eddie Redmayne in Cabaret

A musical masterpiece returns. Manage your expectations.

www.timeout.com

Or this:

What is going on with the Cabaret reviews?

The show has opened on Broadway to a more muted response than it found in the West End

www.whatsonstage.com

Oh well, at least they had an open bar and at the after party, the champagne was flowing like the River Jordan.

Well maybe you'll enjoy Abigail more then.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Holy moly, have I touched some nerves or something? No need for insult hurling! I was just quoting streaming data.

Yes, Encanto IS currently popular. Frozen has the benefit of extreme longevity, multiple sequels and multiple generations whom have seen it. But yes, Encanto IS currently being received on those same levels. It of course needs to stick long term to reach the pantheon. I’m not claiming it’s better than Frozen.

I don’t know how Elemental looks long term, but it’s doing massive numbers for them. I don’t think it’s a Moana/Frozen though, but it seems in the Coco wheelhouse. Keep in mind it only had 4 months of release in 2023.

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Going to the movies is still a different level of commitment than streaming behind a paywall.
I bet the ancillary sales also will show that over time.

 

[TP2000]

Also as was said by another poster that is the past, not the future.

I know. I was there in the past, and am the one who voted proudly for Perot, remember?

Should technology be used to replace workers in dangerous jobs, yes. Should it being used to replace all workers wholesale just because you can, no. That is the difference.

Nice try sliding in the "dangerous" angle now. The lady wiring up the icemaker in the Whirpool fridge in Iowa isn't in any physical danger, or the man dropping the seats in on a new Mustang in Detroit isn't in physical danger. But their jobs are in constant danger of being replaced by technology and/or outsourced to a cheaper overseas country.

I have yet to have anyone explain to me why a talking goat in a Pixar movie, or a sassy chambermaid in a Disney movie, can't be replaced easily and cheaply by A.I., except for the rather nonsensical "Acting is a treasured human skill!"

I'm right there with you on your excellent example of Robin Williams in some of his best roles. But what of the dozens of other voice roles, especially the minor or background roles, in Disney or Pixar movies? A.I. is here and it will be replacing a lot of those voiceover jobs soon.

A lot of industries should get ready to have A.I. supplant or replace existing jobs in HR, training and documentation, editing, writing, drafting, clerical work, payroll, etc., etc. But the talking goat in Wish also seems ripe for A.I.

 

[Willmark]

At the current point AI is in the role of co-pilot, not auto pilot. For now, it is assistive rather than a replacement.

Key is for now.

As far as thinking it’s going to replace actors and voice over work? It is, but not in the way people are thinking.

Add AI to video games. Not the controller and headsets currently but the idea of a fully immersive environment where you are the story rather than passively watching. This has any number of uses in entertainment that makes actors obsolete. One won’t need an actor and watch them when you can do it yourself. This is down the road sure, but how far?

I can easily see a day where you hop into the holodeck-room of the house where any type of interactive entertainment takes place, fully immersive and indistinguishable from reality.

Don’t think it can happen? The movie industry is the buggy whip manufacturers and AI Entertainment is the car. It’s only a matter of time.

Ideas like amusement parks, movies, etc will become a bygone era. It happens in all technology and entertainment will be no different. Hollywood can attempt to stop it all they want but technology and customer wants (nearly) always wins.

 

[BuddyThomas]

I know. I was there in the past, and am the one who voted proudly for Perot, remember?



Nice try sliding in the "dangerous" angle now. The lady wiring up the icemaker in the Whirpool fridge in Iowa isn't in any physical danger, or the man dropping the seats in on a new Mustang in Detroit isn't in physical danger. But their jobs are in constant danger of being replaced by technology and/or outsourced to a cheaper overseas country.

I have yet to have anyone explain to me why a talking goat in a Pixar movie, or a sassy chambermaid in a Disney movie, can't be replaced easily and cheaply by A.I., except for the rather nonsensical "Acting is a treasured human skill!"

I'm right there with you on your excellent example of Robin Williams in some of his best roles. But what of the dozens of other voice roles, especially the minor or background roles, in Disney or Pixar movies? A.I. is here and it will be replacing a lot of those voiceover jobs soon.

A lot of industries should get ready to have A.I. supplant or replace existing jobs in HR, training and documentation, editing, writing, drafting, clerical work, payroll, etc., etc. But the talking goat in Wish also seems ripe for A.I.

I cannot believe you are advocating for this. Oh wait. Yes, I can.

 

[Disney Irish]

I know. I was there in the past, and am the one who voted proudly for Perot, remember?

I was there as well, I voted in those elections too. As a matter of fact those were some of the first elections I could vote in.

Nice try sliding in the "dangerous" angle now. The lady wiring up the icemaker in the Whirpool fridge in Iowa isn't in any physical danger, or the man dropping the seats in on a new Mustang in Detroit isn't in physical danger. But their jobs are in constant danger of being replaced by technology and/or outsourced to a cheaper overseas country.

I'll add repetitive jobs in there too. So yeah dangerous and repetitive jobs are certainly one where technology can benefit humans. But does it mean that I think all jobs should just be wholesale replaced no. And there is a difference between replacing with one human for another in a different country and replacing a human for AI.

I have yet to have anyone explain to me why a talking goat in a Pixar movie, or a sassy chambermaid in a Disney movie, can't be replaced easily and cheaply by A.I., except for the rather nonsensical "Acting is a treasured human skill!"

I'm right there with you on your excellent example of Robin Williams in some of his best roles. But what of the dozens of other voice roles, especially the minor or background roles, in Disney or Pixar movies? A.I. is here and it will be replacing a lot of those voiceover jobs soon.

A lot of industries should get ready to have A.I. supplant or replace existing jobs in HR, training and documentation, editing, writing, drafting, clerical work, payroll, etc., etc. But the talking goat in Wish also seems ripe for A.I.

We already gave reasons, including using Robin Williams as an example, maybe you just didn't accept them. Creativity is a human trait which is something that AI cannot do currently, maybe ever. So any job including voice actor that takes human creativity is something that should not just automatically be switched to AI.

 

[Disney Irish]

At the current point AI is in the role of co-pilot, not auto pilot. For now, it is assistive rather than a replacement.

Key is for now.

As far as thinking it’s going to replace actors and voice over work? It is, but not in the way people are thinking.

Add AI to video games. Not the controller and headsets currently but the idea of a fully immersive environment where you are the story rather than passively watching. This has any number of uses in entertainment that makes actors obsolete. One won’t need an actor and watch them when you can do it yourself. This is down the road sure, but how far?

I can easily see a day where you hop into the holodeck-room of the house where any type of interactive entertainment takes place, fully immersive and indistinguishable from reality.

Don’t think it can happen? The movie industry is the buggy whip manufacturers and AI Entertainment is the car. It’s only a matter of time.

Ideas like amusement parks, movies, etc will become a bygone era. It happens in all technology and entertainment will be no different. Hollywood can attempt to stop it all they want but technology and customer wants (nearly) always wins.

I agree with you that that AI is a co-pilot, but I think its a long way off from complete auto-pilot at least in terms of entertainment.

Creativity just takes a greater understanding of the human brain than we have today. And until that is understood AI won't be able to fully have autonomy in the ability to do anything creative. I do wonder if we'll ever fully understand it, some say no. Anyways so you can program AI to do things today, like a choose your own adventure type of holodeck. But to be able to fully have autonomy, I don't think that'll be coming anytime soon.

 

[TP2000]

I cannot believe you are advocating for this. Oh wait. Yes, I can.

Advocating isn't the right word here, because I have no ability to impact the decision by Disney to use A.I. for voiceover work. This all started when the topic came up of Bill Hader not being in Inside Out 2 because Pixar wouldn't pay him big bucks for the voiceover work. Obviously the movie went on without Bill Hader's voice, or his agent's cut of that voice.

Geez, there's another job that can go away; talent agents. If the talent is A.I., there's no need for an agent.

And it's now obvious that A.I. can be used for voiceover work. So if Disney needs to reduce their bloated budgets for animation, and they certainly do, why not use A.I. for at least some of the voiceover roles? It would be cheaper and likely faster.

I'm sure this type of technological change will happen in the near future at Disney and Pixar.