Here Are Disney’s Next Big Tests

At this moment, The Walt Disney Company is running smoothly.

But let’s be honest. Anything could change at a moment’s notice.

Disney critics are always lying in wait, ready to blow literally anything out of proportion to make the company sound bad.

So, let’s hone in on a few areas where Disney has at least some vulnerability.

Here are Disney’s next big tests.

The DinoLand Closure

Let’s start with the theme park issue of note.

Disney theme park expansion is at hand, and I recently answered several of your questions about the process.

The one thing I didn’t address was the timeline because I’ve gone into that before.

However, this topic matters greatly at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, a park that’s already short on theme park rides.

Soon, DinoLand U.S.A. will close permanently. Park officials have suggested construction will occur in phases.

That’s a polite way of acknowledging that Disney doesn’t want to close any of its Animal Kingdom rides until it absolutely must.

Still, we can infer a few things from Disney’s announcements, one of which is that construction will begin in the fall.

You can check the calendar and tell that it’s already fall, which probably makes you wonder why this hasn’t happened yet.

The answer is a bit dry, but you’ll understand if you’ve spent much time in the business world.

Disney timed this construction to begin at the start of the fiscal year. Conveniently, that date was at the start of October.

Now, Imagineers have a new fiscal year’s budget to spend on building the Tropical Americas.

Disney is a bit cash-poor right now due to its long-term debt, which makes this process a bit challenging.

Yes, Disney has promised $60 billion in expansion, but only $42 billion will go to the parks.

More importantly, most of that spending will occur after 2029, which is still five years from now.

Disney must navigate the closure of one of Animal Kingdom’s themed lands while carefully managing the budget for the Tropical Americas.

Meanwhile, Universal Epic Universe will raise expectations for theme park design.

Disney really needs to hit this one out of the park…and keep Animal Kingdom lines reasonable in the interim.

The Annual Revenue Report

Here’s another boring numbers topic, but it matters greatly for the next six months of Disney.

For two straight years, activist investor Nelson Peltz has wrecked Disney’s planning by trying to force his way onto the board.

In a weird way, we have Peltz to thank for Bob Chapek’s termination.

Disney’s Board of Directors knows what a treacherous viper Peltz is and didn’t like Chapek cozying up to him.

So, we have Bob Iger as CEO now, and I can say this with sincerity. Nelson Peltz and his buddy, Isaac Perlmutter, HATE Iger.

Theoretically, both men sold all their shares in Disney, with Peltz bragging that he made $1 billion in the process.

Here’s the thing. If Disney’s next fiscal earnings report is subpar, the stock will fall again.

Recently, Disney stock has hovered in the low- to mid-$90s. Should the stock suffer one of those sudden $10 drops, all bets are off.

Peltz could return, and this time he might woo Wall Street to his side.

I don’t view this as likely since Peltz just suffered the most humiliating defeat of his career.

Then again, few billionaires are equipped to handle humiliating defeats and tend to pick the same fights again.

That’s the corporate drama part that could impact the parks. But there’s a more significant one.

If Disney revenue proves lackluster, some of the theme park expansion plans could dry up.

We’ve seen it happen before…and quite recently at that. I’m looking at you, PLAY! pavilion.

Well, I would if the PLAY! pavilion existed, which it doesn’t.

Disney’s financial shortfalls often lead to theme park disappointments.

The Snow White Release

For several years now, I’ve done the same thing whenever there was any mention of Rachel Zegler. I’ve posted this:

That woman can sing! So, she’s ideal casting for any Disney movie, especially since she’s a decent actress as well.

In short, Rachel Zegler is a talent. The problem, if you want to call it that (and I don’t), is she’s an opinionated, strong-willed individual.

I quite admire that about her, as Hollywood has historically beaten its celebrities down until they’re afraid to speak their peace.

Alas, not everyone in society feels that way about confident women. So, Zegler’s transparency has triggered some weird headlines.

Zegler is starring as Snow White in Disney’s most iconic animated movie ever.

In 1937, Walt Disney himself almost went broke creating the world’s first full-length animated film.

Immediately upon the opening of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, people heralded it as one of the greatest filmmaking triumphs ever.

Now, 88 years later, Disney has created a live-action remake of it with outspoken Zegler in the lead role.

The controversy hasn’t ended there, as some critics have latched on the representation of the Seven Dwarfs in the film.

Sure, they’ve only done so based on grainy images from the set, but that’s enough for some folks.

The Snow White Release Part II

Finally, we have a brewing issue occurring behind the scenes. Zegler and her co-star, Gal Gadot.

First, we should recall this delightful clip where the two of them clearly adore one another:

More recently, we have this Instagram video Gadot posted. And you really shouldn’t read the comments.

The new issue involves the differing stances of Gadot, an Israeli, and Zegler on the current conflict in the Middle East.

That’s definitely not something I ever want to discuss on MickeyBlog, but if The Guardian is right, there’s a rift between the actresses.

I Zapruder film’d the Instagram post, and they still seem to have stars in their eyes for one another, but the rumor is out there.

So, that’s four different problems Disney faces with the Snow White release.

Disney has reportedly spent $209 million on this film, but I wouldn’t want to work on the marketing campaign for it.

The Thunderbolts* Release

Finally, we have Marvel’s next big release, which matters more than you might realize.

Everyone expected Deadpool & Wolverine to become a blockbuster hit. We could tell that from the jump.

As soon as Hugh Jackman agreed to return to the MCU as Wolverine, Deadpool 3’s success was assured.

Still, Marvel’s post-Endgame track record remains scattershot.

In fact, the biggest Marvel success since then was a Sony, not Disney, film.

So, Disney needs another hit here to secure the brand.

Otherwise, people will write off the last film as due to Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman’s popularity.

And that leads us to Thunderbolts*, the film with the quirky asterisk in the title.

Many fans suspect that the * hints at the eventual formation of a new superteam, but Marvel is known for its surprises.

Thus, all we’re confident will happen is a group full of villains and anti-heroes will join together on a brief adventure.

Several of them like Ghost and Bucky Barnes have played antagonists in previous MCU releases.

Now, they may (or may not) turn into heroes, creating new storytelling dynamics.

For generations, comics have featured characters who were occasionally good in between bouts of extreme evil.

Marvel wants to enrich the MCU with the same principles, but it’s a risk.

DC has tried this twice already with the Suicide Squad, and the end result is two disappointing films with combined box office of $918 million.

Marvel needs Thunderbolts* to make about that much on its own. If not, Disney may need to re-think the MCU yet again.

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Feature Photo: Disney