Disney May Make Fewer Live-Action Films

[Loomis]

Disney May Make Fewer Live-Action Films - Backstage.com - 28 Feb 2006

The Walt Disney Co. will focus its capital and energies on its three primary brands, even if that means fewer live-action films, CEO Robert Iger said.

Speaking on Monday at the 19th annual Bear Stearns Media Conference in Palm Beach, Fla., Iger said that the company will invest in the Disney, ESPN and ABC brands, adding that on the film side "our goal is quality not quantity."

Iger said that Disney-branded movies are more profitable than the company's films that don't carry that brand. He also said that making movies simply to amortize the cost of operating a studio is the wrong strategy, suggesting that that is what competing studios are doing.

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[PatrickvD]

That's not really bad news.... Narnia and Pirates will provide all the disney live action kick a disney fan needs.

In related news, Disney has gotten back directing duo John Musker and Ron Clements and has signed 8-time oscar winning composer Alan Menken for a new picture deal wich will include Enchanted, The Frog Princess (First I've heard of) a stage adaptation of The Snow Queen, a Tokyo Disneyland attraction based on the story of Sinbad and much more.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/ar ... 1002076606
http://comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=13392

It looks like Iger is taking all the nails out of the coffin to the way things were before Eisner completely screwed up.

[Luke]

It sounds like Disney will make fewer non-Disney live action films, i.e. we'll see less movies from Touchstone, Miramax, and other subsidiaries. That's possibly good news. My interest in Touchstone's output has dropped since Wes Anderson and M. Night Shyamalan began making films at other studios. But I'm not thrilled by the ideas of only furthering the brand, which isn't explicit here, but often entails relying heavily on franchises or potential franchises. There definitely ought to be room in there for original standalone efforts. At least this year, of the 10 Walt Disney Pictures releases, only two are sequels.

Anyway, not trying to twist this to be negative. Thanks for posting the interesting article!

[Bill W]

Makes sense considering recent Touchstone box office duds such as Hidalgo, The Alamo, King Arthur, Mr. 3000, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Dark Water, Casanova, Annapolis, Shopgirl, etc. There have been some successes like Flightplan, and the Village, but too many duds.

The Disney brand is where it is at!

[TheSequelOfDisney]

I can't wait till The Frog Princess!!! That's what it's called, right????? Anyway, I'm excited that Alan Menken is doing the music. I love his songs!

[BATBfan1]

Lets put it this way, Disney isn't the same anymore. They just rush things for money and not put any heart and soul into ANY of their films.

[MikeyMouse]

Lets put it this way, Disney isn't the same anymore. They just rush things for money and not put any heart and soul into ANY of their films.

Huh? How can you say that? Sure, there are the money-generating cheapquels and direct-to-DVD items, and not every movie is a blockbuster, but did you SEE "Narnia"? How about the first "Pirates?" It'd be tough to say those moveis didn't have heart and soul.

Don't forget, Disney made some stinkers in the 50's, 60's and 70's, too. For every "Old Yeller" and "20,000 Leagues" there was a "Unidentified Flying Odball" and "The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band".

Don't fret!

[TheSequelOfDisney]

I have to agree. Pirates, and Narnia had a lot of soul and heart into the movies.

[Logoliker2004]

Plus, Disney doesn't seem it's going to do 2-d animated features anymore. That is, until the rumors become true that Pixar will experiment with 2-d animation (I bet it will turn out very UPA-like or like "Toot Whistle Plunk and Boom.)