Is this fake, is this a rumor?

[BrianL]

Well, judging by box office numbers alone the laziest and crappiest remake Disney has done made the most money.

Exactly.

 

[Darklord77]

Lion King: 1.66 billion
Beauty and the Beast: 1.26 billion
Jungle Book: 966 million
Aladdin: 1.05 billion
Alice in Wonderland: 1.03 billion
Maleficent: 758 million
Oz: 493 million
Little Mermaid: 569 million

People have claimed that there's no point to these remakes and reimaginings for a decade and then they go ahead and make a lot of money. They're not shooting themselves in the foot, they're responding to demand. They'll stop when they're no longer making money with these.

All those movies were pre-2020 with the exception of Little Mermaid. Post-2020 is when some would say Disney went off the rails. Depending on the source, the Little Mermaid either lost a little bit of money, made a little bit, or just about broke even. Production costs of a movie is only part of the story. After marketing costs, some sources estimate Disney lost money on the Little Mermaid. it's estimated that Lightyear lost $100+ million in 2022. The Haunted Mansion also lost well over $100 million in 2023.

 

[fatmanatee]

All those movies were pre-2020 with the exception of Little Mermaid. Post-2020 is when some would say Disney went off the rails. Depending on the source, the Little Mermaid either lost a little bit of money, made a little bit, or just about broke even. Production costs of a movie is only part of the story. After marketing costs, some sources estimate Disney lost money on the Little Mermaid. it's estimated that Lightyear lost $100+ million in 2022. The Haunted Mansion also lost well over $100 million in 2023.

Post 2020 is when others would say you could just watch these movies on Disney+ three months after release instead of spending 80 dollars in the theater.

 

[Darklord77]

Post 2020 is when others would say you could just watch these movies on Disney+ three months after release instead of spending 80 dollars in the theater.

Disney+ hasn't exactly been knocking it out of the park either. Disney movies won't survive on Disney+ releases alone.

 

[bbeagle]

Disney+ hasn't exactly been knocking it out of the park either. Disney movies won't survive on Disney+ releases alone.

3 of the top 4 streaming movies last year were on Disney+. Moana, Encanto and Elemental. 6 out of the top 10 as well.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/1448658/top-streaming-movies-us/

Don't believe the right wing media - Disney+ is doing very good.

 

[Smugpugmug]

Post 2020 is when others would say you could just watch these movies on Disney+ three months after release instead of spending 80 dollars in the theater.

Agreed. My friend wants to see Inside Out 2 with me and I'm debating it since according to Disney's track record, it'll come out to streaming in less than a year. I also cannot stand the declining theater etiquette; bothers me more than the cost. Every movie I've seen in the past year had someone on their phone scrolling through Instagram, people talking throughout or kids being disruptive (the movie I was seeing wasn't a kid's movie).

 

[Sparrow'sLady]

For what it's worth, the Daily wire posted a tiktok yesterday about this topic. 800k views.

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZIJnsWxug/

Love Ben Shapiro!! <3

 

[starlite_]

Disney alienated a lot of traditional families in 20-22 and Iger has tried to calm that down without getting blasted from the other side. As a traditional person myself I think he's done a pretty decent job.

I wouldn't worry about Disney, those "traditional" families are being replaced by young families!

 

[Minnie1222]

I wouldn't worry about Disney, those "traditional" families are being replaced by young families!

Not just young families. As an old traditional person, I'm also distancing myself from these new "traditional" values. This term has a different meaning nowadays.

 

[bbeagle]

Not just young families. As an old traditional person, I'm also distancing myself from these new "traditional" values. This term has a different meaning nowadays.

I can handle it to an extent. But the pendulum has swung way too far to one side. I'm okay with a gay character, and them kissing - like in the Lightyear movie. The movie was boring, which is why it failed, not because of that. Strange World was a better movie with a gay character at the core. I'm fine with that.

The new Little Mermaid where she's black, okay.... I wish they would have named her something other than Ariel, and make her a different character ..... but when you make all her sisters different races and ethnicities, c'mon - that's way too far. Just like the new Snow White - make all the dwarves weird characters? Nope. Gone way too far.

 

[starlite_]

I can handle it to an extent. But the pendulum has swung way too far to one side. I'm okay with a gay character, and them kissing - like in the Lightyear movie. The movie was boring, which is why it failed, not because of that. Strange World was a better movie with a gay character at the core. I'm fine with that.

The new Little Mermaid where she's black, okay.... I wish they would have named her something other than Ariel, and make her a different character ..... but when you make all her sisters different races and ethnicities, c'mon - that's way too far. Just like the new Snow White - make all the dwarves weird characters? Nope. Gone way too far.

That is called racism. I am not saying you are being racist in a malicious way, but in a way that is built into society. Nothing about the story would have changed if the actress was white, or the sisters were white. So why does them not being white a problem? Food for thought.

Can't really comment on Snow White till I see it, I just know the actress for it made me not want to watch it, not because of her looks but because of her attitude.

 

[mdmost]

Why did no one have an issue when Brandy played Cinderella back in the 90s? Is Cinderella not a beloved character who is always portrayed as being white? Maybe because no one cared back then because they weren’t constantly fed Ben Shapiro outrage articles in the 90s? Why is it such an issue now to have a live action Disney character be different? It doesn’t change that the animated character still exist. No one is getting rid of animated Ariel.

 

[Smugpugmug]

This conversation is making me so sad the Snow White movie got delayed. I wanted it to release, perform badly at the box office and then everyone immediately forgets about it and moves on with their lives. The discourse around it is so annoying lol

 

[mdmost]

I tire of it too. I wish people would realize just how much they are being played by these outrage merchants and algorithms they are being fed. Sadly, I think some enjoy being in this constant cycle of being angry.

 

[Atlantix2000]

Why did no one have an issue when Brandy played Cinderella back in the 90s? Is Cinderella not a beloved character who is always portrayed as being white? Maybe because no one cared back then because they weren’t constantly fed Ben Shapiro outrage articles in the 90s? Why is it such an issue now to have a live action Disney character be different? It doesn’t change that the animated character still exist. No one is getting rid of animated Ariel.

I'm quite confident there were people outraged that Brandy played Cinderella. The big difference is that if they told anyone, they mostly did it in person and the memories have faded in the last ~30 years. Today, those opinions are written on social media and other internet forums where the comments will live forever and reach a wide audience.

 

[Minnie1222]

The new Little Mermaid where she's black, okay.... I wish they would have named her something other than Ariel, and make her a different character ..... but when you make all her sisters different races and ethnicities, c'mon - that's way too far.

Well, we also had the half fish Triton and the partial octopus Ursula being siblings. That's some serious cross-species breeding.

 

[Disney Bobby]

That is called racism. I am not saying you are being racist in a malicious way, but in a way that is built into society. Nothing about the story would have changed if the actress was white, or the sisters were white. So why does them not being white a problem? Food for thought.

Can't really comment on Snow White till I see it, I just know the actress for it made me not want to watch it, not because of her looks but because of her attitude.

"Racism" is the generic, lazy answer that is used to scare people into just agreeing. If you wanted a pasty-white, red-headed mermaid that actually reminds you of the character, you are just racist.

The reality is people connect with nostalgic characters on a lot of levels, and physical appearance is one of them. Nothing new. We've seen actors leave a show and replaced with someone of the same race and very similar appearance, and it didn't work. If they had brought back the same lily-white mermaid with jet black hair, the outrage would have likely been the same. Nobody wants a white Tiana, or even the same exact Tiana with blonde hair. Not that that would happen in a million years. Wouldn't even be considered. But that is a different issue.

 

[Grumpy by Birth]

...but when you make all her sisters different races and ethnicities, c'mon - that's way too far.

Actually, I thought that was a very clever (albeit, perhaps subtle) detail since the sisters represent the seven seas that each of them is a custodian over. Their respective ethnicities are representative of where in the world that sea is located. Just as humans from different parts of the world have varying ethnicity, so do mer-folk. In this version of the tale, Prince Eric's kingdom is in the Caribbean, which is also presumably the sea Ariel represents. As such, Ariel's ethnicity is artfully explained without saying a word about it.

 

[Douglas Dubh]

I tire of it too. I wish people would realize just how much they are being played by these outrage merchants and algorithms they are being fed. Sadly, I think some enjoy being in this constant cycle of being angry.

Exactly why DEI departments need to go.

 

[BrianL]

"Racism" is the generic, lazy answer that is used to scare people into just agreeing. If you wanted a pasty-white, red-headed mermaid that actually reminds you of the character, you are just racist.

The reality is people connect with nostalgic characters on a lot of levels, and physical appearance is one of them. Nothing new. We've seen actors leave a show and replaced with someone of the same race and very similar appearance, and it didn't work. If they had brought back the same lily-white mermaid with jet black hair, the outrage would have likely been the same. Nobody wants a white Tiana, or even the same exact Tiana with blonde hair. Not that that would happen in a million years. Wouldn't even be considered. But that is a different issue.

While it is certainly possible to be critical of the film and even of the casting without being racist, you and I both know that a lot of the criticism directed at the movie was indeed motivated by racism, much of it very overt. I'm not talking about discussing pros and cons in a logical and reasonable way, I'm talking about the loaded language (at best) used under the guise of just not liking the change. The fact is, at the end of the day, them making the movie the way that they did didn't take away the original form anybody - it's still there to be enjoyed, so the nostalgia-fueled reactions aren't really warranted.

Personally, I prefer the remakes be very different from the originals anyway. I'd have gone with the casting and changed the story so much that it barely resembled the original, other than having a mermaid. That's just me though.