- By Natalie Sherman
- Business Reporter, New York
February 16, 2023 at 00:31 GMT
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Are Disney reboots still working their magic?
Accountant Kit Parfitt is under no illusions about the inconsistent quality of some of Disney’s Marvel Studios recent releases.
The She-Hulk and Moon Knight miniseries were weak, he says. The movie Thor: Love and Thunder is even worse. “Not watchable again.”
But the 27-year-old, a self-proclaimed “huge” Disney fan who lives near Brighton, says those disappointments won’t keep him from cinemas this month, when the latest in the franchise – Ant-Man and the Wasp – debuted.
“When it comes to Marvel, Star Wars, I watch everything,” he says.
That’s the kind of commitment Disney is banking on as it tries to forge a profitable path in a world of declining box office sales, pay-TV cancellations, and lossy online streaming.
Boss Bob Iger, who was reinstated in November after the abrupt ouster of chief executive Bob Chapek, told investors this month that the company would double down on its big brands like Marvel and Frozen, proven earners, while cutting spending on riskier “general entertainment.” “-tariff.
This year there’s a new Little Mermaid, another Indiana Jones and a third Guardians of the Galaxy on deck.
Toy Story 5, Frozen III and a second Zootopia, known as Zootropolis in the UK, will follow thereafter.
The moves are a gamble that the strategy that Mr. Iger oversaw during his first term as CEO from 2005 to 2020, when he acquired Marvel, Pixar and Lucasfilm and the company’s stock price more than sixfold, will continue to have an impact.
He even said the company would step back somewhat from its streaming push and look more to cinemas and traditional television for distribution of material than it has done in recent years, when it sent content to its Disney+ streaming service, to get subscribers.
Will the traditional playbook suffice?
Image Credit, Disney/Pixar
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Toy Story 4 reunited much of the original cast from the first film, along with some new additions like Forky
Jessica Reif Ehrlich, an analyst at Bank of America, says the response from Disney’s brands gives them an edge over their peers, but investors still need convincing.
Disney’s stock price has nearly halved since March 2021 and hasn’t moved much after Mr. Iger outlined his plans.
“Everyone knows there are a lot of challenges,” she says. “There’s a lot of heavy lifting ahead of us.”
fan fatigue?
Movie ticket sales remain about a third lower than 2019, before the pandemic closed movie theaters around the world.
And the rise of streaming has divided audiences, making it difficult to generate the kind of buzz that makes people pay for entertainment.
Oxfordshire mother-of-two Jackie Allen said she decided against a Disney+ subscription for her two children because she wasn’t convinced the offer warranted another purchase. The company’s upcoming season isn’t particularly exciting either.
“It seems like they’re heating something up just to make money, not if it should be done,” she says.
Even die-hard fans like Kit will admit a certain weariness.
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Kit Parfitt and his wife Andrea browsed Disney’s store on a recent vacation to New York hoping to use a $40 coupon left over from their honeymoon at Disneyworld last year
Amidst the mix of tourists and locals browsing Disney’s massive store in Manhattan’s Times Square, he tells me that Disney’s recent action films like Avatar are reliable lures for him to the movies.
But Ms. Andrea, who was walking down the aisle to a song from the 2009 Disney/Pixar film Up, worries that the lengthy backstories that come from developing a franchise like Marvel can be off-putting to new audiences .
And both say they feel little urgency to see anything like Toy Story 5.
Not only are the couple more inclined to stay at home as the cost of living increases, but they’re generally fed up with the story after four films and one spin-off.
“Milking at number five is a bit much,” says Kit.
The accusation that Disney relies too much on recycling and revising classics is not new.
After all, the company has been preparing for the ninth version of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs since the first debuted in 1937.
But in recent years, the strategy that has fueled decades of success has become entangled in America’s increasingly bitter culture wars, with some updates prompting accusations from conservatives that the firm is becoming too “awake.”
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Minnie Mouse has received a controversial makeover from British designer Stella McCartney
Last year’s release of Toy Story spin-off Lightyear, for example, was marred by controversy over a same-sex kiss the company restored after employees accused the company of censoring gay affection.
Banned outright in some markets, the film’s same-sex storyline also drew criticism from right-wing politicians such as US Senator Ted Cruz.
Despite the risk of alienating some fans, the profit potential of a franchise strategy is proven, says Janet Wasko, professor of media studies at the University of Oregon and author for Disney Inc.
“It’s risky in a way, but building on existing fans and consumers and expanding their consumption avenues — if it’s successful, it really can be incredibly profitable,” she says. “I can’t imagine that they will stop.”
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Amanda and Brandon say they could watch any Disney movie over and over again
Disney fan Amanda Welch, 29, a subscriber to the company’s streaming platform who has been to Disneyworld more than 10 times, says the company’s strategy of returning to its big brands has done little to nurture her love for Disney dampen
She and fiancé Brandon Dumont, 31, have canceled the service a number of times to manage their expenses. But they keep coming back. Sometimes they turn on Disney+ just to put them to sleep.
“There really isn’t a Disney movie I’m tired of,” says Brandon. “I could watch them over and over again.”