Written by Luke Barnes
In this cinema issues article we are talking about the dire state of Disney and how they are facing down a pretty dismal future and why that is.
On paper Disney should be doing well, they have some many classic film franchises, and are well known and in some quarters beloved across the world, and yet at the 2023 box office they had more bombs than any other studio. Moreover, their reputation is so low at the moment that they are having to turn off the comments on their trailers as people are tearing into them and down voting them into oblivion.
So the question is why? Honestly, there isn’t much of any one answer to that there are quite a few and I’ll try to get to what I view as the main few in this piece.
I think the main reason people have turned on Disney is because they represent quantity over quality, they are churning out sequels, prequels and remakes no one wants. They are either using the wrong algorithm or betting hard on nostalgia that doesn’t seem to be coming together in this regard. Look at their upcoming Lion King live action sequel, it has already been down voted to hell and why? Not because it is offensive or even super bad but because it looks soulless and no one wants it, in many respects this comes off as them being entirely out of touch which you could argue almost all of Hollywood is right now. Moreover, in the investors call Bob Iger said that they are content mining, which really reflects how Disney view these properties not as something to be stewarded and looked after but rather something they can make a quick buck out of, and obviously it’s the movie business so you expect things like this, but you don’t expect them to say it.
Another reason why people are turning on Disney and this crosses over with the idea they are out of touch is that they push political messages constantly and towards kids. Film and TV can and often does have political messages and that’s fine but you have to also expect the blowback and the drop off, the idea is that you care so much about the thing you are out there preaching that you don’t care people are leaving. Many people are angry for what they see as Disney pushing out incredibly progressive messaging in their content, which doesn’t line up with a lot of its audience believe, this is the issue with commenting on hot button issues in your content, you create a divide. Moreover, to then go out of your way to call your fans names and try and shame them for not having the same politics as you is another good way to lose business. It seems though not in the immediate term that Disney have learnt this lesson and are trying to get out of the culture war, as they have issued a number of statements saying how they are walking away from the message, but we will have to wait and see.
Finally the third reason I think Disney is loathed at the moment is the idea of audience homogenisation. It is well known that Disney have taken things like Marvel or Star Wars things that have always been traditionally male brands and have tried to make them appeal more to women in the idea of having a wider audience share and making more money. They have done other things with other franchises again in order to try and grow the audience as well, but as it has started to come out with things like Madame Web these tactics don’t work, rather than get a new audience in whilst also retaining your old audience, your old audience ends up feeling alienated and leaves and you don’t get in enough new people to replace them.
If I were Disney I would clean house, they need to get rid of a lot of people that are pushing these sort of ideas, I would go back to making films and tv shows people want, I would listen to fans of their franchises in a meaningful way, I would keep politics out of it or get writers who can handle it in a way that doesn’t feel so heavy handed and I would keep my franchises aimed at the demographics that had made them popular and not try and bring in anyone else as I would know it would alienate the original fans.
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