Disney's "dark age" live-action films that made $

[justcuttinhair]

It has been said many times that the late 60's to mid 80's were the "Dark age" of the Disney studio..I tend to disagree, because, there are so many great movies I cherish that came out during that period. But, in terms of box office performance..what live-action movies turned profit and were successful? in years 1968-1984

[merlinjones]

Many don't realize "The Love Bug" was the top grossing film of all 1969. A smash.

The studio was still running on the fumes of Walt's prepped material and chosen studio talents in the 60s, so I wouldn't say there were truly dark ages until about 1971-72.

Some good stuff was released from 1967 -1969 -- solid box office hits, in addition to Herbie: "Blackbeard's Ghost", "The Jungle Book", "Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day" (Oscar winning short), "The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes", "It's Tough to Be a Bird" (Oscar winning short)... "Aristocats" was a hit in 1970. But there were misses.

Things really dried up when Bill Walsh left. IMHO, "Bedknobs and Broomsticks" (soft box office relative to its cost) really is the very end of that era.

They did well with the oldies: Smash reissues of the late 60's -early 70's: "Song of the South," "Swiss Family Robinson," "101 Dalmatians," "Peter Pan," "Snow White," "Absent-Minded Professor," "Old Yeller," "Shaggy Dog," "Parent Trap"... lots more -- it was a great time to see regularly re-released classics from Walt's day.

The mid-late 70s and early 80's had softer and fewer box office successes: "Apple Dumpling Gang," "Robin Hood," "World's Greatest Athlete," "Escape to Witch Mountain," "The Rescuers". Expensive flops: "Island at the Top of the World," "Pete's Dragon," "The Black Hole," "TRON," "Watcher in the Woods," "Something Wicked," and of course "The Black Cauldron." Very soft hit: "The Fox and the Hound" (the last animation of the Nine Old Men era). That was the lowest period -- very different from even the early 70's.

Compared to the mid 70's forward, the late 60's was a goldmine.

[Jay]

I thought that the Rescuers was really successful?? It was their last hit until Little Mermaid.

[Dr Frankenollie]

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[Disneyphile]

Year-movie-gross (in millions)
1988-Cocktail-78
1988-Beaches-57
1987-Three Men and a Baby-167
1987-Good Morning Vietnam-123
1987-Stakeout-65
1987-Outrageous Fortune-52
1986-Ruthless People-71
1986-Down and Out in Beverly Hills-62
1986-The Color of Money-52
1984-Splash-69
1974-Herbie Rides Again-38
1969-The Love Bug-51
1964-Mary Poppins-31 (on first release)

[disneyfella]

I think many, MANY people (including many of us members on this forum) fall into the group who 'stereotype' the Disney films of the 1970s and 1980s as unsuccessful. Actually, most of these films broke even or made money at the box office (even TRON, and The Black Cauldron). The problem was that there was a certain expectation from Disney that wasn't regularly met and as such the films just seemed unsuccessful.

They weren't a financial failure as much as they were a slightly creatively impotent endeavor. (it's a bit late for me, so no jokes please)

[merlinjones]

Disneyfella has a point in that through the late 60's and early 70's, even the other major studios were quite jealous of Disney, because their releases (and re-releases) brought a very consistent return no matter the title so long as it was a "Walt Disney" movie -- not to mention that the TV series was consistently in the ratings top ten -- but what happened is that disppointment (anticipation vs what was delivered) eventually eroded that audience (by the late 70s) and when they turned, they turned. The newer Disney films often suffered in artistic comparison to Walt's very popular reissues and people could tell.

Also, there were very few alternatives for family films in the "realistic" 70s up until Star Wars reversed the trend big time -- then Speilberg and Lucas took up with quality family spectacle where Walt had left off some years before. Suddenly, even the OK Disney films seemed flatter by comparison. And the move of 60 Minutes from Sunday fringe to prime time finally defeated the family anthology series.

FYI -- Up until Lucas, the top grossing Hollywood director of all time (celebrated in a Variety spread) in the mid 70's was Disney stalwart Robert Stevenson (Mary Poppins, Love Bug, Old Yeller, Darby O'Gill, That Darn Cat, Absent Minded Professor, etc.).