'Strange World' Disney's 2022 Animated Film

[Vegas Disney Fan]

I would like to know why the son in this three-generation family adventure story needs to have a crush on a same-sex friend and how that advances the plot and helps the storyline. No one seems to have explained that yet.
The gelatinous community would feel represented and seen at least.

As long as the crush is part of the storyline, and the sex of the crush doesn’t sidetrack the story, why does it matter if it’s a boy or a girl?

I felt the same when I saw the “controversial” moment in Lightyear, her parents ended up being 2 girls, it lasted all of about 10 seconds on screen. Not exactly preaching or grooming, just a fairly common family by todays standards.

My friends are as varied as they can be, not because I chose to have black, Hispanic, Asian, straight, and gay friends but because we share hobbies like golf, Disney, running, etc. I choose friends based on shared ideas and hobbies rather than labels.

It’s also not a coincidence that we’re all fairly average too, my gay friends aren’t flaming, my black friends aren’t gangbangers, my white friends aren’t white trash… we have different skin colors and tastes in men/women but we’re all pretty run of the mill middle class people. We’re far more alike than different despite having very different backgrounds.

 

[TP2000]

Strange World opens today in theaters.

There is a big, modern multiplex a couple miles east of Disneyland, in a busy entertainment center with lots of popular restaurants attached and a giant sea of free parking, Cinemark Century Stadium 25. It's been there for 20 years and is smack dab in the middle of affluent Orange County, population 3.4 Million.

There are six performances of Strange World tonight at this theater. The most any performance has sold is six (6) tickets. One showing has two tickets sold, and three showings are completely unsold.

Here's the 7:10 pm showing of Strange World later tonight, in one of their smaller theaters. Opening Night!

There are six (6) seats sold, so far.

After that 7:10 showing, the next performance moves over to one of their bigger theaters, at 8:40pm. There are zero tickets sold so far. It's entirely unsold. Anyone wanna go to the movies? Please?!?

 

[MisterPenguin]

Strange World opens today in theaters.

There is a big, modern multiplex a couple miles east of Disneyland, in a busy entertainment center with lots of popular restaurants attached and a giant sea of free parking, Cinemark Century Stadium 25. It's been there for 20 years and is smack dab in the middle of affluent Orange County, population 3.4 Million.

There are six performances of Strange World tonight at this theater. The most any performance has sold is six (6) tickets. One showing has two tickets sold, and three showings are completely unsold.

Here's the 7:10 pm showing of Strange World later tonight, in one of their smaller theaters. Opening Night!

There are six (6) seats sold, so far.

View attachment 680108

After that 7:10 showing, the next performance moves over to one of their bigger theaters, at 8:40pm. There are zero tickets sold so far. It's entirely unsold. Anyone wanna go to the movies? Please?!?

View attachment 680111

This bizarre schadenfreude you have to bait and troll these Disney content threads to dump on it all is disgusting, pathetic, and sociopathic. And almost always full of false information or cherry-picked data to create a false narrative.

Shame on you. Shame.

And @BuddyThomas, your over-the-top reaction is just playing into it. You've been baited and hooked. You're really not helping.

 

[RobWDW1971]

Which I thoroughly enjoy, and imo, are always on point, btw!

Oh sure, it's easy to consistently ACTUALLY post hilarious, witty, insightful posts and entertain us all for nearly 20 years.

What is difficult is to somehow NEVER actually post anything funny, witty, or interesting in over 13,000 posts and then bizarrely demand that everyone acknowledge your (apparently hidden) talents.

Now THAT is impressive!

 

[mickEblu]

I’m probably going to regret joining this conversation but in anticipation of Strange World I turned the parental controls on my sons Disney + profile to Rated G and below so it would hide the movie from him. Unfortunately it hides other PG movies like Up and Incredibles but oh well. He turns 7 this week. The scene that has been described does not seem appropriate for a PG movie geared towards 7 and 8 year olds. If Disney wants to be progressive a scene like that would be much more appropriate in a PG 13 movie with an older target demo of pre teens and above.

It’s a very odd choice and I expect this movie to bomb. I suspect they have been getting a lot of internal pressure to be more inclusive in their movies but they need to be smarter about how they go about it. Going back to back with this stuff on two PG movies is puzzling. You’d think they have money to burn.

 

[Ghost93]

I’m probably going to regret joining this conversation but in anticipation of Strange World I turned the parental controls on my sons Disney + profile to Rated G and below so it would hide the movie from him. Unfortunately it hides other PG movies like Up and Incredibles but oh well. He turns 7 this week. The scene that has been described does not seem appropriate for a PG movie geared towards 7 and 8 year olds. If Disney wants to be progressive a scene like that would be much more appropriate in a PG 13 movie with an older target demo of pre teens and above.

It’s a very odd choice and I expect this movie to bomb. I suspect they have been getting a lot of internal pressure to be more inclusive in their movies but they need to be smarter about how they go about it. Going back to back with this stuff on two PG movies is puzzling. You’d think they have money to burn.

The movie will bomb, but having a gay character doesn't make a movie inappropriate for children. As someone who was once a gay child, I would have loved to see representation at a young age!

 

[mickEblu]

The movie will bomb, but having a gay character doesn't make a movie inappropriate for children. As someone who was once a gay child, I would have loved to see representation at a young age!

At 7?

And that scene will definitely heavily contribute to it bombing. The only debate is on how much.

 

[MisterPenguin]

I’m probably going to regret joining this conversation but in anticipation of Strange World I turned the parental controls on my sons Disney + profile to Rated G and below so it would hide the movie from him. Unfortunately it hides other PG movies like Up and Incredibles but oh well. He turns 7 this week. The scene that has been described does not seem appropriate for a PG movie geared towards 7 and 8 year olds. If Disney wants to be progressive a scene like that would be much more appropriate in a PG 13 movie with an older target demo of pre teens and above.

It’s a very odd choice and I expect this movie to bomb. I suspect they have been getting a lot of internal pressure to be more inclusive in their movies but they need to be smarter about how they go about it. Going back to back with this stuff on two PG movies is puzzling. You’d think they have money to burn.

Incredibles? Why are you letting a 6 year old watch a movie in which children are put in mortal danger?

The rating system doesn't have fine controls over the type of stuff that ratings are based on.

 

[Disney Irish]

Let's be honest, a large portion of Disney Animated Films up until recently have been box office duds. And yet many still go on to being considered classics and beloved by generations. So just because something is considered a "box office bomb" financially should not be some measure of its quality. The film itself should stand on its own away from the BO in terms of whether its good quality or not.

Also let me say that what some consider "questionable" topics to add to an animated movie will seem silly as the time progresses, that is just the way things go in society.

So will Strange World set the Box Office on fire, no probably not. Will it be a quality film, based on recent reviews, yes it just might be.

 

[Ghost93]

At 7?

And that scene will definitely heavily contribute to it bombing. The only debate is on how much.

Yes. At that age I had already seen plenty of heterosexual romances from Disney movies. Snow White/Prince Charming, Bambi and Faline, Cinderella and her Prince, Peter Pan and Wendy, Lady and the Tramp, Aurora and Phillip, Robin Hood and Maid Marian, Dutchess and O'Malley, Bernard and Bianca, Ariel and Eric, Belle and the Beast, Aladdin and Jasmine, John Smith and Pocahontas, Esmeralda and Phoebus, Woody and Bo Peep, Tarzan and Jane, etc. Many of those romances involved passionate kissing, which I don't even think will happen with the gay characters in Strange World.

Gay relationships are not inherently more sexual than straight ones. It's adults who make it a sexual issue.

 

[Disney Analyst]

Yes. At that age I had already seen plenty of heterosexual romances from Disney movies. Snow White/Prince Charming, Bambi and Faline, Cinderella and her Prince, Peter Pan and Wendy, Lady and the Tramp, Aurora and Phillip, Robin Hood and Maid Marian, Dutchess and O'Malley, Bernard and Bianca, Ariel and Eric, Belle and the Beast, Aladdin and Jasmine, John Smith and Pocahontas, Esmeralda and Phoebus, Woody and Bo Peep, Tarzan and Jane, etc. Many of those romances involved passionate kissing, which I don't even think will happen with the gay characters in Strange World.

Gay relationships are not inherently more sexual than straight ones. It's adults who make it a sexual issue.

Precisely. I wish people would stop sexualizing our community. Our life is no more sexual than a straight person. Our relationships are not more devious, or more salacious.

My partner and I are quite frankly just another boring couple, with a cat.

I can't imagine this will be portrayed in any way but an age appropriate manner, and so my question becomes, do people REALLY not want society reflected in movies? Are only straight relationships valid for younger audiences to view?

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Yes. At that age I had already seen plenty of heterosexual romances from Disney movies. Snow White/Prince Charming, Bambi and Faline, Cinderella and her Prince, Peter Pan and Wendy, Lady and the Tramp, Aurora and Phillip, Robin Hood and Maid Marian, Dutchess and O'Malley, Bernard and Bianca, Ariel and Eric, Belle and the Beast, Aladdin and Jasmine, John Smith and Pocahontas, Esmeralda and Phoebus, Woody and Bo Peep, Tarzan and Jane, etc. Many of those romances involved passionate kissing, which I don't even think will happen with the gay characters in Strange World.

Gay relationships are not inherently more sexual than straight ones. It's adults who make it a sexual issue.

I'm going to try to steer this back towards the business implications of the whole thing, rather than any kind of morality debate about what's "appropriate" for children.

So setting aside "appropriateness," how do you think studios should think about interest? As in "Joe is straight and a gay romance is not a story that interests him"? I honestly don't know the answer. It's like reverse-representation, right? If Steve is gay and would like to see representation of gay romances on screen, wouldn't it follow that HeteroJoe would like to see straight romances on screen? And if there are way more Joes than there are Steves, what should the studios do when it comes time to allocate resources to projects?

 

[Disney Analyst]

I'm going to try to steer this back towards the business implications of the whole thing, rather than any kind of morality debate about what's "appropriate" for children.

So setting aside "appropriateness," how do you think studios should think about interest? As in "Joe is straight and a gay romance is not a story that interests him"? I honestly don't know the answer. It's like reverse-representation, right? If Steve is gay and would like to see representation of gay romances on screen, wouldn't it follow that HeteroJoe would like to see straight romances on screen? And if there are way more Joes than there are Steves, what should the studios do when it comes time to allocate resources to projects?

I guess my real question is, why can't Joe still enjoy and have an emotional response to a relationship that may not be fully reflective of the ones he sees himself in?

I mean, I still have emotional responses to the many beautiful relationships that have been portrayed in film that have not depicted my point of view. They don't detract from the film for me.

Is there an inherent reason HeteroJoe can't enjoy both? Can't accept that many kinds of relationships can exist and be portrayed in media?

 

[CaptainAmerica]

I guess my real question is, why can't Joe still enjoy and have an emotional response to a relationship that may not be fully reflective of the ones he sees himself in?

I honestly have no idea. I cried when David brought Patrick to the cottage in Schitt's Creek, but I'm very certain I will never see Bros.

I mean, I still have emotional responses to the many beautiful relationships that have been portrayed in film that have not depicted my point of view. They don't detract from the film for me.

I mean I do think there's an evolutionary biology lizard-brain component to everything in that heterosexual romance is rooted in reproduction and family formation. The only reason we exist is because every single one of our ancestors was either a man who had sex with a woman or a woman who had sex with a man. Echoes of that evolutionary process live on in all of our DNA, regardless of sexual orientation or explicit desire to reproduce or have a family. It's the same reason, I imagine, that many gay couples have a desire to raise children even if they have no desire to do the thing that creates children.

All that to say, "I don't know."

 

[Disney Irish]

Precisely. I wish people would stop sexualizing our community. Our life is no more sexual than a straight person. Our relationships are not more devious, or more salacious.

My partner and I are quite frankly just another boring couple, with a cat.

I can't imagine this will be portrayed in any way but an age appropriate manner, and so my question becomes, do people REALLY not want society reflected in movies? Are only straight relationships valid for younger audiences to view?

A cat..... You fiend!

 

[Phroobar]

I've seen a lot of Netflix shows. They are all pretty formulaic. However, there must be always be at least one gay minor character and usually as comic relief. That character has at least one kissing to sexual scene. That relationship however, rarely has any baring on the plot in general. It feels like the screenwriter is just checking off a box like they do for gratuitous nudity. Why can't there just be characters where their sexual preference has nothing to do with the story? They just happen to be straight or gay. It really shouldn't matter and the character shouldn't be a cartoon stereotype.

 

[TP2000]

This bizarre schadenfreude you have to bait and troll these Disney content threads to dump on it all is disgusting, pathetic, and sociopathic. And almost always full of false information or cherry-picked data to create a false narrative.

Do you see a movie theater reservation website where tonight's Strange World theaters are full?

Because I don't.

Hard data and facts may be inconvenient, but they are still hard data and facts.

Shame on you. Shame.

Like calling someone "racist" to try and shut them up, that threat doesn't work any more with people.

The Walt Disney Company is in a state of internal turmoil and financial hardship it hasn't seen in decades. Much of that is due to the financial underperformance and box office failures of its flagship movie studios, especially Animation and Pixar. The box office performance of Strange World this holiday season is very important for Burbank; they spent at least $120 Million on its production budget.

It's a valid topic of conversation, and one I find particularly fascinating to watch play out. So I will continue to do that here on this conversation board, until I find it not entertaining and interesting to do so. I am not ashamed of that in the least.

 

[TP2000]

I’m probably going to regret joining this conversation but...

Oh, come on in! The water is fine and the sharks don't actually bite.

...in anticipation of Strange World I turned the parental controls on my sons Disney + profile to Rated G and below so it would hide the movie from him. Unfortunately it hides other PG movies like Up and Incredibles but oh well. He turns 7 this week. The scene that has been described does not seem appropriate for a PG movie geared towards 7 and 8 year olds. If Disney wants to be progressive a scene like that would be much more appropriate in a PG 13 movie with an older target demo of pre teens and above.

Thank you for that! It's a concern I've also had with recent Disney or Pixar movies that are all suddenly rated PG. I talked about it a bit in the Lightyear thread. Apparently, PG is the new G and Burbank doesn't even try to make a G Rated family movie any longer.

I find that bizarre, and concerning from both a cultural and financial perspective.

It’s a very odd choice and I expect this movie to bomb. I suspect they have been getting a lot of internal pressure to be more inclusive in their movies but they need to be smarter about how they go about it. Going back to back with this stuff on two PG movies is puzzling. You’d think they have money to burn.

That's just it. They don't have money to burn any longer. The Burbank campus is in crisis mode now. So why are they trying to appease social justice warriors in their own cubicle ranks with movies that inevitably flop, instead of trying to make family movies that will do huge box office a thousand miles from Burbank?

The movie studio divisions of The Walt Disney Company are not social service agencies. They need to sell tickets to movies and put butts in seats. G rated butts.

 

[TP2000]

The movie will bomb, but having a gay character doesn't make a movie inappropriate for children. As someone who was once a gay child, I would have loved to see representation at a young age!

I agree with your sentiment to an extent. And God only knows why I care as an old gay bachelor who couldn't even begin to conquer a child's runny nose, let alone a dirty diaper. But...

In 2022 I feel it's appropriate to show a gay teenager of about 15 or older if the movie is rated PG-13 and thus aimed at teens instead of 3rd graders. And the "representation" there in a teen movie should not include sexual acts of any kind beyond hand holding or an arm around the shoulder. But it also has to be important to the plot and story, not just added by an HR committee to look hip.

But if the movie is rated G (or apparently now PG, see post above), I don't feel it's appropriate to include young gay characters in that movie that is trying to sell tickets to 3rd graders. An 8 year old is radically different from a 15 year old, even though both of them have to be driven to the theater by their parents.

I marvel at how quickly the world changed in regards to gay acceptance over the past 20 years.

And yet, I do not blame parents of young children one bit from hesitating to take their 8 year old to a movie with gay characters in it. That is a conversation that must be left up to the parent and child to discuss together at the age deemed appropriate by the parent. It should not be forced into a Disney movie just to appease adult hipsters who weren't going to see the movie anyway.

Disney needs to leave the parenting of young children up to the parents, and just make G rated animation that a family can enjoy together without having to discuss sex on the car ride home.

 

[TP2000]

I honestly have no idea. I cried when David brought Patrick to the cottage in Schitt's Creek, but I'm very certain I will never see Bros.

Schitt's Creek was truly Canada's gift to the world. One of the best TV comedies of all time!

I mean I do think there's an evolutionary biology lizard-brain component to everything in that heterosexual romance is rooted in reproduction and family formation. The only reason we exist is because every single one of our ancestors was either a man who had sex with a woman or a woman who had sex with a man. Echoes of that evolutionary process live on in all of our DNA, regardless of sexual orientation or explicit desire to reproduce or have a family. It's the same reason, I imagine, that many gay couples have a desire to raise children even if they have no desire to do the thing that creates children.

It's fascinating, isn't it? I will say, the gay parenting thing didn't come along until the 1990's. I have friends that were among that first round of gay parents 30 years ago. It was revolutionary, and they had HUGE obstacles to overcome when it came to schools and hospitals and stuff like Cub Scouts or soccer practice.

Prior to the 1990's, it was really just a situation where we were so thrilled to not have our bars and bistros raided by the police on a weekly basis that we just wanted to dance and date openly. Parenting came later. At least for some who weren't afraid of runny noses and diapers, like me.