Disney's Live Action The Little Mermaid

[MrPromey]

Totally off topic but that's on purpose to see if the other MrP is still paying attention:

Here's why Elon Musk's rebranding of Twitter to 'X' is good, actually | TechCrunch

Maybe Elon Musk's rebranding of Twitter to 'X' was actually good?

techcrunch.com

Shortest techcrunch article I've ever read, btw.

 

[LittleBuford]

I wish you could see what they have in store for Spaceship Earth.

I'm sure @marni1971 has seen the render. Tell me if I'm telling lies.

Is this another example in support of your argument that an activist mob is forcing Disney’s hand?

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Is this another example in support of your argument that an activist mob is forcing Disney’s hand?

I'm telling you that Disney brought in a group of ultra progressive consultants to generate a list of attractions that are problematic. I'm telling you that this list is extremely long and includes things that no normal person has ever had or would ever have a problem with. I'm telling you that Splash Mountain was fast-tracked to the top of the list *and* survived COVID budget cuts specifically because of the civil unrest in the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd. I'm telling you that the new Spaceship Earth design that's sitting on a shelf in Glendale is specifically to make the ride less white and less "Eurocentric."

 

[LittleBuford]

I'm telling you that Disney brought in a group of ultra progressive consultants to generate a list of attractions that are problematic.

I misunderstood you to be talking about activists in the public sphere.

I'm telling you that Splash Mountain was fast-tracked to the top of the list *and* survived COVID budget cuts specifically because of the civil unrest in the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd.

Everyone knows that this was the context in which the retheme was announced. You seem to be suggesting, however, that Disney was responding to widespread pressure, whereas I believe they took what they regarded as a proactive step of their own volition. Those involved in the civil unrest had more serious matters in mind than a Disney log flume.

I'm telling you that the new Spaceship Earth design that's sitting on a shelf in Glendale is specifically to make the ride less white and less "Eurocentric."

What’s wrong with that?

 

[LSLS]

As I said its not gone tomorrow, but it is changing and its only going to get worse at the box office.

The theatrical experience is going to become primarily a boutique operation as time goes on. We're already starting to see it across the nation now.

So yeah we'll have the few huge Barbenheimer events but they will be few and far between.

Is it? in 2014, the top 10 movies sold 310,000,000 tickets. So far in 2023, the top 10 have sold almost 265,000,000 tickets (Oppenheimer is not even top 10 yet, and Barbie is like 9). NOW, I've only found domestic so take that into account, but as of yesterday, there have been 861 million tickets sold in 205 days. That's an average of around 3.5 million tickets a day. Extrapolate that out, and 2023 is on pace to sell 1,337,730,021 tickets this year, and that assumes no major spike in November/December. That would be the highest number of tickets sold since 2013.

NOW, the difference is every year, it was a DISNEY movie that was on top, and Disney/Fox combined for over half the top 10. That is definitely not the case this year (I'm not looking at 2020-2021 just because the pandemic). In fact, there is a very real possibility Disney does not make the top 3 or 4 (depending on how some of these recent releases and upcoming ones end up). So I think it FEELS like movies are dying off because Disney is having a ton of issues we haven't seen in well over a decade.

 

[LSLS]

I'm telling you that Disney brought in a group of ultra progressive consultants to generate a list of attractions that are problematic. I'm telling you that this list is extremely long and includes things that no normal person has ever had or would ever have a problem with. I'm telling you that Splash Mountain was fast-tracked to the top of the list *and* survived COVID budget cuts specifically because of the civil unrest in the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd. I'm telling you that the new Spaceship Earth design that's sitting on a shelf in Glendale is specifically to make the ride less white and less "Eurocentric."

So, you very well seem to know more than me on this, but I kind of always assumed they paired this with the Iger message of "Does it have IP yet?" I figured Splash was fast tracked because it doesn't have a known IP. And I figure the same with Spaceship Earth. And that is why something like Peter Pan is on the back burner. Basically I thought they were simply looking for excuses to make their major attractions chalked full of IP. BUT, I could easily be wrong on that, just an assumption I had made.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

I misunderstood you to be talking about activists in the public sphere.

It's not always one thing or another. Disney has hired a lot of activist types. Those people are plugged into outside groups. There's coordination and collaboration.

What’s wrong with that?

There's nothing wrong with creating a more diverse attraction. But it takes a special kind of pathology to look at the existing Spaceship Earth and be so offended by it to determine that it NEEDS changing in the first place.

Which brings us back to the movies. If you're creating something new, make it diverse. Cool! That's different than taking something old and picking it apart like a buzzard.

So, you very well seem to know more than me on this, but I kind of always assumed they paired this with the Iger message of "Does it have IP yet?" I figured Splash was fast tracked because it doesn't have a known IP. And I figure the same with Spaceship Earth. And that is why something like Peter Pan is on the back burner. Basically I thought they were simply looking for excuses to make their major attractions chalked full of IP. BUT, I could easily be wrong on that, just an assumption I had made.

The pre-covid plans for a new Spaceship Earth did not include any IP additions. There were rumors of Moana because there's some imagery in it that kind of seems Moana-y but it wasn't.

 

[LittleBuford]

It's not always one thing or another. Disney has hired a lot of activist types. Those people are plugged into outside groups. There's coordination and collaboration.

This seems more than a little alarmist to me.

There's nothing wrong with creating a more diverse attraction. But it takes a special kind of pathology to look at the existing Spaceship Earth and be so offended by it to determine that it NEEDS changing in the first place.

Why frame it in these inflammatory terms? I adore Spaceship Earth and find nothing about it offensive, but I also recognise that it stands to be made less Eurocentric when the next inevitable update takes place. There is a whole lot of nuance between the extremes you’re positing.

 

[Tha Realest]

But.... but... what about DVD and BluRay sales?

Lightyear sold $3,400,000 in DVD and BluRay sales in the last 12 months. That's gotta pay for at least the Crafts Services table.

Mermaid should sell at least $7 or $8 Million in DVD/BluRays by Christmas. That's gonna put 'em over the top and fund the next one, right?

That’s not pure profit. There are production and shipping costs, marketing spend, revenue sharing with retailers….

Maybe they “broke even” there too

 

[CaptainAmerica]

I adore Spaceship Earth and find nothing about it offensive

Disney disagrees.

 

[LittleBuford]

Disney disagrees.

Again, recognising that something could be changed for the better is not the same as finding it offensive.

 

[Disstevefan1]

Disney disagrees.

Spaceship Earth is offensive??????!!!!!!!????

We live in clown world now.

 

[doctornick]

Lets be honest, Disney has been siphoning money from the Parks for other endeavors long before D+ was even a twinkle in Iger's eyes. So lets not play like this is some new thing because Iger had a new toy.

Hell, they’ve been siphoning off money from WDW to invest in other parts of the parks division for quite some time.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Again, recognising that something could be changed for the better is not the same as finding it offensive.

I'm not saying they're the same.

I'm saying "Disney considers Spaceship Earth to be offensive" as an independent claim.

I'm NOT saying "Disney's desire to change Spaceship Earth is proof that they consider it offensive."

Regardless, I think this rigmarole illustrates two extremely important points:

1. When you change something to "correct" things that you perceive to be flaws, there's an implication that people who love the original are deficient in some way, and this alienates the audience. "We need to change X to Y because X is too white" is like you're accusing people who love X of racism.
2. We've spent months, if not years debating these issues around and around in circles. Have we made any progress? Not really, no. Why, then, do people find it so hard to believe that a "10 second scene" in a movie might distract from the creative process?

 

[GimpYancIent]

Disney changes implemented to "correct" things (cough, cough) have corrected nothing!

 

[marni1971]

I wish you could see what they have in store for Spaceship Earth.

I'm sure @marni1971 has seen the render. Tell me if I'm telling lies.

Who said what now?

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Who said what now?

Have you seen the ride-through render of the (temporarily?) shelved Spaceship Earth redo?

 

[marni1971]

Have you seen the ride-through render of the (temporarily?) shelved Spaceship Earth redo?

Nope. I’ve shyed away from it. In short I don’t trust them with this park anymore.

 

[Mmoore29]

You're right. And it's now the middle of summer, seven weeks after Mermaid debuted, so let's all do The Swim and check out the box office numbers for this fish.

As of the latest weekend that just ended, The Little Mermaid has lost Disney $73 Million thus far.

That's assuming the most optimistic 60/40 box office take for Domestic/Overseas and the most conservative assumption that they only spent $100 Million marketing (They reportedly actually spent $140 Million, but let's just pretend they only spent $100 Million).

View attachment 730418

Production Budget $250 Million + Marketing Budget $100 Million = $350 Million
60% of Domestic Box Office Take = $176 Million
40% of Overseas Box Office Take = $101 Million
Global Box Office Take for Disney = $278 Million
Net Loss For Disney Thus Far = $73 Million

So, that's another summer tentpole that Disney is still losing tens of millions of dollars on. Elemental is also still losing a lot of money, and Indy 5 is a dumpster fire burning at least $200 Million in cash.

But, at least.... um... at least.... it's still summer.

So let's cheer things up for the kids in Burbank and mermaids everywhere, and do The Swim...

TLM still has a long window overseas, including up to a year in Japan. This is gonna make $700 million. Stop moving to goalposts to call it a flop. That narrative has long been discredited. Elemental has moved up considerably and is going to make it. Indy is a license to print money. "Brand fatigue" is simply not that much of a real thing.

For a lot of so-called "fans", most of you do nothing but be negative. And when your kind says things like "I want Eisner back," I have to laugh, given you all thought he was taking the company on a bad road. Now you say, "He actually cared, he just lost his touch." So did you want him gone or did you want him to stay and have help? And now you say "Iger never should've been CEO in 2005." Excuse me, but were there ANY realistic alternatives? No, there weren't.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Indy is a license to print money.