True, some companies need money to survive. But what should really count is a movie's quality.
All companies need money to survive. I don't think the problem with the Eisner-era is that Disney wanted to make money. I think the problem is that in the lust for more money, Disney too often forgets that quality is what will make you money in the long run, and in turn they have churned out some painfully gawd-awful things, such as:
1. The entire
Air Buddies franchise. Air Bud was a halfway decent movie. The sequels were dumb and the "buddies" were even dumber.
2. The
Mighty Ducks sequels. I remember audible groans in the theater when the team takes the ice wearing Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (i.e., the initial name of the NHL team) jerseys (this was right before their inaugural season). People were actually saying out loud, "What is this? A commercial?"
3. The
Santa Clause sequels. While the second one had some nice moments, there were some moments of utter cheese, such as when they sprayed the gigantic tin soldiers with silly string to make them fall down.
4. Everything
High School Musical other than the initial film.
5. Most of the cheapquels (I'll admit a few of them are ok, but most are really bad).
6. A littany of really awful live action movies (has anyone ever seen
Shipwrecked?)
I could go on, but I think the totality of these things convined Joe Public that Disney was no longer about quality movies like
The Jungle Book or
Swiss Family Robinson and that they would pander anything and everything they could to make a buck.
Once that happened, people stopped spending their money to take a chance on something that would probably be crap, since it seemed that more often than not, the story wouldn't be that interesting, would be filled with dumb, unengaging stories and all around cheesyness. I think that is why films like
National Treasure and
Pirates of the Caribbean were surprise hits, because the stories were engaging and in general not cheesy and people just didn't expect that anymore when it came to Disney movies.
What saddens me is that Disney thinks abandoning fairy tales is going to somehow magically solve the above.
