'Strange World' Disney's 2022 Animated Film

[CaptinEO]

How does this true statement

Fit with this statement?

You say that these 6 films "lost money, and a lot of it." But then you acknowledge that you don't know how much they did or did not make, because Disney does not report this specifically.

I know Disney+ loses a billion plus each year. I know that Disney pursued theatrical releases in 2022. So it's a fair assumption that pay per view and throwing 200 million dollar animated films on Disney Plus has not turned them a profit. Wall Street agrees.

 

[TP2000]

Same! I love a good steak- and while my drinking hasn't extended much beyond bottom shelf vodka and orange juice, or cheap beer- I respect the art behind a good cocktail.

I've read several interesting articles over the years how mens palates evolve in their 20's and 30's. Boys mature slower than girls anyway, but male palates and taste preferences are even slower it turns out.

Which is why a 20 year old guy loves cheap light beer and syrupy shots of cinnamon flavored liquor, taste profiles not far removed from the 20 year old girl across the dance floor he has his eye on.

But by age 28 or so a mans palate has changed and is evolving. Unflavored whiskey are more enticing to him, and darker and richer beers. Plus darker red wines. When a man is in his mid 30's his palate has fully evolved and appreciates smoky whiskey cocktails, and the sugary and lighter drinks of his youth are often stomach-turning for him.

It's all based in genetics, or biology, or something impressive sounding like that. But it's real. Regardless, just don't get caught drinking an Appletini or anything with an umbrella in it unless you are on a Carnival Cruise (God forbid) and your lady friend is matching you drink-for-drink. Then umbrella drinks are okay.

For all I've said here, rules are still made to be broken if she's cute enough.

 

[TP2000]

I know Disney+ loses a billion plus each year.

I'm still just baffled by that. They're throwing Billions into Disney+ waiting for it to finally turn a profit. Will it? Does anyone know it will?

Much like Cryptocurrency, or Amway, or crappy timeshares in Costa Rica with mildewed showers, I just can't figure out how it makes any money for anyone long term. It's obvious it's losing Billions short term, at least that we know.

But how does any of it make any money for anyone, except the maid who gets paid to clean the mildew out of the shower before the next timeshare "owner" checks in???

 

[LittleBuford]

I'm objecting to movies inclusive of the 2SLGBTQQIAP+ community that are aimed at children under age 12.

Children too belong to that community. As you well know, we gay men were once gay boys. We didn’t suddenly turn gay when we hit adolescence.

 

[mickEblu]

Is the turning point Lightyear? Did any of the other films you listed include content that your coworkers would consider inappropriate for their children?

My turning point was Lightyear. If Lightyear didn’t exist i still wouldn’t take my son to see Strange World knowing what I know about the movie but I wouldn’t be as hyper aware about the topic as I am now and have a new outlook on the Walt Disney Company. The repetition and going back to back is still a real head scratcher. You think they would have treaded lightly and release 3-5 animated movies in between something like Lightyear and Strange World. Maybe they were just testing the water and didn’t get all the data they needed from Lightyear for whatever reason.

 

[TP2000]

Children too belong to that community. As you well know, we gay men were once gay boys. We didn’t suddenly turn gay when we hit adolescence.

It's up to the parents to determine that. It's not up to us childless adults to decide what is best for other people's children.

Looking at the box office results for Disney/Pixar films lately, parents around the world agree with that.

Did I know at age 8 I was gay? Nope. Did I know at age 12? Not really, but something was up. Did I know at age 15? Hell yes.

By the summer I turned 16 I was off and running. But at age 8? No, and the parents are still firmly in charge of that age group anyway.

 

[mickEblu]

It seems to me that some of the issues people have with Lightyear and Strange World (and possibly Turning Red also) are now being generalised and applied to films that were previously not viewed through the same lens. Whereas a year ago, we would have been talking about Luca and Encanto’s performance in terms of such factors as COVID, Disney+, and quality, now the “Disney is pushing an agenda and can’t be trusted to provide age-appropriate content” narrative is being backdated to encompass pretty much anything post-Moana. Part of me wishes that Lightyear and Strange World hadn’t included anything related to queerness so that we might have been spared this narrative.

This is exactly right. Where as before someone like me wasn’t annoyed by little references here and there like the LeFou scene at the end of the live action BatB especially when they re funny and executed well. If I saw something like that in the next movie it would annoy me because I’d feel like I’m being beat over the head with it. Disney is at a crossroads right now. It’ll be interesting to see what they do.

 

[TP2000]

My turning point was Lightyear. If Lightyear didn’t exist i still wouldn’t take my son to see Strange World knowing what I know about the movie but I wouldn’t be as hyper aware about the topic as I am now and have a new outlook on the Walt Disney Company. The repetition and going back to back is still a real head scratcher. You think they would have treaded lightly and release 3-5 animated movies in between something like Lightyear and Strange World. Maybe they were just testing the water and didn’t get all the data they needed from Lightyear for whatever reason.

Having interacted with these types of media folks on occasion over the years, at LA dinner parties or Lesbian wedding receptions or mens-only cocktail parties, I'm fairly convinced that the Burbank execs who make these decisions honestly are so clueless that they don't know how alarming some of this stuff is to the average American parent of an 8 year old boy.

They live in a bubble. They only get fed information that comforts them and supports them, never challenges them. And the information they do have of the world beyond their safe bubble is that it is full of bigots and backwards hicks who shop at WalMart and drive gas-powered trucks and go to churches where serpents are used and the pastor speaks in tongues. That is a big chunk of their audience for the products they sell, they are smart enough to know that. But they often think it's their responsibility to enlighten their paying audience and bring wisdom into their sad, bigoted lives that only they can bring.

It's funny really.

But if you think about it too much and how seriously the Burbank types take themselves, it's very sad. So I just try to keep it funny.

 

[LittleBuford]

It's up to the parents to determine that.

We agree! Leave the creative decisions to Disney. Parents can then decide whether or not they want their children to watch the resulting films.

 

[TP2000]

We agree! Leave the creative decisions to Disney. Parents can then decide whether or not they want their children to watch the resulting films.

Oh, look! We do agree!

If Disney wants to continue down this path, and make the princess in next summer's Wish the first Lesbian Princess who doesn't need a man, then more power to them.

I get to say that because I sold off the last big chunk of my Disney stock back in '21. So I've no longer got skin in the game as a childless adult with no Disneyland AP and no Disney stock to worry about. I don't even subscribe to Disney+ for 8 bucks a month.

But I do have to wonder, for the sake of all the cubicle drones in Burbank who need to keep their jobs, if this tactic of alienating a lot of parents around the world is the right path for the Disney brand to take? It's a business, remember. Not a social service agency.

 

[CaptinEO]

This is key. Parents are now on guard for Disney/Pixar products, and that could be the death of those brands.

This Harris Poll is from last March, before Lightyear or Strange World were released as "family films", but I look forward to seeing what happens with the upcoming 2023 edition of this poll. The trajectory of Disney's reputation with American parents is clear. Does it get a "dead cat bounce" in '23, or is there still more of the cliff they have to fall off of in '23?

It's an ominous sign. And quite sad to see.

View attachment 686703

Wow this is very insightful! Again the people I know with kids aren't bigots by any means. They just don't feel they can trust Disney with their kids. This graph shows what's going on.

It's interesting that when I was growing up in the 90s and early 2000s the strictest parents actually ONLY let their kids watch Disney movies.

Some posters need to remember there's a difference between being a bigot and not feeling ready to have a conversation with a child about a topic.

People used to always trust Disney to be safe and family friendly. Now they make films about menstrual issues and homosexual love interests. Which again aren't bad things and are part of the real world, but not really the best things to expose toddlers to.

 

[LittleBuford]

If Disney wants to continue down this path, and make the princess in next summer's Wish the first Lesbian Princess who doesn't need a man, then more power to them.

But I do have to wonder, for the sake of all the cubicle drones in Burbank who need to keep their jobs, if this tactic of alienating a majority of parents around the world is the right path for the Disney brand to take? It's a business, remember. Not a social service agency.

Whether they're alienating a majority of parents is a matter of opinion. Time will reveal whether it's a winning strategy in the long run. My money's on yes.

 

[TP2000]

Wow this is very insightful! Again the people I know with kids aren't bigots by any means. They just don't feel they can trust Disney with their kids. This graph shows what's going on.

The only people who honestly think the average American middle-class parent is a bigot are people who have never actually talked to a middle-class American parent for at least 20 minutes.

It's interesting that when I was growing up in the 90s and early 2000s the strictest parents actually ONLY let their kids watch Disney movies.

Trust me, that was a thing in the 1960's also.

Some posters need to remember there's a difference between being a bigot and not feeling ready to have a conversation with a child about a topic.

Stop trying to inject reasonable nuance into the conversation. It's always immediately labeled as bigotry, and by people who have no children at that.

People used to always trust Disney to be safe and family friendly. Now they make films about menstrual issues and homosexual love interests. Which again aren't bad things and are part of the real world, but not really the best things to expose toddlers to.

I still haven't read any post here from anyone who would object to those subjects or jokes in a PG-13 rated Marvel movie. But when you push it downstream into the family films rated PG (which is the new G since Burbank is unable to create G rated movies any longer), it becomes an understandable sticking point with parents of young children. As it should be.

Unless you are a 50 year old man with no children who thinks they know how to raise a child better than any Midwest parent ever did.

 

[LittleBuford]

Some posters need to remember there's a difference between being a bigot and not feeling ready to have a conversation with a child about a topic.

Again, I find it interesting that parents are apparently comfortable with their children learning about death, murder (including fratricide), black magic, kidnapping, false imprisonment, teenage marriage, etc., from Disney films but draw the line at love between gay people.

 

[TP2000]

Whether they're alienating a majority of parents is a matter of opinion. Time will reveal whether it's a winning strategy in the long run. My money's on yes.

How many films and how many years are you going to give them to get there? Two more years and four more family films? Five more years and eight more family films? Longer?

Or will you know by next summer with Wish (assuming the princess in Wish is 2SLGBTQQIAP+)?

I'm fairly convinced on how this plays out for Burbank if they continue down this path, but I could be wrong. Maybe the family film Wish will have a Lesbian Princess and be a huge hit with families and parents with 8 year old girls?

 

[TP2000]

Again, I find it interesting that parents are apparently comfortable with their children learning about death, murder (including fratricide), black magic, kidnapping, false imprisonment, teenage marriage, etc., from Disney films but draw the line at love between gay people.

I can't explain parenting. As a part-time babysitter, I barely could get over laying out Ore-Ida brand chicken tenders as a menu item.

But it is what it is. And the box office returns for Disney's family films are increasingly flashing red at us.

 

[CaptinEO]

Again, I find it interesting that parents are apparently comfortable with their children learning about death, murder (including fratricide), black magic, kidnapping, false imprisonment, teenage marriage, etc., from Disney films but draw the line at love between gay people.

Just the world we live in. Star Wars and Super Hero movies with violence, war, and murder are acceptable but if an exposed female breast was shown it would be an outrage.

 

[_caleb]

They live in a bubble. They only get fed information that comforts them and supports them, never challenges them. And the information they do have of the world beyond their safe bubble is that it is full of bigots and backwards hicks who shop at WalMart and drive gas-powered trucks and go to churches where serpents are used and the pastor speaks in tongues. That is a big chunk of their audience for the products they sell, they are smart enough to know that. But they often think it's their responsibility to enlighten their paying audience and bring wisdom into their sad, bigoted lives that only they can bring.

Your post seems like a very uncharitable take on what those people think about those other people.

How do you know that it’s not you who lives in a bubble? I mean, we read your posts here every day, and your life (or what you present as your life) is really nothing at all like mine.

I only ask because I’m wondering if I live in a bubble. I mean, I try not to. I’ve traveled, lived abroad, I have friends who are just like me and friends who are nothing like me. I try to be a discerning consumer of news and information. But who knows? Maybe I don’t really understand what life is like for other people.

 

[CaptinEO]

The only people who honestly think the average American middle-class parent is a bigot are people who have never actually talked to a middle-class American parent for at least 20 minutes.



Trust me, that was a thing in the 1960's also.



Stop trying to inject reasonable nuance into the conversation. It's always immediately labeled as bigotry, and by people who have no children at that.



I still haven't read any post here from anyone who would object to those subjects or jokes in a PG-13 rated Marvel movie. But when you push it downstream into the family films rated PG (which is the new G since Burbank is unable to create G rated movies any longer), it becomes an understandable sticking point with parents of young children. As it should be.

Unless you are a 50 year old man with no children who thinks they know how to raise a child better than any Midwest parent ever did.

That is pretty wild that Disney as a company has operated for decades under the notion of being a safe family company and now is trying to be almost counter cultural.

It reminds of the story of hippies taking over Disneyland in the 70s. I feel if that happened today Disney corporate would be on their side.

It's only natural people feel somewhat betrayed that a company that played things safe culturally now takes the stance of believing they know better than parents.

No wonder Disney is tanking. It seems their political stance is just like imagineering where they insult their own fans. They have so far insulted theme park fans in the imagineering doc, insulted critical star wars fans by claiming they were racist, and are now telling parents they know better than them with their messaging.

The point about no more G rated films
is something I was unaware of and is again harmful for the brand and box office.

It's crazy to see a brand turn against their own fanbase like this.

 

[LittleBuford]

Just the world we live in.

The world we live in is one in which gay marriage is now legal in many countries, including the USA. Whether people like it or not, films are going to reflect that fact.