Disney Headlines for April 23rd, 2024
In this week’s Disney Headlines, we talk Space Mountain, Bluey, and Taylor Swift. That’ll shake up the algorithm!
Space Mountain the Movie
As MickeyBlog discussed the other day, the long-rumored Space Mountain movie is back in play.
That one Headline hints at a more intriguing conversation happening behind the scenes at Disney.
For years now, theme park fans have clamored for a cinematic universe based on Disney attractions.
Circling back a while, I wrote about this idea three years ago at a time when Disney+ was flying high.
At the time, insiders referred to the project as the Magic Kingdom Universe, but you can think of it as the Disney Ride Cinematic Universe.
With Disney+ investing heavily in new content and not caring about profitability, then-CEO Bob Chapek loved this idea.
Why wouldn’t he? Chapek had previously run the Parks division before he became CEO and made all the big calls at Disney.
Nobody understood the power of Disney attraction branding better than Chapek did at the time.
Alas, much has changed since then, with Chapek ingloriously deposed after Disney started having to pay the bills for all that content.
Then, in 2023, Disney’s entire film division struggled, causing current CEO Bob Iger to reevaluate the business.
Disney has since either canceled or shadow-canceled several projects, including several previously announced live-action films.
Notably, when Scarlett Johansson spoke about a Tower of Terror movie earlier this year, she indicated it was still happening.
That statement was doubly surprising, given everything that happened between the actress and Disney during the pandemic.
Now, we have news that the talented writing team responsible for Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol is working on Space Mountain.
So, Disney appears committed to creating at least two more movies based on current attractions. But I do have questions…
Let’s Talk about the Magic Kingdom Universe
A moment ago, I referenced Disney’s challenging 2023 film campaign. What was their anchor release last summer?
Ostensibly, the answer should be Haunted Mansion, but the movie proved to be anything but that.
Similarly, 2021’s Jungle Cruise movie lost money during its theatrical run.
That conversation isn’t as cut-and-dried since Jungle Cruise augmented its box office via Disney+’s short-lived Disney Premier Access.
Still, I don’t think anyone would argue that the movie performed as well as Disney had expected.
Yes, the pandemic heavily impacted the film, but Disney’s two most recent theatrical releases based on theme park attractions weren’t hits.
Now, let’s pose a theory. What’s the story of Space Mountain?
Now, I know it because I’ve written about it, and you know it if you’ve read those or similar articles.
What percentage of the people who have ridden Space Mountain do you think know the story, though?
Tower of Terror as a film is an easier sell. You go to a creepy abandoned hotel and get trapped there. It’s not complex.
Space Mountain could be…anything. Well, it’d need to involve space travel and a mountain, but that’s it.
Historically, Hollywood has struggled to adapt movies that possess name recognition but lack identifiable stories.
Have you ever watched Battleship? Masters of the Universe? Sonic the Hedgehog?
Sonic’s an excellent example of a film succeeding despite possessing no discernible story.
Similarly, Disney has previously achieved this challenging task with the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.
Ergo, Disney film executives are incentivized to ignore recent failures and try again.
One Pirates of the Caribbean more than makes up for half a dozen Haunted Mansion-esque failures.
I still believe in the Magic Kingdom Universe and am happy to hear that Disney hasn’t given up on the idea.
The Mystery of Bluey
I live on the East Coast. So, my staying up to cover the Anaheim City Council DisneylandForward meeting messed up my sleep schedule.
That weirdly played to my advantage overnight on Saturday as I finished up my writing at 3:15 a.m. Yes, I’m a vampire. Don’t judge me.
Anyway, that happened to be the moment the internet was reacting to a stunning turn of events.
The producers of Bluey had dropped a surprise episode, one that followed the potential series-ender, “The Sign.”
Appropriately named “Surprise,” this story didn’t just advance the plot of Bluey in a tidy eight minutes. It also revealed the future.
Bluey’s writing team has notoriously played with the timeline throughout the series.
This time, they gave away the plot by showing what happens in the end…and it’s delightful.
I skimmed social media in the wake of the episode’s airing. Let’s just say that fans were euphoric about “Surprise.”
But they were conflicted as well. People started parsing the phrasing of the producers.
The showrunners had indicated that “The Sign” wasn’t the final episode, which it wasn’t.
Suddenly, everyone was awash with fear that they may have been pulling a fast one because they knew “Surprise” was the finale instead.
At the time of publication, we’ve had no indication that Bluey is ending nor do I expect that.
There’s simply too much money in the business of Bluey for it to end.
However, I do think it’s fair to say that one era of Bluey has ended, with the show telling the story its creator had originally intended.
I understand if people are feeling a bit of melancholy over that aspect, but let’s be real. We’ll see Bluey again.
The Taylor Swift Moment
There’s a recurring theme in pop culture where everything popular eventually becomes overly criticized.
Some people resent the popular thing, especially if it’s something they don’t like. So, they trash it until it’s no longer perceived as cool.
Taylor Swift already went through that several years ago and came out stronger and more famous on the other side.
Keeping that in mind, Swift is currently amidst a weird combination of glowing headlines and some backlash.
Swift somehow pulled a Bluey and released a double album this past week rather than the expected single album.
I’m watching people who don’t love Taylor Swift criticize it into oblivion while my wife blissfully listens to it for the 18th time.
None of that matters to Disney, though. The introduction of new Taylor Swift content helps the company in two ways.
First, the new stuff reminds people to watch Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour on Disney+.
Also, one of the lyrics on the new album sure sounds like confirmation that Taylor Swift will play Dazzler in Deadpool & Wolverine.
I’ve been tracking that story for more than a year now.
What I’ll say is that, at a minimum, everyone involved wants us to believe the rumor is true.
Swift just doubled down on that by playfully including this lyric:
“You look like Taylor Swift in this light. We’re loving it. You’ve got edge. She never did. The future’s bright. Dazzling.”
You can draw your own conclusion here, but I read that as a wink and a nod.
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