Disney has led the field of movies and cinematic universes for an incredible time. Many great stories and ideas have come out of the company. However, Disney has begun to fall in its movies. A once great hub of magic and art has now started to transform into a formulaic cash grab, losing much of what made it so inspirational in the first place. At the same time, two other film-making companies have ramped up their production, and we may see a dramatic shift of power in the industry of movies.
By: Abinav Atreya
For the last 80 years, Disney has dominated the entertainment scene. Its incredible hold on the industry is evident: Disney owns Marvel Studios, the producer of Marvel Cinematic Universe; Lucasfilm, the producer of Star Wars; Pixar, WALL-E, Finding Nemo, Toy Story, Up, and much more. Yet fans and haters alike have noticed the quality of Disney productions has crumpled in the past few years. While good films have come out recently, movies of the quality of Pinocchio, The Lion King, Cars, Coco, Ratatouille, and the Original Star Wars trilogy have all disappeared. While Disney’s fall is notable, the rise of Dreamworks and Illuminations has also taken the media spotlight. They have produced many incredible movies such as the Kung Fu Panda trilogy, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, How To Train Your Dragon, Shrek, the Despicable Me series, and much more. Let’s dive into how and why this transition of power is occurring.
The Decline of Disney
The decline of Disney is a surprisingly controversial topic. After analyzing various sources, the main causes of Disney’s losses seem to be a combination of not appealing to its target demographic, and the oversaturation of franchises, themes, and character types. Take, for example, the movie Wish. Apart from the lackluster writing and the inapt soundtrack, the same character types have shown up in countless consecutive Pixar movies, making the character types used in the movies oversaturated and repetitive. Another example could be the live-action remakes of The Lion King and the Jungle Book. Both of these movies were made for adults who wish to revisit memories of watching the animated originals. But in doing so, they made the movies less likable for children and oversaturated the whole idea of the two movies.
A small survey of Alsion students’ opinions on the topic revealed common ideas around repetitive characters, themes, and lazy production. For example, Sohan Ganguly said, “The movies are lazily written and corny. They get very boring and cringe to watch.” Olivia Gallegos also offered a similar thought, “Their animation quality has gone down, and their villains are not imposing. They don’t live up to the same standards anymore.” Nicandro Cheung offered a similar thought process too, stating that, “A lot of the stuff is for shock value and their writing is formulaic. You can predict a movie’s plot really easily.” An example of a slightly different idea could be Zakariya Mansoor’s; “They try and fail to include good diversity in their movies; the same character types are used over and over again, and their diverse characters don’t bring any interesting traits along with them”
The general consensus appears to be that the production quality has gone down, and their writing and characters are boring and overused.
Dreamworks and Illumination Rises
While Disney’s fall is notable, so is the newfound uplift of the Dreamworks and Illumination. Sources show that Dreamworks and Illumination have been rising for the opposite reasons that Disney is falling; they have new character types, don’t hinge on a certain type of story, cater to their target audience well, and find new creative ways to implement new stores even in old franchises, while still caring about good quality of work. Alsion’s interviewees agree that Dreamworks and Illumination are more interesting, fun, and thought-provoking than Disney.
Sohan Ganguly stated, “Their movies are really interesting and make you think.” Nicandro Cheung said, “I like their movies for basically the opposite reasons I dislike the new Disney movies.” Olivia Gallegos and Zakariya Mansoor both said respectively, “Their quality is good and they have really great villains and plots in many of them.” and, “I think they’re more funny too, like their jokes just hit better. Also, their villains are really good.”
Common themes in these interviews are the thought-provoking nature of the movies and the fleshed-out characters who drive the plot. Movies that encourage thinking and detract from the average storyline and characters appeal to people more so than the formulaic movies that Disney has recently released.
The Future
Whether Disney will keep going lower and Dreamwork and Illumination will continue their boost is not known. Perhaps Disney will rebound from its slump and come back as magical and wonderful as it once was. Dreamworks and Illumination may suffer the same fate as Disney and start overusing stories and characters. Regardless, the damage has already been done. If Disney wants to become the same beacon of creativity, inspiration, and magic it once was, the corporation will have to fight and claw back to the top against two empowered competitors. The entertainment landscape is changing rapidly, and we may see a new king on the throne of film.
(Image credit: Abinav Atreya, made on 10/10/2024)