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

DisneyWarrior27

Well-Known Member
The direct-to-video sequels were done by Disney Toon Studios, not WDAS proper. Their sequels to date:

The Rescuers Down Under
Fantasia 2000
Winnie the Pooh (2011)
Ralph Breaks the Internet
Frozen 2
Moana 2*

+ the upcoming Zootopia 2 and Frozen 3 and 4

Having said that, I hope future sequels turn out better than their last 3
Don’t forget Tiana, since WDAS is also doing that.
 

Disney Irish

Premium Member
From what I understand, the last I heard of Tiana was when I was at D23 and all they said was that it’s “now in production,” meaning it may have already started production in August.

So, compared to Moana 2, it’s early enough that they might be able to change course before it’s too far into the production process.
Again it all depends on how far along they are in the process. I wasn't at the panel, but if they call it "in production" as you said that likely means they've already started animation since it takes a long time for hand drawn to be completed. So I can't see them transitioning it to theatrical, but stranger things have happened. So again we'll have to wait and see, but I wouldn't get my hopes up.
 

DisneyWarrior27

Well-Known Member
Again it all depends on how far along they are in the process. I wasn't at the panel, but if they call it "in production" as you said that likely means they've already started animation since it takes a long time for hand drawn to be completed. So I can't see them transitioning it to theatrical, but stranger things have happened. So again we'll have to wait and see, but I wouldn't get my hopes up.
They said “NOW in production,” meaning they had just started if they’re saying “NOW” in the street sense of what “NOW” means.

So, it could still change to a movie since it’s early enough but like you and I said, we’ll just have to wait and see.
 

Disney Irish

Premium Member
They said “NOW in production,” meaning they had just started if they’re saying “NOW” in the street sense of what “NOW” means.

So, it could still change to a movie since it’s early enough but like you and I said, we’ll just have to wait and see.
You're getting stuck on a single word. But if I say I'm now in production of my product, it means I started producing the product, ie its no longer in development stage. So that still indicates they've already started actual animation rather than just storyboarding it. You know as well as I do how long and how expensive hand drawn animation is, so if they started production on the actual hand drawn animation for a series its not likely for them to scrap it just to turn it in to a theatrical film.

So yes we'll have to wait and see, but as I said I wouldn't get my hopes up on this one. Especially since remember it was suppose to be released at the same time as the ride opening, so they are already behind schedule.
 

doctornick

Well-Known Member
Yup. Very off topic, but another big one for me is anti-hero TV. Sopranos, Breaking Bad, The Penguin, etc. I've watched quite a bit and I can absolutely admire the craft and skill but on a profound level it just doesn't appeal to and sometimes even troubles me. I guess I don't want to root for the bad guy!

I know this is a bunch of pages back, but I am in agreement with this and will take it farther.

I like my entertainment to be a form of escapism and I hate the trend of making bad guys "misunderstood" or good guys having significant flaws. I'm much more a fan of characters being more explicitly "good" or "evil" and for a conflict to be one side you clearly want to root for and have that side "win".

I mean I'm fine with giving a villain a backstory or reason why they are evil, but they should be clearly in the wrong. Similarly, I'm okay for the hero to start off less good and have some redemption or development, but by the time they are the protagonist, I like them to be unequivocally on the side of being right.

I actually have a big problem with shows where the main characters are basically jerks or mean or hurtful people. If I'm investing in a show, I want to be able to root for the main characters and hope they succeed not be disappointed in their actions.

Sorry for my simple mindset, but I hate the trend that so much in entertainment has to have characters that are "nuanced". There's a place for it, but I feel the trend has pushed too far in that direction where it has invaded most films and shows.
 

Ghost93

Well-Known Member
I know this is a bunch of pages back, but I am in agreement with this and will take it farther.

I like my entertainment to be a form of escapism and I hate the trend of making bad guys "misunderstood" or good guys having significant flaws. I'm much more a fan of characters being more explicitly "good" or "evil" and for a conflict to be one side you clearly want to root for and have that side "win".

I mean I'm fine with giving a villain a backstory or reason why they are evil, but they should be clearly in the wrong. Similarly, I'm okay for the hero to start off less good and have some redemption or development, but by the time they are the protagonist, I like them to be unequivocally on the side of being right.

I actually have a big problem with shows where the main characters are basically jerks or mean or hurtful people. If I'm investing in a show, I want to be able to root for the main characters and hope they succeed not be disappointed in their actions.

Sorry for my simple mindset, but I hate the trend that so much in entertainment has to have characters that are "nuanced". There's a place for it, but I feel the trend has pushed too far in that direction where it has invaded most films and shows.
For a long time I wondered why this trend of reframing the villain as a hero didn't bother me with Wicked and why it did for Maleficent and Cruella. And I think I finally figured it out!

Wicked (the movie) is made by an entirely different company from the film studio that made the classic 1939 The Wizard of Oz and the author of the Wicked novel is not the same author as the original Oz books. As a result, I think of it as more of a fun alternate take of a classic story rather than an attempt to erase the legacy of the original. It can be viewed as a glorified fan fiction.

But when the Disney company itself remakes its own works with a revisionist spin, it feels like the company is trying to replace the original classics with the new live-action versions. And in an attempt to justify the existence of the live-action versions, the PR people at Disney will go out of their way to point out alleged flaws and problematic elements with the animated classics to justify the need for the live action remakes. They put down the classics to prop the new movies up.

Most people don't feel Wicked is putting down the Wizard of Oz because MGM Studios isn't ranting about how problematic it is that Margaret Hamilton's version of the Wicked Witch of the West is portrayed as pure evil and has no character depth.
 

LittleBuford

Well-Known Member
For a long time I wondered why this trend of reframing the villain as a hero didn't bother me with Wicked and why it did for Maleficent and Cruella. And I think I finally figured it out!

Wicked (the movie) is made by an entirely different company from the film studio that made the classic 1939 The Wizard of Oz and the author of the Wicked novel is not the same author as the original Oz books. As a result, I think of it as more of a fun alternate take of a classic story rather than an attempt to erase the legacy of the original. It can be viewed as a glorified fan fiction.

But when the Disney company itself remakes its own works with a revisionist spin, it feels like the company is trying to replace the original classics with the new live-action versions. And in an attempt to justify the existence of the live-action versions, the PR people at Disney will go out of their way to point out alleged flaws and problematic elements with the animated classics to justify the need for the live action remakes. They put down the classics to prop the new movies up.

Most people don't feel Wicked is putting down the Wizard of Oz because MGM Studios isn't ranting about how problematic it is that Margaret Hamilton's version of the Wicked Witch of the West is portrayed as pure evil and has no character depth.
I disagree. For me, Maleficent and Cruella are to the original animated films what Wicked is to The Wizard of Oz: fun alternative takes that can be enjoyed in their own right without reshaping one’s impressions of the earlier films. I really don’t get the claim that Disney is putting down the animated classics. If that were so, why do most portrayals of Maleficent and Cruella in the parks and in merch remain true to their original, evil characterisations?

ETA: Also, how is Disney “ranting” about these characters being problematic in their original forms?
 
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Ghost93

Well-Known Member
I disagree. For me, Maleficent and Cruella are to the original animated films what Wicked is to The Wizard of Oz: fun alternative takes that can be enjoyed in their own right without reshaping one’s impressions of the earlier films. I really don’t get the claim that Disney is putting down the animated classics. If that were so, why do most portrayals of Maleficent and Cruella in the parks and in merch remain true to their original, evil characterisations?
I have somewhat come around Maleficient in recent years after being appalled by the creative bankruptcy of an almost shot-for-shot remake like 2019's The Lion King. However, back in 2014, I hated the movie as it was not at all what I wanted out of a Maleficent movie.

I do think Cruella is a legitimately good film, but it is a COMPLETELY different character from the one in 101 Dalmatians.
 

Disney Irish

Premium Member
I know this is a bunch of pages back, but I am in agreement with this and will take it farther.

I like my entertainment to be a form of escapism and I hate the trend of making bad guys "misunderstood" or good guys having significant flaws. I'm much more a fan of characters being more explicitly "good" or "evil" and for a conflict to be one side you clearly want to root for and have that side "win".

I mean I'm fine with giving a villain a backstory or reason why they are evil, but they should be clearly in the wrong. Similarly, I'm okay for the hero to start off less good and have some redemption or development, but by the time they are the protagonist, I like them to be unequivocally on the side of being right.

I actually have a big problem with shows where the main characters are basically jerks or mean or hurtful people. If I'm investing in a show, I want to be able to root for the main characters and hope they succeed not be disappointed in their actions.

Sorry for my simple mindset, but I hate the trend that so much in entertainment has to have characters that are "nuanced". There's a place for it, but I feel the trend has pushed too far in that direction where it has invaded most films and shows.
The problem is that many enjoy rooting for the bad guy and like when they are more grounded in reality and nuanced. This is the reason why many shows that were mentioned by other poster where the main protagonist is clearly bad but many times for good reasons are now seen as classics like Sopranos and Breaking Bad.

The world isn't black and white, and while some don't like to be reminded of that, many more accept they live in the grey area and struggle every day and so like to see themselves up on screen.
 

doctornick

Well-Known Member
The problem is that many enjoy rooting for the bad guy and like when they are more grounded in reality and nuanced. This is the reason why many shows that were mentioned by other poster where the main protagonist is clearly bad but many times for good reasons are now seen as classics like Sopranos and Breaking Bad.

The world isn't black and white, and while some don't like to be reminded of that, many more accept they live in the grey area and struggle every day and so like to see themselves up on screen.

I certainly have no problem with people enjoying it, but it most certainly is not for me.

My issue is more that it is leaking into everything and you don't really get much if any straightforward good versus evil stories anymore. Everything seems to need to have nuance and respecting the villain or bringing down the hero or making endings that have indifference instead of good "triumphing". I feel like that should have a place as well but such black and white tales have been greatly reduced in mainstream entertainment.
 

Disney Irish

Premium Member
I certainly have no problem with people enjoying it, but it most certainly is not for me.

My issue is more that it is leaking into everything and you don't really get much if any straightforward good versus evil stories anymore. Everything seems to need to have nuance and respecting the villain or bringing down the hero or making endings that have indifference instead of good "triumphing". I feel like that should have a place as well but such black and white tales have been greatly reduced in mainstream entertainment.
As with everything in Hollywood there are ebbs and flows. For a long time it was only good vs evil stories, I mean practically for 75+ years that is all there was until the late 90s when it started to move to more nuanced stories that you see now. So its having its time in the sun for now and will swing back the other direction in time as new storytellers start to tell their stories.
 

TP2000

Well-Known Member
How was everyone's Thanksgiving weekend? We're finally back with a big blockbuster movie from Disney to track in this thread!

Here's how Moana 2 stands compared to inflation adjusted Princessy remakes of the past few years, plus the gorilla in the room The Lion King remake from '19. Since it was supposed to just be an ABC Sunday Night Movie Disney+ streaming show, the budget for Moana 2 was an impressively low $150 Million, which is going to make getting it to profitability easy and fast for Burbank. They've got to be thrilled with that after the past few years! 💰

Hosted by Dole.jpg


Using the tried and true template of studio's averaging 60% of the box office take from domestic theaters, and 40% of the take from foreign theaters, and assuming a modest marketing budget of 50% of production budget, that gets us this current standing at the Box Office for Moana 2:

Moana 2: $150 Production, $75 Marketing, $135 Domestic Take, $66 Foreign Take = $24 Million Loss So Far

I'd imagine Moana 2 will go into the black and start making Burbank profit by this Friday evening, globally. Will it do the huge Billion+ box office of Beauty & The Beast or The Lion King? It doesn't seem to be on that type of track, but it's clearly already more successful than other live action Princessy remakes like Cinderella or Maleficent.

Moana 2 will make a tidy profit for Disney, and that's important! Off we go into December tracking...

Wish I could remember who or when we had the conversation that I thought Moana had become just as if not bigger than Frozen recently… based on how much it’s blowing frozen 2 out of the water, I stand by that conviction.

I got several little girls dressed as Moana on my front entry this past Halloween. Plus a gaggle of the usuals; Cinderella, Belle and Miss White. I didn't get a single Frozen girl this year, now that you mention it. I hadn't pieced that together as I made my post trick-or-treat martini on the 31st, until you just mentioned it! There's clearly been a pop-culture shift on Frozen amongst that young girl demographic.

 
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BrianLo

Well-Known Member
I got several little girls dressed as Moana on my front entry this past Halloween. Plus a gaggle of the usuals; Cinderella, Belle and Miss White. I didn't get a single Frozen girl this year, now that you mention it. I hadn't pieced that together as I made my post trick-or-treat martini on the 31st, until you just mentioned it! There's clearly been a pop-culture shift on Frozen amongst that young girl demographic.

I’m aware of a few Halloween frozen toddlers, but the metric is shifting to Moana and Frozen a very close runner up. I think this second film will cement that until the Frozen sequels bring it back to the lime light.

The parks are sleeping on Moana outside of entertainment.
 

BrianLo

Well-Known Member
The direct-to-video sequels were done by Disney Toon Studios, not WDAS proper. Their sequels to date:

The Rescuers Down Under
Fantasia 2000
Winnie the Pooh (2011)
Ralph Breaks the Internet
Frozen 2
Moana 2*

+ the upcoming Zootopia 2 and Frozen 3 and 4

Having said that, I hope future sequels turn out better than their last 3

I’m actually feeling pretty positive on Zootopia 2. Since we live in sequel land now, I wouldn’t mind a Big Hero 6 sequel.
 

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