Methinks that Disney is trying to shield its stock price from another box office flop. Either that or the company is worried about “Seeing Red”, the latest film from Pixar, somehow being tied to China in a way akin to how Mulan created “issues”. Whatever the reason, the already disgruntled folks over at Pixar have got to be livid at this point. This marks the third film in a row from Pixar which has been yanked from a box office release. “Seeing Red” will now go directly to Disney+, almost certainly as a free exclusive for Disney+ subscribers.
Here’s the blurb from Deadline’s Anthony D’Alessandro:
It’s the third Pixar movie to skip theatersand go straight to Disney+, after Soul and Luca.
The international markets where Disney+ isn’t available, Turning Red will be released theatrically, with dates to be announced.
On my side, this isn’t surprising. I have long known that The Walt Disney Company has two major problem studios: the first is Lucasfilm and the second is Pixar. In the vacuum of strong leadership, both have become hyper-partisan cesspools — shadows of their former selves. For Lucasfilm that has meant a studio that once held the most powerful intellectual property on the planet is without a single dated box office release for said intellectual property (Star Wars). For Pixar, it means that substandard faire from the studio, combined with feckless oversight from Disney executives, has left it a husk of what it once was. Three movies in a row sent straight to streaming from a studio that was once the envy of all. It’s the modern day equivalent of three-straight box office attempts that only get straight-to-VHS treatment.
This really sucks. Would’ve loved to support Domee Shi and the Pixar team in the theaters. Really hoping this doesn’t become a trend where stories around non-white cultures be relegated to streaming and not given a chance at the box office. https://t.co/pSAxN4PQTF
— Anson Ling (@ns0n) January 7, 2022
Luca was fine. Soul was okay and bit off more than it could chew with the meaning of life message. But how long has it been since we had an Up? How long since a Wall-E? Remember when the word Pixar meant the movie was going to be phenomenal and ground-breaking?
Perhaps Disney became gun shy after Encanto hard bombed at the theaters. Maybe they screened the film and its a stinker. Whatever the case may be, I expect to be doing a story in the next few days about Pixar employees writing things they regret on Twitter. They’ve been known to do that in the past few years…
For another perspective on “Seeing Red” dropping from theaters (and the purposeful pain Disney continues to attempt on AMC), check out the latest video from Valiant Renegade:
And as always, make sure to keep tuning into That Park Place for all the latest Disney and Pixar news!
To be fair Encanto flopped in the box office but has been doing extremely well in streaming with many of its songs topping Apple store charts recently. Sending Turning Red to streaming can be seen more as a vote of confidence in its quality than the other way round cause these Pixar movies have much more value to Disney than just their box office numbers. Kind of like how Adam Sandler movies no longer are profitable in theaters but Netflix keeps funding his new movies cause he is a powerhouse in their platform.
Good points! We covered Encanto’s seeming streaming success in this article: http://thatparkplace.com/encanto-racing-to-the-top-of-disney/
Pixar no longer tells a good story.
Onward was the start of the downfall. Pixar wouldn’t show the emotional payoff of the Dad. The Onward story was terrible, and they pulled the emotion.
Onward felt like a story by committee. Let’s do magic, but everyone forgets. We need a Karen mom. Oh we can lose the Dad. Maybe not having a Dad is the story. Sorry everyone for being late, we need a dragon. YES DRAGON!!! Sounds like a great story everyone. Ummm… we forgot about the Dad. Oh just show something in the corner, we have a Game of Thrones Dragon Now.