“Toystory” It was the first feature film in the history of pixar. This beloved living toy movie was the one that started the boom for the studio and positioned it as one of the top animation houses in Hollywood. However, the spin-off “Lightyear”, of this 2022, could end up burying the franchise, due to its poor performance at the world box office.
In principle, we have to take into account the hopes of Disney. This project had a huge budget of US$ 200 million on average, which shows the quite high expectations they had for Pixar’s great return to theaters, after a few years of direct releases in Disney Plus.
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The lukewarm reception among the public only confirms that it was an effort with few rewards, which many associate with the controversy that still surrounds the film regarding the decision to include a lesbian kiss scene, as well as a slight subplot associated with a character. Secondary LGTBIQ+.
Is it possible that this sequence of less than a second has reigned over nostalgia? The answer is a half yes, but it is not an exclusive theme of this film, much less is it reduced to the last few months.
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Let’s not blame those who don’t deserve it
the kiss between Alisha and his wife began to haunt the nets shortly before “Lightyear” will reach theaters, which is why it is not the main reason why millions of potential viewers have been influenced. However, it did have a big impact on their box office numbers.
As is known, the film was banned in more than 10 markets, including China. Yes, you could see it coming, but this Asian country is one of the largest for filmmaking companies. If Middle Eastern territories are added, then there is wood for almost certain failure.
With this in mind, it could be assumed that the controversy was largely related to the low audience, but it is not. We have to keep in mind that we are talking about a children’s film that is being released at a time when monkeypox and COVID-19 are flooding the headlines. For this reason, there are other factors to consider.
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Is Disney to blame?
Let us remember that, at the beginning of the pandemic, Disney and other studios made hybrid and even exclusive streaming releases common. Such is the case, for example, Raya and the Last Dragonwhich arrived on the platform the same day that it had a fleeting passage through some cinema chains.
This quest to reinvent itself is precisely what removed the need for potential clients to attend a room, since they realized that it was a matter of a short time before they could enjoy a similar experience from the comfort of their homes.
For this reason, the Mickey Mouse company saw it more feasible to launch some titles of pixar direct to Disney Plusin order to use its great power among fans to strengthen the position of the service in this competitive sector, dominated mainly by Netflix.
Clearly, this has gradually led to the online video library being used as a shovel to dig the grave of other cinematographic proposals from the firm. In fact, this strategy would be the main reason for the failure of “Lightyear”.
“Disney has trained a lot of parents to wait for Pixar movies at home,” Shawn Robbins, chief analyst at Box Office Pro, told Variety. of ‘experiment’. Clearly, we have to see what will happen when it arrives on Disney+.
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Nostalgia, but not so much
When it was announced to Chris Evans like the voice of Buzz Lightyear, the marketing of the project was somewhat confused among fans of the saga. At one point, it was believed to be an origin story for Andy’s toy, but later, much later, it was made clear that this was another kind of narrative, somewhat detached from its parent franchise.
This leads us to think that there is a very particular logic closely associated with the hit that was also “Fantastic Animals: Dumbledore’s Secrets”. In both cases we are talking about spin-offs that present us with stories far from the protagonists who won the hearts of fans.
That is the basic question. What “Lightyear” has cut ties with Andy, Woody and more beloved characters, the nostalgic connection between product and fans does not have a very strong bond that can be sustained, which is why it represents a risky bet, since many expect to see references everywhere and that they appeal to sentimentality, instead of creating a differentiated branch with shades of the original.
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Possibly, this is the reason why “Top gun: Maverick” has become the highest grossing of 2022. Tom Cruise returned as the title role, which was positioned in the memory of his fans more than 30 years ago, and also It would be the reason why “Jurassic World: dominion” is successful: it brought back the trio of protagonists of the “Jurassic Park” saga, from more than two decades ago.
For now, Disney-Pixar he will have to reevaluate what mechanisms he will implement for his next films and be able to reconnect with his audience, both children and adults. And they will have to do it without going against their plans to promote greater inclusion. Will they be able to do it? We’ll see. At least they still have the Marvel Cinematic Universe to turn a profit.
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