I quite liked "Strange World." It was odd and exciting to see something so original from Disney (not a sequel or based on another property). I think its primary problem was genre: I see it as mainly an adventure story with Solarpunk elements. Adventure stories have typically not done well for Disney. As you pointed out "Treasure Planet" and "Atlantis: The Lost Empire" were notorious failures. I'm not quite sure why adventure stories don't seem to work well for Disney. On one hand, adventure stories don't feel as much a part of the cultural zeitgeist. On the other hand, Pixar has done a number of good adventure stories.
In addition, I think it was severely undermarketed. It could have been fears about diversity of the story. But I think there were numerous films mishandled by Disney leadership during that time to make this more than a one-off problem. According to Wikipedia, work on the film started in early 2017. Animated films have a very long gestation period and it is possible that the film was conceived in a different moment and hit differently once the pandemic happened. Perhaps eco-focused stories might have resonated more with a wider audience pre-pandemic than during the pandemic.
I do think it could have had a stronger story, especially in Act II. But you typically don't go to pulpy adventure stories for character development. My ultimate opinion is that its lack of success was more due to circumstances than anything else.
Thanks for this very considered and thoughtful comment Sean, much appreciated. If you were to rewrite the script any ideas what changes you would have made?
I’ve never heard of it! I’ll keep an eye out, thanks!
You're very welcome. Please do drop a comment here with your thoughts when you have watched it :)
Now I want to see it! Thanks.
You're very welcome. Please do drop a comment here with your thoughts when you have watched it :)
last disscussion I had on this, I proposed doing a fan edit with songs. It's a film that is despertely missing songs
Oooh, intriguing. Are there any already released songs you'd add to it?
Just had a stab at it, but I might have been overly focused on Electroswing. It simply doesn't have the range of emotions that true orchestra stuff does: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/11LO9jUs4Ksb8V4_mSdPYbn9jiyQBQpBMbTpQ7A3-Tw8/edit?usp=sharing
I quite liked "Strange World." It was odd and exciting to see something so original from Disney (not a sequel or based on another property). I think its primary problem was genre: I see it as mainly an adventure story with Solarpunk elements. Adventure stories have typically not done well for Disney. As you pointed out "Treasure Planet" and "Atlantis: The Lost Empire" were notorious failures. I'm not quite sure why adventure stories don't seem to work well for Disney. On one hand, adventure stories don't feel as much a part of the cultural zeitgeist. On the other hand, Pixar has done a number of good adventure stories.
In addition, I think it was severely undermarketed. It could have been fears about diversity of the story. But I think there were numerous films mishandled by Disney leadership during that time to make this more than a one-off problem. According to Wikipedia, work on the film started in early 2017. Animated films have a very long gestation period and it is possible that the film was conceived in a different moment and hit differently once the pandemic happened. Perhaps eco-focused stories might have resonated more with a wider audience pre-pandemic than during the pandemic.
I do think it could have had a stronger story, especially in Act II. But you typically don't go to pulpy adventure stories for character development. My ultimate opinion is that its lack of success was more due to circumstances than anything else.
Thanks for this very considered and thoughtful comment Sean, much appreciated. If you were to rewrite the script any ideas what changes you would have made?
We should never consider co-option and commodification as a win.