The One Reason Why Disney is Ruling Hollywood

Finding Dory

It's no secret that Walt Disney Studios is killing it at the box office. The studio grossed over $7 billion last year, including the mega hits Finding Dory ($486 million), Zootopia ($341 million), Captain America: Civil War ($408 million), The Jungle Book ($364 million), and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story ($507 million). Five of the top ten highest grossing movies of 2016 are from Disney, with #11 and #12 being Moana ($235 million) and Doctor Strange ($231 million). And that's just the domestic list.

Disney owns some of the biggest franchises: the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the Pixar films, the Disney animated films, the Disney live action remake series, and the Star Wars franchise. That doesn't include the random one-offs that the studio might release. I should mention that the animated (both from Pixar and from in-house Disney) and live action remake films aren't traditional franchises in that they are a continued story. They do act like franchises in that the Disney name + concept gets people excited to see them, and the films rely on the previous one's success. By acquiring these properties, Disney spent a lot of money and have reaped the rewards. But how do they do it?

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

Walt Disney Studios make films that people actually want to see. It seems simple, right? But it's not so easy. It's not just that these films are crowd-pleasers. They are well-made, taking what fans of the series might want in consideration along with what general audiences care about. The filmmakers actually care for and love the properties. They understand why audiences like the characters, storylines, and iconography. While Disney's Star Wars franchise is only two films deep (The Force Awakens also broke box office records in 2015 and 2016), it has already staked its claim as an enduring pop culture phenomenon. The Force Awakens was a joyous, fan-friendly thrill ride. Rogue One is a gritty wartime heist movie that feels appropriately separate from the official Star Wars Skywalker Saga. The Marvel Cinematic Universe as a whole feels different from Star Wars, and the films within the MCU have their own quirks and style.

Essentially, Disney acquired the properties and then let them work their own magic. When Disney acquired Marvel and especially when Disney acqured Star Wars, there was a fear within the film fan community that Disney would "Disney-fy" beloved properties. Make them more kid-friendly and merchandise-ready. I don't think that fear was ever manifested in real life. Disney trusts its filmmakers enough to make the films they want to make, allowing Doctor Strange to be weird and mystical, allowing The Jungle Book to be scarier, and allowing Zooptopia to be socially relevant.

Moana

Disney trusts its creative teams and its audiences and so the films are successful. Other studios from indie darling A24 to Paramount and Universal also had good years, with diverse films. Warner Brothers made a lot of money especially with Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice and Suicide Squad. However, those movies definitely played well to the converted, but did little to excited general filmgoers. And the thing is, with a movie starring Batman and Superman and a movie with Will Smith, those two films left a lot of money on the table. Warner Brothers and DC Comics are so married to Zack Snyder and his vision for the DC Extended Universe, that they are always playing catch up. They have no idea what people actually want from them, so they are stuck doing reshoorts and adding in background information to ease the logic leaps after the fact. It's possible for a movie to do well and still be a disappointment--and these two films are prime examples.

Disney is ruling Hollywood, and it's not just because they own a bunch of popular franchises. Disney is smart enough to hire the right casts and crews who will deliver movies that audiences want to see. Disney allows for its filmmakers to follow their vision (but also can reign them in when necessary). Is Disney perfect? Absolutely not. But they are on the right track. Other studios should try to do what Disney is doing. But not by trying to recapture what Disney does literally, but by hiring smart people, crafting films with care and attention, and finding their own niche within the crowded industry.

Like what you read? Please like my blog at Facebook.com/MathurMarquee. Also, follow me on Twitter @HippogriffRider. Agree? Disagree? Sound off in the comments below!