Recently, Disney has been pumping out flop after flop. Sloppy live actions, blobby, forgettable animated films (looking at you, Elio.)
I consider myself an avid Disney fan. But I also consider myself a classic Disney fan. All my favorite movies from the mouse either came out before I was born or when I was basically a fetus.
I consider myself an avid Disney fan. But I also consider myself a classic Disney fan. All my favorite movies from the mouse either came out before I was born or when I was basically a fetus.
And I say “classic” for a reason. New Disney has been...interesting. New Disney can be defined as many things, but I think most people believe it started with the release of the 100th anniversary film, Wish. I also think that we received a dogwhistle in the form of Raya and the Last Dragon.
Most of you are now probably going “what the heck is that,” “is that a fan comic,” etc., etc. Which is to be expected. Raya and the Last Dragon got released in 2021 both in theatres and on Disney+, meaning it was sort of bound to fail considering none of the pandemic Disney movies did that well. But we aren’t here to examine box office stats or Rotten Tomatoes ratings (though they will get mentioned when we get to Elio). The point is that the movie was forgettable and bland. I watched it on Disney+, and while I can recall the plot and characters of most Disney movies despite not having watched them for several years, I had to look up the plot for this movie to remember literally anything about it.
Most of you are now probably going “what the heck is that,” “is that a fan comic,” etc., etc. Which is to be expected. Raya and the Last Dragon got released in 2021 both in theatres and on Disney+, meaning it was sort of bound to fail considering none of the pandemic Disney movies did that well. But we aren’t here to examine box office stats or Rotten Tomatoes ratings (though they will get mentioned when we get to Elio). The point is that the movie was forgettable and bland. I watched it on Disney+, and while I can recall the plot and characters of most Disney movies despite not having watched them for several years, I had to look up the plot for this movie to remember literally anything about it.
Essentially, there are five chiefdoms that used to be one, there used to be dragons who lived, and then Medusa-ghosts came and started petrifying people so the dragons sacrificed themselves. It was just…very bleh. Every character is an overdone cliche. After Disney and the “First Flop”, they released Wish in 2023.
Wish was when Disney first started getting backlash. People accusing Disney of using ChatGPT to generate the script, AI for the animation, people saying they called it Wish because they ordered it off Wish, calling it a soulless cash-grab, etc. All of these were valid concerns.
I watched Wish after the hate train, thinking it would surely not be that bad, and was immediately proven wrong. The movie follows Asha, who lives in Rosas, where King Magnificio and his wife rule. The king is magical and his magic revolves around wishes, hence the superbly clever name. In Rosas, it is tradition for the king to receive your wish when you turn 18 and put it in this little area and decide whether or not to grant it. Unfortunately, you forget your wish. Once a month, he chooses one wish to be granted. Magnifico picks and chooses which wishes not to grant for the safety of his kingdom, and Asha decides this will not do. She attempts to become Magnifico’s apprentice to try and get her grandfather’s wish approved, and Magnifico says no due to the wish being vague. I personally think it’s fair, as her grandfather’s wish is to “Inspire the people.” Not to do anything specific, he just wants to inspire them. So when Magnifico says no, Asha argues with him and he threatens to not grant her family’s wishes and also says no to her becoming his apprentice, as she only wants to do so for personal gain.
Wish was when Disney first started getting backlash. People accusing Disney of using ChatGPT to generate the script, AI for the animation, people saying they called it Wish because they ordered it off Wish, calling it a soulless cash-grab, etc. All of these were valid concerns.
I watched Wish after the hate train, thinking it would surely not be that bad, and was immediately proven wrong. The movie follows Asha, who lives in Rosas, where King Magnificio and his wife rule. The king is magical and his magic revolves around wishes, hence the superbly clever name. In Rosas, it is tradition for the king to receive your wish when you turn 18 and put it in this little area and decide whether or not to grant it. Unfortunately, you forget your wish. Once a month, he chooses one wish to be granted. Magnifico picks and chooses which wishes not to grant for the safety of his kingdom, and Asha decides this will not do. She attempts to become Magnifico’s apprentice to try and get her grandfather’s wish approved, and Magnifico says no due to the wish being vague. I personally think it’s fair, as her grandfather’s wish is to “Inspire the people.” Not to do anything specific, he just wants to inspire them. So when Magnifico says no, Asha argues with him and he threatens to not grant her family’s wishes and also says no to her becoming his apprentice, as she only wants to do so for personal gain.
Also, Magnifico could give back the wishes he doesn't grant, but he chooses not to because oh no, he’s evil! Asha goes home and pouts, and tries to convince her mom and grandpa that Magnifico is evil, which she fails at miserably. She then wishes on a star and it comes down in the form of…MERCH! It’s an adorable little blob star, aptly named Star by Asha. (one wonders if she named the movie.) Don’t you just want a plushie of the cute little star, and a sticker of it, and a water bottle? No? Well, we’ll find merch for everyone. The star then leads Asha to the woods with her pet goat, where the star gives the animals a little dust so they start talking.
Then they sing a mediocre song about how everyone is made of stardust and friendship, and oh look at the cute little merchandisable talking goat! Look he’s so silly, he has a deep voice and he knocked something over with his butt, isn't he cute?! BUY THE MERCH. BUY IT. After they finish mediocre song number #2, (number one being the song they sang about Rosas) Asha, Star, and Valentino the merchandisable goat go back home, inspired and ready to get back her family’s wishes.
Magnifico senses the magic of the star, so he immediately turns to scary dark grimoire and sings mediocre song #3, but it’s a villain song this time. Also, Magnifico was literally the most forced villain in Disney history. He’s evil for not wanting to grant every single wish?? What if someone wished that everyone always had consistently damp socks? Also it’s mentioned in his villain song that nobody in his kingdom has to pay for housing. “I let you live here for free, and I don't even charge you rent.” Is the exact lyric, and ignoring the redundancy, trying to force him as a villain is diabolical work. I think the fact that nobody is charged rent is also mentioned in mediocre song #1, and everyone in Rosas seems to live pretty comfortably.
Then they sing a mediocre song about how everyone is made of stardust and friendship, and oh look at the cute little merchandisable talking goat! Look he’s so silly, he has a deep voice and he knocked something over with his butt, isn't he cute?! BUY THE MERCH. BUY IT. After they finish mediocre song number #2, (number one being the song they sang about Rosas) Asha, Star, and Valentino the merchandisable goat go back home, inspired and ready to get back her family’s wishes.
Magnifico senses the magic of the star, so he immediately turns to scary dark grimoire and sings mediocre song #3, but it’s a villain song this time. Also, Magnifico was literally the most forced villain in Disney history. He’s evil for not wanting to grant every single wish?? What if someone wished that everyone always had consistently damp socks? Also it’s mentioned in his villain song that nobody in his kingdom has to pay for housing. “I let you live here for free, and I don't even charge you rent.” Is the exact lyric, and ignoring the redundancy, trying to force him as a villain is diabolical work. I think the fact that nobody is charged rent is also mentioned in mediocre song #1, and everyone in Rosas seems to live pretty comfortably.
So, Asha rallies her friends, and with the help of the queen they infiltrate the castle to get the grimoire, but of course, we haven’t had enough mediocre songs, so Magnifico traps the star and absorbs every wish and gets onto the roof of the tower. Everyone is losing hope, yadda yadda, they’re all trapped by Magnifico, and so in the most power-of-friendship ending ever, Asha remembers what the animals told her (be as merchandise-friendly as possible), they all collectively wish to change Rosas’s future, and then they sing! The singing defeats Magnifico and traps him in a mirror forevermore. Now, the credits roll and we’ll do a reprise of the mediocre song.
Overall, 2.3/10 movie. It felt forced, the animation was bad, the songs were bad and lyrically horrendous, the plot was lukewarm and so was the villain (I’m never getting over the fact that they didn’t even have to pay rent and STILL rebelled.) Asha was another addition to the “adorkable” trope list, and genuinely was one of the most annoying main characters whom I’ve ever had the misfortune to spend 90 minutes watching. Justice for Magnifico.
Wish was overall, exactly as the critics spun it: A soulless cash grab that could definitely pass as ChatGPT written. And thus began the era of new Disney.
After Wish released, Snow White came. Snow White was honestly doomed to fail from the start. Rachel Ziegler being publicly ungrateful for the role, people being mad Snow White wasn’t actually the color of sheet paper, and the fact that they chose to use horrendously ugly CGI for the dwarves instead of giving the roles to little people, plus the music being bad, again.
Overall, 2.3/10 movie. It felt forced, the animation was bad, the songs were bad and lyrically horrendous, the plot was lukewarm and so was the villain (I’m never getting over the fact that they didn’t even have to pay rent and STILL rebelled.) Asha was another addition to the “adorkable” trope list, and genuinely was one of the most annoying main characters whom I’ve ever had the misfortune to spend 90 minutes watching. Justice for Magnifico.
Wish was overall, exactly as the critics spun it: A soulless cash grab that could definitely pass as ChatGPT written. And thus began the era of new Disney.
After Wish released, Snow White came. Snow White was honestly doomed to fail from the start. Rachel Ziegler being publicly ungrateful for the role, people being mad Snow White wasn’t actually the color of sheet paper, and the fact that they chose to use horrendously ugly CGI for the dwarves instead of giving the roles to little people, plus the music being bad, again.
Disney then tested the waters of remaking their classics into live action again with Lilo and Stitch. They immediately drowned. I won’t say much because someone else is doing an in-depth review on the burning dumpster fire that was this movie. But to Disney, ohana means giving your little sister away to the state so you can move to California to study marine biology. This movie was even more of a cash grab, and rightfully so. Pleakley didn’t have any of his fabulous disguises, and the movie replaced many of the original voice actors. Somehow, the movie was a smash hit and made over a billion dollars, and apparently, there are sequels in the works.
Back to animated films, Wish was released around the same time as Trolls Band Together, and boy, were the reviews different. Wish made a decent $50 million dollars after around a $200 million dollar budget, so they did profit. But not nearly as much as Trolls Band Together. Trolls Band Together had a budget of $95 million dollars and made $209.6 million dollars, and received significantly less public backlash.
But that was probably because Trolls Band Together was actually a decent movie with a good plot and music that I still listen to occasionally. This trend continued and culminated with the release of Elio and K-Pop Demon Hunters. If you don’t know what Elio is, I don’t blame you. The marketing team got paid three apples and some pocket lint. It’s a Pixar film with the blob/bean art style that’s become popular at Disney and Pixar recently for whatever reason. Elio made around the same as Wish, and was about as popular as Raya and the Last Dragon.
Back to animated films, Wish was released around the same time as Trolls Band Together, and boy, were the reviews different. Wish made a decent $50 million dollars after around a $200 million dollar budget, so they did profit. But not nearly as much as Trolls Band Together. Trolls Band Together had a budget of $95 million dollars and made $209.6 million dollars, and received significantly less public backlash.
But that was probably because Trolls Band Together was actually a decent movie with a good plot and music that I still listen to occasionally. This trend continued and culminated with the release of Elio and K-Pop Demon Hunters. If you don’t know what Elio is, I don’t blame you. The marketing team got paid three apples and some pocket lint. It’s a Pixar film with the blob/bean art style that’s become popular at Disney and Pixar recently for whatever reason. Elio made around the same as Wish, and was about as popular as Raya and the Last Dragon.
K-Pop Demon Hunters, however, saw much more success. Four of its songs were on the Billboard Hot 100, and Golden was number 1, Huntr/x being the only girl group to be able to score that title aside from Destiny’s Child. It became the most watched movie on Netflix for seven weeks after release, which is absolutely unheard of for any film, much less an animated one.
But, of course, someone is getting hurt. And that someone is Sony Animation. Sony sold KPDH to Netflix for $20 million dollars before it became a smash hit, and unfortunately, their contract basically gave Sony no rights to any of the money KPDH made after being sold. Which sucks, but this article isn't a sob story for Sony.
It’s about how Disney is getting beat out, and probably is going to continue because of their current trajectory. According to Business Insider, there’s going to be a live action Moana released in 2026, a Hercules live-action being planned, and several others including The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Tinker Bell, and an Aladdin spin-off all being planned.
But, of course, someone is getting hurt. And that someone is Sony Animation. Sony sold KPDH to Netflix for $20 million dollars before it became a smash hit, and unfortunately, their contract basically gave Sony no rights to any of the money KPDH made after being sold. Which sucks, but this article isn't a sob story for Sony.
It’s about how Disney is getting beat out, and probably is going to continue because of their current trajectory. According to Business Insider, there’s going to be a live action Moana released in 2026, a Hercules live-action being planned, and several others including The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Tinker Bell, and an Aladdin spin-off all being planned.
I am personally prepped for mediocrity. As for their animated films? We might be getting a few more remakes, as there are plans to remake Bambi and the Sword in the Stone. I’m afraid for the Bambi remake, as it’s one of my all time favorite movies, and I fear a remake will spoil Bambi for the youth who watch it without ever having watched the original.
Also, live-action remakes for Disney have never been a fan favorite. Take the 2019 live-action remake of Dumbo, for instance. Dumbo is another one of my favorite films, and so I was excited as heck as a little 8-year old going to see it. I hated it. I literally don’t remember anything about this movie besides the fact that I despised this. And my mother, to this day, can recall how much I hated it. And the reviews thought the same, with it receiving 46% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 2.6/5 on Letterboxd. Even now, trying to remember how I felt while watching the movie, all that surfaces is disappointment.
It just wasn’t good. An orphan became the main character, and so Dumbo and his story got pushed aside in favor of a poor little orphan girl. (I don’t hate orphans, I just hate that they didn’t make this movie actually about Dumbo.) They also remove Timothy, Dumbo’s best and only friend in the original movie, and replace him narratively with the orphans. The only nod to his character is a little cameo of a white mouse in a ringmaster’s uniform, which sucks because not only was this not enough, as Timothy also served as comedic relief in the film, but because Timothy was brown. Disney rakes in billions of dollars, yet they could not pay for a brown mouse for a still-mediocre cameo?! Cancel the mouse.
The final nail in the elephant-sized coffin to me about this film was the fact that it was made by Tim Burton of all people. Not just some run of the mill director, but Tim Burton, who made some of my favorite animated movies. However, it now kind of makes sense why the movie was bad, because Burton is well-known for his macabre, spooky, animated children’s and adult films, not live-action movies about a plot as light as Dumbo’s. It’s like asking a pastry chef to make pufferfish. They could do it, but you’ll probably die.
The only good thing about the movie was its visuals. But Disney has not only been failing at the box office. They’ve been failing musically. Lin Manuel Miranda is a well-known singer, songwriter and producer, and is the genius behind many of Disney’s hit musical numbers. Remember Encanto? Well, if you never actually got around to watching it, you’ve probably heard its most famous song; “We Don’t Talk About Bruno.” Miranda wrote that. He’s been composing for Disney for a long time, and is probably one of the main reasons they have such an extraordinary musical record. (pun intended.)
Also, live-action remakes for Disney have never been a fan favorite. Take the 2019 live-action remake of Dumbo, for instance. Dumbo is another one of my favorite films, and so I was excited as heck as a little 8-year old going to see it. I hated it. I literally don’t remember anything about this movie besides the fact that I despised this. And my mother, to this day, can recall how much I hated it. And the reviews thought the same, with it receiving 46% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 2.6/5 on Letterboxd. Even now, trying to remember how I felt while watching the movie, all that surfaces is disappointment.
It just wasn’t good. An orphan became the main character, and so Dumbo and his story got pushed aside in favor of a poor little orphan girl. (I don’t hate orphans, I just hate that they didn’t make this movie actually about Dumbo.) They also remove Timothy, Dumbo’s best and only friend in the original movie, and replace him narratively with the orphans. The only nod to his character is a little cameo of a white mouse in a ringmaster’s uniform, which sucks because not only was this not enough, as Timothy also served as comedic relief in the film, but because Timothy was brown. Disney rakes in billions of dollars, yet they could not pay for a brown mouse for a still-mediocre cameo?! Cancel the mouse.
The final nail in the elephant-sized coffin to me about this film was the fact that it was made by Tim Burton of all people. Not just some run of the mill director, but Tim Burton, who made some of my favorite animated movies. However, it now kind of makes sense why the movie was bad, because Burton is well-known for his macabre, spooky, animated children’s and adult films, not live-action movies about a plot as light as Dumbo’s. It’s like asking a pastry chef to make pufferfish. They could do it, but you’ll probably die.
The only good thing about the movie was its visuals. But Disney has not only been failing at the box office. They’ve been failing musically. Lin Manuel Miranda is a well-known singer, songwriter and producer, and is the genius behind many of Disney’s hit musical numbers. Remember Encanto? Well, if you never actually got around to watching it, you’ve probably heard its most famous song; “We Don’t Talk About Bruno.” Miranda wrote that. He’s been composing for Disney for a long time, and is probably one of the main reasons they have such an extraordinary musical record. (pun intended.)
A final thing I’ve noticed with Disney is the lack of meaningful representation. They’ve been color-blind casting for all their re-done princess movies, which is fine, but it isn't really doing anything. And they’ve included some background LGBTQ+ relationships, but they’ve never truly brought one to light. In Wish, Asha was racially ambiguous, with a traditionally black hairstyle, but light enough skin and bland enough features to pass as whatever you wanted.
Elio had two black side characters and a two-second shot of two moms with their kid, but nothing else. Moana 2 was all Polynesian people...duh, but there haven’t been any good, original stories with a Black girl or an Asian girl as the focus in a long time. Especially for Black girls, as the planned Tiana television series has gotten canceled.
To conclude, I think Disney needs to take a step back, re-evaluate their priorities, start bringing in fresh animators and story-writers, and stop being so afraid to bring actual diversity into their mainstream. But, for the next few years, while the withered CEOs–who need to retire because they literally couldn’t entertain a baby with a set of sparkly keys–are still in charge, I’m not too enticed by the idea of a Disney+ subscription, or by the idea of seeing any of their films in theaters. So when I have an itch for the classics but I don’t feel like giving money to the mouse? I’ll just find it on the high seas. (for legal purposes, this is a joke. Don’t pirate, even if it is to stick it to the mouse.)
Elio had two black side characters and a two-second shot of two moms with their kid, but nothing else. Moana 2 was all Polynesian people...duh, but there haven’t been any good, original stories with a Black girl or an Asian girl as the focus in a long time. Especially for Black girls, as the planned Tiana television series has gotten canceled.
To conclude, I think Disney needs to take a step back, re-evaluate their priorities, start bringing in fresh animators and story-writers, and stop being so afraid to bring actual diversity into their mainstream. But, for the next few years, while the withered CEOs–who need to retire because they literally couldn’t entertain a baby with a set of sparkly keys–are still in charge, I’m not too enticed by the idea of a Disney+ subscription, or by the idea of seeing any of their films in theaters. So when I have an itch for the classics but I don’t feel like giving money to the mouse? I’ll just find it on the high seas. (for legal purposes, this is a joke. Don’t pirate, even if it is to stick it to the mouse.)
