‘Inside Out 2’ Is Making an Impact
Throughout 2024, Disney+ has pointed to a few seminal moments as the turnaround points after a lackluster year.
When the Hollywood strikes began in the summer of 2023, Hollywood moguls anticipated the frigid year ahead.
Photo: Variety
Films and streaming television series require lengthy turnarounds before they’re ready to air.
So, last year’s nonsense caused programming issues for the body of 2024.
Photo: Cincinnati Enquirer
Disney relied on some titles to carry its streaming services, one of which proved to be a bust.
Thankfully, the turnaround has finally begun. Inside Out 2 is making an impact. Let’s discuss the rare Disney+ hit.
Inside Out 2 Debuts on Streaming
Image: Pixar
Barring something unforeseen – like Moana 2 or Mufasa: The Lion King – Inside Out 2 will finish the year as the number one film.
As I type this, the Pixar movie is the #11 movie in North American box office history, falling a minuscule $426,000 short of the top ten.
Image: Pixar
For this reason, you shouldn’t be surprised if Disney re-releases it at some point soon to surpass Jurassic World, the current #10.
Worldwide, Inside Out 2 resides in eighth place, just ahead of…Jurassic World.
Image: Pixar
Anyway, the film is a juggernaut in all ways possible, including its critical reception. Inside Out 2 is currently 90 percent fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.
So, we knew Inside Out 2 was a hit, and that was before it arrived on Disney+.
This Inside Out concept art features Shame standing next to Anxiety. Photo: Reddit
Subscribers have counted down that moment throughout the summer, as the film debuted in theaters on June 14th.
Disney is trying to remind customers that they should watch Pixar titles in movie theaters.
Image: Pixar
As a means to that end, Pixar films don’t arrive on Disney+ until more than three months after their theatrical release.
The date finally came for Inside Out 2 on September 25th, and we knew within days that it had performed quite well.
Image: Pixar
Disney hyped Inside Out 2’s 30.5 million views during its first five days on streaming.
Then, the Nielsen ratings came out last week, and the show easily topped the Movies chart with 1.818 billion minutes watched.
As I mentioned, that’s the equivalent of 20.2 million views by Nielsen’s count.
The question was how the show would perform in week two.
About Inside Out 2’s Second Week on Disney+
Wall Street Journal
According to the Nielsen charts for September 30th through October 6th, Inside Out 2 gained another 908 million minutes.
That’s another 10 million viewers, give or take a bit, but the math still doesn’t add up here.
Photographer: Pavlo Gonchar/SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty Images
This circles back to Nielsen’s inability to track second-screen viewing, a statement that will come up multiple times today.
In layperson’s terms, Nielsen’s streaming charts reflect the content people watch on their television.
Photo: verdemedia.com
Nielsen’s tracking has a blind spot for all smart devices, including smartphones.
That’s a LOT of media consumption that Nielsen misses, and the streaming services know it.
Image: Pixar
So, companies like Disney get ahead of the sometimes erroneous reporting by releasing their own data.
From Nielsen’s perspective, Inside Out 2 has finished first on the Movies chart for two straight weeks.
Families Streaming Disney+
In the process, the film has finished second and fourth overall on streaming, a stellar feat.
Now, the question becomes whether Inside Out 2 will have the staying power of several pandemic releases or vanish quickly from the charts.
Photo: Taylor Swift
I previously mentioned the seminal titles on Disney+. One of them was definitely Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour.
The concert movie dominated the charts at first, but then it faded more quickly than Disney had hoped.
Photo: Disney
As a charming family film, Inside Out 2 should do better, but nothing is assured these days.
So, we’re still in wait-and-see mode after a 50 percent drop in the film’s second weekend on Disney+.
Disney’s Other Streaming Hits
Photo: Roku
Agatha All Along doesn’t chart this week, which would have been the week of its fourth episode.
I’m mentioning the show because Disney confirmed that 4.2 million people watched the mind-melting seventh episode.
AGATHA ALL ALONG, exclusively on Disney+. © 2024 MARVEL.
Therefore, we can conclude that it has sustained its popularity, unlike The Acolyte, the Disney+ bomb I referenced earlier.
Based on these numbers, Agatha All Along should be charting, which circles back to the second-screening gap on Nielsen.
Photo: Hulu
On the bright side, Only Murders in the Building completed its brilliant fourth season and earned 442 million viewer minutes this week.
That was Disney’s only title on the Originals chart, but the company displayed its typical dominance on Acquired.
Photo: Ludo Studios
Here are the titles listed:
- Bluey – 838 million minutes
- Bob’s Burgers – 774 million minutes
- Family Guy – 769 million minutes
- Grey’s Anatomy – 676 million minutes
- Prison Break – 524 million minutes
- American Dad – 520 million minutes
Photo: Disney
Overall, Disney claimed the top four titles on the Acquired chart and six of the top ten.
That Disney+/Hulu integration is working even better than expected.
Photo: Disney
Finally, on the Movies chart, another classic reappeared. Yes, it’s Nightmare Before Christmas season!
The film claimed 198 million viewer minutes during the first few days of October. So, it’s just getting started.
Hocus Pocus – Sanderson Sisters – 1993
Also, we should expect Hocus Pocus 2 to appear soon, and Deadpool & Wolverine is right around the corner.
So, Disney+ has presumably survived the worst and has sunny days ahead.
Photo: Forbes
This was a very good week for Disney’s streaming services…and one it sorely needed.
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