You might recall months ago I had written an article about what I was hearing from sources around the various studios at The Walt Disney Company: Bob Chapek wanted main characters back. Now obviously that was communicated slightly differently, but the rumblings I heard echoed the same refrain. The general idea was that Disney had gone into secondary and tertiary characters too much at the expense of fan-favorites that drive success. For two of Disney’s biggest studios the message was clear. Where are Tony Stark and Luke Skywalker… and how do we bring them back?
Bob Chapek Wants Ironman and Luke Skywalker Back… Now
An odd thing is happening at Disney, however. While the fan favorites do seem to be getting much more attention (Luke Skywalker even getting so much as a full episode in a series that has essentially nothing to do with him or his new Baby Yoda flunky), there’s a weird cultural decision being made by the creators around these products. Rather than giving the fans what they want in full, the hyper-popular characters are being held back or changed in strange ways. It almost feels as if Bob Chapek is Jack Skellington trying to explain to his studios what Christmas is like; rather than getting the authentic things, viewers are getting strange facsimiles in stead.
In other words, Disney studios are happy to bring back classic characters in name and image but not in persona. Whereas they were once timeless, they return locked into the modern world’s issues.
As an example of this, take a look at Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers as they’re being repackaged for a Disney+ Exclusive Movie:
This one is being written by the Lonely Island guys, and though I’m confident they’ll make a genuinely funny movie… something here is off. Is it just the Chipmunks voices? Or is it a refitting of classic characters into a sort of cynicism that is prevalent in modern society? I’d argue the latter. And it doesn’t seem to be just me that is noticing this. A Roger Rabbit style streaming film about two cartoon rodents has managed to generate more than six-thousand dislikes at a time when people have stopped clicking the thumbs-down button because it’s largely private. In the past, a popular new trailer would have at least a ten-to-one like to dislike ratio. What does it say when nostalgia-bait movie has a six-to-one like to dislike ratio at a time when nobody clicks dislike anymore?
By the way, I’m not here to give you my opinion on this Chip and Dale movie… I’m just taking note of what viewers are relaying through their actions.
Time after time, we’re seeing that the studios at The Walt Disney Company have become too cynical, too postmodern for their own good. Though they may success in Portland and San Mateo, they’re losing the vast majority of the country. I’m saying this after Disney had a breakout quarter and most of their C-Suite is now utterly untouchable. But I’ve been thinking hard about this and I’ve decided I’ve been swayed too easily. Why should we suddenly jump back on the Good Disney Ship after a single quarter, albeit an awesome one? Didn’t they just complete one of the worst years for any company on the S&P 500? I get that they’re gouging theme park guests and that hasn’t caught on yet with the general public, and I get that Encanto has become a streaming phenomenon… but does that erase everything else? I think Disney is going to do fine, but I wouldn’t be surprised if their next quarter reverts… and I don’t enjoy the whiplash of bouncing back and forth between utter praise and utter disappointment.
Let’s take a look at some of the characters that Disney seems to be mishandling despite a push to bring them back just in the past years, and why I’m not fully ready to say Disney is back on track:
Luke Skywalker
Chip and Dale Rescue Rangers
The Muppets
Cruella De Vil
Boba Fett
Wreck It Ralph
Mr. and Mrs. Incredible
Han Solo
As you look at that short list, consider that Disney’s proclivity is to take heroic characters that audiences crave and present them with a new cynical take. But likewise, Disney provides villainous characters to audiences in a new, softer light. Cruella De Vil and Boba Fett aren’t so different, eh?
This is all movies are now. A glut of recognizable IPs all regurgitated into the same movie. Wreck it Ralph 2, Ready Player One, Space Jam 2, free guy, no way home, multiverse of madness. Forever and ever. https://t.co/Jkxy793oZ0
— vrynn.bsky.social (@valarynn) February 15, 2022
Clearly Disney has enough acumen that they get most of their narratives right most of the time. Or at least the narratives aren’t so offensive as to drive away fans. Still, we need to be observant that Disney has not seen great success with their Marvel properties in the past year, and The Book of Boba Fett hasn’t succeeded except when showing Grogu and Luke Skywalker. For Disney to succeed, they will need to continue bringing back legacy characters, but those characters have to remain consistent with what made audiences love them originally. If characters are reimagined a la Jake Skywalker or Andy Sandberg Chipmunks, the result will be a steadily growing number of previous fans that are disenfranchised. Enough that teaser trailers meant to drive nothing but positivity are receiving dislikes even if they’ll go largely unseen.
But what do we know…? Bob Chapek and crew are riding high at the moment. They should from a short-term financial standpoint. I just hope they get their characters consistent with what audiences love so that success continues.
You can only sell Memberberry PIe for so long if the memberberries have turned sour…
Let me know what you think in the comments below, and as always, keep checking out That Park Place for all the opinions and insider info that should be fun!
