Bob Iger is stepping down as Disney’s CEO, again. (We’ll see if it sticks this time.) Disney is entering a new phase and it feels like they really need to turn the page. All seems to want to do is make Marvel movies, sequels, live action (“live action”) remakes. They’re missing that Disney Magic, and they need to get it back. And I have some ideas.
First thing first is to stop doing the live action remakes and a lot of the sequels. All but a couple of the live action remakes were awful. Moana 2 felt like it should have been a home video sequel from the 90s and 2000s. Now, Jared Bush, the Chief Creative Officer of Disney Animation Studios, says they have more original stories in the works, as well as new art styles, so I have some hope in this regard. Cautiously optimistic.
Something they can also do to rediscover their magic is to go back and remember what made the magic in the first place. There is such a vast history of great work that the general public does not know about, and Disney should take advantage of it.
In line with this, they could make new shorts. Not just one before their animated features, which they should absolutely keep doing. Make new Mickey Mouse shorts, and shorts about other friends. I would personally love some shorts starring Minnie Mouse. But take advantage of the history of supporting characters over the last century. Clarabelle, Horace Horsecollar, Pete, Mortimer, Von Drake, Mickey’s nephews, Morty and Ferdie. And those are just characters I know off of the top of my head, and going through the Disney Wiki of all the characters is a really fun wormhole to fall down. Make new Silly Symphonies. Disney Animation has the Short Circuit program on Disney+, so maybe make that a priority for your artists. And then, maybe those artists can make theatrical shorts, or be a lead on a new animated movie.
All of this advice can be applied to Pixar, as well. Fewer sequels, different animation styles, more shorts theatrically and Disney+. The Pixar Sparkshorts on Disney has produced excellent shorts in varied art styles, and it’s rare now that they release any, so maybe that could be a once or twice a year thing. Do silly stuff, do introspective, specific character work. And maybe stop cutting out the gay stuff. That all falls under character, and we would like to see it.
My thoughts on Marvel and Star Wars are the same: Maybe chill for a bit. Take a couple years off making movies and television shows, let your creative teams take some time to craft new stories. And let audiences take a break, because we are past the point of over saturation, and speaking for myself, I’m Marvel-ed Star Wars-ed out right now, and a lot of what’s coming down the pike isn’t super interesting to me. Maybe their other studios like 20th Century can make some more movies for theaters and not just Hulu.
Honestly, the biggest sign they’ve lost their soul is the AI deal with Sora, which is bad and strange and wrong. Especially for a company that is so protective and litigious about their characters. They’ve gotten so many things taken down for copyright infringement, for fear of damaging the brand, now they’re gonna let anybody do anything with their characters, including the Mouse. This is one deal that they will obviously live to regret. Not just with their prized jewels being desecrated, they have also taken a major hit to their reputation by forging this partnership in the first place.
Well new guy, good luck.