Disney Renaissance 2/Disney Revival

[Ben]

Yeah, thought so. Definitely had that vibe.

[Randall]

Well, I just got the nicest email from Bob Iger. (Likely everyone with a Disney account did, so many of you have probably seen it.) And y'know what - it WAS really nice! Classy move from Bob.

[Daniel]

Hmm, I didn't receive anything. Well, someone posted it online:

[Farerb]

The 90s were a better time to be a Disney fan.

[Ben]

Yes, I got this from our pal Bob.

[EricJ]

The 90s were a better time to be a Disney fan.

If you liked Martin Short remakes of French comedies.

[Ben]

What, all one of them?

(Three Fugitives, which is, yes, more saccharine than the original, but actually funnier. We still need this on Blu-ray.)

[EricJ]

What, all one of them?

Wait....(IMDb)...."Pure Luck" was a Universal film??
And that's if we're not counting Short's supporting role in "Jungle 2 Jungle".

[Ben]

Yeah…so just the one then.

[Farerb]

Scrutiny on the Disney board
If anyone is to blame for the Bob vs. Bob C.E.O. circus of the past few months, it’s the Walt Disney Co. board of directors, which endorsed Bob Chapek in June (and unanimously so, though we later learned it wasn’t exactly unanimous) only to discard him and his beard in a dumpster outside the Starbucks on West Alameda five months later. Bloomberg reported the Chapek go-away money will be “at least” $23 million, but it could be much more, and we will learn that number this year. I’m guessing that chair Susan Arnold and her 12-person board, which still doesn’t include a single member with significant entertainment experience (other than Bob Iger), will come under much more scrutiny then, when investors and the media learn how much the June renewal through 2025 ended up costing the company.

Disney animation on the hot seat
Speaking of Disney, if Pixar’s Pete Docter and Disney Animation Studios’ Jennifer Lee were in an animated movie, they’d probably be hyper-visualizing some unfamiliar feelings these days: fear and anxiety. After twin $200 million bombs in Lightyear and Strange World, I’m not quite ready to hit the panic button on Disney’s animation creative engines. But… the 2023 movies better work.

Pixar’s Elemental trailer has Inside Out vibes, and Wish, the Disney Animation movie for the holidays, is a traditional fairy tale musical, its sweet spot. But there’s a larger question of whether families actually want these movies in theaters, especially after Chapek trained everyone to expect them on streaming. The 2022 numbers are scary, and the holiday returns for Puss in Boots: The Last Wish aren’t great ($67 million domestic; $134 million worldwide)—and that movie’s actually good.

Another uncomfortable question for Disney: Why do these movies still cost so much? Most of Universal’s animated movies are half as expensive. I know, artistry. But Pixar and WDAS make their movies mostly in California, with high labor costs, while Universal’s Illumination, for example, outsources a lot of the work. It didn’t matter when Disney was a hit factory. Now?

Source:
https://puck.news/23-semi-surefire-holl ... -for-2023/

[Ben]

Audiences just need to be trained to go back to cinemas. Hold back two or three new films for six months to a year and then you make them special again.

[EricJ]

But there’s a larger question of whether families actually want these movies in theaters, especially after Chapek trained everyone to expect them on streaming. The 2022 numbers are scary, and the holiday returns for Puss in Boots: The Last Wish aren’t great ($67 million domestic; $134 million worldwide)—and that movie’s actually good

And it couldn't possibly be that Dreamworks is now box-office poison from the last decade...Look how much money Shrek made, twenty years ago!
And yes, Chapek "training" the audience to expect streaming is one way to put it--Maybe if they didn't ANNOUNCE that it was already available at home?

We were THAT close to discovering local theaters again, during the Lockdown days of makeshift drive-ins, the Death of AMC, and the "Support Your Local Theater" drive, the latter of which ended up being taken over by artsy festival documentaries.
What would get audiences to go back to cinemas is to make it easier again, and then studios wouldn't have to worry about "only" using it for Blockbusters that need their budgets recouped immediately.

[Ben]

What we *actually* need is a real *reason* to go and see an animated film in cinemas again. So many of the films have just been bad or mediocre or, as I say, "good enough", which should never be good enough.

We need *less* animated product and more quality. That's sadly not going to happen, but the market has become saturated to the point where nothing can cut through. Not in cinemas and not on steaming [sic].

[GeffreyDrogon]

But there’s a larger question of whether families actually want these movies in theaters, especially after Chapek trained everyone to expect them on streaming. The 2022 numbers are scary, and the holiday returns for Puss in Boots: The Last Wish aren’t great ($67 million domestic; $134 million worldwide)—and that movie’s actually good

And it couldn't possibly be that Dreamworks is now box-office poison from the last decade...Look how much money Shrek made, twenty years ago!
And yes, Chapek "training" the audience to expect streaming is one way to put it--Maybe if they didn't ANNOUNCE that it was already available at home?

We were THAT close to discovering local theaters again, during the Lockdown days of makeshift drive-ins, the Death of AMC, and the "Support Your Local Theater" drive, the latter of which ended up being taken over by artsy festival documentaries.
What would get audiences to go back to cinemas is to make it easier again, and then studios wouldn't have to worry about "only" using it for Blockbusters that need their budgets recouped immediately.

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish is actually doing fine for what it's worth. It's going to at least break even, unlike Disney's Strange World.

[Farerb]

Pete Docter Opens Up About the Past, Present and Future of Pixar
https://www.thewrap.com/pete-docter-int ... y-story-5/