Swept under the rug by blockbusters! Welcome to MsMojo, and today we’re looking at Disney movies that might’ve performed better if only the Mouse gave them a fighting chance.
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00:00 "No, you listen to me, James Harkins. You got the makings of greatness in you."
00:07 Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're looking at Disney movies that might have performed better
00:12 if only the mouse gave them a fighting chance.
00:15 "Won't you get down off the floor and we'll go to work."
00:17 Disney's 100th anniversary wasn't exactly the celebration the company envisioned with most of
00:23 their new releases underperforming, to put it generously. Although we associate Disney with
00:29 ongoing success, the brand has never been a stranger to setbacks.
00:32 "I'm awfully sorry. I didn't mean to frighten you, but you don't know what I've been through."
00:38 Following the revelation of Snow White, Disney saw multiple flops. With World War II closing
00:44 off European markets, Pinocchio, Fantasia, and Bambi had little hope of recouping their high
00:49 budgets. Even after the war ended, Alice in Wonderland and Sleeping Beauty were too expensive
00:54 to prove profitable.
00:55 "But she can help."
00:57 "But just do your best, dear."
01:02 It's not as if Disney didn't give those films a fighting chance, however. Even on the heels
01:06 of financial failure, Disney stood by these future classics, and with subsequent re-releases,
01:11 each of them became massive money makers.
01:14 "You are sensational."
01:16 "You mean I'm good?"
01:17 "300! You are colossal!"
01:22 It was around the time Walt Disney died that the company took a step in the wrong direction,
01:27 taking fewer risks and cutting corners. The theatrical cut of Bedknobs and Broomsticks
01:32 is one example.
01:33 "You're at the age of not believing, and worst of all, you doubt yourself."
01:41 Upon release, many felt that the fantasy film lived in the shadow of Mary Poppins.
01:46 While that was always likely to be the case, the reception might have been warmer had people seen
01:50 the full film. Almost 21 minutes were removed from the 1971 cut, much to the surprise of star
01:57 Angela Lansbury.
01:58 "But where are the other pages?"
01:59 "Oh, haven't the foggiest."
02:01 Disney learned the wrong lesson with its 1979 reissue, cutting almost 20 more minutes.
02:06 Composer Richard M. Sherman was especially frustrated, saying, quote,
02:10 "They decided to obliterate the picture, and it was so denuded of emotion."
02:14 "I'm sorry, but there doesn't seem to be much to celebrate."
02:17 Much of Bedknobs and Broomsticks has since been restored, which is more than can be said about
02:22 The Black Cauldron. Jeffrey Katzenberg notoriously cut roughly 12 minutes from
02:26 the animated feature, viewing some of the content as too dark.
02:30 "You would think that I was causing World War III there at the studio,
02:32 because I literally said, 'Well, you know what? You get the film and bring it to an edit day,
02:36 and I'm going to show you how you edit an animated movie.'"
02:39 We may never know if those lost minutes would have elevated the picture,
02:43 but the editing controversy goes to show that Disney had little faith in it.
02:47 After it opened behind The Care Bears movie, Disney essentially buried Black Cauldron for
02:51 12 years until finally giving it a second life on home video. Along with Something Wicked This
02:56 Way Comes, Return to Oz, and The Watcher in the Woods, The Black Cauldron was a dark '80s
03:02 experiment that Disney struggled to incorporate into their brand.
03:05 "I hadn't planned it to end like this, Ailonwe. I wish I'd stayed a toad."
03:10 The '90s were a sunnier decade, with Disney turning in some of their biggest hits ever,
03:15 even at the peak of their power, Disney didn't give every film a chance.
03:19 "Okay, that's it, I'm out of here. This is ridiculous. You can't leave me here alone.
03:24 I'm gone. I am gone!"
03:27 The most unfortunate case is The Rescuers Down Under, which had to compete against Home Alone
03:32 and other holiday tentpoles. Maybe this sequel just needed time to find its audience.
03:36 "Am I getting warm?"
03:38 "I told you, I don't remember!"
03:40 We'll never know, as Katzenberg was quick to pull all TV advertising,
03:44 with most families not being aware of its existence.
03:46 When people reflect on the Disney Renaissance, Rescuers Down Under is often forgotten.
03:51 But that's not because of the film's quality, it's because Disney doesn't know what to do with it,
03:56 much like The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
03:58 "What I give, what I dare, just to live one day out there."
04:17 In Hunchback's case, it wasn't a lack of marketing, it was the wrong marketing,
04:21 with most of the ads playing up the Festival of Fools and tiptoeing around the darker elements
04:26 that would make Hunchback a cult classic.
04:28 "You mistreat this poor boy the same way you mistreat my people.
04:31 You speak of justice, yet you are cruel to those most in need of your help."
04:35 "Silence!"
04:36 "Justice!"
04:37 While the Victor Hugo adaptation made money upon release,
04:40 Disney seems unwilling to embrace the property. We'd love to see a big-screen version of the
04:45 stage musical, but Disney CEO Bob Iger reportedly said in 2023 that a live-action Hunchback remake
04:51 isn't a top priority.
04:53 "I knew I'd never know that warm and loving glow,
04:58 though I might wish with all my might."
05:02 Keep in mind that Disney is prioritizing remakes of Moana,
05:06 Lilo & Stitch, and several others.
05:08 Rescuers Down Under and Hunchback have fallen by the wayside with Fantasia 2000,
05:13 Atlantis, and Treasure Planet, all three of which failed to ignite the box office.
05:18 "Dad, Dad, that's alright, Jimbo. It's alright."
05:25 This convinced Disney that there was no place for 2D animation on the theatrical front,
05:30 going all-in on CGI. With a change of leadership,
05:33 hand-drawn animation would be given a second chance, kind of.
05:36 "Baby Cakes, I'm sure this place is gonna be just wonderful,
05:40 but it's a shame you're working so hard."
05:42 "But how can I let up now when I'm so close?"
05:45 The crew behind The Princess and the Frog threw all of their passion
05:48 into making a film that could rank among the classics.
05:51 Disney set the film up to underperform, though,
05:54 releasing it a week before Avatar.
05:56 They could have given The Princess and the Frog more of a head start
05:59 with a Thanksgiving slot, but instead,
06:01 Disney reserved that weekend for old dogs.
06:04 "Hey, y'all ain't got to say she was born with."
06:07 Even more misguided, they released 2011's Winnie the Pooh
06:10 the same day as the final Harry Potter movie.
06:13 Before you say Barbenheimer, Potter and Pooh were both marketed to families.
06:17 This wasn't counter-programming.
06:19 "Oh, mother, I don't remember thinking that through."
06:23 Disney is starting to do right by Princess and the Frog
06:26 with a Splash Mountain re-theming and a Tiana series,
06:29 although they remain reluctant to revive 2D animated movies.
06:32 To be fair, it's not like their CG films were lacking,
06:35 with Tangled, Frozen, and Zootopia all thriving.
06:39 It seemed Disney could do no wrong until 2020.
06:42 "Well, we'll just have to do the spell again."
06:45 "You mean you have to.
06:46 A person can only do magic if they have the gift."
06:49 Not only was the company undergoing a regime change,
06:51 but the COVID-19 pandemic took a drastic toll on theatrical revenue.
06:56 Disney experimented by releasing some films through streaming
06:59 with a premium fee, yet many felt they did Pixar dirty,
07:02 sending Soul, Luca, and Turning Red to Disney+ at no additional cost.
07:07 When a film costs over $100 million,
07:10 this distribution model doesn't make sense unless you're Netflix,
07:14 and even then it's debatable.
07:15 "You want your money? Then get your butt down here now!"
07:18 It was announced in 2023 that those three Pixar films
07:22 would receive theatrical runs in the new year.
07:24 Considering that they've been available on Disney+ for years, though,
07:27 this seems too little too late.
07:30 "Don't worry, they're fine.
07:30 You can't crush a soul here.
07:34 That's what life on Earth is for."
07:36 Meanwhile, Disney+'s original films that might have found wider audiences
07:40 over time, such as The One and Only Ivan,
07:42 have been purged from the company's streaming services to cut costs.
07:46 Granted, nobody wanted to rewatch Artemis Fowl,
07:49 but it still feels like a waste.
07:51 "The problem is that you don't respect anyone enough to treat them as an equal."
07:55 "That's ridiculous. I hold several people in the very highest esteem."
07:58 Lightyear was built up as Pixar's cinematic homecoming,
08:01 although it went on to become a certified bomb.
08:04 Pete Docter argued that Disney "trained audiences to watch their films at home."
08:08 To an extent, we agree, but Lightyear wasn't the best film
08:11 to mark the studio's comeback either.
08:12 "Are we going to crash? No. Well, technically, yes."
08:16 Likewise, some blamed the failure of Strange World on streaming
08:20 and a lack of advertising.
08:21 While that didn't help, positive word of mouth wasn't there for Strange World,
08:25 and it hasn't gained a following since.
08:27 "Wait, are you offended? I can't tell. You know what? I'll just follow you."
08:31 Compare it to Encanto, which performed modestly upon opening,
08:35 but became a phenomenon by the time it arrived on Disney+.
08:38 Encanto still could have made more money at the box office
08:41 if Disney hadn't pulled it from theater so quickly.
08:44 "All I need is a change. All I need is a chance. All I know is I can't stay on the side."
08:56 "Open your eyes, open your eyes, open your eyes."
09:02 Look at Elemental, which brought in some of Pixar's worst opening numbers to date.
09:06 Can you blame audiences for not being interested given the advertising?
09:10 To Disney's credit, they allowed Elemental to grow its viewership,
09:13 with the film becoming one of the company's few box office success stories that year.
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09:41 Disney could have had another success if they stood by Nimona,
09:45 but they axed that film along with Blue Sky Studios. Thankfully,
09:49 Nimona was completed elsewhere, going on to lead the Annie nominations with nine.
09:53 "I've never even taken a class."
09:55 "Really? That's a surprise."
09:56 "Not a one. Oh, don't forget your sword, boss."
09:59 "Ah, she can keep it. I don't fight for her anymore."
10:03 Conversely, Disney's Wish got zero Annie nominations,
10:06 and for the first time in the award's history, no Disney films broke into Best Animated Feature.
10:11 Where Wish over-relied on what's worked for Disney in the past, Nimona looked to the future.
10:16 "I'm gonna go break some stuff."
10:18 "Wait, Nimona, what are you—"
10:20 "It's time to rewrite this story."
10:21 With so many of their recent efforts flopping, Disney may be compelled to roll the dice on
10:26 something bold, different, and rebellious like Nimona. When a potential game-changer
10:30 comes along, however, they need to give the film a fighting chance.
10:34 "Oh, this is where we've been, but it's not where we belong. And I may be young, but I know I'm not wrong."
10:45 What Disney film do you think deserved better? Let us know in the comments.
10:49 "Kid, you're this fair's MVP!"
10:51 "That was some show you put on. You're a real special kid."
10:55 Do you agree with our picks? Check out this other recent clip from Ms. Mojo.
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