Delaney Hibbits

Arts and Entertainment Editor

Disney is a company loved by millions due to its fantastic theme parks and magical movies. Between princesses like Rapunzel and superheroes like Iron Man, the organization offers entertainment for everyone. However, with a shift in focus, Disney is seeing how easy it is to fail at the box office.

Over the last few years, Disney’s priority has been making a profit and pushing for fast releases. For example, Marvel used to release movies regularly with enough time in between to keep interest but not bore viewers. Now, there are rushed shows and movies that are confusing and overwhelm the audience.

Disney has also let go of new ideas and continues to rely on sequels and live-action remakes. At first, seeing Cinderella in live-action was a beautiful concept yet the evolution to The Little Mermaid has made people wonder. Does Disney have any unique concepts or are they stalling to build up budgets?

The company has also been caught up in the world of politics where people use Disney and woke in the same headlines. When news broke about what changes were made in the upcoming Snow White movie, negative publicity quickly followed and caused a pushback on the film. 

Overall, it seems Disney has lost its focus and strayed from its purpose. Rather than creating magic and appealing to large audiences, they are using sloppy writing and overused ideas to make a profit. When comparing films like Hercules to Wish, it is evident that Disney has gone downhill.

Disney produced films such as The Lion King, Frozen, Pirates of the Caribbean and Toy Story. These ideas were unique and brought in different audiences. Each one has at least one sequel with a brand-new storyline that kept viewership high.

On the other hand, Disney has also released Wish, Turning Red, Mulan (live-action) and The Marvels. Wish and Turning Red were not remakes yet failed to make waves in theaters and on streaming services. Mulan and The Marvels had a negative image before release and could not recover post-production. 

The question is: What is causing Disney movies to fail? Is it the political aspect of moviemaking? Is the writing lazy compared to the past? Are people aware Disney would rather have money than a committed audience?

Politically, Disney makes sure to be inclusive and diverse yet may be doing it the wrong way. Instead of creating movies about being diverse, the company could just include individuals from different backgrounds. Encanto had great character design and succeeded without constant reference to its inclusivity. 

The writing changes from project to project but does show a drastic difference between the earlier classics and the latest films. The song “This Is The Thanks I Get?!” from Wish is the victim of criticism and insults across all social media platforms. The lyrics, composition and creativity fall flat when compared to other works such as “Gaston” and “Poor Unfortunate Souls.”

Finally, Disney has been experiencing multiple flops at the box office and is showing signs of financial struggles. With this in mind, Disney is relying on live-action remakes and amusement parks to bring in revenue. Consumers are starting to see how the desire to create magic is being outweighed by the need for a high budget. 

Between a lack of creativity, mediocre scripts and a shift in focus, Disney is becoming a headline for poor choices. If this company wishes to stay afloat, it will need new stories, new writers and new perspectives.