Honestly I think you're over thinking it. It just goes to show, that when you make films that are quality, and that resonate with the audience, people go. I'm not surprised in the least. The vast majority of fans want Disney to succeed.
Elemental felt very Pixar to me. But I agree nostalgia for something familiar must have played a role in Inside Out 2’s phenomenal success.
I think many of us have been left at least somewhat confused by the behaviour of the box office in recent years, and not just as it pertains to Disney (someone mentioned Mission: Impossible a little earlier). I may well be overthinking it, but I don’t think it’s quite as simple as you suggest.
Sure it's more intricate than good movie = good box-office. There will always be outliers either way. I just don't think it's shocking that they've bounced back. While non of us can fully predict anything when it comes to the box-office. You do see some patterns that have formed that tend to lead to success.
Yes elemental was very pixar. It's only problem was a sceptical audience. Disney had a string of bad, a few meh, and a couple they were ok, films. It took a bit for it to get going, and word of mouth kept it going. Of course nostalgia plays a role, especially when the film is really good. As I said, fans want Disney to succeed, they want to support them.
I believe it was as simple as Disney was putting out films that were easy targets… Lightyear did not do well because it was not a great movie…. Not because of a very brief same sex couple scene… but it made some feel good about their own hate to say it was for ideology reasons…. Now that Disney films are successful…the noise will quiet…. Elemental was probably more “woke” then any of the films that was complained about, but since it had good word of mouth… not a peep
Yeah, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of great movies that have flopped and an equal amount of mediocre or terrible movies that have made a lot of money. Box office isn't always an indicator of quality.
I think Elemental rehabilitated Pixar’s image a ton once people got around to watching it on D+. It was just too late for that film’s box office but helps to explain the willingness/eagerness to give IO2 a shot
Then it seems the concept of wokeness is a pretty meaningless metric. It only appears to matter when a film doesn’t do well.
I think this is a really astute take.
And here’s the post you wanted to make when you were “confused” and “puzzled” yesterday.
Nope. You can look at my posting history and trace my confusion for yourself if you don’t believe me. I went from being entirely sceptical of the idea that ideological factors played any significant role in Disney’s box-office fortunes to being convinced that they must be having a real impact (certainly not the only impact, but an appreciable one). This shift in my view came about last year; I couldn’t explain the degree of Disney’s slump otherwise (Wish may not have been a great film, but even its harshest critics were surprised at just how poorly it did). So yes, having already changed my thinking on the issue once, I was indeed surprised when Inside Out 2 broke the pattern as suddenly and completely as it did. To me at least, it’s not all that easy to make sense of.
Fair enough, my apologies.
Others have already offered helpful insights that help explain how Inside Out 2 did not accomplish this pattern-break out of the blue, nor all by itself.
