A Few Suggestions for Disney as We Enter 2024
I generally stay quiet about it all as one of The Watchers who follow Disney throughout the years.
Sometimes, I have a few ideas that I’d like to get off my chest, though.
Hey, Disney, here are a few suggestions for 2024 and beyond.
The Changing Hotel Theme
We’re only a few days away from the first Disneyland After Dark event of 2024, Sweethearts’ Nite.
Soon after that, the park will host other after-hours events, including the most unique one of the year, Disney Channel Nite.
As has become the norm, we’ll also get a Star Wars Nite right around the May the 4th “holiday.”
Where am I going with this?
Disneyland hosts a revolving set of unique after-hours events, each of which offers exclusive character greetings, parades, and other events connected to the premise.
Why couldn’t Disney offer a hotel that did the same?
Specifically, why doesn’t Disney take the current space from the failed Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser and repurpose it into a hotel with limited-time engagement theming?
We could have Villains Week or Sensational Six Week or Frozen Week or Toy Story Week or Avengers Week or…folks, I could go on for hours.
Disney wasn’t wrong about the underlying concept of Galactic Starcruiser. Experiential vacations are surging in demand, and that trend is poised to spike even more.
We know the concept works at Disney because Sweethearts’ Nite just sold out almost immediately after tickets went on sale…and there are EIGHT dates for that event!
The demand for that premise remains outrageous, and the same will hold true for Star Wars Nite once tickets go on sale for it.
Fans crave these sorts of experiences. Disney simply misfired with the price and, to a lesser degree, the execution.
Clint Barton: The Series
Almost exactly one year ago, beloved actor Jeremy Renner nearly died, and it happened in the most Avengers way possible.
The actor famously purchased many pieces of heavy equipment as a way to service the mountain town where he lives. He’s notoriously giving of his time and resources.
On one fateful day, Renner’s 14,000-pound snowplow slipped out of gear and headed toward where the actor’s nephew was standing. Renner rushed to save his family member.
In the process, Renner fell and got run over by the snowplow, thereby breaking more than 30 bones in his body.
Everything about the situation was terrible, but the actor has recently filmed a video of himself walking down the driveway.
Don’t get me wrong. He’s nowhere near ready to shoot a bow anytime soon…and that’s what makes the idea of a Clint Barton series so enticing.
Marvel would probably list it as Hawkeye season two since actress Hailee Steinfeld would do 95 percent of the work. That’s just the reality of the situation now.
Any filming that Renner does over the next couple of years will require the utmost care and consideration of his plight. He may never fully recover from this.
Therein lies the beauty of such a story.
Imagine how inspirational it would be if Marvel wrote a Hawkeye story that showed it was never about the aim and accuracy of Clint Barton. Instead, it was about the will of the person.
Barton was one of the few Avengers who lacked powers, yet he was the scariest dude in the Eastern Hemisphere after The Blip.
Marvel could create a series that starts at where real life has left Renner. He’s been beaten up and probably won’t ever be the same. But he’s still a hero and noble human being.
There’s a recovery and redemption arc here wherein Bishop proves she’s ready to be Hawkeye but eventually cannot finish her mission without help from Barton. It’s a money idea.
I also suspect such a project would do wonders for Renner, who would have a goal to aspire to achieve on his road to recovery.
Disney Should Go All-In on a Connected Universe
Let’s be blunt that recent events have made Marvel executives skittish. Their previous formula of intricately layered storytelling collapsed under the weight of the pandemic.
So, Marvel is moving toward more standalone stories that don’t necessarily tie into the big picture.
Even as Marvel does this, I strongly encourage Disney to do precisely the opposite. Your Imagineers have spent countless hours developing detailed backstories.
These brilliant individuals have created enough ideas that you can string together several as Disney+ programming.
I don’t even mean the obvious stuff. Who here is familiar with Maria and Enzo’s Ristorante?
Sure, you might think it’s just an Italian restaurant here, yet the detailed theming belies this point.
Childhood sweethearts split up when Maria’s parents moved the family to America.
Meanwhile, Enzo stayed behind and fought as a pilot in the Great War. He never forgot his first love, though.
Enzo moved to the United States and quickly flew to The Landing, where the hungry flyboy entered a bakery and ordered. Who should serve his pastry than Maria, his long-lost love!
The two of them started a pizza joint, bought an abandoned airport terminal, and turned it into a restaurant.
At some point along the way, they also did some rum-running at Enzo’s Hideaway.
Folks, that’s the theming for JUST ONE random restaurant at Disney Springs. It’s got a better plot than 90 percent of films released in 2023.
Disney should tell stories that entice fans to watch the programs and then dine at the restaurants, ride the attractions, and visit the themed lands.
The current siloed approach isn’t the right strategy. I want The Edison steampunk made-for-Disney+ movie and a series based on Figment driving snooty professors mad.
These things are possible if Disney would simply look within and appreciate all the detailed stories it already has.
One Other Thing…
Disney, I honestly don’t know what this is, who came up with it, or anything else beyond what you’ve presented.
So, I’m not telling you anything you don’t already realize, and I’m basically just regurgitating your idea back to you.
Still, I’d be remiss if I don’t say what I’ve heard from many of my friends about these videos.
They are some of the most enjoyable marketing clips you’ve produced in the many years I’ve been covering Disney.
Please do more of this. I mean a LOT more. This should be like a monthly or maybe even weekly thing. Random Disney Character Rides Disney Attraction just plain works.
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Feature Photo: Disney