Pixar's Soul

[rodrigo_ca]

Officially moved to November 20, 2020

https://twitter.com/DisneyStudios/statu ... 3502292995

[JeanGreyForever]

It's gonna be strange having a Pixar release in the fall since the last time this happened was Coco and The Good Dinosaur before that. Hope this film is more of a Coco than The Good Dinosaur though.

I didn't realize there was such an uproar in this forum about the new release date though.

[Farerb]

It's gonna be strange having a Pixar release in the fall since the last time this happened was Coco and The Good Dinosaur before that. Hope this film is more of a Coco than The Good Dinosaur though.

I didn't realize there was such an uproar in this forum about the new release date though.

Personally I wanted an original WDAS film to come out already since the last one was Moana back in 2016, which would make it approximately 4.5 years without an original WDAS film.

[Clindor]

Honestly I'm a bit surprised with this one. I thought that maybe it would have been one of these films that would get a straight release to streaming during summer ...since Bob Iger mentioned that possibility a few days ago! Yeah, I know what everybody is going to yell: no way a Pixar movie to go straight to streaming services. And yes, OF COURSE that wouldN'T have been as profitable as releasing it theatrically, but if Disney needs money before the situation is comfortable enough to allow theaters to re-open.. idk.. And since because of its late promotion maybe this movie isn't as anticipated as others.. But at the same time, I can understand the potential backlash that could happen if the first Pixar movie to have a black lead isn't released theatrically.

Personally I would have moved this one to March or June 2021 for a theatrical release, and kept Raya for when it was initially scheduled. For whatever reasons I can't imagine 'Soul' getting released around December.. Maybe it's just me, but this movie has more of a Summer movie feeling to me..

[JeanGreyForever]

It's gonna be strange having a Pixar release in the fall since the last time this happened was Coco and The Good Dinosaur before that. Hope this film is more of a Coco than The Good Dinosaur though.

I didn't realize there was such an uproar in this forum about the new release date though.

Personally I wanted an original WDAS film to come out already since the last one was Moana back in 2016, which would make it approximately 4.5 years without an original WDAS film.

That I can understand and I frankly didn't even realize it's been that long without an original WDAS. However, I'm pointing out the hypocrisy in the Raya thread where apparently it's offensive that Raya's release date has been pushed back...even though every other Disney/MCU/Pixar film has also had its release date pushed so not seeing what the problem is here. You can probably guess the culprits

[JeanGreyForever]

Honestly I'm a bit surprised with this one. I thought that maybe it would have been one of these films that would get a straight release to streaming during summer ...since Bob Iger mentioned that possibility a few days ago! Yeah, I know what everybody is going to yell: no way a Pixar movie to go straight to streaming services. And yes, OF COURSE that wouldN'T have been as profitable as releasing it theatrically, but if Disney needs money before the situation is comfortable enough to allow theaters to re-open.. idk.. And since because of its late promotion maybe this movie isn't as anticipated as others.. But at the same time, I can understand the potential backlash that could happen if the first Pixar movie to have a black lead isn't released theatrically.

Personally I would have moved this one to March or June 2021 for a theatrical release, and kept Raya for when it was initially scheduled. For whatever reasons I can't imagine 'Soul' getting released around December.. Maybe it's just me, but it feels more like a Summer movie to me..

I can't see a WDAS or Pixar film ever becoming streaming exclusive only. Their tentpole titles (including their Marvel and Star Wars features) are too valuable for such treatment, which is why they flat out confirmed some time back that while we'll see MCU and Star Wars live-action TV series, we'll never see Disney+ exclusive films for them. Onwards already got shunted to Disney+ for matters beyond Disney's hands so there was never any way that the other Pixar release of the year, particularly the one they've considered to be their golden title for the year (much like Inside Out was the golden Pixar title in 2015 compared to The Good Dinosaur), was ever going to get the same treatment.

However, I imagine the fact that Soul hasn't been relegated to Disney+ will only feed the conspiracies that some have about how Disney goes out of their way to reward Pixar at the expense of WDAS. Throw in a comment or two about how Lin-Manuel Miranda must be bankrolling the film lol.

[estefan]

I think it's clear Pixar and WDAS are looked at in equal terms by Disney nowadays. In fact, WDAS has actually been more consistent at the box-office over the past several years than Pixar has. While Pixar had a few commercial disappointments recently with The Good Dinosaur and Cars 3, WDAS has had one hit after another. So I don't see any favoritism on Disney's part.

The coronavirus has had a serious effect on every studio's schedule. Sony moved their entire summer slate to next year. Universal postponed their two biggest summer titles to the following summer (and in the case of Minions 2, it's because they can't finish the movie). Warner Bros had to remove Scoob and In the Heights from their schedule and are now looking for other places for them. Paramount sold The Lovebirds to Netflix and delayed Top Gun: Maverick to Christmas. And if things aren't back to normal by July, Disney is going to be forced to find a new spot for Mulan.

At least Soul's move was an easy one to make, seeing as Disney only releases the Pixar/WDAS movies in March, June and November nowadays. We should be happy we only have to wait an extra four months to see Raya. Other highly anticipated movies either don't have a new release date or were moved even further away from their original date. As someone who is really looking forward to the new Ghostbusters movie, seeing it get delayed eight months due to the coranvirus was a crushing blow, even if I understand Sony's reasoning.

[Clindor]

Honestly I'm a bit surprised with this one. I thought that maybe it would have been one of these films that would get a straight release to streaming during summer ...since Bob Iger mentioned that possibility a few days ago! Yeah, I know what everybody is going to yell: no way a Pixar movie to go straight to streaming services. And yes, OF COURSE that wouldN'T have been as profitable as releasing it theatrically, but if Disney needs money before the situation is comfortable enough to allow theaters to re-open.. idk.. And since because of its late promotion maybe this movie isn't as anticipated as others.. But at the same time, I can understand the potential backlash that could happen if the first Pixar movie to have a black lead isn't released theatrically.

Personally I would have moved this one to March or June 2021 for a theatrical release, and kept Raya for when it was initially scheduled. For whatever reasons I can't imagine 'Soul' getting released around December.. Maybe it's just me, but it feels more like a Summer movie to me..

I can't see a WDAS or Pixar film ever becoming streaming exclusive only. Their tentpole titles (including their Marvel and Star Wars features) are too valuable for such treatment

Nobody does. And I don't think that's the matter. We all know all these movies has the potential to be at least moderated successes or at best huge successes at the box office, and will always bring more money if they get to be released theatrically. This is more a matter of 'Do you need money now or can they afford to wait half a year?.." Because of the current global health crisis, they will loose money no matter what. It'd be just about what is best option regarding the context.. idk

Onward already got shunted to Disney+ for matters beyond Disney's hands

humm.. no?

It was their initiative to put it that early on the platform. This way the movie keeps making money NOW even if it is on another scale... They also could have waited the usual 3 months to put it there.

particularly the one they've considered to be their golden title for the year

Have they? Or do you project the way the Internet reacted to the trailers on the real intentions of the company beyond that? I've personally never heard of filmmakers, Disney executives or Pixar artists speaking of or considering 'Soul' as the obvious superior project of 2020... not even in the sub-textual way! Do tell me if I am wrong or missed something. Among other things, I attended the 'Disney Movies panel' at 2019 D23 Expo, I can assure you that in NO way they tried to put more attention on 'Soul' than 'Onward'. I think a lot of people misinterpret their own anticipation of movies with what the creative teams and the studios really intent to do, putting more importance of how they feel the movies based on not-always-relevant trailers rather than what happens behind-the-scene only because Disney now wants to be very secretive about that. Typical

However, I imagine the fact that Soul hasn't been relegated to Disney+ will only feed the conspiracies that some have about how Disney goes out of their way to reward Pixar at the expense of WDAS.

Nobody is saying that since 'Raya' is coming to theaters no matter what. My personal point is that 'Raya' would have been a perfect Christmas movie Soul feels to me like a good movie for Summer. They could have at least released it Summer 2021 since nobody so far anticipate 2021 Pixar project, this latter remaining a big mystery.

[Farerb]

particularly the one they've considered to be their golden title for the year

Do they? Or do you project the way the Internet reacted to the trailers on the real intentions of the company beyond that? I've personally never heard of filmmakers, Disney executives or Pixar artists speaking of or considering 'Soul' as the obvious superior animated project of 2020... not even in the sub-textual way! Among other things, I attended the 'Disney Movies panel' at 2019 D23 Expo, in NO way they tried to put more attention on 'Soul' than 'Onward'. Do tell me if I am wrong or missed something. I think a lot of people misinterpret their own anticipation of movies with what the creative teams and the studios really intent to do. Typical

Pixar usually put the more lucrative film in June, if they have another title, it will get March (unless there's no WDAS film that year and then it gets November). Also Soul is by Docter. Onward is not.

However, I imagine the fact that Soul hasn't been relegated to Disney+ will only feed the conspiracies that some have about how Disney goes out of their way to reward Pixar at the expense of WDAS.

Nobody is saying that since 'Raya' is coming to theaters no matter what. My personal point is that 'Raya' would have been a perfect Christmas movie Soul feels to me like a good movie for Summer. They could have at least released it Summer 2021 since nobody so far anticipate 2021 Pixar project, this latter remaining a big mystery.

There's already a Pixar film that's supposed to be released in June 2021 and a WDAS film in November 2021. Postponing Soul to November 2020 and Raya to March 2021 makes the most sense so far.

[Clindor]

Have they? Or do you project the way the Internet reacted to the trailers on the real intentions of the company beyond that? I've personally never heard of filmmakers, Disney executives or Pixar artists speaking of or considering 'Soul' as the obvious superior project of 2020... not even in the sub-textual way! Do tell me if I am wrong or missed something. Among other things, I attended the 'Disney Movies panel' at 2019 D23 Expo, I can assure you that in NO way they tried to put more attention on 'Soul' than 'Onward'. I think a lot of people misinterpret their own anticipation of movies with what the creative teams and the studios really intent to do, putting more importance of how they feel the movies based on not-always-relevant trailers rather than what happens behind-the-scene only because Disney now wants to be very secretive about that. Typical

Pixar usually put the more lucrative film in June, if they have another title, it will get March (unless there's no WDAS film that year and then it gets November). Also Soul is by Docter. Onward is not.

I think that's once again our own interpretation. They wanted to make something big out of 'Zootopia' and it got released in March.
At some point they have to put some movies in March, others for June.

Speaking of Disney releases in general that happened in March, anyone remembers 'Beauty and the Beast' (2017)? How comes this one hasn't been released in Summertime knowning that POTC5 was scheduled for May anyway?

Nobody is saying that since 'Raya' is coming to theaters no matter what. My personal point is that 'Raya' would have been a perfect Christmas movie Soul feels to me like a good movie for Summer. They could have at least released it Summer 2021 since nobody so far anticipate 2021 Pixar project, this latter remaining a big mystery.

There's already a Pixar film that's supposed to be released in June 2021 and a WDAS film in November 2021. Postponing Soul to November 2020 and Raya to March 2021 makes the most sense so far.

So according to your observation of what happened in the past, putting 'Soul' in March, and keeping 'Raya' for December would have worked too.

There's already a Pixar film that's supposed to be released in June 2021

As I stated in the post you just quoted, yes

[Farerb]

Not saying they don't care about their March releases, but they have to choose between two films and one is more favorable for them to get the "prestigious" slot. In Zootopia's case, they gave the November release to the Princess film (also the lack of Zootopia merch spoke volumes). There's also a theory that they didn't want Inside Out and Zootopia to complete against each other and that's why Zootopia wasn't released in November 2015 instead of The Good Dinosaur.

Regarding Soul and Raya - yes that was another possibility that crossed my mind. However, most likely Soul is either complete or near completion, while Raya still needs to be worked on. There's no reason for them to shelve a complete film for almost an entire year, and it gives WDAS more breathing space to work on Raya.

P.S. If it were up to me, I would have put Zootopia in November, Moana in June and Finding Dory in March.

[Clindor]

Regarding Soul and Raya - yes that was another possibility that crossed my mind. However, most likely Soul is either complete or near completion, while Raya still needs to be worked on. There's no reason for them to shelve a complete film for almost an entire year, and it gives WDAS more breathing space to work on Raya.

That's actually a legit point. Although I know they are not late on the production of 'Raya'. But all will depend on what the crisis still has in store for us knowing we are still at the beginning of this fight.

[JeanGreyForever]

I think it's clear Pixar and WDAS are looked at in equal terms by Disney nowadays. In fact, WDAS has actually been more consistent at the box-office over the past several years than Pixar has. While Pixar had a few commercial disappointments recently with The Good Dinosaur and Cars 3, WDAS has had one hit after another. So I don't see any favoritism on Disney's part.

The coronavirus has had a serious effect on every studio's schedule. Sony moved their entire summer slate to next year. Universal postponed their two biggest summer titles to the following summer (and in the case of Minions 2, it's because they can't finish the movie). Warner Bros had to remove Scoob and In the Heights from their schedule and are now looking for other places for them. Paramount sold The Lovebirds to Netflix and delayed Top Gun: Maverick to Christmas. And if things aren't back to normal by July, Disney is going to be forced to find a new spot for Mulan.

At least Soul's move was an easy one to make, seeing as Disney only releases the Pixar/WDAS movies in March, June and November nowadays. We should be happy we only have to wait an extra four months to see Raya. Other highly anticipated movies either don't have a new release date or were moved even further away from their original date. As someone who is really looking forward to the new Ghostbusters movie, seeing it get delayed eight months due to the coranvirus was a crushing blow, even if I understand Sony's reasoning.

Precisely. The paranoia about the release date change with Raya makes no sense when all the facts are presented like this. It's common sense really or it ought to be.

[JeanGreyForever]

Regarding Soul and Raya - yes that was another possibility that crossed my mind. However, most likely Soul is either complete or near completion, while Raya still needs to be worked on. There's no reason for them to shelve a complete film for almost an entire year, and it gives WDAS more breathing space to work on Raya.

That's actually a legit point. Although I know they are not late on the production of 'Raya'. But all will depend on what the crisis still has in store for us knowing we are still at the beginning of this fight.

Keep in mind that Frozen was massively overhauled just a few months before the film's release when Elsa was no longer a villain. I think that occurred around the spring/summer months so around the same time as now almost. And we know Frozen 2's ending was drastically changed during the summer as well. So it wouldn't surprise me if Raya needs a lot more time.

[JeanGreyForever]

I can't see a WDAS or Pixar film ever becoming streaming exclusive only. Their tentpole titles (including their Marvel and Star Wars features) are too valuable for such treatment

Nobody does. And I don't think that's the matter. We all know all these movies has the potential to be at least moderated successes or at best huge successes at the box office, and will always bring more money if they get to be released theatrically. This is more a matter of 'Do you need money now or can they afford to wait half a year?.." Because of the current global health crisis, they will loose money no matter what. It'd be just about what is best option regarding the context.. idk

Onward already got shunted to Disney+ for matters beyond Disney's hands

humm.. no?

It was their initiative to put it that early on the platform. This way the movie keeps making money NOW even if it is on another scale... They also could have waited the usual 3 months to put it there.

particularly the one they've considered to be their golden title for the year

Have they? Or do you project the way the Internet reacted to the trailers on the real intentions of the company beyond that? I've personally never heard of filmmakers, Disney executives or Pixar artists speaking of or considering 'Soul' as the obvious superior project of 2020... not even in the sub-textual way! Do tell me if I am wrong or missed something. Among other things, I attended the 'Disney Movies panel' at 2019 D23 Expo, I can assure you that in NO way they tried to put more attention on 'Soul' than 'Onward'. I think a lot of people misinterpret their own anticipation of movies with what the creative teams and the studios really intent to do, putting more importance of how they feel the movies based on not-always-relevant trailers rather than what happens behind-the-scene only because Disney now wants to be very secretive about that. Typical

However, I imagine the fact that Soul hasn't been relegated to Disney+ will only feed the conspiracies that some have about how Disney goes out of their way to reward Pixar at the expense of WDAS.

Nobody is saying that since 'Raya' is coming to theaters no matter what. My personal point is that 'Raya' would have been a perfect Christmas movie Soul feels to me like a good movie for Summer. They could have at least released it Summer 2021 since nobody so far anticipate 2021 Pixar project, this latter remaining a big mystery.

Well, I think they have plenty of money to sit on to last sometime and Disney isn't the type of company that wants to give up on maximum profits in the future. Especially when they already had to do that with Onwards.

Yes, they did chose to put Onwards on Disney+ but they only did that because of Corona. If there had been no Corona, Onwards would never be on Disney+ right now so that was only due to extenuating circumstances. Personally, I think they should have just re-released it in theaters when all of this dies out but I'm sure Disney knows better.

Everything farerb said is what I think about this Onwards/Soul feud especially since that was a heavy topic of discussion in the Onwards thread before the film's release. Much like Inside Out vs The Good Dinosaur in 2015.

Oh believe me, in the Raya thread there are indeed some people who believe Raya's delay is due to Pixar favoritism even if they are pretending like they never said anything like that now. Honestly, the whole concept of death, the soul, and the afterlife and learning to appreciate life always felt to me like an almost Christmas theme. Sorta like It's a Wonderful Life or A Christmas Carol so I actually feel this film has more in common with a holiday film.

[Clindor]

Well, I think they have plenty of money to sit on to last sometime and Disney isn't the type of company that wants to give up on maximum profits in the future. Especially when they already had to do that with Onwards.

I don't know.. Well obviously they do have a lot of money, but they are also losing a lot of money every day... (even if OBVIOUSLY they are not more to be pitied in this health crisis !) and because there is still a lot of uncertainties around this pandemic and when and how it will "end" exactly.. I thought "Soul" would be a good candidate since Bob Iger revealed that the company is thinking about putting more on streaming than what has been scheduled so far ...like they might strategically need to do that despite the losses:
https://deadline.com/2020/04/disneys-ig ... 202902982/


(but because I don't know exactly how making money with streaming services works, let's clarify this is a hypothesis)

Yes, they did chose to put Onwards on Disney+ but they only did that because of Corona.

..and because that's what they strategically wanted to? They could have waited more time for the digital sells (no corona involved)

Everything farerb said is what I think about this Onwards/Soul feud especially since that was a heavy topic of discussion in the Onwards thread before the film's release. Much like Inside Out vs The Good Dinosaur in 2015.

NO WAY. The Good Dinosaur has been through a LLLLLLLLLOTT of changes, beginning with its always-evolving concept. This movie met a lot of production problems and its release date has been rescheduled sooo many times.. None of 'Onward', 'Soul' or 'Raya and the Last Dragon' is that kind of project not as far as I know. So ...not comparable?
(and I know for sure SURE 'Raya' has that kind of epicness that deserves and get along with the Christmas festivities )

Oh believe me, in the Raya thread there are indeed some people who believe Raya's delay is due to Pixar favoritism even if they are pretending like they never said anything like that now. Honestly, the whole concept of death, the soul, and the afterlife and learning to appreciate life always felt to me like an almost Christmas theme. Sorta like It's a Wonderful Life or A Christmas Carol so I actually feel this film has more in common with a holiday film.

Well.. let's also consider that this is a bit like the breaking of a tradition, right? WDAS Thanksgiving movie has been around for quite some time! Might be difficult for some to get over it. I don't fully blame them.

But I think it's more about Disney keeping the same order of releases according to the production stages of its animated movies.

[JeanGreyForever]

Well, I think they have plenty of money to sit on to last sometime and Disney isn't the type of company that wants to give up on maximum profits in the future. Especially when they already had to do that with Onwards.

I don't know.. Well obviously they do have a lot of money, but they are also losing a lot of money every day... (even if OBVIOUSLY they are not more to be pitied in this health crisis !) and because there is still a lot of uncertainties around this pandemic and when and how it will "end" exactly.. I thought "Soul" would be a good candidate since Bob Iger revealed that the company is thinking about putting more on streaming than what has been scheduled so far ...like they might strategically need to do that despite the losses:
https://deadline.com/2020/04/disneys-ig ... 202902982/


(but because I don't know exactly how making money with streaming services works, let's clarify this is a hypothesis)

Yes, they did chose to put Onwards on Disney+ but they only did that because of Corona.

..and because that's what they strategically wanted to? They could have waited more time for the digital sells (no corona involved)

Everything farerb said is what I think about this Onwards/Soul feud especially since that was a heavy topic of discussion in the Onwards thread before the film's release. Much like Inside Out vs The Good Dinosaur in 2015.

NO WAY. The Good Dinosaur has been through a LLLLLLLLLOTT of changes, beginning with its always-evolving concept. This movie met a lot of production problems and its release date has been rescheduled sooo many times.. None of 'Onward', 'Soul' or 'Raya and the Last Dragon' is that kind of project not as far as I know. So ...not comparable?
(and I know for sure SURE 'Raya' has that kind of epicness that deserves and get along with the Christmas festivities )

Oh believe me, in the Raya thread there are indeed some people who believe Raya's delay is due to Pixar favoritism even if they are pretending like they never said anything like that now. Honestly, the whole concept of death, the soul, and the afterlife and learning to appreciate life always felt to me like an almost Christmas theme. Sorta like It's a Wonderful Life or A Christmas Carol so I actually feel this film has more in common with a holiday film.

Well.. let's also consider that this is a bit like the breaking of a tradition, right? WDAS Thanksgiving movie has been around for quite some time! Might be difficult for some to get over it. I don't fully blame them.

But I think it's more about Disney keeping the same order of releases according to the production stages of its animated movies.

I think Bob Iger was more referring to films like Artemis Fowl which frankly they probably just wanted an excuse to release on Disney+ anyway since it was never going to be a huge moneymaker. Artemis Fowl is an example but also the DisneyNature films which were never commercial hits either. This way Disney can continue to make low-budget content films and release them with less risk without minimizing audiences. Pixar films are in an entirely different bracket.

Yeah, strategically that's what they felt best and I did say that while I think they should have waited to re-release it, Disney clearly knows better than me so they must have made the better choice.

You're right, but it felt like Onwards was never treated like a prestige project the way Soul was and Soul and Inside Out have alot of similarities and parallels so that heightens the sorta "black sheep" status that it felt Onwards was getting alongside The Good Dinosaur way back. Raya to me doesn't feel like a Christmas film but more like a summer film. The same could be said about Moana as well though. This reminds me of how Moana was overtaken at the American box office by Sing!

I suppose but like farerb said before, this is the first original film since 2016 with Moana done by WDAS. The last two years were both sequels (WIR2 and Frozen 2) so it's been a huge gap since then so a spring 2021 release for Raya doesn't seem like that much of a break in tradition for me anyway. I never hear anyone identify Thanksgiving time with the new Disney animated film the way that Star Wars is associated with December now or a new Marvel film is associated with April/May or some summer month.

But like you said, it makes perfect sense that Disney wants to keep up their order of release schedule and no other film was swapped around ahead of behind another film so that's why I didn't understand this extreme backlash to Soul taking Raya's spot. I can almost guarantee that if Raya was the summer film that suddenly took the fall position from Soul, you wouldn't see the same vitriol positioned here since the feeling would be that Pixar deserves to take a back seat.

[Clindor]

I don't know.. Well obviously they do have a lot of money, but they are also losing a lot of money every day... (even if OBVIOUSLY they are not more to be pitied in this health crisis !) and because there is still a lot of uncertainties around this pandemic and when and how it will "end" exactly.. I thought "Soul" would be a good candidate since Bob Iger revealed that the company is thinking about putting more on streaming than what has been scheduled so far ...like they might strategically need to do that despite the losses:
https://deadline.com/2020/04/disneys-ig ... 202902982/


(but because I don't know exactly how making money with streaming services works, let's clarify this is a hypothesis)
..and because that's what they strategically wanted to? They could have waited more time for the digital sells (no corona involved)
NO WAY. The Good Dinosaur has been through a LLLLLLLLLOTT of changes, beginning with its always-evolving concept. This movie met a lot of production problems and its release date has been rescheduled sooo many times.. None of 'Onward', 'Soul' or 'Raya and the Last Dragon' is that kind of project not as far as I know. So ...not comparable?
(and I know for sure SURE 'Raya' has that kind of epicness that deserves and get along with the Christmas festivities )
Well.. let's also consider that this is a bit like the breaking of a tradition, right? WDAS Thanksgiving movie has been around for quite some time! Might be difficult for some to get over it. I don't fully blame them.

But I think it's more about Disney keeping the same order of releases according to the production stages of its animated movies.

I think Bob Iger was more referring to films like Artemis Fowl which frankly they probably just wanted an excuse to release on Disney+ anyway since it was never going to be a huge moneymaker. Artemis Fowl is an example but also the DisneyNature films which were never commercial hits either. This way Disney can continue to make low-budget content films and release them with less risk without minimizing audiences. Pixar films are in an entirely different bracket.

Only future will tell, and that statement recently made by Bob Iger would have needed to be clarified. But the thing you seem to ignore is this information surfaces AFTER the official announcement for the streaming release of "Artemis Fowl" on Disney+. So you may forget the "Artemis Fowl" and "Disney Nature" franchises already announced and the other obvious easy choices answering the question about what content to put directly on streaming, Bob Iger did mention “MORE” movies as a possibility. The article itself is referring to “New Mutants” whose theatrical success maybe isn't guaranteed, but then, what is left among so-called “non-commercial” products...?

The very recent announcement about new theatrical release dates for WDAS and Pixar showed they rejected the idea. Yet to me, I have little doubt they considered it at least.

This way Disney can continue to make low-budget content films and release them with less risk without minimizing audiences. Pixar films are in an entirely different bracket.

Well keep in mind that films and television production is holden, which means they'll run out of that pretty quickly.

That being said.. after making some researches over the weekend on how streaming services works, I'd like to re-adjust the thought I've been sharing here:

Disney won't be making money with Disney+ before 5 YEARS (actually they are still losing money at the time we're speaking) so putting the theatrical films directly there would actually be like giving them away.. YET on the other hand, releasing some of them directly for digital purchase is the equivalent solution that would allow them to make money significantly. And if there's something the recent release of "Trolls World Tour" taught us is that they can actually make potentially as much money as for a theatrical release:
https://deadline.com/2020/04/trolls-wor ... 202906947/
https://www.indiewire.com/2020/04/troll ... 202224573/

So.. yeah, I would probably have expected something more like that for “Soul” maybe “Mulan” too. This way Disney is making money if the company suffers too much financially, and general public could still have their theatrical summer movies except that we will be watching them from home. So no unfitting re-scheduling implied.

But hey, their choice, their move!

[Clindor]

You're right, but it felt like Onwards was never treated like a prestige project the way Soul was and Soul and Inside Out have alot of similarities and parallels so that heightens the sorta "black sheep" status that it felt Onwards was getting alongside The Good Dinosaur way back.

Once again, where does all that information come from??? I have NEVER found the slightest bit of information, even subtextual ones, that goes in that direction. Please do share if you learned something concrete, cause if you're not going to quote your sources and live only on your impression, it will quickly feel like pure fan fantasy-level reasoning.

I'm starting to see a trend here.

Raya to me doesn't feel like a Christmas film but more like a summer film.

Okay ... agree to disagree !

The same could be said about Moana as well though. This reminds me of how Moana was overtaken at the American box office by Sing!

Hum, maybe that's overestimating 'Moana' a bit too much, right? ^^
Did you really thought back in 2016 when you saw 'Moana' in theaters this was that big of an epic movie? Don't get me wrong it had the potential be a thrilling adventure but at the end, did you feel it really is? :-/ not too much to my personal taste. It's a bit of a missed opportunity.
On the other hand, 'Raya' is going to be the true accomplishment of that based on what I saw so far!!

I suppose but like farerb said before, this is the first original film since 2016 with Moana done by WDAS. The last two years were both sequels (WIR2 and Frozen 2) so it's been a huge gap since then so a spring 2021 release for Raya doesn't seem like that much of a break in tradition for me anyway.

Sorry if I wasn't clear. I was thinking about the Thanksgiving Disney animated film.
Not the tradition of having one WDAS movie a year (which hasn't been that much of a tradition to begin with).

I never hear anyone identify Thanksgiving time with the new Disney animated film the way that Star Wars is associated with December now or a new Marvel film is associated with April/May or some summer month.

Really? I have and do all the time!!!
In my experience, a lot more than the other examples you mentioned.

[JeanGreyForever]

I don't remember when Artemis Fowl was announced as Disney+ only in comparison to the article, but I'm sure the article was referring to low-budget films that were never expected to yield much of a profit and hadn't developed much of a hype online. Disney's Noelle, which came out in late 2019 was relegated to Disney+ as well so that's another prime example of the type of film Disney would make and would feel wouldn't net much of a profit in theaters as compared to streaming.

You're right, but it felt like Onwards was never treated like a prestige project the way Soul was and Soul and Inside Out have alot of similarities and parallels so that heightens the sorta "black sheep" status that it felt Onwards was getting alongside The Good Dinosaur way back.

Once again, where does all that information come from??? I have NEVER found the slightest bit of information, even subtextual ones, that goes in that direction. Please do share if you learned something concrete, cause if you're not going to quote your sources and live only on your impression, it will quickly feel like pure fan fantasy-level reasoning.

I'm starting to see a trend here.

Raya to me doesn't feel like a Christmas film but more like a summer film.

Okay ... agree to disagree !

The same could be said about Moana as well though. This reminds me of how Moana was overtaken at the American box office by Sing!

Hum, maybe that's overestimating 'Moana' a bit too much, right? ^^
Did you really thought back in 2016 when you saw 'Moana' in theaters this was that big of an epic movie? Don't get me wrong it had the potential be a thrilling adventure but at the end, did you feel it really is? :-/ not too much to my personal taste. It's a bit of a missed opportunity.
On the other hand, 'Raya' is going to be the true accomplishment of that based on what I saw so far!!

I suppose but like farerb said before, this is the first original film since 2016 with Moana done by WDAS. The last two years were both sequels (WIR2 and Frozen 2) so it's been a huge gap since then so a spring 2021 release for Raya doesn't seem like that much of a break in tradition for me anyway.

Sorry if I wasn't clear. I was thinking about the Thanksgiving Disney animated film.
Not the tradition of having one WDAS movie a year (which hasn't been that much of a tradition to begin with).

I never hear anyone identify Thanksgiving time with the new Disney animated film the way that Star Wars is associated with December now or a new Marvel film is associated with April/May or some summer month.

Really? I have and do all the time!!!
In my experience, a lot more than the other examples you mentioned.

All of this was discussed in the Onwards thread. To find what you were looking for, please go back to that thread and read the pages before the film's release because it was a heavy topic of speculation and there were never any official sources or anything like that, if that's what you're looking for. It was just what some of us felt about the matter so don't expect anything concrete which I think is what you really want to see in which case, you will be disappointed.

Wasn't Moana promoted as an epic adventure? One where a lone girl was sailing the oceans to save her people from a magical curse of sorts? If not the trailers, because Disney marketing in North America always caters more towards the humor, but from the concept art and early release information and stuff? I don't see Raya as being very different in that regard and I'm not sure you can prejudge based on what very little we've seen.

I disagree that it isn't a tradition for a Disney animated film every year. There pretty much always is at least one, and just a few occasions where a year was skipped. It's been like that since the 90s at least. A Thanksgiving Disney tradition isn't something I've ever heard of especially because that's only been a pattern for the past few years and hardly even that. The 2000s Disney films I remember were released in spring or summer until maybe after Meet the Robinsons.

It must depend on the circles we hang out in because online, I always hear people associate December or May with Star Wars and Marvel especially with those summer months. Nobody ever talks about Disney besides maybe a live-action film and those dates tend to be pretty sporadic since Cinderella and BATB were March, Jungle Book was April I think, Aladdin and Lion King were summer, etc.