The most recent animated film from Disney and Pixar is “Elemental”.
Disney
The stakes are high as Pixar releases its twenty seventh feature film in theaters this Friday.
“Elemental”, a romantic immigrant story told through anthropomorphic elements of nature, appears as Disney he’s under pressure to prove he hasn’t lost his golden touch in animation.
The corporate, which serves each Pixar and Disney Animation, has struggled in recent times to boost ticket sales on its animated fare. Meanwhile, Universal’s The animation framework Illumination and DreamWorks dominated the box office with hits like “The Super Mario Bros. Movie”, “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish”, and “Minions: The Rise of Gru”.
Specifically, Disney’s studio Pixar is looking to bounce back from the box office disappointment that was Lightyear. According to Comscore, Buzz Lightyear’s origin story grossed just $226.7 million at the global box office in 2022, a fraction of what previous Pixar movies generated in box office sales.
Elemental is predicted to debut domestically at $35 million to $45 million, according to industry analysts, mid-range for a typical Pixar release but well below the $120.5 million that Sony animated “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse,” which aired during its opening weekend earlier this month.
“Animation is certainly going through the winds of change,” said Shawn Robbins, principal analyst at BoxOffice.com. “Universal and Illumination are leading this charge after a highly successful decade wherein their success streak extends into the 2020s, arguably becoming to today’s young Generation Z and older Alpha kids what Pixar and DreamWorks were to Gen X and Millennials “.
Robbins said the growing diversity in animation studios and increasing competition are positive for the industry as a complete. Nonetheless, it also highlighted a decline in Disney’s box office performance.
Falling in style
The pandemic closed theaters per week after the release of Pixar’s Onward, minimizing the film’s box office potential. With ongoing restrictions, concerns about Covid-19 variants, and a bent for folks to skip theatrical releases, Disney has sent Soul, Luca, and Turning Red directly to Disney+.
“Disney’s pandemic strategy of stream-only distribution, as well as to other creative distractions, of several well-reviewed movies has done the brand a disservice that recent management is now trying to rectify,” Robbins said.
When Lightyear hit theaters, consumers were used to seeing Pixar movies go straight to streaming. But this confusion was only part of the reason for the poor ticket sales.
“Lightyear” departed from the formula that has appealed to so many generations of the “Toy Story” series and focused on exciting stories with beloved childhood toys.
The feature film was billed as the origin story of the film that made Buzz Lightyear a best-selling toy and a coveted prize for young Andy. The characters on the screen usually are not toys that consider themselves to be real – slightly, they’re people. This meta-style story might need been tempting to viewers who grew up on Toy Story in the Nineties, but for younger generations, the sci-fi motion adventure missed the mark.
Buzz Lightyear and his robotic companion Sox embark on an intergalactic adventure in Pixar’s Lightyear.
Disney
Later that 12 months, Disney Animation’s “Strange World” failed to attract viewers as well, earning only $72.4 million worldwide for its entire run, according to Comscore.
A wish for a star
Disney hopes “Elemental” will mark the starting of a recent era of animated success for its studios. With more family movies in theaters after the drought, the company could have a neater time marketing its upcoming movies to theatergoers.
The corporate is about to release Disney Animation’s “Wish” in theaters on Thanksgiving, and has two more Pixar movies scheduled for 2024 – “Elio” and the sequel “Inside Out.” Disney also plans to eventually release the fifth film in the original Toy Story series, the third Frozen film, and the second film set in the world of Zootopia.
“With a decades-long status as a preeminent producer of animated movies, Disney has set the bar for excellence in the production, sale and distribution of animated movies,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore.
Despite recent box office problems, each Dergarabedian and Robbins envision a return to form for Disney animation in the future.
“Disney Animation boasts an unparalleled brand identity, an enormous pool of creative talent, and robust marketing and distribution teams,” said Dergarabedian. “It’s the perfect time for Disney to reset its animated strategy and reestablish itself as a respected and legendary creator of animated family movies.”
Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal and CNBC.