Disney Headlines for October 8th, 2024

This week, reporters and actors question Disney’s handling of the Star Wars franchise.

We’ll discuss that and Disney’s great hope for video games in this week’s Disney Headlines.

The Star Wars Debate

In case you’re blissfully unaware of this truth, an entire anti-Disney ecosystem exists on the internet.

Many of the foremost critics are Star Wars fans. Those who are aware of these critics understand why a few of them don’t get taken seriously.

However, the reality is that Disney’s stewardship of Star Wars hasn’t gone perfectly.

Disney acquired Star Wars and the rest of Lucasfilm in a $4 billion transaction in 2012.

Since then, Disney has claimed revenue of $12 billion from the Star Wars franchise.

That proclamation occurred in a filing against an SEC investor. So, the company would be committing fraud to lie about that.

Now, Disney has made no mention of profit, but it’s reasonable to conclude that the company has made money on the Star Wars deal.

Fans don’t care about that, though. They want entertainment, and that’s where the debate lies.

Has Disney created enough good content as the owner of the Star Wars franchise?

Longtime Hollywood analyst James Hibberd recently performed a detailed evaluation of this very subject.

You can read Hibberd’s comprehensive work at The Hollywood Reporter, but here are the two relevant conclusions.

“Is Disney bad at Star Wars? … On balance, no.”

Later, he adds, “Could Disney be better at Star Wars? … Clearly, yes.”

I’m hypercritical as a rule when I read the analysis of others, but I found Hibberd’s work insightful and fair.

He makes several points about the box office of Disney’s Star Wars trilogy as well as the standalone films.

Hibberd adds that George Lucas himself famously only made two good Star Wars movies, with fans heavily criticizing the next four titles.

So, his overriding point is that creating Star Wars stories is challenging.

The Fair Criticisms of Star Wars

Hibberd doesn’t do a deep dive into the failures of Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser or the theme parks.

That’s because there isn’t a substantial amount of public information/data points about their standalone success.

We know that Galactic Starcruiser failed and forced a nine-figure write-off of an estimated $300 million.

We also know that Galaxy’s Edge has caused attendance to soar at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, which is now Walt Disney World’s second-most popular theme park.

I consider one a staggering success and one a high-profile failure, which I also believe is the consensus opinion among informed sources.

The question of Star Wars on Disney+ is a more nuanced discussion.

Disney has claimed several hits, including The Mandalorian, but even Andor, for all its critical praise, wasn’t a blockbuster.

A second season might change that, and Andor will get one in 2025.

Otherwise, you can argue that Star Wars has had as many downs as ups since its debut.

Hibberd points out the crux of the conversation that too many critics overlook, though.

He refers to new Disney+ subscriptions as “the coin of the realm,” which is a phrase I’ve used on my media podcast.

Again, fans don’t care about how many subscriptions Disney+ sells due to its Star Wars content.

But fans ARE getting more Star Wars content than in the history of the franchise.

I mean, fans got nothing but books from 1984 through early 1999.

There’s a long list of Disney+ content already, with Skeleton Crew debuting in a matter of months.

So, even when a show like The Acolyte doesn’t appeal to the masses, it’s still an embarrassment of riches.

The mere mention of The Acolyte raises another question.

What’s Disney’s Responsibility Here?

While I agree with Hibberd regarding Disney’s treatment of Star Wars, that’s not the only hot-button topic this week.

Actress Jodie Turner-Smith, who played Mother Aniseya in The Acolyte, just said the following:

“(Amandla Stenberg) put so much care and thought and love into that, and it’s disappointing to feel like your studio is not having your back in a very public-facing way.”

Turner-Smith is referencing Disney’s inability to protect Stenberg from online harassment.

The actress referred to Stenberg’s harassment as being “dog-piled on the internet with racism and bull(excrement).”

Turner-Smith feels strongly that Disney should have done more for the cast, which raises a good question.

In an age when internet bullying is a thing, what can and should a studio do to foster a comfortable environment for cast members?

That question exists beyond The Walt Disney Company, and the actress isn’t asking for much.

“Say this is unacceptable. (Say) ‘You’re not a fan if you do this.’ Make a really big statement and just see if any money leaves.”

Given the social media drubbing some members of The Acolyte absorbed, it’s a fair question to wonder aloud.

Unfortunately, I’m not sure there’s any One True Answer to this particular problem. It’s societal and systemic.

To a larger point, whenever new Star Wars content like The Acolyte fails, these sorts of news cycles are inevitable.

Another public referendum occurs wherein everyone argues Disney could/should have done something differently.

That’s a cyclical Headline that appears likely to keep happening.

The Epic Multiverse

During an odd moment at the 2024 D23 Expo, Disney gave a presentation that nobody understood.

As a new part-owner of Epic Games, Disney has brokered a deal for a Disney-adjacent universe for the Fortnite franchise.

Last Friday, The Verge posted the first detailed report on the production goals.

The new game will allow guests to launch via “the Disney front door or the Fortnite front door.”

That’s a fairly recent mechanic Epic Games added for Lego Fortnite, another standalone universe.

However, the idea hints at Disney’s ultimate ambitions here. Disney wants a persistent online playground.

When the new game launches, it’ll provide backdrops for many of Disney’s most popular brands ever.

Eventually, I fully expect every Disney title ever to garner a presence in some form, even obscure or failed stuff like Strange World.

Disney plans to do this by still being Disney, though. For instance, you shouldn’t expect Mickey Mouse to throw down in Fortnite.

As Epic describes it, “Some IPs are not teen IPs or mature IPs. They are E for everyone IPs.”

Disney doesn’t want children associating their favorites with weapons. Boba Fett, on the other hand…

We still haven’t learned a potential launch window for Disney Fortnite experience, which I’m personally calling Disnite.

Still, this discussion suggests that we’re likely near the end of the planning stage with development occurring soon.

Odd Disney Trivia

Finally, I’m running long. So, I won’t explore this in detail this week, but an article caught my eye. And it came from an unusual source.

I’ve never quoted Steelers Depot for a Disney article before and don’t expect ever to do so again, but this one’s too good to ignore.

In the new book Disney High, which I’ve mentioned before, the producers credit an unlikely source for a beloved character.

You’re likely familiar with Troy Bolton, the athletic singer/dancer in High School Musical.

Unless you’re old or had an elder explain him to you, I doubt you’ve heard of Lynn Swann, though.

For a time in the 1970s, he was the top wideout for the Pittsburgh Steelers’ dynasty.

In a different world, he would have been something else, though. Swann dreamt of being a ballerina dancer.

So, the kernel of an idea for Troy formed from the premise that a Hall of Fame Wide Receiver would have rather been a dancer.

Thanks for visiting MickeyBlog.com! Want to go to Disney? For a FREE quote on your next Disney vacation, please fill out the form below, and one of the agents from MickeyTravels, a Diamond Level Authorized Disney Vacation Planner, will be in touch soon!