The cursed economy has finally reached “the happiest place on earth.” With billions of dollars in their hands, I thought Disney would never have any trouble with money or just simply become stingy. In today’s investor conference in Anaheim, the Disney CFO Jay Rasulo announced that:
“the film studio would focus 80% its resources on franchise properties,”
leaving only 20% for standalone projects.
This means no more surprises from Disney for at least a couple of years.
Even if it had any, it wouldn’t be that great.
The news was a big shocker for me. I grew up with classic Disney movies like Lion King, Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, and basically every release that came out since the 90s. (And they’re still my favorites to this day.) The original Pixar films were also admirable with their innovative stories and technologies. I mean, everybody loves Nemo, right? And to disappoint all of these Disney fans with such news! Really?
We can’t expect to see any of these unique creations come to life because Disney’s afraid to take a chance and lose a few million dollars out of their billions?!?
I don’t know. I think I’m a little bitter.
And the latest Tangled did great with $96.6 million and growing, which is why I’m a little confused with the studio’s decision. I admit that the Rapunzel story was pretty safe, and that it probably wasn’t the best recreation of the classic princess series, but I thought it was a fresh and attractive attempt to draw a large audience with people like me, who were craving for that old-time memories of Disney movies.
And UP! Ahh… yes. The adorable fat boy with the grumpy grandpa. Who would’ve thought? From the ocean to the sky, Pixar definitely takes its imaginations run wild everywhere. Disney and Pixar Studios’ creativity and imagination are what brought them here in the first place. And to see them put such little effort into improving these parts of the studio is a big disappointment.
I guess they had some fun with Toy Story 3, which made over $400 million. But do they seriously expect to make better sequels for other films too? You couldn’t go wrong with Toy Story sequels because they were flexible with the story and the characters (There are a number of toys and a number of ways to play with them.). It’s a rare case to see all three series fulfill the audiences’ expectations.
To prove my point, let me list some great failures of Disney sequels.
1. Tarzan II (I didn’t know this existed.)
2. Mulan II (This too.)
3. Little Mermaid II (Do you see a pattern?)
4. The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride (Now this is just a disgrace.)
5. 102 Dalmatians (The original is 101 Dalmatians, if you don’t remember.)
6. Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage (Huh? Nemo got lost again???)
7. Tron Legacy (Not doing as well as Disney anticipated.)
8. Pirates of the Caribbean 3? 4? 5? 6??? (It’s not that bad… but I lost interest and stopped counting after the 3rd series. And there’s going to be another one coming out?!)
I understand that Disney is trying to be cautious after some of their losses last year. I give credit to the studios for attempting different styles of movies, like Secretariat, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, Princess and the Frog, and Alice in Wonderland. Maybe they just lost their confidence in original movies. Or maybe it’s just Bob Iger, the new Disney CEO who has been emphasizing franchises and brand names since he took the job 6 years ago. I don’t know what to think anymore.
But since the announcement has been made, all we can do now is to wait and see if the franchising will do any good to the studios. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides and Cars 2 are coming out this year to test the waters, and Monsters Inc. 2 is also rumored to make a comeback in 2012.
Hopefully, these films would fulfill Disney’s and the audiences’ high expectations, so that I don’t have to point fingers and tell the Disney executives that they are idiots.
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