Many companies are destroying their brands for no good reason.
Disney has been one of the worst offenders of this self-defeating business strategy.
And Disney got some bad news after pushing one “woke” kids movie.
Disney is decimating its brand as wholesome family entertainment.
Instead of making movies and television shows for a broad audience, Disney has decided it best to alienate the majority of viewers in favor of a “woke” minority.
The latest example is the kids animated film Strange World, which features a gay teenager in one of the lead roles.
Needless to say, the film absolutely tanked at the box office.
From The Blaze:
“The Walt Disney Company was expecting big things from their latest animated movie ‘Strange World,’ the House of Mouse’s first movie to feature an openly gay teen relationship. Disney enlisted high-profile Hollywood celebrities for voice roles, including Jake Gyllenhaal, Gabrielle Union, Lucy Liu, and Dennis Quaid. Disney released ‘Strange World’ during the extended Thanksgiving weekend – when Hollywood launches some of its most anticipated movies. However, early box office results show that ‘Strange World’ is a flop. ‘Strange World’ made its world premiere on Wednesday, but Disney decided not to release the animated movie in more than 20 countries ‘where its LGBTQ+ content would have very likely forced demands for edits…’”
Despite a $180 million investment from Disney, Strange World wildly underperformed during the extended Thanksgiving weekend.
From Variety:
“After a rocky $4.2 million opening day on Wednesday, the film collected $2.4 million from 4,174 North American theaters on Thursday’s Thanksgiving holiday…With its two-day total at $6.7 million, weekend estimates for ‘Strange World’ have been revised slightly. Now, the movie is expected to end the five-day frame with roughly $26 million, which is still a dismal result given its $180 million production budget.”
Lightyear, which featured an adult lesbian relationship, also did not meet expectations.
Disney and other “woke” companies are determined to push an agenda regardless of what the viewers want.
In addition to being a box office flop, Strange World got soft reviews, receiving 74% on Rotten Tomatoes from film critics and 64% from audiences.
Left-wing movies that are deemed “important” tend to get a boost from critics.
Strange World also set another regrettable record; it was the first Disney Animation film in 31 years to receive a market research CinemaScore below A-, receiving a B.
Variety added:
“To compare, Disney’s musical fantasy ‘Encanto’ collected $40.3 million over the extended holiday frame in 2021. And box office watchers were kinder when it came to assessing those ticket sales because, at the time, young kids were still getting vaccinated for the first time.”
Disney’s “get woke, go broke” lesson could be one of the contributing factors to the surprise termination of CEO Bob Chapek, who recently had his contract renewed.
Disney is bringing back Bob Iger, Chapek’s predecessor, to get the company back on track.
However, Iger is to Chapek’s left politically, so he might not be inclined to go in a different direction.