aggie93 said:
I think part of it is Wokeness but I think the bigger issue is they aren't actually focused on what their customers want and making money. Disney could make a dozen projects that are just good, family friendly entertainment and people would lap it up. They could make ESPN about sports. They could write stories for Star Wars and other franchises based around compelling and interesting topics true to the original storylines. They could stop trying to fight with the State of Florida over what they teach their kids in Elementary school.
I mean that all makes way too much sense though so they should just keep up the other garbage until eventually it all crashes down. No brand is invincible.
I think this is pretty close. TLDR, they're creatively lost.
Their biggest issue is that they have essentially caved to their creators and are letting them create art instead of mass market content. At Pixar, that used to be a good model and was a big part of how they made their name. The problem is that the artists have changed. 20 years ago they had artists and creators who were liberal, but they wanted to create emotional films that were appealing and relatable to everyone. Toy Story, A Bugs Life, Finding Nemo, Cars, etc were all movies that everyone could relate to and find enjoyable. Beyond that though, they were all incredibly well made. Now they have very woke artists and creators that want to create edgy films for specific audiences without appreciating that Pixar is still a business: Unlike a starving artist, it can't crash on someone's couch when their edgy art isn't widely appreciated and bought. If you're in the business of art, your art had better be good enough to sell.
Disney is running into much of the same issues. They have lost focus on mass appeal and creating something for everyone in lieu of letting their artists and creators make things for more specific audiences and tastes. They've also run into the problem of beating franchises to death. Marvel has been worn out, and they've done themselves no favors with how she of it has been cast and written. I straight up stopped watching Agents of SHIELD after a couple of seasons because it fell into all of the woke tropes and became unwatchable. I haven't seen a Marvel movie since End Game because of the laughable, "She's got help," scene that was so iconically bad it was parodied in The Boys.
And look at how badly Star Wars had been managed. The hyper focus on inclusion and the complete lack of vision, continuity, and consistency in the sequel trilogy really damaged the brand until The Mandalorian rescued it, but then they started trying to make 20 different Star Wars projects and made a laughingstock of themselves. So far all they've gotten right, IMO, is Andor.
Now they've made another Indiana Jones no one asked for, and surprise surprise it is not doing so great. It may not recover its budget, much less all the other associated costs. A lot of their projects lately reek of desperation because they're basically recycling older, successful IP or throwing everything at even the mildest success.
Beyond all that, their messaging and branding on D+ has seriously made me question my choice to continue a subscription. I simply don't have the need or desire for a platform with groupings and categories for black history month, her story, pride month, etc. I don't care that the movies or content in these categories exist, I just don't see any personal utility in having them thrown in my face by being defaults that I have to wade through. Classics, Star Wars, Shorts, Pixar, etc are far more useful and entirely objective/neutral.
