Disney’s Strange World experienced a rough start in theaters, but its eventual success on the company’s streaming platform could be bad for animation at large. Unfortunately, Strange World is not alone in its struggles, as the entertainment industry — and animation in particular — has been experiencing mass layoffs and sudden project cancellations. The result of this is that animated projects are under increased pressure to succeed, all to justify their existence and investment in future endeavors with its public reception. As such, it’s important to consider how Strange World’s execution and audience reaction impact the industry at large.
Available To Stream On Disney+
Overall, Strange World follows the story of the Clades, a family of adventurers and the titular strange world beneath their own. The family must venture into this place to save a critical natural resource, reconnecting with each other as they do so. While the Strange World bombed at the box office, it generally received positive critical reviews. When Disney+ picked up the film, these reviews were confirmed as the film performed significantly better, but the movie’s reception may have already impacted the development of other animated films set to follow Strange World into 2023.
Strange World's Box Office Failure & Streaming Success Explained
In total, Strange World grossed $37.7 million from the box office in the United States and Canada as of January 10. Adding to this, the film grossed $34.4 million total in other territories for a total of $72.1 million. While this amount of revenue does not seem negative, the film only made $4.2 million on its first day and debuted to make $11.9 million on its opening weekend. Unfortunately, Strange World was initially projected to gross $30-40 million over its opening weekend, dwarfing the movie’s actual performance. This discrepancy could reportedly lose Disney almost $100 million in sunk production costs.
However, while Strange World‘s theater updates did not provide the expected return, the movie fared much better on Disney+. The film was reportedly the most streamed movie upon its release and was supposedly the eighth most streamed film across all platforms in the U.S. the week of December 19. This discrepancy between the box office and home streaming has been attributed to an unoriginal premise, lackluster marketing, and general consumer confusion on what the movie's even about. This befuddlement resulted from then-CEO Bob Chapek’s decision to send some of Disney’s latest animated films such as Soul, Luca, and Turning Red exclusively to Disney+, creating a misleading expectation for families looking to see animated titles.
Strange World's Disney+ Success Is Bad For Animation
While Strange World’s recovery on Disney+ is a boon for greater diversity and representation in film, its success on the streaming platform could be indicative of a negative trend for animation. This is particularly true given how Chapek has been debuting some of Disney's best animated movies via streaming instead of theatrically, as well as given his comment in October 2022 that animation is for kids. All these incidents depict a larger, dismissive attitude towards the medium.
The general shift towards releasing Disney animated movies on Disney+ instead of the theaters has not done the industry any favors either, as this method potentially gives animated movies the same connotation as straight-to-video films. Strange World’s success on Disney+, unfortunately, confirms this bias that animated projects can’t handle a theater release, even if it performed quite well within that arena. If the film’s lack of success at the box office is interpreted as being indicative of animation’s ability to draw a crowd at large, it will then detract from future projects’ potential to receive the funding and attention to make them successful.
Why Disney Animation's Future Could Still Be Bright
Despite the bleak first Rotten Tomatoes reviews that Strange World received, it does not need to be a herald of ill things to come for other animated films. In a promising move, Chapek was recently ousted and replaced by former Disney CEO Bob Iger, whose record with animated movies is much stronger. Under the latter’s leadership, Disney invested both in its animation and direct-to-consumer businesses such as Disney+, proving that supporting one does not have to mean the neglect of the other.
Iger reportedly dismantled the distribution division established by Chapek. This division dictated how content would be released, and its end further signals more options for animation projects to make their way to the big screen. With this potentially presenting Disney’s slate of animated movies releasing after Strange World a greater opportunity to hit the theater, they will hopefully fare much better than the latter.