How Disney Failed ‘Strange World’
Image Source: YouTube
2022 has been a rough year for Disney Animation. Strange World is an animated sci-fi adventure film focusing on an interracial family of explorers who are called upon to investigate a bizarre alien world. Directed by Don Hall and starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Dennis Quaid, Jaboukie Young-White, Gabrielle Union, and Lucy Liu, Strange World tackles themes such as family bonds, environmental damage, and generational trauma. The film is also notable for its openly gay main character, whose sexuality is part of the story and impossible to edit out without seriously affecting the narrative. Strange World is clearly a labor of love from the entire team involved and should be getting the same attention as any of Disney’s other animated outings. Sadly, this is far from the case.
With minimal marketing and online engagement, Strange World was unceremoniously released to just a select number of movie theaters last weekend, right between blockbuster juggernauts Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and Avatar: The Way of Water. Strange World also has a planned Disney+ release this month, giving audiences even less incentive to go out and see the film. As a result, Strange World is hugely underperforming, bringing in a tiny $4.2 million on opening day against a budget of $180 million. This is coupled with the sad fact that Strange World’s LBGTQ+ storyline means that the movie will likely be banned in conservative markets such as Russia, Singapore, and the Middle East. At this point, we are left to wonder why Disney gave Strange World such little chance of succeeding.
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While one can only speculate about the behind-the-scenes reasoning for this decision, I see a couple of prominent factors:
Disney is more considerate of their proven IPs like Marvel and Avatar rather than taking a chance on an original work like Strange World.
Disney likely knew that the film’s worldwide gross would be limited by its LGBTQ+ themes and didn’t want to expend too much money on international marketing.
Unless Pixar is involved, Disney doesn’t seem as interested in promoting its animated properties as its live-action ones.
Even in prominent franchises like Star Wars, animated series are rarely given equal marketing to live-action series, as seen with the limited marketing for The Bad Batch and Tales of the Jedi.
For more information on Strange World and Disney’s lack of marketing and overall consideration for the film, I recommend the video linked below, which goes deeper into the situation and how Disney could have done more to promote the movie. At this point, I hope Disney will take note of Strange World’s underperformance and treat their original animated projects with more love and care going forward.
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Source(s): YouTube
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