The Walt Disney Company has made a name for itself as a powerhouse of entertainment.
Walt Disney Company Headquarters ©LA Times
Whether that’s with theme parks, books, movies, or a whole litany of other departments, there’s no denying what an impact the company has had on entertainment. But, even the best fall down sometimes, and Disney took quite the tumble with the release of the film Strange World. Why didn’t this animated film take the world by storm like Frozen or Encanto? What really went wrong with Strange World?
Strange World is about a family of explorers — the Clades — who “attempt to navigate an uncharted, treacherous land alongside a motley crew that includes a mischievous blob, a three-legged dog, and a slew of ravenous creatures.” The family has to overcome their differences as they explore a — you guessed it — strange world (see what Disney did there?).
©Disney
Jake Gyllenhaal voices the main character, Searcher Clade, and other voice actors include Dennis Quaid as Searcher’s father, Jaeger; Jaboukie Young-White as Ethan Clade; Gabrielle Union as Meridian Clade; and Lucy Liu as Castillo Mal. Star-studded cast, right? The movie is directed by Don Hall, co-director Qui Nguyen, and produced by Roy Conli.
Here’s a trailer for the film:
But, despite sounding like a classic Disney adventure tale, Strange World didn’t find the same commercial success as what we’re used to seeing from the studio. While we might not know for certain, there are a few reasons why this may be the case.
Box Office Results
Strange World didn’t start off too strongly at the box office. It premiered over Thanksgiving weekend 2022, and despite having the holiday to bolster sales, it brought in just $18.6 million over the five-day domestic opening (Variety.) In comparison, Encanto grossed $40.1 million over the same five-day period in 2021 when it was released in theaters.
©Disney
This meant the studio stood to lose $100 million or more on the project, and even months later, the film has only brought in $73.6 million worldwide since its premiere. Of course, much of this could be because the movie theater industry has still struggled to bounce back since the pandemic, but films like Lightyear released by Disney in the same year didn’t suffer quite as badly.
It’s also worth noting that by this point, many Disney fans had become accustomed to having movies premiere directly on Disney+.
The low box office results could also be because Strange World wasn’t released in multiple markets — geopolitical tensions kept it out of China and Russia, while markets like the Middle East, Malaysia, and Indonesia wouldn’t show it because the movie features a gay character.
Little Advertising
Disney is no stranger to hyping things up — we just finished celebrating Disney World’s 50th anniversary for 18 whole months, and the parks start celebrating Halloween in August. Not only that, but when it comes to promoting films, Disney usually knows what it’s doing. So why wasn’t there much advertising for Strange World?
Minimal advertising
Sure, Disney put out trailers and promoted the film a bit, but for an original title and concept like this, there weren’t as many elements of marketing we’re used to seeing. According to Salon, “the studio did the bare minimum” to promote Strange World.
Political Controversy
After Lightyear was banned in select countries due to a same-sex kiss (that had previously been removed and put back into the film) Disney was probably prepared for at least some backlash from critics once it was revealed that Strange World’s main character, Ethan Clade, was Disney’s first openly gay teen animated character.
©Disney
In addition, Clade’s parents form an interracial marriage. There’s no real way to discern whether or not this had anything to do with the film finding little success, but with Disney branching out to more inclusive content, it’s possible that this may have been a factor.
©Disney
Disney may traditionally be thought of as a family or kids’ brand, but the brand has catered to all ages and demographics since its creation. Walt Disney is credited with saying, “You’re dead if you aim only for kids. Adults are only kids grown up, anyway.”
No Typical Disney Tropes
What many have noticed about Strange World — and why it may have been a flop — is that it doesn’t follow the typical Disney animated film formula. Sure, there’s plenty of action and adventure, but it’s missing that cast of charismatic ensemble characters that help bring levity and depth to a film.
Photo Op in Disneyland
You also won’t find a loveable heroine lead. Other Disney films have been successful without one (Wreck-It Ralph comes to mind) but many critics have found this to be a potential reason the film wasn’t embraced — there was no designated hero or cute mascot.
©Disney
And finally — it wasn’t a musical. Not all Disney movies have to be musical to be successful, but history has shown that it certainly helps. Strange World didn’t have any bangers like “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” or “Let It Go,” so that could have ultimately led to its demise as well.
Strange World pin
Did you see Strange World? What did you think? We may never know what really went wrong with this movie, but you can be sure we’ll keep an eye out for news about the next big hit!
As always, stay tuned to DFB for the latest Disney news.
Pixar Executive Reveals What Went Wrong with “Lightyear”
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I loved Strange World. Its core message on environmentalism is incredibly relevant & timely for today, and I thought the family dynamic was beautifully done. I also loved that their family dog is a tripod pup! He’s disabled, but it’s not even talked about. Everyone just… exists, the way they are.
Yes, there was a little spark missing from the film that I can’t quite pinpoint (I honestly think it might have just been a pacing issue), but I thought it was wonderful and worth watching again. It’s upsetting how little promotion it received, and of course, my heart hurts for the people in places where the movie was banned who won’t have the chance to see themselves reflected on-screen in this diverse & dynamic cast of characters.
Strange World was OK. Unfortunately, it came across as one lengthy political agenda statement. The entire movie appeared to have been conceptualized to include as many political statements as possible. From the overarching environmental statement to the interracial marriage, homosexual teens, tripod dog, and even “violence” in card/board games and how “wrong” that is. The whole movie seemed extremely heavy-handed ensuring that any kids watching understood the “right” message being conveyed. This is the trend of recent Disney entertainment, ensuring everything has something “inclusive”, whether it helps the story or not. This includes changing the race of established characters to ensure inclusion. Yes, I understand the need to include all lifestyles, etc. But when it becomes the goal and not the process, it comes across as pandering and will alienate even those who are targeted for inclusion. Disney really should go back to focusing on entertaining, and ease up on ensuring that everything they make includes a hot-button topic in the news.
We live in a sad world with so much ignorance and hate that, I believe, is one of the biggest reasons it flopped. I went to see it with my 4 year old son and left early bc he was bored with it. I think that may have been due to a lack of music and excitement, maybe? The message was good and I actually LIKE that there was an interracial couple and gay teen included. I don’t think every movie needs to be like that, but there’s nothing with inclusiveness. The whole “woke” narrative is very frustrating and, quite honestly, getting really old.
Faith Says lays it out perfectly. It was a good movie with a great message. That was highly unpublicised.
Disney put some terrible Star War movies out there. They have an idea if the Disney name is attached to the movie. People will come. This movie just didn’t look like it was worth the price of admission , so people just didn’t go. After the terrible disappointment from the Buzz Lightyear movie. Disney has to step up their act in making movies again.
My bet is that it had NOTHING to do with timing or Covid. It was strictly the open gay theme. Disney hasn’t learned forcing non Walt Disney themed subjects…wholesome family values …aren’t going to sell the the mainstream culture. I guess is they continue to lose money they will wake up?? Possibly??
If the interracial marriage was a factor in the movie Strange World doing poorly, then the original cartoon Pocahontas would have been a box office flop.
I understand that the combined losses for Lightyear and Strange World are forecast to be nearly $250 million. At nearly the same time the new Puss In Boots and Super Mario movies have or are earning near record earnings. And yet Disney continues to push content and stories that people don’t want to see while laying off thousands of their workforce to effectively pay for its determination to stick with whatever this vision or agenda is that the leadership is providing.
Same problem as treasure planet and Atlantis?
I’ve loved Disney now for almost 50 years, but the political agenda that they are pushing in their movies, is pushing me away. People just want to take their children and grandchildren to good movies without having to worry about being politically correct.
I hope Ddisney’s political-agenda-based movies continue to flop. Maybe that will convey the message that we want entertainment with morally upright content that doesn’t cater to the latest lifestyle fad. Let us parents raise our kids.
I didn’t even hear Strange Worlds was a movie until mid way through December, let alone that it was out. Just like John Carter and Treasure Planet – they didn’t advertise it at all, and they slotted it for a holiday release. Disney is absolutely terrified of it’s Sci-fi films. They’re usually good, they just don’t promote em.
I just heard about Peter and Wendy a month ago. It takes an ad campaign to get people interested in a film, especially if that will mean extended time in public, indoors, in a mask. Sorry. We’re still dealing with COVID out here. We’re trying not to die and keep enough of our money to keep us going and prioritize where we’re getting a return for it. If we don’t know about a film, we’re not taking the chance.
I think Jaxus and Robyn are both correct. I didn’t care about the mixed race couple or the gay teen, but the story wasn’t interesting or exciting. It did come across as one long political agenda and was boring. I thought Buzz Lightyear was much better.
Seems like people just can’t digest content that includes any real world themes or content they deem uncomfortable. I think this is probably due to social media creating echo chambers where people are allowed to wallow in ignorance and maintain a shallow view of reality. I thought it was a fun movie and my kid loves it. I love that the characters were all just simply who they were. It felt genuine and the world they built was vibrant and visually appealing. Maybe movies like this will start performing better when people stop looking for reasons to hate things and just relax a little.
One thing that struck me was how much the adult story (dad and grandpa’s war of egos) seemed to overshadow the youth story (teen finding courage to go their own way) and my kids could not care less about watching a couple of grown-ups bicker about who’s right. It felt like a story that belongs in a sci-fi generational drama for adults instead of a Disney cartoon.
I was also annoyed they named the thing that was harming the planet ‘pando’. It was a little too on-the-nose for a movie released during a global pandemic and it highlighter the true nature of the dad’s discovery waaaay too early in the film.