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Despite a Prosperous 2019 Disney Films Need to Get Creative and Original Again

Disney has been focused on the familiar franchises in recent years rather than original story ideas that aren't based on the company's intellectual property.

While this focus on the familiar helps Disney to bring in audiences, this is less of a risk than bold and ambitious stories.  A film such as Tomorrowland may have had its flaws but there was still some entertainment to be had in watching the film.  For what it's worth, no film will ever be perfect.  Audiences will vote with their wallets rather than reviews.  It is true that some reviews will definitely make or break a film.  One can look to Tim Burton's Dumbo as a prime example.

On the first go around, I enjoyed The Lion King.  This was likely the nostalgia talking more than anything else.  Despite the complaints that animals cannot emote, The Lion King has managed to become the second-ranked film at the box office.   As such, Disney now owns five of the top six spots at the domestic box office (Avengers: Endgame, The Lion King, Captain Marvel, Toy Story 4, and Aladdin).  Even though they didn't distribute Spider-Man: Far From Home, the company was also involved in that film, too.

What do all of these Disney releases have in common though?  They are either Marvel Cinematic Universe, a sequel, or a re-imagining of animated Disney canon.  Disney managed to right some of the animated Aladdin's wrongs in casting.  It is still very hard to watch Will Smith when one grew up with Robin Williams as the Genie.  Meanwhile, Tim Burton's take on Dumbo couldn't even manage to get off the ground!  The Marvel Cinematic Universe films are an entirely different animal altogether.

Come later this year with the launch of Disney+, we'll get Lady and the Tramp.  The Cruella prequel is coming next year.  There will be even more live-action remakes coming to the big screen or Disney+.  But at what cost?  Is it worth sacrificing the original stories to remake the animated classics?  Listen, some of these remakes have expanded on the originals but can't hold tooth and nail to the classic films at the end of the day.

When it comes to Disney, the saddest day came when Bob Iger gave up on Touchstone Pictures.  The mid-budget adult drama now seems to be a thing of the past.  People don't really rush to see them in theaters. Unless its an event film such as Star Wars or the MCU, people don't go to the theaters as much.  This is a shame because there's still an audience for the mid-budget dramas.  Not everything needs to be Marvel, Star Wars, or a live-action re-imagining.

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