'Strange World' Disney's 2022 Animated Film

[Ghost93]

Disney couldn't train anything. Strange World was D+ material from the get-go. People go see what they want, when they want and spend what they want when they want. Disney needs to return / retrain itself to providing the public with what is wanted.

My point wasn't on the quality of the movie, but in changing audiences expectations. Disney needs to stop making people feel they can just get $150-180 million movies for FREE on Disney Plus.

Because of the the Soul/Luca/Turning Red releases, audiences now expect Disney to make EXTREMELY EXPENSIVE movies available for free. That's not sustainable. The costs of these movies are too high.

 

[Disstevefan1]

I can't wait to see this movie when its "free" on D+ .
Now I MUST see just how allegedly bad it really is.

It's kinda like that I MUST look at the Moana construction photos... I can't look away.

FYI, I am one of the three people who liked John Carter when I saw it "free" on streaming.

 

[GimpYancIent]

My point wasn't on the quality of the movie, but in changing audiences expectations. Disney needs to stop making people feel they can just get $150-180 million movies for FREE on Disney Plus.

Because of the the Soul/Luca/Turning Red releases, audiences now expect Disney to make EXTREMELY EXPENSIVE movies available for free. That's not sustainable. The costs of these movies are too high.

Yes, the public in general needs to lower expectations for Disney animated productions.

 

[MisterPenguin]

Is it safe to say that this would've lost less money if it went straight to Disney+, even if (hypothetically) it attracted zero new subscribers or kept zero people subscribed, rather than spend the money that was required for this movie to go into theaters?

Well, they do spend money to advertise new content on D+. Probably a lot less than for a wide theatrical release.

Using "the rule of thumb" for movie financials, Disney would have spent about $75M to advertise SW (or absolutely nothing if you believe the anecdotal IT WASN'T ADVERTISED claims ).

So at this point, it may have been a wash if released to D+ and no one saw it compared to the decision for a wide theatrical release.

 

[Ghost93]

I can't wait to see this movie when its "free" on D+ .
Now I MUST see just how allegedly bad it really is.

Strange World isn't "bad" it's just really mediocre and not noteworthy. It's a perfectly fine 6/10 film. If not for the gay controversy, I don't think anyone would even be talking about the movie at all. I imagine the film flopping at the box office might lead to people lowering their expectations and then saying, "well, it's actually not that terrible," when they see it on streaming.

But "actually not that terrible" isn't the standard Disney Animation should aim for. We expect excellence. While I, as a gay man, admire the representation in Strange World, representation alone doesn't make a movie good or great.

 

[DCLcruiser]

AMC at Disney Springs was advertising and you could watch a preview at DHS.

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

The Disney animation cycle, 80s were just ok, 90s were mostly great, 00s were just ok, 10’s were mostly great, 20s starting off just ok… looking forward to the 30s.

 

[TwilightZone]

Ouch. This got me curious so I decided to also look at all the lincensees/manufactuers. This might be the most comprehensive list of what Strange World merch exists and who made it. The largest collection of merch can be found at Amazon, where most of this list came from. The Splat Plush and steel water bottle seem to be shopdisney exclusive. Here's an image album of further merch I found, just as proof they exist.

Just remembered you can do tables here! Here's a hopefully more eligible version of this list because I love lists!

Books

Manufacturer	Title
Little Golden Books	Strange World
DK Children	Ultimate Sticker Book
RH/Disney	Junior Novelization	Deluxe Junior Novelization	Graphic Novel	Meet the Clades	So You Want to Be an Explorer!	Adventure Awaits!
Chronicle Books	The art of Strange World
Bendon	Imagine Ink Book

Toys

Manufacturer	Type of Toy
Basic Fun	Mini Figure Collector Set	Ethan and Skiff Vehicle
Unknown	Official Splat Plush

Outfits

Manufacturer	Outfit Description/Title
Disney (According to Amazon, anyways)	Splat Wave	Let's Make History	Splat Focus	Hang in There	Destiny Awaits	Clades Family Venture Beyond Poster T-shirt	Venture Beyond Badge T-shirt	Avalonia Venture Beyond	Destiny Awaits Group Shot	Venture Beyond Knit Top	Splat logo pull over hoodie	Clades Family Let's Make History long sleeve shirt	Strange Adventures Girls Short Sleeve Tee
	Strange World Travel Line Art T-shirt	Strange World Adventurer Bars woman's tank top	Travel Line Art Girls t-shirt	Family Split Panel Bars hoodie

Misc

Manufacturer	Type of Merch
Various Chinese Manufacturers	Off-brand Splat Plush	Cake toppers
Bendon	Party favors
Disney	Venture beyond Samsung Phone case	Official soundtrack
Trends International	Hang in there posters	Let's Go Make History posters
Unknown	Steel water bottle

 

[TP2000]

Is it safe to say that this would've lost less money if it went straight to Disney+, even if (hypothetically) it attracted zero new subscribers or kept zero people subscribed, rather than spend the money that was required for this movie to go into theaters?

That's the million dollar question that I think Burbank is trying to figure out now after the disastrous year Pixar and Walt Disney Animation has had. Their streaming strategy with mega-budget movies clearly needs fixing. Or is it the mega-budget strategy in the age of streaming that needs fixing?

But I am of the firm opinion that the following answer is the right one, even as financially painful as it may be at a time of corporate crisis like Burbank is now in....

Even if Strange World is a total flop, I think it was the right call to send it to theaters. Disney made a grave mistake by getting people used to the idea of movies going straight to Disney plus for free with Soul, Luca, Turning Red, the day and date release for Raya and the extremely short theatrical window for Encanto.

And the cherry on top is this really good point on the timing for mercifully shuffling Strange World off to Disney+...

I wouldn't put Strange World on Disney Plus until February. Not because it will make more money, but because I think in late December you want all of the headlines to be about Avatar's (probable) success: the Way of Water. You don't want to reignite discourse on one of Disney's biggest flops.

Shifting gears...

Because of the the Soul/Luca/Turning Red releases, audiences now expect Disney to make EXTREMELY EXPENSIVE movies available for free. That's not sustainable. The costs of these movies are too high.

I agree. I've been saying that here since Lightyear ($200 Million production budget!) face planted, and Lightyear wasn't nearly the disastrous flop that Strange World is.

This business model is not sustainable. Drastic changes are needed ASAP. Good luck, Bob!

 

[TP2000]

Using "the rule of thumb" for movie financials, Disney would have spent about $75M to advertise SW (or absolutely nothing if you believe the anecdotal IT WASN'T ADVERTISED claims ).

It was advertised. But you have to admit it wasn't advertised until a week or so before its release, and the advertising was sparsely placed and not very good.

I mean, how many people in just this thread have said that if it weren't for this hilariously entertaining weeks-long conversation that they wouldn't have even known Strange World existed? And these are people spending time on a Disney fan website!

Now go ask the random housewife in line at the Piggly-Wiggly in Boise if she's heard of Strange World.

So at this point, it may have been a wash if released to D+ and no one saw it compared to the decision for a wide theatrical release.

True. But do you really think they spent $75 Million to market Strange World? If so, that means they started out in 4,172 theaters on Thanksgiving weekend already $255 Million in the hole ($180 production budget + $75 Million marketing budget).

So if Strange World ends with $75 Million in global ticket sales (a steep hill at this point, but let's be optimistic for once!), that would mean that Burbank basically took $180 Million in cash out to a trash dumpster behind the studio commissary and set it on fire. I'm baffled by that. There's definitely a story there!

 

[TP2000]

Just remembered you can do tables here! Here's a hopefully more eligible version of this list because I love lists!

What?!? I had no idea this existed. I love lists too!

This thread has taught this old dog two new tricks.

1. There is apparently a "Report" function on this board. There is? Where? Oh, I see it now. That's what that does? Okay, I guess that makes the vulnerable types feel better? Sign o' the times, sadly.

2. You can make tables. You can?!? How? I'll need to practice! I can't wait! But I'll still probably cut-and-paste stuff.

Books

Manufacturer	Title
Little Golden Books	Strange World
DK Children	Ultimate Sticker Book
RH/Disney	Junior Novelization	Deluxe Junior Novelization	Graphic Novel	Meet the Clades	So You Want to Be an Explorer!	Adventure Awaits!
Chronicle Books	The art of Strange World
Bendon	Imagine Ink Book

Toys

Manufacturer	Type of Toy
Basic Fun	Mini Figure Collector Set	Ethan and Skiff Vehicle
Unknown	Official Splat Plush

Outfits

Manufacturer	Outfit Description/Title
Disney (According to Amazon, anyways)	Splat Wave	Let's Make History	Splat Focus	Hang in There	Destiny Awaits	Clades Family Venture Beyond Poster T-shirt	Venture Beyond Badge T-shirt	Avalonia Venture Beyond	Destiny Awaits Group Shot	Venture Beyond Knit Top	Splat logo pull over hoodie	Clades Family Let's Make History long sleeve shirt	Strange Adventures Girls Short Sleeve Tee
	Strange World Travel Line Art T-shirt	Strange World Adventurer Bars woman's tank top	Travel Line Art Girls t-shirt	Family Split Panel Bars hoodie

Misc

Manufacturer	Type of Merch
Various Chinese Manufacturers	Off-brand Splat Plush	Cake toppers
Bendon	Party favors
Disney	Venture beyond Samsung Phone case	Official soundtrack
Trends International	Hang in there posters	Let's Go Make History posters
Unknown	Steel water bottle

 

[TwilightZone]

What?!? I had no idea this existed. I love lists too!

This thread has taught this old dog two new tricks.

1. There is apparently a "Report" function on this board. There is? Where? Oh, I see it now. That's what that does? Okay, I guess that makes the vulnerable types feel better? Sign o' the times, sadly.

2. You can make tables. You can?!? How? I'll need to practice! I can't wait! But I'll still probably cut-and-paste stuff.

First click the thingy with the three dots at the end

Then click the square thingy

Start with 1 x 2, it's easier that way IMO

The "H" is for header, the trashcan deletes the table, the lines that look like a hamburger add or delete rows, the lines that look like a book facing forward add or delete columns.

 

[Disney Irish]

Or is it the mega-budget strategy in the age of streaming that needs fixing?

Streaming is here to stay, so yes the mega-budget strategy is what needs to change.

And if we're being completely honest this has been an issue at Disney long before D+ was even a thing. They've long spent Millions more (sometimes hundreds of Millions) on production costs than they need to, and have been for a long time. So this is nothing new, its just coming to light more now that D+ is a primary driver of content at Disney.

 

[TP2000]

Streaming is here to stay, so yes the mega-budget strategy is what needs to change.

Very true. I just finished Season 5 of The Crown last week, and then promptly cancelled my Netflix again until Season 6 comes out. Season 5 was definitely worth the $15 for November, but I'm happy to cancel and not pay Netflix while I wait for Season 6!

And if we're being completely honest this has been an issue at Disney long before D+ was even a thing. They've long spent Millions more (sometimes hundreds of Millions) on production costs than they need to, and have been for a long time. So this is nothing new, its just coming to light more now that D+ is a primary driver of content at Disney.

Yes, but Strange World is something different than just Lightyear or Luca.

This Thanksgiving family film with a $180 Million budget had a marketing and media presence, not to mention a presence on the Target toy shelves for Christmas, that was... well, I'm reminded of this scene from 2001 when they go to visit the monolith on the moon:

"Deliberately buried!...."

 

[WorldExplorer]

I can't wait to see this movie when its "free" on D+ .
Now I MUST see just how allegedly bad it really is.

It's kinda like that I MUST look at the Moana construction photos... I can't look away.

FYI, I am one of the three people who liked John Carter when I saw it "free" on streaming.

I'm feeling the opposite; part of me is considering actually bothering to see this just so I can say I saw Disney's biggest bomb in theaters.

Maybe I'll get lucky and have the theater to myself, like I did for Good Dinosaur.

 

[Ghost93]

I'm feeling the opposite; part of me is considering actually bothering to see this just so I can say I saw Disney's biggest bomb in theaters.

Maybe I'll get lucky and have the theater to myself, like I did for Good Dinosaur.

I also saw Atlantis and Treasure Planet in theaters when I was a child and John Carter in theaters when I was a teen. I guess I have a tradition of being there for Disney's sci-fi flops!

Although Atlantis made much more money than Strange World and definitely had a bigger marketing push. Atlantis was just a flop due to expectations and its huge budget. It made $186 million on a $120 million budget.

The Strange World situation is more akin to the Black Cauldron, which made $21.3 million on a $40 million budget in 1985. I think Strange World will probably be more popular than the Black Cauldron in the long run, however.

 

[TP2000]

I'm feeling the opposite; part of me is considering actually bothering to see this just so I can say I saw Disney's biggest bomb in theaters.

Maybe I'll get lucky and have the theater to myself, like I did for Good Dinosaur.

I think you'll have your wish.

Here's the big, swanky multiplex a few miles east of Disneyland. Located smack dab in the middle of affluent, well educated, and family-focused Orange County, population 3.4 Million. The perfect Disney demographic!

All seats are available for this evening's 6:20pm Strange World performances. 4,174 Theaters!

Or you could grab dinner first, and then see the 7:40 show tonight. Not a single seat purchased yet. 4,174 theaters!

Or are you a Nite Owl like me? The 9:00pm showing moves back to theater #24 and is wide open. 4,174 Theaters!

 

[Disney Irish]

Very true. I just finished Season 5 of The Crown last week, and then promptly cancelled my Netflix again until Season 6 comes out. Season 5 was definitely worth the $15 for November, but I'm happy to cancel and not pay Netflix while I wait for Season 6!

Netflix has much more than the Crown to keep a subscription going in my opinion. For example I'm watching this cute little animation series called Inside Job, you might actually like it.

I would suggest you check out their library, you may find something else to your liking.

Yes, but Strange World is something different than just Lightyear or Luca.

This Thanksgiving family film with a $180 Million budget had a marketing and media presence, not to mention a presence on the Target toy shelves for Christmas, that was... well, I'm reminded of this scene from 2001 when they go to visit the monolith on the moon:

"Deliberately buried!...."

I don't think it was "deliberately buried". I saw plenty of ads for it prior to its release. So I really am honestly surprised that many here didn't know about it prior to release. But we're beyond that now, so it is what it is. We know they didn't market it well, so lets move on from that.

We're not the ones that have to make the decisions on these type of things. So while its a good discussion here that appears to never end, nothing is going to be "solved" or "discovered" in these forums.

What I can say is that Disney needs to rein in budgets, that is a long time complaint discussed here in the forums. Should a movie like this cost $150-180M, no. So they have to rein in the costs of production across the board. And as I said streaming isn't going away so they really do need to figure out how to keep costs low while still pumping out quality content. One example, and while its not a family friendly film, but Violent Night only cost $20M to make, and it made $13M on its opening weekend. It was a pretty good action Christmas movie made for peanuts basically. Disney needs to learn to make those type of cheaper but still quality content for theaters/streaming.

 

[brb1006]

I'm a fan of anime myself. Miyazaki's Spirited Away is one of my favorite animated movies. And then there's Demon Slayer, Full Metal Alchemist, One Piece, etc.

I'm also a fan of anime and manga. For years I've been a big fan of Osamu Tezuka's Unico franchise. Not only do I deeply love the film adaptations (The Fantastic Adventures of Unico and Unico in the Island of Magic) from the early 80s (which even aired on Disney Channel during it's early years). Featuring Barbara Goodson as the English voice of Unico.

But I've even managed to get an official English translation of the original manga (1976-1979) for Christmas 2020. The English version combined all chapters from three separate volumes and is seriously worth seeking out and is almost over 500 pages long. As a young man, some of the stories and Unico's interactions towards people he befriended and sympathy towards a few villains made me tear up! He's that pure and compassionate!

I not only love Tezuka's art style and characters designs in the series. But due to a complex story line centered on friendship, love, and loneliness. While it's very melancholy alongside mixing in some darker and sadder moments. I also love how there's always a sense of hope with the titular baby unicorn being very compassionate (which even extends to a few antagonists and villains).

The franchise has even gained a very dedicated cult following in The United States and Canada due to Disney Channel frequently airing the film series throughout the 1980s. To the point that an official English translation of the manga was started up by a group of American fans in the early 2010s which was very successful.

I've so looking forward to finally owning a re-imaging of Unico with Unico: AWAKENING arriving someday next year (Summer 2023). It's a Japanese/American collaborative manga. I love the titular baby unicorn's redesign for the manga.

Heck, I've even re-read the original manga in preparation for Unico: AWAKENING's release. Samuel Sattin (American author and writer of the upcoming manga) is a big fan of Tezuka and instantly took a plane to Japan (via private jet) to pitch his idea on reintroducing Unico to a new generation of readers across the world.

Highly recommend checking out the American fanblog/site "My Unico Fans". The site is dedicated to keeping track on any Unico related news, information, and in-depth look as the franchise. It was launched last Summer and is constantly updating pages for the characters and everything else.

 

[TwilightZone]

They also need to figure out how to make good CGI on a budget. There's a show on Paramount right now that's an adaptation of Big Nate. The quality of the scripts, from what I have heard, aren't up to snuff and don't adapt the source well, at all. But where it shines is surprisingly really decent, artistic, CGI for a TV/streaming budget.

Compare this to

The cgi in the first wimpy kid reboot

The cgi in Chip and Dale (which is very hit and miss imo)

The cgi in Buck Wild