Here’s Are Disney’s Most Popular Franchises
With the news of impending park expansion, fans are trying to piece together what’s coming next.
We know that Disney will add new intellectual properties at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, Disneyland Resort, and Magic Kingdom.
Presumably, these additions will highlight Disney stories that currently lack a significant theme park presence.
So, that leads to a debate about the hottest Disney stories at the moment.
Here are Disney’s most popular franchises right now.
Coco
Park officials have made no secret of their love for all things Coco.
Disney California Adventure already hosts Día de Los Muertos events like the Storytellers as part of its Halloween enhancements.
When Disney announced the mere possibility of a Coco experience at Magic Kingdom, the crowd at the 2022 D23 Expo loudly cheered.
“Remember Me” is probably one of the best five or six Disney movie songs of the 21st century.
Among catalog titles on Disney+, Coco was the fourth-most-watched movie in 2022.
Overall, the film finished the year as the number twelve movie with 4.3 billion minutes watched.
So, fans are still replaying Coco 43 million times annually at a minimum. It’s massive.
Encanto
Remarkably, the instant success of Encanto somehow dwarfs Coco, which is a stunning statement to make.
Objectively, Coco is one of the most successful films of the past decade.
Every Encanto metric shows up surpassing Coco, though.
Consider that Encanto was THE most streamed movie of 2022.
I just discussed Coco’s strong numbers. Well, Encanto outdoes them with 27.4 billion minutes watched.
Of course, Encanto was new to streaming in 2022. How did it do in 2023? The Madrigal movie finished second for the year!
So, in consecutive years, Encanto was the most-watched film on stream for one year and then finished second the following year.
Then, we have the staggering triumph of “We Don’t Talk about Bruno.”
For the first time ever, a song from a Disney movie topped the Billboard charts for more than a month.
Encanto makes Coco look like Strange World, and I’m not saying that as a dig at Coco.
If things break right with an eventual film sequel, Encanto could become the next Frozen.
Lilo & Stitch
I’m including this one because Lilo & Stitch and the next title comprise an ongoing mystery for me.
We’re talking about some of Disney’s strongest intellectual property (IP), yet the park presence is minimal.
I shouldn’t need to tell you about Stitch’s popularity and Disney fans’ passion for the Ohana concept.
I’ve watched people spend two hours at Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party waiting to take one picture with Stitch.
You pay nearly $200 for that after-hours event, which only lasts five hours. That’s like spending $80 for one Stitch hug.
The character’s popularity speaks for itself, but I’ll throw in the fact that Stitch merchandise sells exceptionally well.
In fact, MickeyBlog has spent early 2024 highlighting the new Stitch Eats collection, which comes on the heels of the Stitch Crashes merch.
We’ve also got Stitch in Costume Funko Pops coming later this year.
Friends, we’re in April, and I’ve already preordered 2024 Christmas presents.
My wife is one of those people whose passion for Stitch is boundless, and there are millions like her.
That raises a simple question. Why has this character only received one subpar attraction thus far?
The best analog is the Cars franchise, another merchandise revenue machine. Disney built an entire themed land for Cars!
The Lion King
Of course, when we introduce that line of thinking, there’s an even bigger shock.
To date, Disney has never created a ride based on The Lion King, arguably the quintessential Disney Renaissance film.
Technically, Beauty and the Beast doesn’t have a ride in America, but there is one at Tokyo Disney Resort.
So, that leaves The Lion King as Disney’s biggest theme park oversight today.
We’d had an even bigger one in the past, but then Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway opened.
Now, there’s nothing else that can match the scale of The Lion King.
While Disney has added things like Festival of The Lion King, shows aren’t the same. It’s a glaring omission.
The Lion King and its live-action remake have earned $2.63 billion. HOW IS THERE NOT A LION KING RIDE?
Zootopia
Were you surprised when Disney built an entire Zootopia at Shanghai Disneyland Park?
You shouldn’t have been. I say this because Zootopia is quietly one of Disney’s most successful animated films of the 2000s.
We hear all the time about how Disney hasn’t had a billion-dollar animated movie since before the pandemic.
That threshold appears challenging to reach today, but Zootopia made that much in 2016.
During the movie’s run, Shakira’s “Try Everything” became a number-one single in countries as culturally diverse as Japan and Lebanon.
That’s a sure sign that Disney magic has swept the globe, but Zootopia wasn’t just a temporary phenomenon.
This film finished just ahead of Coco on the Nielsen Movie streaming charts for 2022.
Zootopia earned 4.44 billion viewer minutes, which is all the more remarkable since it came out 20 months before Coco.
So, as with Encanto, it’s safe to state that Zootopia is more popular, too.
Most studios would KILL for a franchise like Coco! Disney has created four since 2013, including one we’re about to discuss…
Other Possibilities
The challenging part of this conversation involves franchises with a modest theme park presence.
For example, Disney California Adventure (DCA) hosts Monsters, Inc. Sulley & Mike to the Rescue!, while Magic Kingdom hosts Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor.
EPCOT recently added Journey of Water, Inspired by Moana, and DCA re-themed California Screamin’ into the Incredicoaster.
So, three of Disney’s most popular franchises – Monsters, Inc., Moana, and The Incredibles – have a park presence.
Similarly, Inside Out, which is about to spike in popularity, already has Inside Out Emotional Whirlwind.
I also haven’t mentioned Tangled yet, which objectively isn’t as popular as many of the other titles listed here.
Conversely, everyone knows and loves the story, which is one of Disney’s best-animated films and a popular TV series as well.
Recently, Disney confirmed plans for a Tangled attraction at Disneyland Paris in addition to the one being built at Fantasy Springs.
Clearly, Disney officials think highly of Tangled as a brand, as they should.
The Other Contender…
Then, we have Frozen, which took over parts of the Norway pavilion a few years ago.
However, in other parts of the world, Arendelle receives the entire themed land treatment.
Could Disneyland get that? What are the odds of more Frozen at Walt Disney World?
These are the determinations we cannot make yet, but there is precedent for this sort of thing.
Magic Kingdom already had Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin when Disney’s Hollywood Studios added Toy Story Land.
I would argue that Frozen is the most popular franchise we’re discussing today except for maybe The Lion King.
In a few days, I’ll explore the possibility in greater detail, but the popularity of Frozen is a given.
Similarly, The Incredibles remains a thriving brand, as does Monsters, Inc.
You can rank the popularity of the franchises on your own to determine which ones deserve a bigger presence during theme park expansion.
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