DBWI: Disney doesn't go a more dramatic path in the late 2010s

[Peppe]

During the late 2010s, Disney, in special through their made-to-TV movies, started to show some rather dramatic (some may say, more mature) movies, like the studies in race relations made in Z-O-M-B-I-E-S and the Descendants Trilogy; the musical inspired by Freaky Friday that was basically a mother and daughter coming to terms with their husband/father's death while switching bodies for a day; Woody, the Toy Story spin-off that revolved on him learning that being a human's companion wasn't the only life for a toy; and Frozen II (or "Elsa and Anna"), who was one of Disney's animated movies with the least amount of comic relief and that revolved around a journey of Anna and Elsa traveling to an mystic forest and having to deal with the wrongdoings of their family, with the story even ending in a deep bittersweet note as Elsa had to stay away in the forest while her sister became queen of an ruined Arendelle, as the kingdom was washed away (after having already been evacuated) as an way of repenting for their grandfather's sins.

So, what could have been Disney's movie output if they hadn't suddenly made that move (not that they hadn't dramatic movies before, but with much more comic relief), and what effects would that have had.

 

[Kalga]

I'm not sure if Disney could have gone any other way. One of the major difference between the 2008-2016 Great Recession and the Great Depression of 1929-1939/41 was that the former tapped into a much more sober mentality among the population. Instead of using media as a form of whimsical escapism people use media as a form of collective reflection. Now my armchair opinion of why it's so different this time around (as far as culture is concerned, if anything else the economical recovery was handled worse* in 2008 than 1929) I'd hazard a guess is due to higher rates of education among the population today than 8 decades ago.

*If Hoover was president in 2008 he would have handled the crisis better than what happened OTL, fight me.

 

[AltoRegnant]

Disney would be better off. the public wasn't into the mood for contemplative dramas with little comic relief, they wanted something to distract them. Dreamworks was able to put out grand sagas, like How to Train Your Dragon, Kung Fu Panda or Rise of the Guardians trilogies, because despite being huge stories first, they were incredibly sarcastic and often worked to give a sense of hope to the people. That Disney failed to buy Lucasfilms is certainly also a part of the problem

 

[Peppe]

I Think Disney's turn to drama hasn't been bad for them, there's some points in their more recent movies that are dowright depressive? Yes, but they are also an way of showing people that no matter how shitty things get (and things get pretty shitty on those movies, dear god), it doesn't mean they'll continue that way.

Disney would be better off. the public wasn't into the mood for contemplative dramas with little comic relief, they wanted something to distract them. Dreamworks was able to put out grand sagas, like How to Train Your Dragon, Kung Fu Panda or Rise of the Guardians trilogies, because despite being huge stories first, they were incredibly sarcastic and often worked to give a sense of hope to the people. That Disney failed to buy Lucasfilms is certainly also a part of the problem

I must disagree with you, while Disney was incapable of buying Lucasfilms (although they did work together with it on the "Revan" series, and helped produce the new trilogy, Lucas seems to have mellowed after nearly losing his company) and Dreamworks has seen a rise in revenue and in fame (love ROTG BTW), their box office shows that people are still coming to watch their more dramatic movies (Frozen II did manage to have over 900 million on theaters)

 

[X_X]

I'm not sure if Disney could have gone any other way. One of the major difference between the 2008-2016 Great Recession and the Great Depression of 1929-1939/41 was that the former tapped into a much more sober mentality among the population. Instead of using media as a form of whimsical escapism people use media as a form of collective reflection. Now my armchair opinion of why it's so different this time around (as far as culture is concerned, if anything else the economical recovery was handled worse* in 2008 than 1929) I'd hazard a guess is due to higher rates of education among the population today than 8 decades ago.

This is the answer right here. Disney's evolution is symptomatic of the pop culture entering more mature and cerebral places. The cultural backlash to the Giuliani Administration (2005-2013) is the climate that gave us works like the Ben Affleck directed "The Batman", which focused upon a more morally grey, violent, and depressive incarnation of the character than previous films.

 

[dw93]

This is the answer right here. Disney's evolution is symptomatic of the pop culture entering more mature and cerebral places. The cultural backlash to the Giuliani Administration (2005-2013) is the climate that gave us works like the Ben Affleck directed "The Batman", which focused upon a more morally grey, violent, and depressive incarnation of the character than previous films.

Yup, one has to wonder how pop culture would've fared if Al Gore won re election in 2004.

 

[Kalga]

Yup, one has to wonder how pop culture would've fared if Al Gore won re election in 2004.

The underlying social-economic issues that lead to the disillusionment of the millennial generation (and Gen Y I think?) wasn't something that could be fixed by having a different politician in the white house. What needs to change were mentalities (of significant chunks of the population), and that wasn't going to happen through government power (at least, not in the American context, since they don't exactly have a powerful ministry of propaganda like, say, the PRC)

 

[lukedalton]

This is the answer right here. Disney's evolution is symptomatic of the pop culture entering more mature and cerebral places. The cultural backlash to the Giuliani Administration (2005-2013) is the climate that gave us works like the Ben Affleck directed "The Batman", which focused upon a more morally grey, violent, and depressive incarnation of the character than previous films.

You mean the movie that basically destroyed alone the planned DC United World? Honestly, it's not that hard to see...in general people want to have at least a couple of hours of fun in a period of economic hardships and all this pseudo adult and mature storytelling only result was to make people flock towards the Sony Marvel Universe even more