Most of us have grown up with Disney movies. It’s a household name, a studio known for its magical storylines and impressive animation. But with their recent flops like Raya and the Last Dragon, Onward, Wish, Strange World and Lightyear, it’s clear Disney has a problem.
All of these examples show great potential and could’ve been great, especially after looking at the concept art and the original concepts, it almost feels like at some point it had all the creativity sucked out.
Wish could’ve had Disney’s first villainous power couple, the star could’ve been a shapeshifter, but instead, they kept it safe and marketable. For a movie that was supposed to represent 100 years of Disney magic, it wasn’t nearly creative enough to make a mark.
“I think Disney is afraid of change,” said sophomore Kaya Nygaard. “They also want money, which yeah, everyone does, but they’re so focused on it that they’re sacrificing everything else to reduce risk.”
For many people, the storylines of recent movies have felt lacking, and even lazy. Raya and the Last Dragon is a glaring example. The movie is about learning to trust others again and how to heal from past traumas, but the movie is completely tone-deaf in the way that it handles its own main character, Raya, has terrible pacing and the characters are simply obnoxious.
Strange World was trying to do too much at once and just wasn’t advertised at all. We even saw a similar problem with Elemental, where we barely saw any promotional material until right before the movie came out. The movie was liked enough that people sought it out themselves, but the fact is that Disney simply isn’t advertising well enough. Or maybe they’re just abandoning any project that they think won’t make them a profit.
“Since they’ve had their big breakout they keep chasing after it, and it’s just not working,“ said senior Tiffany Guin. “It’s kinda why they’ve been doing the live action stuff, they’ve run out of good ideas for anything else.”
As beloved as Disney is, it’s been a known fact that Disney is a company that is focusing on the best way to keep profits. It’s making them lose their passion and throw out ideas that would have made a movie in favor of appealing to a wider audience. Disney used to have strong concepts and a love for their craft, but now they’re poorly copying the newest styles of animation, cutting out any creative ideas and ignoring movies they think won’t have a profit.
“They’re not focused on the quality of their work,” said Brett Riggs. “They’re focusing on mass marketing and what they can do to keep the most people happy for the highest profit. You’re never going to make everyone happy, and they should stop trying.”
We’ve seen their sequels and continuations of past series being pumped out on a yearly basis whereas their past works had years of room to grow into the beautiful movies they are viewed as now. So it’s no surprise that the more they try to push out movies on a deadline, the more the quality suffers. The heavy deadlines mean that there’s less leeway for in-depth details and new ideas. Even the CEO of Disney, Bob Iger, said they will be “entertaining first” and Disney aren’t “about the messages.” Yet again missing the point and perpetuating the problems that are causing Disney to fail.
There are so many indie projects that show creativity and love for their art, in ways that Disney has lost, and even their side studio, Dreamworks, is showing more passion for their craft. Lackadaisy, Hazbin Hotel, Murder Drones and The Amazing Digital Circus are all shows that have started on YouTube that have millions of views and are beloved by most who have watched. It’s a sign of independent animation growing and a good omen for the future of animation.
What modern Disney fails to realize is that the Spiderverse, Puss in Boots, Mutant Mayhem and all these smaller projects aren’t just special because of their new animation, but because they’re based on new and creative ideas that everyone working on them loves.
“Disney doesn’t have any true passion for their projects anymore,” said Guin. “That’s why smaller/indie animation studios are doing better. They’re making art because it’s what they love, Disney is making movies because they want profit.”
