What are some of Disney's biggest mistakes?

[deadmanjeff]

what are some of disney's biggest mistakes i have a few
1;chicken little or really saying there just going to do fakey cgi stuff from now on instead of the old-school 2d they already have pixar working for them do they think all of those papers and pencils are gonna cost more money than computers
2;putting the lion king movies in the vault only a couple of months after the lion king 2 came out i wanted to wait to buy tlk1 1/2 but they put it in the vault so fast
3:messing up toon disney it used to have good 80s and 90s shows now it shows adolescent teen stuff and disney channel shows

[Pasta67]

2;putting the lion king movies in the vault only a couple of months after the lion king 2 came out i wanted to wait to buy tlk1 1/2 but they put it in the vault so fast
3:messing up toon disney it used to have good 80s and 90s shows now it shows adolescent teen stuff and disney channel shows

I agree with these two. The whole concept of the "vault" is one of the stupidest things I've ever heard, and as for the second one, Disney channel is so terrible nowadays, I don't think it can be saved.

However, I disagree with you on the Chicken Little one. Disney wanted to try something new, and you can't really blame them for that. They're not just limited to hand-drawn movies, you know.

Welcome to the forum, by the way.

[Karushifa]

2;putting the lion king movies in the vault only a couple of months after the lion king 2 came out i wanted to wait to buy tlk1 1/2 but they put it in the vault so fast
3:messing up toon disney it used to have good 80s and 90s shows now it shows adolescent teen stuff and disney channel shows

I agree with these two. The whole concept of the "vault" is one of the stupidest things I've ever heard, and as for the second one, Disney channel is so terrible nowadays, I don't think it can be saved.

However, I disagree with you on the Chicken Little one. Disney wanted to try something new, and you can't really blame them for that. They're not just limited to hand-drawn movies, you know.

Welcome to the forum, by the way.

I too agree that the "vault" is a ridiculous concept that apparently only seeks to artifically drive up demand for something that would likely sell well no matter how long it was on the market. It only makes people more frustrated, instead of instilling some sort of sense of exclusivity in what they're trying to buy.

Toon Disney's demise can be directly linked with the addition of the Jetix anime block a couple of years ago. This effectively pushed all of the classic Disney Afternoon shows out of the schedule. While I can certainly appreciate good anime, Jetix is: a) not all that good, and b) inferior (IMO) to the old Disney shows like Talespin, Rescue Rangers, etc., that they used to show.

As for Chicken Little...the debate over that movie has been hashed and re-hashed over several threads in the last few months. Be ready to step into a mine field if you criticize it too much I do agree that the official move towards all-CGI smacks suspiciously of trying to steal some of Dreamwork's thunder, something that Disney should not have to do. I think there is room for peaceful co-existence of CGI and hand-drawn animation in the same studio, and the latter need not suffer for the former's success.

[Lars Vermundsberget]

Is it absolutely certain that the "vault" is a bad idea? Just because some of you dislike it? Is it bad for business?

Years ago "everything" used to be in the "vault" all the time. Nowadays it seems that some are annoyed because they can't get every single title whenever they please.

I think we can come up with much worse things than some of what has been mentioned here.

[Finchx0rz]

Amen to that, Lars. I don't have a problem with the vault. However, I <i>do</i> have a problem with the heavy-handed messages that taint most of the DTV sequels.

[GhostHost]

Here we go with some of Disney's biggest mistakes:

-not releasing Song of the South on DVD.
-Editing Make Mine Music, Fantasia, Melody Time, and Saludos Amigos for content.
-taking Mr. Toad's Wild Ride out of Magic Kingdom in Orlando.
-Taming down the Snow White Ride in the Magic Kingdom in orlando
-Taking out Alien Encounter in Magic Kingdom
-Home on the Range
-DTV sequels
-Milking Pooh for all he is worth.
-Radio Disney.
-Modern Disney Channel.
-Putting Eddie Murphy in the Haunted Mansion movie.
-The Black Hole
-listening to soccer moms who complain about things.
-California Adventure
-New Monster's Inc. ride at DCA.
-Rock and Roller Coaster being so short.
-Canceling Dinosaurs
-Releasing The Nightmare Before Christmas and Who Framed Roger Rabbit? under Touchstone pictures.

[Loomis]

I don't think the Vault is a bad idea in and of itself. The sales figures have been incredibly healthy for almost all of the limited releases, with many of them setting records - or coming close to it - within the first week. This is obviously a strategy that has worked for Disney for almost 20 years now - between VHS and DVD - and I believe they will continue to adopt it.

However, I think the timing of some of their major releases was a little off. Snow White came out on DVD back in 2001, at a time when DVD was still in its relative infancy. I would daresay that MOST people - and I'm not talking about the DVD collectors on this forum, but the mainstream 'family' buyers - bought their players in 2002/3 or thereabouts. Half of Disney's Platinums were already back in the Vault by that stage, meaning that the majority of sales/potential buyers were missed.

Some of the other classics that were 'held back' after their initial release came out in 1999 for a limited period. I had only JUST bought a DVD player then, and was lucky enough to snatch The Little Mermaid. For the majority of DVD buyers, that's 7 years worth of sales that Disney have missed out on, especially given DVD only really went "mainstream" in 2002/3 or thereabouts. TLM will be re-released this year, and I won't be surprised if other 'vault' titles come out again in the next few years.

So long story short, the 'Vault' concept is a good strategy - I just think Disney made a mistake in their timing.

I'd also like to say that I am absolutely SICK of hearing that Chicken Little was terrible, and it was a mistake to change to CGI. Frankly, it is all bull#@*%. CL did well for itself at the box office, and was a funny and original piece of animation. It didn't set any new trends, but rather followed them, which may be the major bone of contention. However, Disney hasn't really pushed the 2D envelope for years either, and the only 2D films that really connected with audiences recently were the Miyazaki/Ghibli films. Disney is no longer alone in the animated world, and I think their general work over the last 10 years or so smacks of complacency, perhaps due to a windfall with the Pixar films. Chicken Little may not have set the trend as the work of the early 1990s did, but it make have given Disney the shake-up it needed to keep improving over the next ten. At any rate, too much has been said on this topic already...

Other issues I have with their DVD releases and other decisions:

* The Dumbing Down of DVD Extras: Following on from above, once DVD went mainstream, Disney seemed to stop caring about 2-Disc sets with decent features. The 2002 release of the Atlantis DVD was the last of an excellent run of 2-Disc CEs that included The Emperor's New Groove, Tarzan, Dinosaur and the Fantasia Anthology 3-Disc. Since then - with the exception of the non-Region 1 Lilo & Stitch SE - there have been very few examples of this comprehensive selection of extras. It was almost as if Disney decided "X amount of households now own DVD players, they now need games and activities, not information". The timing seems to fit with the move of DVD to mainstream.

* Theme Park budget cuts: Disneyland hasn't seen a new E-ticket since 1995, Hong Kong Disneyland opened as a half park and their every expanding march across the globe has watered down the brand. Disney - stop the expansion and concentrate on solidifying what you have.

* Go.com: Disney's attempt at creating a web-portal was a disaster from the beginning. Even now, Disney's web presence is negligable. They waited too long and went about it all the wrong way. Given that net-delivery of content is probably the future, Disney should be focusing on marketing that to the public.

* Losing touch with the audience: Disney, in a move that isn't confined to them, have been viciously defending their brands and logos for years. However, in some respects, this has tainted the public perception of what Disney is about. Disney has become another brand in the eyes of most people, and this is so far from what Walt dreamed of for the company. Now, Disney needs to protect its intellectual property - otherwise it won't be able to function in a modern world - but I think Disney needs to reinvent itself with a deeper connection to the audience. A Wonderful World of Disney with a recognisable Face of Disney each week could do wonders to bring this back into homes. Is Roy E. Disney busy at the moment?
- Related to this is the editing for content of certain DVDs, and the refusal to release Song of the South etc. There is clearly a market for these films, but Disney - like all studios - has decided that "this is what a family is, and what an family wants". Does it truly know?



Actually, all of these things come down to two simple problems: the need to follow the "bottom line" rather than an artists vision, and the fact that Disney is now following trends rather than setting them. This may be a reality of modern business, but it has resulted in many of the things that fans complain about. Walt was a creator foremost, and a businessman second. He left the money side with Roy, who would regularly pull his own hair out over the outlandish ideas that Walt had. Disneyland was almost a financial disaster, but time showed that it had legs and another 10 parks in it. Perhaps there is no surefire success scheme, because if there was, everyone would do it. Still, Disney - like all companies - takes risks and makes mistakes. That's reality.

[GhostHost]

Actually, all of these things come down to two simple problems: the need to follow the "bottom line" rather than an artists vision, and the fact that Disney is now following trends rather than setting them.

Disney cares so little about artisticness now days, they tried to follow the Dreamworks trend with Chicken Little, instead of making a movie of great artistic merit. Down in orlando they are letting Universal run all over them, cause they can still make their money without much more effort. When Disney saw Spiderman at IOA, they should have said "let's kick Universal's ass" and built a ride that would have the same impact today as POTC had in 1967.

[Timon/Pumbaa fan]

I don't know, I think "the vault" is a great buissness move! Infact, I kinda like how they release it for a little bit every fews years so many different generations can watch them.

And Chicken Little rocks! I think it's better than at least 25 of the animated classics!

As for bad things Disney has done, hmmm, here are a few.

1. Disney missin' out the opportunity to buy Marvel: Netty actually told me about this one. Shame really! All of those movies and characters could've been owned by Disney, and at the time, Marvel was BANKRUPT!

2. Disney missin' out to make "Back To The Future": It may not be revelant now, but those were three of the coolest movies ever!

3. The cool touches, like the ones at "Tom's Sawyer's Island" at Disneyland, getting changed.

All the others, have been mentioned by Ghosthost:

-not releasing Song of the South on DVD.
-Editing Make Mine Music, Fantasia, Melody Time, and Saludos Amigos for content.
-taking Mr. Toad's Wild Ride out of Magic Kingdom in Orlando.
-Radio Disney.
-Modern Disney Channel.
-Putting Eddie Murphy in the Haunted Mansion movie.
-listening to soccer moms who complain about things.
-California Adventure
-Releasing The Nightmare Before Christmas and Who Framed Roger Rabbit? under Touchstone pictures.

The ones I completely agree with are in bold.(in case you couldn't tell )

[Pasta67]

I take it back. I LIKE the vault when I have the movies that are put in it, because then I have bragging rights. I DON'T like the vault when the movies I don't have are put in it, because then I lose the chance of getting them.

Disney cares so little about artisticness now days, they tried to follow the Dreamworks trend with Chicken Little, instead of making a movie of great artistic merit.

A lot of people seem to be under the impression that every movie Disney makes NEEDS to be a huge blockbuster success that completely pwns every other movie out there at the moment. Granted, that would be nice, but can't Disney have the freedom to just make a fun, little movie once in a while? I don't really think they were aiming for "art" when they made Chicken Little. They were trying to make a cute comedy that audiences would have fun seeing, and I think they succeeded in that area. I know that not everybody likes CL, but saying it's bad because it didn't try to be artistic isn't really the best reason.

But I don't want this to turn into yet another Chicken Little thread, so I'll shut up.

[numba1lostboy]

My only beef with Disney is there stupid decision to only produce CGI movies from now on.
I really have no problem with CGI, but I feel that abandoning the original form of animation is a very bad move. And they didn't exactly go out with a bang, either...i mean, Home on the Range? ....come on, Disney....you can do better!

[Artlad]

Taming down the Snow White Ride in the Magic Kingdom in orlando

REALLY??! they tamed it down. thats funny cuz i was just at the magic Kingdom a few months ago and i rode snow white. it was the first time i had ridden it since i was 8. afterward i thought the ride was a lot less scary than i remembered it being, but I just figured it was because i had grown up. i had no idea they actually tamed it Down!!! that stinks. c'mon its called Snow Whites SCARY adventure fer cryin out loud. anybody who complains after riding it that they got scared should be shot.


Anyway.....my submission for Disney's biggest mistake: Letting Michael Eisner run the entire company by himself after Frank Wells died. can you say "god complex" !?

[2099net]

I believe most of Disney's mistakes are down to diversification. Anytime a company diversifies - especially through acquisition rather then organic growth – it is easy to muddle the companies 'mission' or fragment the management.

So number one for me has to be Buying ABC. Disney's doing alright now with ABC, but only because of a couple of hot properties – Lost and Desperate Housewives. And before then it seemed to muddle from crisis to crisis. And given the number of hours ABC is transmitting a week, 2 hours of ratings winners still doesn't sound like a great achievement to me.

I can't help thinking Disney as a company doesn't really know what to do with ABC. It's top shows are most unDisney like, and probably aren't typically Touchstone either. I figure Disney intended to run lots of marketing synergy items on ABC, but I don't even think this has happened.

Still, ABC isn't loosing money anymore, and perhaps it's finally settled into the Disney family, and will continue to go from strength to strength.

[DARTH KNITE]

1. This God-Awful CGI trend. Not one movie with a point, a meaning, a message or anything of value to say in years! Go back to traditional animation and make a decent movie instead of some "gimmicky" comedy like "The Wild", or was it called "Over the Hedge" or was it called it called "Hoodwinked"...? What happened to originality?

2. The vault I agree is a stupid idea. Who does that? Just release the movies

3. Personally I think all/most of their movies should be released on two disc just out of respect for the art form if nothing else. There are too many releases of each movie, it gets crazy.

4. Disneyland not bringing back Electrical Parade to Main Street for the 50th

5. Not doing something with the People mover/Rocket Rods track in Tommorow.

6. Whorring out the Festival Arena in Frontierland for coporate events instead of using it for an actual attraction.

7. California Adventure having hardly any rides or Disney themed attractions.

8. Whoever they have writing the music for their parades these last few years.

[lord-of-sith]

Taming down the Snow White Ride in the Magic Kingdom in orlando

REALLY??! they tamed it down. thats funny cuz i was just at the magic Kingdom a few months ago and i rode snow white. it was the first time i had ridden it since i was 8. afterward i thought the ride was a lot less scary than i remembered it being, but I just figured it was because i had grown up. i had no idea they actually tamed it Down!!! that stinks. c'mon its called Snow Whites SCARY adventure fer cryin out loud. anybody who complains after riding it that they got scared should be shot.

Sorry for my ignorance, but how did they tame it down exactly?

[singerguy04]

- Cinderella II
- Killing the traditional 2D animation style
- The Proud Family (i really really REALLY did not like anything about this show)
- Copying Sleeping Beauty's castle for Hong Kong Disneyland, and Cinderella's castle for Disneyland Tokyo
- Not bringing Song of the South to DVD
- Delaying a 2-Disc Special Edition of Lilo & Stitch AGAIN!
- Dumbo: Big Top Edition
- Changing the Design of the Disney Stores
- Making the Haunted Mansion a comedy
- Tower of Terror in DCA
- Only directing everything towards kids anymore and not towards the whole family.

[skyler888]

-getting rid of traditional animation
-the disney princess line!
-getting in a fight with steven spelberg and not being able to continue with roger rabbit!!!

[Wonderlicious]

The number one for me is simple; trying to be the company with a perfect image. Disney has had an obsession with looking practically perfect. That's one of the reasons why I think they get slammed a lot; their desire for an unoffending image and brand (like Loomis, I think that Disney are becoming this) has lead to a number of bad creative things; the editing of numerous films both feature length and short, the refusal to distribute Fahrenheit 9/11 (I know that it's a controversial film from many political viewpoints, yet do most non-Disney fans actually know that Miramax is owned by Disney?) and of course, the abandonment of Song of the South. It also attracts many people to see bad in Disney; by trying to be the most perfect thing outside of divinity, even the slightest fault can garner the most harsh of criticism and spite from some. I really don't think the likes of the supposed appearance of "SEX" in The Lion King and the rumour of the priest's errection in The Little Mermaid would have even surfaced if the film was released by another major studio.

This also links into Disney's desire to be a good business and make everything profitable, causing creativity problems, which may equally cause business issues (vicious circle, innit?). Many whinge about how the Disney Channel has become the "High School Musical and Raven Channel", with little hints back to the classic Disney that was on the now defunct Vault Disney. And how they stopped 2D animation over at Feature Animation. Or how the California Adventure is crap. Or of the sequels and the Princess line. Or how the DVDs are now all fullscreen presentations, music videos, Fastplay and games. This is what's called "playing safe" and it causes problems by making the Disney Studio seem like the Box Factory. I admit that there have been some none "playing safe" things from Disney such as Fantasia 2000 and in a way the revival of new productions for The Wonderful World of Disney, but there are enough things to get me worried. Seriously, I am personally predicting The Little Mermaid: Platinum Edition to be really bad, as Disney want a "family friendly" product. I don't want a favourite cheapened by a whole load of heartless executives.

I should also note that I don't like how Disney causes people to be in poor working conditions. I'm not just talking about them using some cold and harsh workhouse in Sri Lanka. I'm talking about the conditions used in the US Disney theme parks, especially on the college programme, which from what I've read, don't seem great. Thank god that the EU calls the shots in Disneyland Paris.

I must admit that I don't mind ABC being bought by Disney. I actually now consider it a Disney franchise now.

[MichaeLeah]

I believe most of Disney's mistakes are down to diversification. Anytime a company diversifies - especially through acquisition rather then organic growth – it is easy to muddle the companies 'mission' or fragment the management.

So number one for me has to be Buying ABC. Disney's doing alright now with ABC, but only because of a couple of hot properties – Lost and Desperate Housewives. And before then it seemed to muddle from crisis to crisis. And given the number of hours ABC is transmitting a week, 2 hours of ratings winners still doesn't sound like a great achievement to me.

I can't help thinking Disney as a company doesn't really know what to do with ABC. It's top shows are most unDisney like, and probably aren't typically Touchstone either. I figure Disney intended to run lots of marketing synergy items on ABC, but I don't even think this has happened.

Still, ABC isn't loosing money anymore, and perhaps it's finally settled into the Disney family, and will continue to go from strength to strength.

I think you are on to something here. I think Disney's downfall really started in the 70's when they eliminated creativity. I don't think they really ever needed to start Touchstone Pictures. They just needed to make better Disney pictures.

On the other hand, I think things are starting to improve and I am very optimistic about the new CEO. It's a big, bright, beautiful tomorrow. I think the Narnia series are the most exciting live-action films Disney has made in decades. I think the animation department is going to get fixed too, but it will take a while.

[PatrickvD]

putting the lion king movies in the vault only a couple of months after the lion king 2 came out i wanted to wait to buy tlk1 1/2 but they put it in the vault so fast

funny you mention the Lion King sequels... they are high on my list of Disney's biggest mistakes