Strange World

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Sotiris
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Re: Strange World

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Farerb wrote: Thu Nov 24, 2022 11:11 amBetween A- to A+. This is the lowest Cinemascore a WDAS film ever got, even Chicken Little got A-.
Wow, that's really low. I didn't expect audiences to hate it this much. Here are the grades for the other films in the canon, for anyone interested. The earliest WDAS film to ever receive one was Beauty and the Beast.
Below is a list of CinemaScore grades of Walt Disney Animation Studios titles dating back to 1991 (Note: Fantasia 2000 did not receive a CinemaScore):

Beauty and the Beast: A+
Aladdin: A+
The Lion King: A+
Pocahontas: A-
The Hunchback of Notre Dame: A
Hercules: A
Mulan: A+
Tarzan: A
Fantasia 2000: N/A
Dinosaur: A
The Emperor’s New Groove: A
Atlantis: The Lost Empire: A
Lilo & Stitch: A
Treasure Planet: A-
Brother Bear: A
Home on the Range: A-
Chicken Little: A-
Meet the Robinsons: A-
Bolt: A-
The Princess and The Frog: A
Tangled: A+
Winnie the Pooh: A-
Wreck It Ralph: A
Frozen: A+
Big Hero 6: A
Zootopia: A
Moana: A
Ralph Breaks the Internet: A-
Frozen 2: A-
Raya and the Last Dragon: A
Encanto: A
Strange World: B
Source: https://www.thewrap.com/strange-world-c ... tion-film/


I've also looked up the grades of other (non-Pixar, non-Ghibli) fully-animated films distributed by Disney that received a domestic theatrical release post-1991.
Tom and Jerry: The Movie: A-
The Nightmare Before Christmas: B+
A Goofy Movie: N/A
Arabian Knight: N/A
James and the Giant Peach: A-
Doug's 1st Movie: B+
The Tigger Movie: A
Recess: School's Out: A-
Return to Never Land: A
Pokémon 4Ever: N/A
The Jungle Book 2: A-
Piglet's Big Movie: A
Pokémon Heroes: N/A
Teacher's Pet: B-
Pooh's Heffalump Movie: A
Valiant: B
The Wild: B+
Renaissance: N/A
A Christmas Carol: B+
Gnomeo & Juliet: B+
Mars Needs Moms: B
Frankenweenie: B+
Planes: A-
Planes: Fire & Rescue: A
Strange Magic: B-
The Lion King: A
Spies in Disguise: A-
Ron's Gone Wrong: A
The Bob's Burgers Movie: A
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D82
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Re: Strange World

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Spain will have an original song in the end credits. The music video has already been released. It's titled "Una Señal" (a sign) and has been written and performed by the artist who wrote our last Eurovision song, which finished in third place. According to the official press release it'll be the second song heard during the end credits. I wonder which one will be the first. Maybe the reprise of "They're the Clades!" plays over the end credits? Perhaps the people who have already seen the movie have the answer to that. I haven't seen it yet, as it's not released here until Friday.
Sotiris wrote: Wed Nov 23, 2022 4:37 pm That's why I only trust the verified audience ratings on Rotten Tomatoes where you know people who reviewed it have actually watched the movie. That rating is currently at 61% which is not good. You can't blame that on review-bombing.
People who have seen the film could still give it a bad score just because they didn't like it featured an LGBT character, though, right? Same with Cinemascore. I guess most of the people who are against the film for that reason won't go see it in theaters, but some may not know that beforehand.
Sotiris wrote: Thu Nov 24, 2022 7:04 pm Here are the grades for the other films in the canon, for anyone interested. The earliest WDAS film to ever receive one was Beauty and the Beast.
Thanks for posting! It's interesting to see what score each film got.
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Sotiris
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Re: Strange World

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D82 wrote: Thu Nov 24, 2022 7:18 pmSpain will have an original song in the end credits. The music video has already been released. It's titled "Una Señal" (a sign) and it has been written and performed by the artist who wrote our last Eurovision song, which finished in third place.
The song's just OK. Pleasant, but not very memorable. Did you like it?
D82 wrote: Thu Nov 24, 2022 7:18 pmBut people who have seen the film can still give it a bad score just because they didn't like it featured an LGBT character, right? Same with Cinemascore. I guess most of the people who are against the film for that reason won't go see it in theaters, though some may not know that beforehand.
There no way to know that, but the chance of that happening and to such degree that it affects the score seems very slim. Anyway, the verified audience rating on RT has fallen to 59% with the overall audience rating holding onto 43%.
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Re: Strange World

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Sotiris wrote: Thu Nov 24, 2022 7:35 pm The song's just OK. Pleasant, but not very memorable. Did you like it?
I didn't even finish listening to it. :lol: I agree with you, it's OK, but not for me.
Sotiris wrote: Thu Nov 24, 2022 7:35 pm There no way to know that, but the chance of that happening and to such degree that it affects the score seems very slim.
I guess you're right.
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Re: Strange World

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Why did this movie barely get any marketing? This has me concerned about Elemental and Wish next year.
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Re: Strange World

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Domestic opening weekend projections have been lowered even further.
Disney Animation’s Strange World did $4.2M yesterday. This will translate, per industry estimates, into a 3-day and 5-day of $15.8M and $20M-$23M for Strange World which cost a reported $135M. One former Disney exec once told me, “They’re very good at making the best worst case decision” and in the scenario of Strange World, that’s sending it to Disney+ by the holidays. Even though the pic is tanking in theaters, that type of big screen release will at least give it some mojo in ancillaries.

Strange World received four stars on Comscore/Screen Engine’s PostTrak and a B CinemaScore. Men over 25 were dominant at 33%, but hated it at 66%. Women over 25 were next in attendance at 24% but gave it a 90% grade; then men under 25 at 23% and 83% grade and women under 25 at 21% who gave the pic its best grade at 92%. Diversity demos were 47% Caucasian, 25% Asian, 22% Hispanic and 6% Black. Not a flashy recommend at 55%. RelishMix noticed that Strange World awareness levels on social were 22% below norms for family animated films at 172M. The campaign on Disney’s social runs on the cross-promotion momentum from the studio’s social network is at 107.7M and Disney Animation’s at 26.2M across Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok, including cast at 217.2M with total views at 38.2M across all channels.
Source: https://deadline.com/2022/11/box-office ... 235180803/
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Re: Strange World

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Strange World is Disney’s Thanksgiving box office TURKEY!

One of my favorite headlines...
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Re: Strange World

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I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Disney needs to diversify the stories they tell. For the past decade every story can be basically narrowed down to a protagonist who lives in a world that is in danger from an unknown danger and has to go on a quest to figure out what is wrong and save their family and world. It's the basic premise of Big Hero Six, Zootopia, Moana, Frozen, Frozen 2, Raya, Encanto and now Strange World. They all have sub plots woven through it, but many films lack an actual antagonist, shy away from love stories. They all start to feel like the same story, in a different setting. They REALLY need to switch things up.
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Re: Strange World

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robster16 wrote: Fri Nov 25, 2022 4:08 am I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Disney needs to diversify the stories they tell. For the past decade every story can be basically narrowed down to a protagonist who lives in a world that is in danger from an unknown danger and has to go on a quest to figure out what is wrong and save their family and world. It's the basic premise of Big Hero Six, Zootopia, Moana, Frozen, Frozen 2, Raya, Encanto and now Strange World. They all have sub plots woven through it, but many films lack an actual antagonist, shy away from love stories. They all start to feel like the same story, in a different setting. They REALLY need to switch things up.
I think you're seriously oversimplifying them.
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Re: Strange World

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I really don’t understand why romances/love stories are now taboo.
And I also don’t understand the anti-villain attitude.

Disney’s alway done so well with these kinds of stories. I know the classic villain characters are extremely popular. I even purchased a 2023 Villains calendar for my boyfriend for Christmas.

And Snow White, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Lady and the Tramp, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast etc are almost universally beloved on this board and around the world.

Someone at Disney is listening to the wrong people and/or focus groups.
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Re: Strange World

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carolinakid wrote: Fri Nov 25, 2022 4:41 am And I also don’t understand the anti-villain attitude.

Disney’s alway done so well with these kinds of stories. I know the classic villain characters are extremely popular. I even purchased a 2023 Villains calendar for my boyfriend for Christmas.
Not every story needs one.

"Wish" is going to have a villain, if that makes you happy.
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Re: Strange World

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robster16 wrote: Fri Nov 25, 2022 4:08 amI've said it before, and I'll say it again. Disney needs to diversify the stories they tell. For the past decade every story can be basically narrowed down to a protagonist who lives in a world that is in danger from an unknown danger and has to go on a quest to figure out what is wrong and save their family and world. It's the basic premise of Big Hero Six, Zootopia, Moana, Frozen, Frozen 2, Raya, Encanto and now Strange World. They all have sub plots woven through it, but many films lack an actual antagonist, shy away from love stories. They all start to feel like the same story, in a different setting. They REALLY need to switch things up.
I don't have a problem with formulas if it's one I enjoy. This one already feels very tiresome and worn-out, but I'll take the '90s formula any day.
carolinakid wrote: Fri Nov 25, 2022 4:41 amSomeone at Disney is listening to the wrong people and/or focus groups.
The creative direction of the studio, like all of Hollywood nowadays, is dictated by activists and the mainstream media. We don't have love stories anymore because it's not considered progressive for female leads to be interested in romance, especially not if they're teenagers. They can't have dreams that can be seen as individualistic; their goals have to be centered around their family and community. We can't have villains because all the movies now are populated by people of color and we can't portray them in a negative light, and especially not if they're female. It's all very calculated, so they can avoid controversy and get good reviews.
Hardbackyoyo wrote: Fri Nov 25, 2022 4:48 am"Wish" is going to have a villain, if that makes you happy.
We'll see if they actually follow through with it. Raya also had a villain until it didn't.
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Re: Strange World

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Thanks for responding, Sotiris. It’s ironic to me that they still can’t avoid controversy, the reviews aren’t great and these “woke” films really seem to have a limited appeal.

Maybe that’s why I’ve basically given up on today’s Disney and Hollywood. I’m content to live with the classics.
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Re: Strange World

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Sotiris wrote: Fri Nov 25, 2022 5:24 am We'll see if they actually follow through with it. Raya also had a villain until it didn't.
It's being described as "one of most formidable foes in Disney history."
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Re: Strange World

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So many reviewers (not professional critics) just harped on Ethan being gay and/or the climate message. "Mark" on Rotten Tomatoes said, in his 3-star review, "Besides the woke factor it wasn't to bad."

Rotten Tomatoes: Way too many reviews for me to go through, but out of what I counted:
18= 1 star, 4= 2 stars, 5= 3 stars, 10= 4 stars, 12= 5 stars (I stopped at page probably 5 or so):
14 negative mentions of representation, 2 positive mentions of climate message, 1 negative message of climate message.

(Review by "Mon" on Rotten Tomatoes: "Kids movies shouldnt be so focused on sexual orientation of their characters." I bet you didn't complain about Ariel/Eric, or Aladdin/Jasmine, Rapunzel/Flynn, etc... :roll:)
Review by "Mike" on Rotten Tomatoes: "Very inappropriate for kids , don’t waste your money !!! Kids are NOT sexually oriented , what is wrong with society ? Or Walt Disney??" Sigh. So it's fine when it's a straight romance but not a gay romance. Ethan's not having sex, Ariel wasn't having sex (um, not until afterwards #Melody)... Disney is not showing smut films, what is wrong with people.)


IMDB: 13 user reviews
2 = 10/10, 4= 8/10, 2= 7/10, 3= 6/10, 1 = 5/10, 1= 1/10
(positive mentions of representation: 5)
(negative mentions of representation: 1)

Metacritic:
Metascore: 65 (22 positive, 10 mixed, 1 negative)
User Score: 4.1 (14 positive, 3 mixed, 19 negative)
(positive mentions of representation: 2)
(negative mentions of representation: 6)


Common Sense Media: 2 kid reviews
1 = 5 stars, 1 = 1 star
(negative mentions of representation: 1)

Common Sense Media: 11 parent reviews
1 = 4 stars, 4= 2 stars, 6= 1 star)
(positive mentions of representation: 1)
(negative mentions of representation: 7)

(A lot of the parent negative mentions of representation talked about how they were blindsided, how the trailers didn't show this. But that's kind of the point-- within the story, Ethan isn't "othered," it's just who he is. Like Alisha in Lightyear. One of the parent reviews mentioned that their kid is finally represented. That's what it's about. The racist and homophobic people surely aren't happy that Disney is having characters other than white and straight.)

I can't wait to see this at 2pm!
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Re: Strange World

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Does anyone else think that the Jake Gyllenhaal character looks like John Krasinski?

And that the gay kid looks the blandest of them all, despite being biracial?
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Re: Strange World

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blackcauldron85 wrote: Fri Nov 25, 2022 6:45 amA lot of the parent negative mentions of representation talked about how they were blindsided, how the trailers didn't show this. But that's kind of the point-- within the story. Ethan isn't "othered," it's just who he is.
Let's be real, Disney didn't hid that element in its marketing campaign to respect the story, but to deceive homophobic parents into going. That doesn't help anyone. In fact, it makes the feelings of those people even more negative towards the LGBT community.
blackcauldron85 wrote: Fri Nov 25, 2022 6:45 amThe racist and homophobic people surely aren't happy that Disney is having characters other than white and straight.
People didn't have a problem with the diversity of Aladdin, Pocahontas, Hunchback, Lilo & Stitch etc. I think they are bothered by this modern version of diversity where every character in an ensemble needs to be of a different race. It can come off as inauthentic and mandate-induced.
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Re: Strange World

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I'm a huge musical, loving Disney fairytales kinda guy. I also can be incredibly annoyed by trying to make films trendy and "woke" (I'm sure my vocabulary doesn't allow me to go on about how much I hated Mitchells v the Machines) so I was ready to be from completely underwhelmed to incredibly annoyed at this, to the point I even considered skipping it for some days or even entirely instead of going on release day live I've been doing for Disney movies forever.

That said... this movie is completely and utterly... adorable. I'm completely bummed by the reaction it is getting. It might be the best "boy film" WDAS has released so far, and one of the best from Don Hall (comparing it to recent WDAS releases, I liked it much better than Raya and probably a tiny bit more than Encanto). The story is there, it's funny (not forced funny, just funny) there's a great message that's not a blinking neon sign, the world (both real and the strange one) are super well done, the characters are great too and I can't even begin to tell you about the soundtrack. It's AMAZING.

I don't think any other studio could have done this movie. It feels very authentic and creative within itself. I almost got wind of the plot twist because at some point I thought "oh this looks very much like alveoli" but simply brushed it off rotfl

I don't think Disney hid anything. Aside from the numerous headlines stating Ethan is gay, I don't see how they could have "shown" it without just putting one of the two or three scenes where they talk about his crush entirely on the trailer and not be accused of queerbaiting too because there's barely anything about it on the actual film. It's the exact same silly boy-girl crush we have seen dozens of times even on Disney movies, but this time is a boy crushing on another. If you have a problem with that but not with the others, oh well

At some point during the movie I got afraid of the secret villain showing up, but I'm glad that wasn't there. Even the "villain" was just someone doing what they thought it was the better way.

I also want to say that I had a very strange screening where the movie started in 3D so I had to get someone's attention and then they had to start the whole thing over rotfl I would have preferred to see it in 3D but oh well



And there's some 2D animation by Eric Goldman
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Re: Strange World

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Well I liked it. This felt as close as a return to Atlantis and Treasure Planet that we're ever going to get, although knowing that those still have mixed reactions today, it's not too surprising that this is destined to underpeform.
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Re: Strange World

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robster16 wrote: Fri Nov 25, 2022 4:08 am I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Disney needs to diversify the stories they tell. For the past decade every story can be basically narrowed down to a protagonist who lives in a world that is in danger from an unknown danger and has to go on a quest to figure out what is wrong and save their family and world. It's the basic premise of Big Hero Six, Zootopia, Moana, Frozen, Frozen 2, Raya, Encanto and now Strange World. They all have sub plots woven through it, but many films lack an actual antagonist, shy away from love stories. They all start to feel like the same story, in a different setting. They REALLY need to switch things up.
I agree. Although the films all do stand apart enough for me to like some and dislike others, there is a lot of same-iness to the plots of the past 15 years. I'm hoping Wish and the company's intent to look back at the past for that film because of the 100th anniversary will get them to re-assess the value of romance and villains in their films again. Not every film NEEDS a love interest, but at the same time a male interest won't make a movie or character less feminist if they portray it correctly. Why don't they simply try to portray it correctly rather than deleting the concept altogether because they're afraid or incompetent to do it properly? They're simply avoiding rather than solving the problem. Same goes with villains, they have and can easily make villains that aren't stereotypes or anything "harmful." Frollo, Gaston, Yzma, Ursula, Facilier, etc. Not every film needs one, but every film shying away from them a decade and a half is tiresome.
Sotiris wrote: Fri Nov 25, 2022 12:44 am Domestic opening weekend projections have been lowered even further.
Disney Animation’s Strange World did $4.2M yesterday. This will translate, per industry estimates, into a 3-day and 5-day of $15.8M and $20M-$23M for Strange World which cost a reported $135M. One former Disney exec once told me, “They’re very good at making the best worst case decision” and in the scenario of Strange World, that’s sending it to Disney+ by the holidays. Even though the pic is tanking in theaters, that type of big screen release will at least give it some mojo in ancillaries.

Strange World received four stars on Comscore/Screen Engine’s PostTrak and a B CinemaScore. Men over 25 were dominant at 33%, but hated it at 66%. Women over 25 were next in attendance at 24% but gave it a 90% grade; then men under 25 at 23% and 83% grade and women under 25 at 21% who gave the pic its best grade at 92%. Diversity demos were 47% Caucasian, 25% Asian, 22% Hispanic and 6% Black. Not a flashy recommend at 55%. RelishMix noticed that Strange World awareness levels on social were 22% below norms for family animated films at 172M. The campaign on Disney’s social runs on the cross-promotion momentum from the studio’s social network is at 107.7M and Disney Animation’s at 26.2M across Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok, including cast at 217.2M with total views at 38.2M across all channels.
Source: https://deadline.com/2022/11/box-office ... 235180803/
So they set out to make a "boys' film" that ended up appealing more to female viewers, but marketed it in a way to discourage female viewers. No wonder..... Maybe they should simply make a movie and market to all demos rather than limiting things by saying, "This is for X, and X is only appealed to by marketing in such-and-such ways (supposedly--says who???)."

Thanks, blackcauldron85, for that breakdown. Strange World is on the weaker side, but it being lower than a lot of these films that are so transparently much worse than it makes the reason for the lopsidedness of the 1 stars pretty obvious. But the film exists and will never stop existing... It's not the first Disney flop, and films like Treasure Planet, Atlantis, The Black Cauldron, etc. are still loved by a lot of people regardless.
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