Is Pixar’s ‘Inside Out’ the Next Huge Disney Parks Brand?
Inside Out 2 just became the first film of 2024 to earn $1 billion at the box office.
Even more impressively, the Pixar sequel reached the $1 billion mark faster than any animated film ever.
Image: Pixar
The film only debuted in theaters less than three weeks ago, yet it’s already a juggernaut.
Inside Out 2’s overwhelming success raises a reasonable question.
Image: Pixar
Is Inside Out the next huge Disney theme park brand? Let’s discuss.
Pixar’s Biggest Movie Ever
This Inside Out concept art features Shame standing next to Anxiety. Photo: Reddit
At some point in July, Inside Out 2 will reach a jaw-dropping milestone.
Currently, the animated film only trails another Pixar sequel, The Incredibles 2, by roughly $200 million in box office.
Image: Pixar
Within the next two weeks, Inside Out 2 should surpass The Incredibles 2 and thereby become Pixar’s biggest hit ever.
As a reminder, this happens in the aftermath of countless headlines about how Pixar had lost its Midas touch.
Image: Pixar
Those articles all proved premature, with Inside Out 2 highlighting the reality that Pixar magic remains pure.
The sequel surpassed Inside Out’s box office in less than two weeks, and it’ll best The Incredibles 2 after roughly one month in theaters.
Image: Pixar
In short, we’re not just talking about a stunning box office feat. The scalding box office pace of Inside Out 2 is unprecedented.
The latest Pixar title has entered Beauty and the Beast/The Lion King territory.
Image: Pixar
I realize that sounds like hyperbole, but let’s consider that Inside Out 2 has already entered the all-time box office top ten for animated releases.
By the time you read this, it’ll probably be in Toy Story 3 and 4 territory with its box office. Those titles are currently sixth and seventh.
Image: Pixar
After Inside Out 2 passes The Incredibles 2, it’ll be number four all-time among animated movies.
The only better performers to date are Frozen II, The Super Mario Bros. Movie, and Frozen.
Image: Pixar
Should Inside Out 2 earn another $450 million at the box office – and it probably will – it’ll become the number one animated title ever.
You may not have considered Inside Out 2 in those terms, but it’s time to recalibrate.
Image: Pixar
In baseball terms, Inside Out 2 is having a 70-homer season.
What This Means for the Brand
Photo: Disney
Over the past several years, you may have read or seen me discuss the drawing power of Moana.
Since the arrival of Disney+, Moana has joined Frozen as two of the most important brands.
Photo: Disney
For whatever reason, an entire generation of kids has grown up with an obsession regarding Moana.
We can demonstrate this via Nielsen data, which showed Moana as the most streamed movie of 2023.
Photo: Disney
Nielsen tracked 11.6 billion minutes of Moana viewing last year.
Since then, Disney has added that people have watched Moana more than one billion times on streaming.
Journey of Water
Not coincidentally, you’ll find Journey of Water | Inspired by Moana at EPCOT.
The park sometimes hosts a Moana character greeting as well, and a Moana sequel will debut in theaters in November.
Journey of Water – Inspired by Moana
At the 2024 D23 Expo, Disney might announce more Moana experiences such as a dark ride coming to Disney theme parks.
CEO Bob Iger and Disney Experiences Chairman Josh D’Amaro are quite calculated with their park developments.
Photo: Disney
They’ve demonstrated a desire to add more representation for Disney’s most popular brands.
Moana and Frozen are arguably the biggest two at the moment, presuming we don’t count Bluey, which Disney doesn’t own.
Photo: Tokyo DisneySea
As you might have heard, Frozen-themed lands are popping up around the world.
That’s happening more than a decade after the first film debuted in theaters, but Disney didn’t need anywhere near that long to pivot.
Photo: Disney Parks Blog
The Norway pavilion at EPCOT added Frozen Ever After and Royal Sommerhus in 2016.
Moana has taken a bit longer, but that’s partially because its success has been more gradual.
Photo: Disney
Inside Out 2 isn’t like that. At all. It’s going to be one of the top three films of 2024.
Bob Iger Accidentally Predicted This
Photo: Willow Bay on Instagram (via PEOPLE)
A few months ago, Iger described his decision not to leak plans about upcoming expansions.
We know that Disneyland Resort will expand due to a minimum $1.9 billion investment over the next decade.
NBC News
Similarly, Walt Disney World will gain $8 billion in capital expenditures over the next decade.
In short, Disney has $10 billion to spend on its American theme parks.
Bob Iger – 2024 Annual Shareholder Meeting
Iger didn’t want to tip his hand on what’s coming next, even though he has a pretty good idea.
The explanation he gave at the time has proven prescient.
Bob Iger – 2023 Annual Shareholder Meeting
Disney’s leader indicated that he wanted to keep the plans open-ended in case some unexpected brand soared to popularity.
While I suspect Iger meant entirely new intellectual properties, the same statement applies here.
Bob Iger – 2024 Annual Shareholder Meeting
Two months ago, nobody was sure Inside Out 2 would match the original’s box office total, much less crush that number.
Now, we know that the sequel is wildly popular and something that justifies a park presence.
Photo: Disney
To date, the only Inside Out attraction resides at Disney California Adventure.
And with all due respect to Inside Out Emotional Whirlwind, it’s a trivial attraction by Disney standards.
Is Inside Out 2 the Next Huge Disney Park Brand?
Image: Pixar
Meanwhile, Inside Out 2 has shown that it has tremendous appeal to modern audiences.
THIS is the hot brand that Iger gave his Imagineers leeway to consider.
Image: Pixar
I previously asked whether the Inside Out franchise would gain a bigger park presence.
At this point, that’s a foregone conclusion. Remember that Shanghai Disneyland just added a Zootopia-themed land.
Photo: Disney
Zootopia earned $1.025 billion in box office, a total the Inside Out sequel has already passed.
Disney isn’t subtle about this stuff. When fans show interest in more of a product, Imagineers give the people what they want.
Photo: Disney
We have Star Wars, Marvel, and Frozen expansions because those are some of Disney’s most popular brands.
Now, we can add Inside Out to that list. By the end of the month, it will have earned more than The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast.
Photo: Disney
Even if we include the live-action remark of The Lion King’s $1.663 billion, Inside Out 2 has a strong shot at that.
We have yet to find this film’s ceiling, which strongly indicates that theme park demand is off the charts.
‘Inside Out 2’ PhotoPass area
Disney should adapt to this changing circumstance and announce some Inside Out theme park plans at D23. It’s that simple.
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