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

[TsWade2]

The problem there is that this isn't my call.

The call was made by the global marketplace of Billions of consumers of Disney's family entertainment products that has already spoken on that issue in 2022-2023. And Bob heard them and is now making his teams at WDAS and Pixar listen to their customers.

Marvel and Lucas and Searchlight and 20th Century will all keep making R Rated movies with sexual themes of various sorts, no problem. I haven't heard a single person upset about that. I'm certainly not. Aside from the government censors in Muslim and Communist countries that don't allow those Burbank movies to be shown anyway, who would care???

But the issue with Walt Disney Studios and Walt Disney Animation and Pixar is settled, and Bob Iger has gone on record saying so. And once they get past Snow White this March, it should be onward and upward and back to fairly consistent profitability. It really boils down to a branding issue for specific studios aimed at the family audience globally.

As for "staying back in my day", that's mostly the gay bar scene of the Disco Era and the 80's. And you wouldn't believe the things I've seen! Some of it would need an NC-17 rating, it wouldn't even get an R. The box office would be questionable though.

For once, TP200 has a good point. While Marvel, LucasFilm, and 20th Century Fox will continue including LGBTQ characters in live acton movies and shows, but only for PG13 and R movies, and TV14 and TVMA TV shows and movies. And WDAS and Pixar has to get out of that which they are. Besides, not only DIsney needs to impress us Americans, they need to impress people from around the world to make profit. Which is why Lightyear and Strange World flopped at the box office. No, I'm not going to mention Wish. Wish is fine to me, despite of it's flaws. Anyway, my point is that Disney needs to respect the costumers whether we agree with them or not. Sorry, that's how business is whether we like it or not.

 

[LittleBuford]

It won't be long before Disney makes a successful animated movie with queer characters. Pixar already did it with Elemental. Anyone who thinks we are about to experience a longterm retreat from representation is kidding themselves or betraying their own ideological unease. The march of progress is unstoppable.

 

[Disney Irish]

I wouldn't say "if not at all". Sure it's more common for the original to be better. But I can think of plenty of sequels that are better than the first. The issue is when a sequel is far less than the original in quality. There are PLENTY of sequels that might not be as good as the original, but are very much quality films worthy of being a sequel.

This however is very subjective when talking about quality, lets use the example of Moana 2 since its recent. You may not feel its a quality film and thus isn't a worthy sequel and living up to the quality of the original. I however may disagree feeling its a quality film on its own but just falls shorts in terms of its status to the original.

Maybe I did, but you did say

So if they only come out for sequels, that means they don't to come out for original ips. So it seems easy to misunderstand.

That doesn't mean I was saying that the public doesn't want originals, just that they aren't taking the much risk of seeing them in theaters when they come out. Elemental, as you mentioned, is an example of an original where the public was hesitant at first, but then came out after some time.

Basically the public is gun shy when it comes to originals, just instead sticking to the more comfortable sequels. And this isn't just isolated to Disney, rather all of Hollywood. Which is why there are so many sequels to just about every franchise you can name being pumped out left and right.

But that would make your first response to me make very little sense. I never said anything about why Disney is doing sequels. In fact multiple times I've said they absolutely should, it's expected. The original post that I responded to was about people here complaining about sequels. And my response was they absolutely want them, just good ones.

What I gathered from your post is that you are ok with sequels only if there is a "story" to tell, and be a good story, otherwise don't make a sequel. And that was what I was commenting on, just saying the public doesn't seem to care that much about the story overall, just that they are getting to see their favorite characters again. So in that regard, cash grab or not, Disney is giving the public what they want, even if you think the quality of the story is lacking and not worthy of the original.

 

[Chi84]

For once, TP200 has a good point. While Marvel, LucasFilm, and 20th Century Fox will continue LGBTQ characters in live acton movies and shows, but only for PG13 and R movies, and TV14 and TVMA TV shows and movies. And WDAS and Pixar has to get out of that which they are. Besides, not only DIsney needs to impress us Americans, they need to impress people from around the world to make profit. Which is why Lightyear and Strange World flopped at the box office. No, I'm not going to mention Wish. Wish is fine to me, despite of it's flaws. Anyway, my point is that Disney needs to respect the costumers whether we agree with them or not. Sorry, that's how business is whether we like it or not.

Disney has respect for all of its customers.

 

[LittleBuford]

Yes, leave us Vancouverites alone! I am sure our WDAS offices are beautiful and wonderful.

I looked it up, and the offices are in a space "previously occupied by Motion Picture Company (MPC), a major global visual effects, CGI, and animation studio that produced popular films including Watchmen, Life of Pi, The Lion King, Dumbo, Blade Runner 2049, Sully, Maleficent, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows."

Disney to open new office in Yaletown in downtown Vancouver | Urbanized

Walt Disney Animation Studios is establishing its Vancouver presence at 1132 Hamilton Street in Yaletown in downtown.

dailyhive.com

 

[Disney Analyst]

I looked it up, and the offices occupy a space that was "previously occupied by Motion Picture Company (MPC), a major global visual effects, CGI, and animation studio that produced popular films including Watchmen, Life of Pi, The Lion King, Dumbo, Blade Runner 2049, Sully, Maleficent, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows."

Disney to open new office in Yaletown in downtown Vancouver | Urbanized

Walt Disney Animation Studios is establishing its Vancouver presence at 1132 Hamilton Street in Yaletown in downtown.

dailyhive.com

(TBH, I have job alerts set... been trying to get hired there for some sort of non-technical civilian job, haha)

 

[LittleBuford]

(TBH, I have job alerts set... been trying to get hired there for some sort of technical civilian job, haha)

Good luck! That would be awesome for you!

 

[TP2000]

(TBH, I have job alerts set... been trying to get hired there for some sort of non-technical civilian job, haha)

I think you should start hanging out at Yaletown Distillery just off their lobby. I'm sure the animators and staff hang out there after work on a Friday evening!

Lana Turner was discovered at the soda counter at Schwab's, remember! But you could be enjoying gin instead of a malted.

 

[Disney Analyst]

I think you should start hanging out at Yaletown Distillery just off their lobby. I'm sure the animators and staff hang out there after work on a Friday evening!

Lana Turner was discovered at the soda counter at Schwab's, remember! But you could be enjoying gin instead of a malted.

I would hope they are hanging out somewhere a bit nicer, lots of amazing spots nearby! Great foodie / drink area.

 

[TsWade2]

Well, I tried to tell people more realistically, but I don't want to argue, so, I'll step out.

 

[LittleBuford]

I think you should start hanging out at Yaletown Distillery just off their lobby. I'm sure the animators and staff hang out there after work on a Friday evening!

It closed almost two years ago.

Perhaps I'm wrong, but it seems to me that you're trying to undermine the legitimacy of the Vancouver studio because of its downtown location. Please note that the now-closed Paris studio, responsible for some of the animation in such esteemed films as The Hunchback of Notre Dame, was located in a somewhat dangerous suburb of the city. As long as the work they produce is good, who cares whether the Vancouver team's location is swanky or not?

 

[celluloid]

It closed almost two years ago.

Perhaps I'm wrong, but it seems to me that you're trying to undermine the legitimacy of the Vancouver studio because of its downtown location. Please note that the now-closed Paris studio, responsible for some of the animation in such esteemed films as The Hunchback of Notre Dame, was located in a somewhat dangerous suburb of the city. As long as the work they produce is good, who cares whether the Vancouver team's location is swanky or not?

The employees and their families?

 

[LittleBuford]

The employees and their families?

Is there anything to suggest that they're unhappy with their location? It's not like they were forced to move there from another site; it was a newly created branch of WDAS when it opened.

@Disney Analyst, who knows better than any of us, has indicated that it's a pleasant enough area. Yes, it may not be as glamorous (if that's the right word) as the Burbank headquarters, but the space had already been occupied by a company specialising in visual effects long before Disney took it over.

 

[LittleBuford]

The employees and their families?

Also, in your quotation of me, why did you bold the word "dangerous" in relation to Vancouver? That was in reference to Paris.

 

[Disney Analyst]

It closed almost two years ago.

Perhaps I'm wrong, but it seems to me that you're trying to undermine the legitimacy of the Vancouver studio because of its downtown location. Please note that the now-closed Paris studio, responsible for some of the animation in such esteemed films as The Hunchback of Notre Dame, was located in a somewhat dangerous suburb of the city. As long as the work they produce is good, who cares whether the Vancouver team's location is swanky or not?

Oh it's actually a nice area. Yaletown is fancy, expensive to live. Lots of fancy restaurants.

 

[LittleBuford]

Oh it's actually a nice area. Yaletown is fancy, expensive to live. Lots of fancy restaurants.

Then I must correct myself and declare the setting of the Vancouver branch of WDAS to be swanky after all!

 

[celluloid]

Is there anything to suggest that they're unhappy with their location? It's not like they were forced to move there from another site; it was a newly created branch of WDAS when it opened.

You said "who cares?"

I was giving an example of who might care. It is that simple. Don't look too much into it.

 

[Ghost93]

It won't be long before Disney makes a successful animated movie with queer characters. Pixar already did it with Elemental. Anyone who thinks we are about to experience a longterm retreat from representation is kidding themselves or betraying their own ideological unease. The march of progress is unstoppable.

I don't think Elemental counts as that queer character was blink and you miss it.

Strange World had decent-ish gay representation, although because the movie as a whole was rather bad/bland, it unfortunately didn't have the impact it should have.

To date, I think Nimona on Netflix is the best queer representation I've seen in a family film. I can't see Disney making an animated movie like that with such prominent gay characters and LGBT themes in the current climate. Maybe in about six years, if the pendulum swings back in a more progressive direction, the company will once again consider taking a stab at significant representation.

 

[LittleBuford]

I don't think Elemental counts as that queer character was blink and you miss it.

As was the offending kiss in Lightyear.

To date, I think Nimona on Netflix is the best queer representation I've seen in a family film. I can't see Disney making an animated movie like that with such prominent gay characters and LGBT themes in the current climate. Maybe in about six years, if the pendulum swings back in a more progressive direction, the company will once again consider taking a stab at significant representation.

I can't comment on Nimona, as I haven't seen it.

I'm not even talking about significant representation, just any representation at all. Some here are acting as if we'll never see a queer character again in a Disney family film, forgetting that the Beauty and the Beast remake already gave us one back in 2017. I think such characters will be the norm rather than the exception in the years ahead, paving the way for something more substantive that builds on what Strange World introduced (and even that was very mild by my estimation).

 

[TP2000]

It closed almost two years ago.

Oh, really? I just did a 5 second Google search for the Disney studio there, and it offered that street view screenshot, with a place called Yaletown Distillery on the ground floor. It looked fun. And as of the July, 2024 passby of a Google Street View car, it looked like a going concern. What's in there now, I wonder?

Perhaps I'm wrong, but it seems to me that you're trying to undermine the legitimacy of the Vancouver studio because of its downtown location.

You are very wrong, unfortunately. I visited old friends in Vancouver regularly in the 70's and 80's, and skied Whistler with family regularly into the 00's. I know the city fairly well, at least in its late 20th century format. It can't have changed that much.

Over in the Disneyland forum for the past few years, @Disney Analyst and I have had several nice chats about Vancouver.

I had assumed that the Disney computer animation outpost there was in some dreary suburban office park, in Burnaby or somewhere. Across from a Tim Horton's drive-thru and a TGIFriday's.

I was surprised that it was in a downtown hipster neighborhood, as urban real estate is rather dear in Vancouver. I spent about 5 seconds Googling, and the image that popped up on Street View had a distillery off the lobby with "small batch gin" advertised, so you can imagine my excitement.

The rest is up to you, as that's about all I know on the Disney animation outfit in Vancouver. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar, and a message board post is just a message board post.