The Walt Disney Company has not been the same for four years now, and the multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate only has itself to blame for its recent failures. After a highly successful year at the box office in 2019, the company’s films took a turn for the worse. Whereas numerous Disney movies, including those from Marvel Studios, Lucasfilm, and Pixar Animation Studios, made over $1 billion during their theatrical runs in 2019, titles from 2020 and on have struggled to live up to that high standard. Of course, the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic played a part in the company’s downfall, but Disney’s approach to navigating the pandemic didn’t help.
Numerous factors have contributed to the conglomerate’s recent bout of box office disasters, aside from the COVID-19 pandemic that severely affected movie theaters around the world. Unfortunately, it seems as if Disney may never be able to return to its former glory because of the many mistakes that have led to the company’s frustrating decline in revenue. By looking at Disney’s upcoming titles for the next couple of years, its executives appear to be grasping at straws for life support during these trying times. But the truth is that the Walt Disney Company peaked in 2019, and it can only look forward, not back.
Disney Movies Peaked In 2019
The Walt Disney Company (including its subsidiaries — Walt Disney Animation Studios, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, Pixar Animation Studios, Marvel Studios, and Lucasfilm) released a variety of movies in 2019, and a good number of them made over $1 billion at the box office. These films were Aladdin, Toy Story 4, The Lion King, Frozen II, Captain Marvel, Avengers: Endgame, Spider-Man: Far From Home, and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, with the fourth Avengers movie coming out on top with a revenue of $2.799 billion from its theatrical run. However, Disney fell from grace following this fantastic run at the box office four years ago.
2019 was undeniably an impressive year for the multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate. Disney experienced success from every corner of its company, from where it started (Walt Disney Animation Studios) to its recent acquisitions, like Marvel Studios and Lucasfilm. It seemed as if nothing could stop the company from continuing to tower over its competitors. But as it turned out, 2019 was the year that Disney peaked. From 2020 on, the Walt Disney Company has struggled to maintain its status as one of the most bankable entertainment studios in the world, and that is due to its own mistakes and failures over the past four years.
Pixar Has Finally Admitted The Problem With Disney+
Pixar’s confirmation that Soul, Luca, and Turning Red will get theatrical releases in 2024 means the studio has admitted the problem with Disney+.
Disney Was Always Likely To Struggle After 2019
Yes, one could point to the COVID-19 pandemic as the primary reason behind the Walt Disney Company’s failures and inability to recover in the 2020s. However, its downfall was inevitable following 2019. The company and its numerous film studios were in their prime, releasing high-quality movies that appealed to the masses and resulted in exceptional success at the box office. Avengers: Endgame even became the highest-grossing film of all time in 2019 (before the subsequent re-releases of Avatar resulted in James Cameron’s epic science fiction movie reclaiming its title). Despite the outstanding triumphs, in hindsight, Disney’s 2019 releases were unsustainable models that resulted in the company’s unavoidable undoing.
The trend of live-action remakes of classic animated Disney films was bound to fail. Dumbo, Aladdin, and The Lion King came out in 2019, and two out of those three resulted in massive wins at the box office. But Aladdin and The Lion King are among Disney’s most beloved films, so it was not surprising to see them succeed. The next one, Mulan, was released on Disney+’s Premier Access platform in response to COVID-19, and it failed to live up to the hype of its predecessors, especially because it wasn’t a musical. Since then, other live-action remakes (Cruella and The Little Mermaid) have not crossed the $1 billion precedent set by Aladdin and The Lion King.
While Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker made over $1 billion, it was the lowest-grossing installment of the sequel trilogy and received mixed reviews. It was coming off of the harsh and divided reaction to The Last Jedi and the box office bomb, Solo, so the recent direction of Star Wars has made many disappointed and pessimistic about the franchise’s future. Over at Marvel, Avengers: Endgame was an unbelievable success, but the movie resulted in the departure of Iron Man and Captain America, two of the MCU’s most popular superheroes. Overall, many of Disney’s 2019 wins were regarded as endings (Endgame, Rise of Skywalker, and Toy Story 4 at the time). So, a decline was a certainty.
Four Years On, Was Disney’s Fox Purchase Worth It?
The Walt Disney Company acquired 20th Century Fox and all of its properties in March 2019 – a few years later, has the purchase been worth it?
Disney Made Big Mistakes After 2019
Following 2019, releases from Walt Disney Animation Studios, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, Pixar Animation Studios, Marvel Studios, and Lucasfilm failed to live up to the accomplishments made that year. The only Disney title that has made over $1 billion at the box office in the 2020s is Spider-Man: No Way Home, which earned $1.922 billion. A couple of other MCU movies came close but ultimately fell short, and Marvel projects just haven’t been the same since the Infinity Saga ended (which is a whole other story). As mentioned above, though, multiple mistakes have contributed to the multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate’s failures.
Disney’s first mistake was the succession of Bob Iger with Bob Chapek as the CEO in 2020. Chapek had to deal with a changing landscape when it came to releases and Disney’s theme parks due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and he made numerous wrong decisions, the list of which is too long to write here. Eventually, Chapek was dismissed from his role in November 2022, and Iger returned to Disney as the CEO. Iger had run the company for 15 years before his retirement in 2020, and his time as CEO was the most successful Disney has ever been. But even with his return, Disney may not be able to recover.
Disney’s inability to return to its former glory can also be attributed to Disney+. The streaming service was the company’s answer to COVID-19 and the shutdown of theaters worldwide. However, its hard pivot to streaming likely played a part in its downfall. Many Disney+ subscribers learned that if they wait a couple of months following a film’s premiere, it will inevitably be added to the streaming library, where they can watch it for free with their subscription instead of paying to see it in theaters. As a result, the company’s box office numbers have taken a severe hit. So, because of these mistakes, Disney peaked in 2019 and has been unable to recover.
