Why Disney is Falling Apart | Video Essay 

This is what Modern Disney deserves

Disney really out here killing the unkillable franchises. It’s getting to the point where it’s quite impressive how good they are at it

The problem is that they’re not giving us what we want, they’re just giving us what they think we should want.

disney- scared of doing anything new, tries to milk everything they have, is failing Miyazaki- sees what his grandkid will have to watch and comes out of retirement to make a movie for him, has record breaking opening

I have complete apathy for the company at this point. They are 100% responsible for the terrible situation they're now in, so no pity here

To me, the animated film, Moana, had the ideal female leader. She was forced to be a leader in order to save her people when her father was no longer able. She was humble, and was eager to learn everything she needed (from a man no less). She didn’t have supernatural abilities, and had just as much insecurity and fear as any other human being. She saved her people, not by being a “boss b#tch”, but by being naturally PASSIONATE about the water which made her a strong woman when she needed to be.

This is good for the industry, cause it will open up more avenues for competitive movie makers, or force Disney to actually put effort into movies and actually make something fans want

When I used to work at Disney 20 years ago, the big thing for them was “synergy”. Basically “how much can we beat this dead horse until we can’t get anything further from it”. No surprise to see them ramp it up as they bought more IPs. They forgot how much better they did when they just gave out small servings sparingly and let the lack of content build up anticipation and excitement for when something was finally available. I’m sure financially they figured more of this content would equal more money. But someone clearly missed the lesson on supply vs demand.

"They manage to piss off both sides because nothing makes sense - It's all layered in hypocrisy" You hit the nail on head.

to me is simply insane how these studios keep dumping so much money into all these high risk projects that need to make so much money just to break even

I think the problem with current IPs is that every company recycels the same idea/concept and they make the main selling point nostalgia instead of creating original new concepts

It honestly blew my mind that the Kenobi show messed up Reva so bad considering Fallen Order exists. They had the blueprint with Trilla, they managed to ride that line where she was relatable and as a player you felt bad for her but she was also menacing and genuinely felt like a threat. The show would’ve been so much better if they could’ve done that with Reva

Disney monopolized and bought every single IP first, and thought about telling good stories second.

The biggest problem isn’t women leads, it’s the fact that every lead female has to be a Mary Sue. There is no interest for the audiences for any character that begins perfect from the start of the movie. Being a condescending character that never fails at anything is not a good character and it’s impossible to write a good story around such a character that can capture an audience attention.

Y’all remember the movie Caroline and how simple but interesting it was? A movie kids and adults could enjoy with the old school stop motion. A great story with great voice acting, sets, and cinematography. One of my favorite movies and same for my kids

If Disney went back to hand drawn animation with a focus on telling good stories they could make a comeback. I sold all of my Disney stock about 6-7 years ago because they aren’t creating new original IP that will stay with kids and have them bringing their kids to Disney parks in the future. Their entire brand has been about creating those childhood memories that turn people into lifelong Disney fans but they simply haven’t done that since the 1990s and eventually that will die off.

The thing to remember is current Disney is not the same studio that made the classics and renaissane films we all love. The people, ethos, and business model is an entirely changed beast, one fixated on monopoly, exploitation, and trawling the absolute bottom of the 'inauthentic easy culture war points' barrel. As a grown-ass man who still tears up when I hear any of of a dozen or so classic songs, I applaud the dismantling of this monster. It's not the cuddly friend we once loved, and hasn't been for a long time.

Disney is living proof that you *really* don't need to be intelligent to be a major company's CEO. If those positions actually were important, Disney would be filing for bankruptcy by now, in reality CEO's are pretty interchangable and don't really matter that much. The best use for them is disposing of them when the company makes a dumb decision, just blame it on them and shed them to pretend you've fixed the problem.

There comes a point where you want the end to be the end. It brings closure. When you reopen plot points, or void the struggles of past characters (star wars 7-9) then you just feel blah about it.

It is amazing how they made life long Star Wars Fans absolutely check out of the franchise

100 years of moviemaking isn’t bad at all but damn what a 100th anniversary to have

Saying that Toy Story is from Disney is incredibly insulting, especially considering how they unceremoniously sacked John Lasseter a few years before Pixar's rise to fame. If anything, Pixar was anti-Disney in its approach, so it's kinda disgusting to see images of masterpieces like Toy Story and Monsters Inc. mashed with actual Disney IPs...

It genuinely makes me mad when we get spoon fed so much garbage from Disney, that the legitimately good stuff that comes out is buried below the crap. I believe Soul is an amazing movie, and it’s actually in my top 5 favorite movies period, but it didn’t get near the attention and admiration it deserves because it was buried under failure after failure

I’m convinced Disney ONLY bought all these IP’s so they could put them in their shitty amusement parks. And only realized afterwards they need to dish out content to keep the IP’s popular

I noticed that Disney does exceptionally well when they're reaching the end. Before the Disney Renaissance, they almost closed until the Little Mermaid, Aladdin, and the Lion King brought them back. Disney himself almost went bankrupt with Snow White. Disney had become soulless. They've killed the creativity and made it into a factory. I miss the passion; I miss hearing the process and the love they put into the backgrounds, tbe tiny details, the innovation...they're a parody of what they once were.

Disney’s GREED, ARROGANCE, AND INCOMPETENCE has gotten them into this mess.

Its because theyre placing political and social ideology over entertainment, pure and simple

How does Disney’s CEO still have a job is literally beyond me.

Personally, Marvel died with Stan Lee. It's no coincidence that the moment he passed, Disney and Feige milked the franchise for all its worth. The TV shows, the cheaper, under qualified writers, back to back releases with unrealistic deadlines. He was clearly the last one holding it all together, but after that, they all just cashed in. Again, just my opinion.

I sometimes feel like Disney is embarrassed to be known as the animation studio hence why they bought up so many IPs

Poe: "Somehow, Palpatine returned" Overload: "Somehow, Indiana Jones lost money"

The saddest part to me is that I don’t think any of us wanted Disney to fail. Sure, maybe they own too many IP’s, but if the content was great or good, we would be eating it up like crazy. I can’t believing I’m seeing the days when Star Wars, Marvel, and Pixar are no longing interesting to me or audiences. Oh, and also, use actors and pay your teams.

On the topic of politics in today's films, there's an aspect of the problem that I think is bipartisan. Which is whether or not the film should have current political elements at all. One of the reasons why films are fun to watch is the escapism. You get to forget about all the real-life problems that you're concerned with during the day for 2 hours and get lost in a work of fiction--it's refreshing, it's cathartic, and it relieves stress. But none of this works if the film you're watching is actively reminding you of all those real-world problems you were worried about before you started watching. Of course that's not to say that no films should be political, I'm just saying not all of them should be. Variety is the spice of life. I loved The Wolf of Wall Street, I loved Sorry to Bother You, etc. but I'm probably not looking for political/social commentary when I press play on a superhero film or an animated film about talking animals.

Saddest part about the Snowhite thing is Peter Dinkelage got on Twitter complaining and they killed the role shortly after that. Nevermind the fact that this would have gave exposure to a lot of actors suffering from dwarfism Peter Dinkelage just didn't want the competition so he pretended like dwarves were against this idea. WeeMan who also suffers from dwarfism called him out on that and he said the exact same thing im saying this was due to jealousy not because the dwarf community was offended.

As a person old enough to have seen The Lion King in theaters, as a kid, I remember growing up looking forward to movies as there was so much cool technology and computer advancements in film, regularly. Movies felt impressive. Jurassic Park in theaters elicited applause. People were in Awe. We were all always looking forward to what was next. I don’t know how to put it but movies made a huge impact back then and there wasn’t social media to boost it. Just regular TV and later cable. Now, tech got so expensive that studios have downgraded quality while still costing more? The magic is most definitely gone.

Honestly the fact that they would even try to blame their audience is completely asinine. "Oh you don't like the product we're putting out? That's your fault, you should, just deal with it". That's like literally any other company making a bad product that doesn't work and then blaming your consumers for your downfall because they don't want to buy it. Your audience are your money makers, you need to please THEM, not the other way around. This entitlement needs to stop. Shit is ridiculous.

Disney is so arrogant that instead of letting the consumers decide what they want to watch Disney tells them what they should watch, while being very greedy. This is most despicable.

The live-action remakes did NOT start with BATB. They started with Cinderella, which was amazing, because - surprise - it had a simple but good story, didn’t change key elements, had great characterisation and a director experienced in dramatic but happy/positive films. It was outstanding. Every adaptation since was just garbage.

That bit about how Disney is basically calling the 7 dwarves the 7 people was so on point. "We can't discriminate or imply that these people are different because calling people different is bad and mean! But we need to force as many different people into our movies as possible because being different is good and awesome!" Like, how can you promote "being" different if you can't call it "different?"

The turning point was when Luke threw away the light saber at the beginning of the movie. That was it. The hubris has caught up with them.

As a kid Disney truely felt magical. They really did well to capture a childs imagination. And honestly from what ive heard from adults at the time, they felt the same. But now with all their political content in their products, it just feels too close to reality. Like yes i know these problems exist in the real world, but im watching this now to escape the real world. You cant capture my imagination when you keep bringing reality into the content.

Disney gets what it deserves. Forgot it wasnt investors that made it money, but the consumer

Basically, they kicked out the original talent who created the brands and thought just having the brand by itself was enough to sustain them while they inserted their own ideology into it.

It’s pretty ironic that Disney was the one that said “the past needs to die, kill it if you have to“. I don’t think they meant themselves when they said that. Perhaps they should not have been so cavalier with the tradition that propped them up.

Crazy idea: maybe the writers for the games should take over the tv shows and movies. I know this is not going to happen, but it would be a good thing I believe.

A solo Rey movie after most fans despising her character for almost a decade is insane. It truly shows just how out of touch disney really is and its now costing them literal billions

The seven drawves thing wouldn’t be a problem if they actually hired people with drawfism for non dwarf roles

What is really sad is that if they took half of their straight to dvd releases from 2007-2016 and released them into a theater rendition it would do better than recent things.

I miss the 2000's Pixar 😢

Really good indepth analysis. Not just trashing Disney.

You know what really crazy is? George Miller made Mad Max Fury Road and was literally a blueprint Disney could follow for a movie to do it right. Strong female character - side characters of various ethnicity - male characters that were equally strong, and a message about the world that made sense - men and women treated equally that can save a ruined world.

6:10 really got me thinking about how wise Lego was to not get swallowed up by Disney when StarWars was popping off initially

Disney owes us all an apology. Even though I’m someone who has never escaped the grasp/hold of the company name and the magic of old Disney others have. A statement needs to be issued to focus on what once mattered, music, story telling, passion projects, MAGIC. They’ve met a lot of us down and it could be so simple and cheap to win us back. Personally I would love to see a hand drawn movie in 2023. Princess and the frog was beautiful and with it becoming s lost art form I would probably cry at the return.

I’m so scared for the Percy Jackson series. I really don’t want to see it fail for a second time because the books are so amazing. But Disney being behind it makes me so nervous for the series 😭

My issue with Star Wars is that they aren't really expanding the universe. It's either focusing on prequel material and some side story follow up but still revolves around parts of the Empire or Rebels. And while the Expanded Universe had its problems, at least with the Expanded Universe we got to see other villains that had no ties to the Empire who were a considerable threat. Lack of creativity and a fear of coming out of their comfort zone ever since Episode 8 ( which still sucked but I commend them for at least trying something different).

Disney managed to do something I wouldn't have thought possible 10 years ago : they made their brand toxic. And since they are barely acknowledging the problem right now and are stuck in their delusions, they won't turn the corner for years. Not sure they'll survive this long at this rate.

Disney can't be fixed, it needs to be completely gutted from the top or let it fail

I wish A24 had the power that Disney has. This would be an era of creative and distinctive works, with talented filmmakers who truly love cinema. It's a shame that when Disney goes bankrupt another megacorporation will take over these projects. #DunePartTwo #ForMuadDib #LongLiveTheFighters

It was bound to happen. All empires eventually fall. Especially when you own every IP

One more problem they have with Disney+ is they could never commit to fully integrating their TV shows with their movies released in theaters, specifically with marvel. Doctor strange 2 completely disregarded wandavision and Wanda’s arc in that show

its crazy how i remember being younger and loving star wars and marvel. (i still do love their older stuff) and now i dont even think about it unless im watching videos critiquing their downfalls.

Glad you mentioned Jedi: Fallen Order and Jedi: Survivor. I love those games; they're by far the best Star Wars projects to come out in this era.

Strange and fascinating how so much off the entertainment industry is struggling and going downhill these days...

No one points out the real problem, the writers and directors who either lack knowledge, talent, and ability, or inject their own unpopular social messaging.

Amen, you said it. They not only KILLED Star Wars and genuinely made me not care about it anymore. That type of incompetence deserves attention and respect. I’m not exaggerating when it should be studied as the concrete example of what NOT to do.

I don’t know why this is a surprise to anyone. After purchasing the Power Rangers franchise, Disney proceeded to drive that into the ground before selling it back to the original creator. Destroying IP’s is their MO now.

I get the feeling these mega companies don’t fully appreciate how expensive going to the cinema is for a family. there’s simply other things that are cheaper, less whiskey in terms of disappointment, and maybe even better then seeing the next Disney film

I think there are a number of things that can attribute to this. 1. Marvel has oversaturated itself and disney has had way too many released to even follow the MCU now. But, the quality has taken a major hit because of this. As you mentioned there is a hit from time to time but alot of the MCU stuff that has been released whether TV Show or movie has been mediocre to almost bad. 2. Star Wars fan base was split because of the sequel trilogy and that is on the president of lucasfilm for letting different directors with two different visions take the realms and basically undo each others movies. They shiuld have had a concrete layout of where they wanted the sequels to go. In addition, the shows they make are starting to decline in quality. Outside of Andor, and seasons 1-2 of the Mando. Everything else has been so mediocre, sure the shows have a few episodes but they all feel like stretched out movies. Most feel like they were purposely stretched out so they can release them on disney+ to gain new subscribers. 3. Walt Disney/ Pixar animation studios recent movie releases are all so incredibly forgettable. Maybe other than encanto which was a fine movie, but nothing else theyve released stuck. And with their bad strategy of eventually releasing these new animated movies on disney+, there leaves little desire to go to the movies to see them. 4. The Live action remakes are all so mediocre besides jungle book. And clearly they are cash grabs, but are beginning to backfire. Since the Lion King, nothing has even gotten close to those totals. 5. The parks have become a headache just to go and they are pricing people out. First you need reservations just to go (guests are not guaranteed they can go the time they want to go even if they purchase tickets). Second while your at the park if you dont fork out more money for Genie+ there is a huge risk you will not even get to experience half the rides because the system is so flawed to knickel and dime you. In addition, if you pay for the service and it is packed, you will be able to use it for one "E ticket" ride maybe and then just starting reserving for everything else available. Finally, you need a reservation everywhere in the park. a new ride opens, you need a boarding group to ride otherwise you pay, if you want a nice sit down meal; sorry you need a reservation which most of the time is full, you want to watch the newest show: you need a boarding group, no standby. Going to disney parks have become such a headache and your glued to your phone 100% of the time. in addition they have brought down the experience because of all these stupid rules with reserving just to go and reserving to ride rides. 6. Walt Disney Imagineering is a shell of itself and they have let universal become the industry leader in theme parks. Avengers campus and California adventure is a prime example of imagineering retheming lands for low costs and marketing them as new for a quick buck. Pixar pier is a lazy attempt to bring in new guests by retheming existing rides with still objects and put more effort into the shops to sell merchandise. DCA's new land Avengers campus is one of the worst lands disney has ever made and completely feels like it was made just to sell toys (the spiderman ride is easily the worst ride disney has ever made). Also, disney announced an avengers E ticket attraction in 2019 and they have still yet to make any progress. instead they opened a pop up store where the ride is supposed to be (good job disney). While Universal is building its third theme park in FL and is going fast and managed to build a world class roller coaster (velocicoaster) during the global pandemic. I know this is a lot but Im a big fan of disney and grew up going to the parks and its sad how much the company has lost its way and still till this day uses slimy methods to knickel and dime guests to recoup from the global pandemic.

This video makes a lot of good points. My only rub, unless I am misinterpreting what he says, is that he doesn't seem to understand that box office results aren't a 1:1 offset to the movie budget. Movies have to double their budget generally to make money (the theatre gets their cut). With marketing sometimes they have to triple their budget. All in all it just paints a worse picture.

Not to mention one of their animated shows by Disney TVA. They canceled The Owl House too early, giving it only three 22 minutes specials (which to me it’s OK) even though Dana and her crew worked so hard to give us fans and awesome series about a girl, a witch, and a little titan, and they still screwed things up.

Seeing what Bob Iger has done and been doing with the company and the franchises he has bought, how he set ul Bob Chapek to take the fall, and is now overseeing the fall anyway, I have four words to say: I miss Michael Eisner.

Wat you missed is that licensing for merchandising is also on a decline, it's due to "lack of interest in Star Wars, Marvel and Toy Story" Disney said in it's latest financial meeting. Disney was an entertainment company, it pushed art and story telling, now it's a paint by number company that fails to understand why they are failing as they only look at spreadsheets about what their consumers (we aren't called customers or guests anymore) seem to like. There is no recovery from that and I expect Iger to sell the company off as a whole or in individual parts and frankly I'm okay with that. Disney isn't Disney anymore, it's DINO Disney In Name Only.

I think people need to be real with themselves and finally admit that it was Tom Hiddleston and Owen Wilson’s PERFORMANCES that you liked, not the actual plot. They are both very likeable actors to watch. The idea for this story was lazy creative. You go in thinking you’re gonna learn a lot about the TVA, and that they will dig into this universe a bit and that is will be an action packed adventure but then you watch and realize that you probably could’ve come up with this story on your own. You realize how small the TVA feels and that not much of it has been explored at all. It’s just crazy event after crazy event happening. I never felt like Loki had to use his wit to survive. I think the reason they don’t want to explore the TVA is because the surface level stuff you see is as deep as they got with creating this story. They wanted Loki back so they invented a story. Simple as that. It’s not a story that they were holding on to that needed to be told.

Splash mountain is a great example of their distance from the fans. It was continuously the highest wait time in the park yet they are changing it, but not changing something like monsters inc which is always 5 mins. The Japan park isn’t changing splash mountain because japans Disney isn’t owned by Disney and they aren’t dumb enough to see it popular with their audience.

Spider-Man No Way Home, Top Gun Maverick, Super Mario Bros. Movie, Barbie all made a billion dollars each because they gave the fans what they wanted. They were entertaining popcorn flicks that didn’t push any agendas. Whether they’re good or bad or had plot holes is irrelevant. They all were successes because they gave the audiences what they wanted which was pure escapism.

Honestly I really liked the remake of Aladdin minus the bottomless pit of sanctimony that Jasmine had become, but it took the Aladdin we all remembered, keeping homage to Robin Williams, but re-dressing Genie into a character that wasn't at all surprised at how human nature works. He was a great all-around person who did have thoughts and dreams for the outside world. He was a caring person first and a genie second.

I firmly believe that the only reason Disney still has any foot in the television or cinema industry is because of the goodwill that they've developed from better times. Unfortunately for Disney, they've quickly burnt through all of the good will

Don’t forget that Star Wars the clone wars season 7 came out under Disney and was incredible. The most that matters is a dedicated team behind it with a vision and passion for the IP

Golden rule of business: the customer is always right. Disney have forgotten this rule.

Disney had 4 of the 5 biggest box office bombs with The Marvels, Indiana Jones 5, Haunted Mansion, and Wish combining for a whopping -$628 million just with those 4 movies. Their only real box office success in 2023 was Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3, literally every other Disney film didn't make a profit.

Thank you for another great video! It was well researched and my exact thoughts wonderfully put together. As much as Disney meant to me growing up, it can be difficult to put aside my childhood memory when the live action remakes are, in my view, trying to please for nostalgic appeal and appealing new generations at the same time, when all movies and shows should be are to tell good stories with good characters. This is why I liked Disney films from the 30s, 40s and 50s as well as the ones from the 90s and 2000s. I'm slowly becoming disinterested in Disney projects rather I'm more curious in its decline which is a shame because it's wasting the talent of artists who are giving their all to create good stories.

Honestly if Disney goes bankrupt I'll host a party. They killed everything I loved

14:32 THANK YOU FOR THIS!!! It seems like no one understands this on either side and you're the first person on RU-vid I've seen who actually makes a good point on it

Disney’s problem is they are averse to taking anything remotely approaching a risk. The characters are safe, the stories are safe, the themes are safe. It’s all so incessantly boring. And Ahsoka is no different. Andor is the one thing in the Star Wars universe that worked, and that was because they brought in Gilroy to write and direct it. Someone with almost no previous ties to the franchise (apart from Rogue One), to create a story that did not rely on legacy characters to prop it up. In other words, they took a risk. It’s that kind of fresh perspective Disney so desperately needs across the board.

As many people have already said, Walt would be absolutely sobbing if he could see how bad his company has gotten

Absolutely love your videos!! You should start doing video essays on all the big box office movies that come out!!

Just after the 8:00 mark.. this seriously hits home. I can't agree more, there's no emoji's to convey this (yes that's the world we live in now)... but I didn't even know what Andor was!!! I went to Episodes 1, 2 and 3 on opening night, first showings lining up... even did it for Episode 7. Couldn't be bothered for 8 or 9 and just watched it when it was convenient for me. But the sheer fact, that I didn't even know WTF Andor was, that it existed or what it is\was about, this video hits home... RIP a legacy from George 😓

Ngl the most hyped I have ever been for a Star Wars movie or show is when the clone wars came out on Cartoon Network. Man that is such an underrated show. It showed a lot of the dark elements in the galaxy and it was made for kids but it definitely had some scenes that weren’t for the faint of heart.

Honestly, when we hit the politics section I was a little on edge (seen one too many “diversity bad” takes these days), but I think you may be onto something with Disney’s faux pc stories and inability to write a disenfranchised character like a human and not like some kind of flawless being who can do anything and everything. Character flaws and struggles are most of what writing rides on, so the avoidance of both in these characters is a disservice to everyone and fast way to tank writing quality.

Still waiting for that Tarzan remake DO IT DISNEY I DARE YOU

In terms of what Disney+ has done for those of us who actually have an account but what they don’t understand is that most people can’t afford it and that’s what I think was the problem from the beginning when Disney announced that they were making that app and that’s why I think is why so many of the people who only see the movies in related to the MCU because they don’t have the slightest idea of who any of the new characters are that they have made shows about. I’m just glad that very soon that Disney will release their original series on dvd and yeah some people still use DVDs.

Finally someone is giving Jedi Fallen Order and Survivor the credit it deserves. Kudos sir

If there’s one thing the Mickey Mouse company is good at, it’s actually making us realize how the pre Disney bad movies were actually not bad.

Disney needs to take a break. 2023’s Disney releases of streaming and other original films were not doing very well and it’s missing that it’s time think about something even entertainment is draining way much problems. It’s like Peter Pan when the Darlings stated to these Disney consumers and viewers needed to grow up and think about something that elevates the cinematic going experiences.

That Snoop Dogg “Who?” Was exactly what I thought when he talked about Echo. I didn’t even know that was coming, or who that was.

The last Star wars film was published in may 19,2005

One of the worst parts to me is that when fans try to show their frustrations with things like when they basically boycotted Solo the corporate people take it the wrong way. It's like trying to teach a really dumb dog. You smack them for making crap movies and they just stop making movies.

7:43 while I agree with your point, in the show's defense, Clone Wars (written by the same people who did Rebels) had already disregarded other writer's canon multiple times even before Disney bought Star Wars and declared the Legends universe separate. I feel like that's the pot calling the kettle black.

A great take but a couple of tour statements are incorrect. Box office take does not all go back to the studio. It varies from 55% in US/CA to around 43 percent general international and 25% for China. Hence, The Little Mermaid did not make a profit for Disney, it is estimated to have lost anything from 75 million at the low end up to 125 million USD depending on marketing. Also the stated production budget (publicly released) was inaccurate as the UK tax filings show the cost was a lot higher. I think its important that you point out these things, particularly box office receipts versus what goes back to Disney. They are very different indeed.😊

It’s sad to see Disney fall but they do deserve it