2023 was supposed to be a golden year for Disney, with the corporation celebrating its centenary. Instead, the company finds itself on the defense against a squall of failures.
To be fair, this is not the first time Disney has been in trouble. After WWII, Walt Disney had to practically rebuild the studio from scratch since, during the war, its focus had been realigned to war-time products. Then 1970 to 1988 was the company’s second “dark age,” a time of wild experimentation as the ship drifted after Walt’s death.
However, the company bounced back stronger both times with “Cinderella” in 1950 and “The Little Mermaid” in 1989. The Disney Renaissance unfolded over the next decade. More importantly, the products created during these slouch periods, in hindsight, still feel like Disney. Some are insipid (“The Fox and the Hound”), some explore the dark side of childhood (“The Black Hole,” “Something Wicked This Way Comes”), but there are still elements of that hard-to-describe Disney magic in them.
Box Office Bloodbaths
The company’s current troubles are much worse than a few box-office disappointments. They’re more like box-office bloodbaths. To give just a few examples: Last year’s “Strange World” lost Disney $200 million, becoming the biggest flop of 2022. This year’s “Elemental” and most recent release, “Wish,” are following in its footsteps. “Elemental,” which cost $200 million (not counting the marketing budget and the theaters’ cuts, which would probably balloon the total budget to $350-$375 million), only managed to make $495 million worldwide.
