Disney’s Latest Failure Shows They Still Haven’t Learned Their Lesson – OutKick
Disney just can’t get out of the way.
And the trend toward blatant errors isn’t going to stop any time soon.
The latest debacle is the release of Pixar’s “Elemental” by the entertainment giant.
Elemental is rumored to be an animated film for children. Except that Disney and Pixar decided to put politics in a children’s film. Once again.
This time with a non-binary character inserted into a film about elements of nature.
Predictably, it was a complete financial disaster.
READ: DISNEY FILM ABOUT XENOPHOBIA with first non-binary character could be PIXAR’s worst opening ever
This is the latest in a long line of box office flops for Disney in recent years.
According to reports, “Lightyear”, which also made politicians unnecessarily responsible, lost the company around 106 million US dollars. That’s more than the budget of many medium-sized films.
Strange World was an even worse financial debacle. Disney reportedly lost nearly $200 million on yet another film that proudly expressed its political views.
A live-action remake of The Little Mermaid would certainly be a lot more successful, right?
Not exactly.
READ: THE LITTLE MERMAID PROBABLY WILL BE THE LATEST DISNEY FILM TO LOSE MONEY
Disney doesn’t seem to understand the problem
Although film studios produce an art form, they are still just conglomerates at the end of the day.
And companies need to make a profit in order to keep producing products.
But Disney suffers from bomb after bomb.
What could be even worse is that company executives don’t seem to understand why the audience isn’t showing up. A Pixar exec claimed that “Lightyear” was a flop because they “were asking too much of the audience.”
“Elemental” has grossed just $47 million domestically and $62 million internationally.
For comparison, Pixar re-released a 3D version of Finding Nemo in 2012 and grossed over $41 million. While the re-release ran in theaters for over a month, the vast majority of the box office was made in the first ten days.
“Elemental” has been out for seven days. And when adjusted for inflation, things look even worse.
The disaster doesn’t even come close to obscuring how bad this is for Disney.
Estimates of how much money they are likely to lose on this film have not been released. But when combined with the other children’s films they’ve made in recent years, it’s possible the losses could exceed $400 million.
For what is reputedly the leading producer of children’s entertainment in the industry.
Not good!
How can you fix the problem?
Disney has enough cash to handle these massive losses and still survive.
But even though the other departments were making money, the company was laying off just over 7,000 employees. You simply need to fix this problem, and fast.
But as their own statements show, they don’t even seem to understand where the problem actually lies.
Consumers, especially parents, do not want to hear modern political lectures from children’s films. The company probably greenlit these projects during the height of the social justice movement in 2020, little knowing how quickly it would lose momentum due to the absurd “police defunding.”
“Representation” and diversity, equity and inclusion became even more important for far-left companies like Disney. But parents just want to take their kids to the movies without having to explain complex sexual or gender concepts.
As long as they don’t understand and accept that, things won’t get any better.
Just a few years ago, Disney released one of the highest-grossing films of all time with Pixar’s The Incredibles 2. It was a smart, well-crafted action-adventure that was entertaining enough for kids and intelligent and humorous enough for adults.
Also this year, the “Super Mario Bros. Movie” broke records as the highest-grossing animated film.
There was no political message or sexual theme; it was just entertainment. And it’s made an absolute fortune.
Until Disney learns to emulate the Incredibles 2 model, they will continue to wreak financial disasters. Left-wing employees will cheer, managers will learn the wrong lessons, and the company’s reputation will dwindle even more than it already is.
After Elemental, it’s clear that Disney needs to completely overhaul its thought process going forward. But who knows if they’re actually smart enough to spot it.