For those who regularly read the Emerald, you may have read my previous review of an animated property, which was Netflix’s “Big Mouth”. Though I criticized that show pretty harshly, I also acknowledged that it was a wonder any animated series was performing well on a streaming service, considering the string of bad luck they’ve had surviving on them. For the most part, this trend of animation dying on the vine before they got to reach wider audiences seemed to be mostly confined to the digital realm of streaming.
I never would have expected that this self-afflicting curse would spread to the grandfather of big-budget animated films, yet this seems to be the case with Disney’s newest feature, “Strange World” directed by Don Hall. I’d be surprised if even a quarter of those reading this review knew that the movie even existed before its release, and that detail seems to be fully intentional, with Disney putting out barely anything in terms of marketing. This has unfortunately led to the film bombing horrifically at the box office, with Variety reporting that the film’s performance will likely result in a loss of $100 million dollars, with it being one of Disney’s lowest performing opening-weekend’s in recent times. So why did Disney promote this film so poorly? Were they trying to keep audiences from seeing what they thought was going to be a bad product? Or were the real intentions a little more sinister?
First, is the movie actually any good? After sitting through it, I’m able to say that the movie is 100% perfectly average. I didn’t particularly love it, but I didn’t dislike my time with it either. The most standout thing about it was by far the visuals. Disney’s animation only seems to be getting better and better each year, and it’s no exception here. The amount of gorgeous detail in every shot of this movie is worth significant praise, and in particular the art direction was a standout to me. The film is heavily inspired by action and sci-fi comics of the 1940s and 1950s, with a distinctly unique take on the technology shown in the film, and all of it looks fantastic. The movie was packed with wild and surreal creature designs and concepts that managed to wow me every time they introduced a new one, and it really kept me wanting to see more of the world they were in. Even the human character designs, which the internet seems to be fairly divided on, I thought were pretty great, with them looking a little more like classic Disney designs, which I thought matched wonderfully with the already retro inspired artstyle.
All of this was great, but unfortunately the story and characters weren’t so much. The film, set in the fictional world of Avalonia, follows the Clade family, consisting of Searcher, the father; Ethan, the son; Meridian, the mother; and Jaeger, the grandfather. In particular, the father and son connection is focused upon in the film. There are no new or original themes or ideas being explored here, and those themes and ideas really become all the characters have for personalities. We’ve seen these character archetypes time and time again: the rebellious teenage son who wants to do things different from his parents, the father who wants his child to be just like him to make sure they have a sound future, the grandfather who was never there enough for the father. They weren’t exactly bad, just uninspired and cliched. For a film with such an original sense of artistry, I was really hoping for the writing and story to be a bit more unique as well, but sadly it just wasn’t. Still, I think it turned out fairly decent. Once I was able to make myself comfortable with the fact that this would be a familiar story with an inventive world and great visuals, I was able to sit back and just enjoy the brief, pleasant ride that this movie presented me with.
However, it’s not the quality of the film that’s really gotten people talking. More than anything else surrounding the film, people have been talking about how this movie features Disney’s first gay main character. When the news about this came out before the film’s release, many were skeptical. Disney has built up a reputation in recent years of marketing that a character in a movie will be canonically gay, only to have that detail be featured in one brief scene or in one line of dialogue that can be left out of cuts in China or Russia to save revenue while engaging in half-baked, performative activism. However, while watching the film, I was surprised to find that it wasn’t a cheat, and Disney had actually written a gay character into the movie, displayed front and center, with several scenes dedicated to discussing his feelings toward someone of the same sex. And while the romance isn’t the main focus of the movie — it’s more of a side plot to accompany the sci-fi action and familial drama — it’s still baked enough into the film’s DNA that an attempt to hide it or cut those moments out would make parts of the movie confusing and unwatchable. If there’s one thing I have to praise director Don Hall and his crew for, it’s that they finally stepped up and made the only Disney movie I can think of where it’s impossible to hide the LGBTQ+ representation. In response, the internet has had plenty of praise to offer for it:
It’s this representation that’s left many viewers questioning why Disney marketed this movie so poorly, with some on the internet presenting their own ideas as to why:
Could Disney have purposely harmed the film’s chances at the box office because of it’s representation, in an attempt to cover up it’s gay representation? While there’s no confirmed answers, it is troubling that the first Disney film to feature an openly gay protagonist has received such poor treatment. I wish this film could have been given more of a fighting chance to fully cement its place in film history with this milestone, but sadly, it looks like this is going to be one Disney film that many families will never even remember existed.
As I’ve stated before, the animation industry has been in dangerously rocky territory as of late, and the failure of Strange World due to its treatment from Disney is a warning sign for the industry that if it doesn’t clean up its act, even the biggest of studios could be facing big financial hits. Worse than revenue troubles, filmmakers are watching works of art they labored over to present to the viewing public be taken out back and shot the companies that are supposed to be presenting their works front and center.
Thankfully, at least for Disney’s sake, there’s a silver lining in the firing of CEO Bob Chapek, who was recently replaced by former CEO Bob Iger. Maybe this change in leadership will help Disney regain its footing and not make these kinds of mistakes again. But even if it does, that doesn’t change the damage that has been dealt to Strange World. If you find yourself soon with a free evening, take your family and friends, head down to your local movie theater and buy a ticket; for the sake of the industry, and the potential benefits it can gain from representative films like this doing well, I say go and see “Strange World”.
