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

[brideck]

I think it's because most human parents on planet Earth aren't comfortable taking their 8 year old child to a Disney cartoon movie about a gay child.

Straw man. It's not a movie "about a gay child." There is a teenager that fits that description, though, just like there is in all of your kids' schools/communities.

It's a movie that is both an eco-fable about how powering our lives can have a negative impact on our environment and a movie about accepting our children for being different from how we want them to be. [Note: The 2nd point is not, in fact, about the aforementioned gay child.]

 

[TP2000]

Straw man. It's not a movie "about a gay child." There is a teenager that fits that description, though, just like there is in all of your kids' schools/communities.

It's a movie that is both an eco-fable about how powering our lives can have a negative impact on our environment and a movie about accepting our children for being different from how we want them to be. [Note: The 2nd point is not, in fact, about aforementioned gay child.]

Apparently that wasn't a movie that adults across the globe wanted to take their children to.

I'd forgotten about the "eco-fable" angle, which sounds even cringier than the gay kid, to be honest. Especially when the eco-fable lecture is coming from a global corporation that wastes tons of energy making robots sing and dance for tourists and sends actors to Cannes every year in a fleet of private jets so they can receive teary standing ovations.

That's a bad business and creative decision on the part of Disney, and a quick way to vaporize about $200 Million in production and marketing costs.

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

I do.



But perhaps it would be better if @Casper Gutman could explain to us what exactly "the hate network" that controls the entire planet of movie-going adults and tells them not to see certain Disney movies is exactly.

Because as of now, it's just sort of a great punchline to a joke. I'd love to have it explained to us exactly how the hate network operates on six continents to control global movie consumers and successfully dissuades them from seeing certain Disney movies aimed at family audiences.

Until some sort of evidence is provided for the existence of the hate network, I'm of the belief that those movies flop so badly because most parents on Earth just aren't comfortable or interested in seeing those specific movies.

I originally thought the hate network posts were about YouTube sites like Nerdrotic but now I have no idea either, those sites combined reach a few million people at most, not the billions that it would take to doom a movie worldwide, even throwing in mainstream right sites like FoxNews wouldn’t have a fraction of the reach needed to influence the entire world.

I think we’re in tinfoil hat territory to think there’s an underlying “network” that can influence billions of people globally.

 

[TP2000]

This can't really be answered on this forum, which you probably know. But feel free to look into the work of something like the ISD and see what you think.

I'm afraid you're going to need to give me a better hint. I have no idea what ISD stands for, and just now when I Googled that acronym all I got was a list of school districts in towns and cities that start with the letter 'I' or that use the word "Independent" in their school district title.

Can you give me another hint?

 

[brideck]

I'd forgotten about the "eco-fable" angle, which sounds even cringier than the gay kid, to be honest. Especially when the eco-fable lecture is coming from a global corporation that wastes tons of energy making robots sing and dance for tourists and sends actors to Cannes every year in a fleet of private jets so they can receive teary standing ovations.

The eco-fable angle is probably them chasing the audience of kids/adults who really enjoy Studio Ghibli's movies.

 

[brideck]

I'm afraid you're going to need to give me a better hint. I have no idea what ISD stands for, and just now when I Googled that acronym all I got was a list of school districts in towns and cities that start with the letter 'I' or that use the word "Independent" in their school district title.

Can you give me another hint?

Really? It's #3 in the Google results in a private window for me. <Ctrl-F> hate on your search results, or I suppose just add that to your search terms.

 

[Casper Gutman]

I originally thought the hate network posts were about YouTube sites like Nerdrotic but now I have no idea either, those sites combined reach a few million people at most, not the billions that it would take to doom a movie worldwide, even throwing in mainstream right sites like FoxNews wouldn’t have a fraction of the reach needed to influence the entire world.

I think we’re in tinfoil hat territory to think there’s an underlying “network” that can influence billions of people globally.

I very strongly suspect you are very, very willing to acknowledge the existence of a loose, informal network of ideologically likeminded outlets - mainstream media, YouTube, bloggers, etc - attempting to influence public opinion if we start talking about MSNBC, the New York Times, BBC etc.

 

[TP2000]

The eco-fable angle is probably them chasing the audience of kids/adults who really enjoy Studio Ghibli's movies.

Oh. Well, it didn't work.

And no wonder, because Disney's entire business model is built on decadent luxury and wasteful use of resources.

There's no good reason why you need giant air conditioned warehouses in a Florida swamp full of singing robots, on a property that encourages the entire audience to either fly across oceans or drive across multiple states to get there. The whole concept of Disney World and Disneyland is wasteful and practically sinful, at least if you really do believe that using more energy than is required for your basic safety and health is bad for the planet.

Just the fleet of Gulfstream jets that Disney maintains at Van Nuys Airport to fly executives and company talent around the globe for business and leisure, just so they don't have to suffer the indignities of First Class commercial air travel with the peasants, undermines the preachy lecture against using energy that is contained in Strange World.

 

[TP2000]

Really? It's #3 in the Google results in a private window for me. <Ctrl-F> hate on your search results, or I suppose just add that to your search terms.

I played around with the search function, and got Institute for Strategic Dialogue out of London? Is that what you were getting at to look into? I've never heard of them.

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

I'm afraid you're going to need to give me a better hint. I have no idea what ISD stands for, and just now when I Googled that acronym all I got was a list of school districts in towns and cities that start with the letter 'I' or that use the word "Independent" in their school district title.

Can you give me another hint?

I had no idea either and did a search and got pages of school districts also, then a bunch of results for investor state disputes , maybe your browser history needs to direct you toward the result, I still have no clue what ISD is. I’m old though so it wouldn’t be the first time I’m out of the loop.

 

[brideck]

Oh. Well, it didn't work.

And no wonder, because Disney's entire business model is built on decadent luxury and wasteful use of resources.

There's no good reason why you need giant air conditioned warehouses in a Florida swamp full of singing robots and dancing ghosts, on a property that encourages the entire audience to either fly across oceans or drive across multiple states to get there. The whole concept of Disney World and Disneyland is wasteful and practically sinful, if you really do believe that using more energy than is required for your basic safety and health is bad for the planet.

Just the fleet of Gulfstream jets that Disney maintains at Van Nuys Airport to fly executives and company talent around the globe for business and leisure, just so they don't have to suffer the indignities of First Class air travel with the peasants, undermines the preachy lecture against using energy that is contained in Strange World.

Who said it was a preachy lecture? That's a pretty specific categorization from someone who hasn't actually seen the movie in question. It's also not about energy consumption writ large, but where that energy comes from. WDW is allegedly 40% powered by solar as of last year, so it's not as if Disney is sleeping on this particular issue.

Private jets (and aviation, in general) are a drop in the bucket of all of the emissions generated in this world, and many of them have been switched to using more efficient fuels over the last 15-20 years. But I suppose you're trying to appeal to our natural "eat the rich" tendencies with this line of critique.

 

[brideck]

I played around with the search function, and got Institute for Strategic Dialogue out of London? Is that what you were getting at to look into? I've never heard of them.

That's the one. I wouldn't have expected you to.

 

[TP2000]

That's the one. I wouldn't have expected you to.

Okay. I've got their website up in a different tab. I've never heard of this group, but I'll go read their site in a bit.

 

[TP2000]

I had no idea either and did a search and got pages of school districts also, then a bunch of results for investor state disputes , maybe your browser history needs to direct you toward the result, I still have no clue what ISD is. I’m old though so it wouldn’t be the first time I’m out of the loop.

I added the word "hate" to my search right after "ISD", and it popped up on top.

But I was still getting a bunch of school districts too, but this time with topics about "Why do kids hate school?"

 

[DKampy]

Apparently that wasn't a movie that adults across the globe wanted to take their children to.

I'd forgotten about the "eco-fable" angle, which sounds even cringier than the gay kid, to be honest. Especially when the eco-fable lecture is coming from a global corporation that wastes tons of energy making robots sing and dance for tourists and sends actors to Cannes every year in a fleet of private jets so they can receive teary standing ovations.

That's a bad business and creative decision on the part of Disney, and a quick way to vaporize about $200 Million in production and marketing costs.

Go and ahead and ignore the fact most People did not care for that movie for reasons that had nothing to do with a gay character that consisted of less then 10 minutes of screen time…. But a movie failed cause “ minorities”

 

[DKampy]

The goal is to score large profits…right upfront

It creates buzz…it sells product…it increases the fees for licensing deals…it increases the demand for those other things you mentioned.

You’re trying to put square wheels on your car here…just go with what works

Yes I agree that would be a goal… most Studios believe in their product…so they greenlight it…. But every film from any studio is not going to make massive amounts of profits today…and all studios understand this…in fact if you have one film that makes massive amounts of profit theatrical… you are doing great…perhaps you should buy a studio… and start looking for films to produce… since you know exactly what the masses are interested in

 

[TP2000]

Funny, I thought I mentioned using a private window in my second post. That way all of your previous school-related activity wouldn't influence the results.

I just went to Google, like I always do and typed "ISD" with no punctuation. I've never had children, haven't been involved in any local school campuses or districts since my nephews were young decades ago, and have never even searched for adult classes or adult learning. And all Google gave me was a list of nationwide school districts that use the letter 'I' in their acronym.

I added the word "hate" to my search and it popped up finally. That said, I've still never heard of the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD). Before I go read their site, are they the good guys or the bad guys? Are they pro-hate or anti-hate? I'd hate to get involved in weirdo hate stuff online.

 

[TP2000]

Go and ahead and ignore the fact most People did not care for that movie for reasons that had nothing to do with a gay character that consisted of less then 10 minutes of screen time…. But a movie failed cause “ minorities”

Okay, so wait, now I'm genuinely confused.

Are we saying that Strange World flopped badly because the hate network around the world convinced parents not to buy tickets to it because it had gay teenagers (minorities) in it, or are we saying Strange World flopped badly because it was just a crummy movie that parents didn't want to see in general?

Did the hate network sabotage Strange World at the global box office for its portrayal of gay teenagers or not?

 

[brideck]

Before I go read their site, are they the good guys or the bad guys? Are they pro-hate or anti-hate? I'd hate to get involved in weirdo hate stuff online.

You can't possibly have their site open in a tab and be asking this question.

 

[TP2000]

You can't possibly have their site open in a tab and be asking this question.

Yes, I certainly can. I just double checked. It's a webpage that has their title and then says "Powering solutions to extremism, hate and disinformation".

That's not entirely clear which side they are on. Do they want to ban free speech or opinions they deem "disinformation"? Their hazy image underneath their title page has an Irish flag waving. Are they against NATO? Are they pro IRA? Why the Ireland angle to this website?

Lotso questions before I dig into some (assumedly) European website I've never heard of "powering solutions to hate"