Disney Renaissance 2/Disney Revival

[EricJ]

Problem is, demand isn't going up--
They're facing a record number of customers having tantrums at the last bits of price-gouging and the ticket-reservation system, and making big trending to-do's of "That's it, it's my last visit, I'm never going back!"
The quality's slipped as a result, and WDW was actually out of the top 5 best ranked parks last year, for the first time in decades.

Something's going to penetrate Chapek's big smiling brick wall sooner or later, just like his "The Galactic Starcruiser hotel will be booking solid by this time next year!" bravado.

[Farerb]

Disney CEO Bob Chapek said:

“our fans & audiences put their kids to bed at night after watching ‘Pinocchio’, ‘Dumbo’ or ‘Little Mermaid’, then they’re probably not going to tune into another animated movie, they want something for them.”

This is why their films nowadays look the way they do

[ShyViolet]

[Ben]

[EricJ]

Kids don't watch Dumbo or Bambi, their parents MAKE them watch it.

[Ben]

Isn’t the point that most *adults* would rather watch Pinocchio, Dumbo, Bambi or Little Mermaid? And then "tune" into another animated movie…?

[EricJ]

Chapek probably likes those sitcom-headed third-party animateds, with their "Jokes adults can enjoy along with their kids".

In fact, in addition to Chapek's park reputation of being a velvet-rope snob more interested in $100 dessert parties and DVC timeshare hotels than family traffic, his assumption about "grownups" sounds uncannily like the terrible late 90s-early 00s Parks days under Paul Pressler--
Who was delusionally convinced that adults "hated" the parks, were "bored" taking their kids around, would rather drop them off with one parent and go off to the Institute or golf courses for the afternoon, immediately assumed audiences were booing old Walt-era attractions that were getting low traffic (and that they needed new current 90s-IP makeovers), tried marketing the Villains to the adult crowd, thinking that they'd be "sympathetic" with Maleficent or Captain Hook wanting to smash all that pixie dust, and crafted most of the marketing around "Don't worry, there's still stuff for YOU to do!"

...Like Chapek, lord, were we counting the days until we could get rid of him.

[ShyViolet]

Oh no.


https://www.cnbc.com/2022/11/11/disney- ... -says.html

[ShyViolet]

From a few days ago, but still very relevant:

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/busin ... 235258725/

“More and more we look at Disney as what it is already recognized as being to the consumer: A lifestyle brand,” he said, mentioning Disney’s upcoming adult community in Palm Springs, targeting consumers that “have more time and discretionary spend.”

And he framed Disney+ as the “hub” of the lifestyle, once that will change and evolve “based on how you participate.”

Based on how much you’re willing to pay, of course. As far as guests, now consumers, go, Disney is basically in the process of becoming an exclusive country club for the wealthy.

BTW, I don’t mean to come off too harsh…I understand that Disney is a business like all companies are, and needs to turn a profit. I guess what bothers me is that the consumer experience is becoming less and less of a priority for the company. (To put it mildly.). Now, it really is all about money, and as you can see from the above quote, they’re not afraid to say that.

“What, we’ll have a “coupon day”, or…something.”

[Ben]

I think "more time and discretionary spend" is either code for wealthy, or for pensioners — or both, as many of them are.

And it somewhat irks me that Disney, under Chapek, has gone *so* far all in on streaming, leaving some big money on the table. The streaming bubble is starting to, well, leak, if not burst completely — that will come — as people look at their finances and say, "Do I eat? Do I heat? Do I pay a month's worth of either to have a frivolous streaming service?", and these companies learn that entertainment can be found elsewhere, like in the cinemas and television screens they have seemingly forgotten about.

Just look at Disenchanted. With the anticipation for that and a thanksgiving release, that’s easily half a billion dollars wiped off from not going big screen next week and then push it to D+ as a Christmas or New Years draw. Their ad spend is almost the same, but you can bet more people would know about and see this release if it was a theatrical event. Of course, it could be *terrible*, a la Pinocchio, which is why it’s going direct to streaming, but then that doesn’t help streaming starting, or continuing, to feel like that’s just the updated equivalent of cheapo direct to video, where lame movies (where *all* movies?) go to die…

It isn’t good, and this isn’t good news either…

[ShyViolet]

“If we only rigidly adhere to that old model, we know what’s going to happen, right? You become extinct,” Chapek said. “And so our challenge inside Disney is always trying to respect the past, keep as much of the past as you can. But when the consumer is telling you, it’s time to move on to something new and fresh. You have to take that cue.”

“Respect the past.” What a joke.

[Ben]

And who's telling them/him to move on!?

Disney+ is Disney- when it comes to truly classic Disney content that isn’t just "the hits".

[ShyViolet]

https://youtu.be/825YV7NnAEo

[Daniel]

Life, uh, imitates art.

[ShyViolet]