The History Of Disney Flops

Sources/References

Snow White

• Disney's Art of animation : from Mickey Mouse to Beauty and the Beast
  by Bob Thomas

  • https://i.imgur.com/y3eAcBz.png

• Walt Disney : an American original by Bob Thomas

  • https://i.imgur.com/yiLZn3r.png

Pinocchio

• Box Office Performance - Pinocchio (1940) (Box Office Mojo)

• Hollywood cartoons : American animation in its golden age by  J. Michael Barrier

  • https://i.imgur.com/mn6Z8Hj.png

Fantasia

• The Cartoon Music Book by Daniel Goldmark & Yuval Taylor (2002)

  • Pg 88 regarding the financial instability of the war and the cost of the Fantasound production

  • https://i.imgur.com/yv9MisJ.png

• Fantastic ‘Fantasia’ : Disney Channel Takes a Look at Walt’s Great Experiment in Animation (LA Times - 1990)

• ‘Fantasia’ Held Another Week (The Pittsburgh Press - 1941)

Disney animators' strike

• 80 Years Ago Today, Disney Animation Workers Went on Strike (Jacobin - 2021)

Alice In Wonderland

• The Animated Man: A Life of Walt Disney by Michael Barrier (2007)

  • https://i.imgur.com/CzKHAje.png

• Walt Disney : An American Original by Bob Thomas (1994)

  • https://i.imgur.com/nVdSHNK.png

• Disneyland Intro to Alice In Wonderland (YouTube)

• Walt Disney : the triumph of the American imagination by Neal Gabler (2006)

  • https://i.imgur.com/EUfdfR0.png

Sleeping Beauty & Xerox Animation

• Sleeping Beauty Review by Bosley Crowther (NY Times - 1959)

• Redefining the Line: The Making of 101 Dalmatians (YouTube)

• Before the Animation Begins: The Art and Lives of Disney Inspirational Artists by John Canemaker (1996)

  • https://i.imgur.com/kuQm9KE.jpg

• Retrospective: An Illustrated Chronology of Furry Fandom (flayrah - 2012)

The Black Cauldron

• The Black Cauldron - partially found deleted scenes of Disney animated film; 1985 (Lost Media Wiki)

• Lloyd Alexander Interview Transcript (Scholastic/archive.org - 1999)

The Renaissance

• DISNEY EXECUTIVES REMARKS AT SHAREHOLDER MEETING (The Free Library/archive.org - 1996)

  • Eisner provides reassurance because Pocahontas didn’t perform as much as The Lion King

  • “Because of the gigantic success of The Lion King in 1994, Pocahontas was launched in the shadow of its predecessor and has generally been perceived as a somewhat lesser accomplishment. Wrong.

    The fact is that Pocahontas is well on its way to being one of our most successful films of all time. It equalled Beauty and the Beast's box office numbers domestically, and now it has taken Europe by storm and is playing well in every country in which it is being shown. Sales of Pocahontas merchandise have been phenomenal.

    We have passed $300 million and are moving swiftly towards $400 million in gross box office receipts worldwide.”

Fantasia 2000

• Fantasia/2000'' Smashes House Records at IMAX Theaters Worldwide in Its Opening Weekend (The Free Library/archive.org - 2000)

• Audiences Dig 'Shaft,' but June Business Isn't Right On (LA Times - 2000)

  • “There was more bad news on the animation front as Disney brought back "Fantasia 2000" after its Imax run (to which it will reportedly return in the fall). But apparently anyone who wanted to see the film didn't want to see it in 35mm. "Fantasia" didn't even crack the top 10, pulling in at No. 11 with an unusually weak $2.8 million debut in 1,313 theaters.”

• Disneywar: The Battle for the Magic Kingdom By James B. Stewart

  • https://i.imgur.com/68UTlF0.png

Dinosaur

• The Sad Tale of Disney’s Secret Lab (Jim Hill Media - 2003)

• 10 Things You Didn't Know About Disney's Dinosaur (CBR - 2021)

Treasure Planet

• John and Ron Mention ‘The Unmentionable’ (Animation Magazine - 2012)

• Eisner resigns from Disney board (NBC News - 2005)

• The Biggest Animated Movie Bombs Of All Time (Looper - 2022)

Meet The Robinsons

• John Lasseter: Disney's new boss reimagines the Magic Kingdom (NY Times - 2007)

  • “Ten months later, Lasseter was back in the screening room, watching Anderson's new version of "Meet the Robinsons," which is set for release March 30. Nearly 60 percent of the original film had been cut.”

• ALL Disney women have the same face according to one fan's theory (cosmopolitan - 2015)

• Why 'Meet the Robinsons' Signaled a Brighter Future for Disney Animation 15 Years Ago (Collider - 2022)

Strange World

• Box Office Breakdown: “Encanto” brings its magic to the charts  (Daily Campus - 2021)

• The Encanto Soundtrack Is Now The Biggest Thing In The World (SlashFilm - 2022)

• Theater Audiences Shrank by Half in the Last 4 Years. Can Movies Get Them Back? (IndieWire - 2023)

• ‘Strange World’ CinemaScore Might Be the Lowest Ever For a Walt Disney Animation Studio Film (The Wrap - 2022)

• TOP 10 on Disney+ in the World on Week 52, 2022 (FlixPatrol)

  • The dates can be toggled to view the subsequent weeks

• Disney Brings Back Bob Iger After Ousting Chapek as C.E.O. (NY Times - 2022)

• Bob Chapek named new Disney CEO (Yahoo Finance - 2020)

• "Strange World" is a box office flop, but not for the reasons the right is claiming (Salon - 2022)

• Why Strange World Bombed At The Box Office (Looper - 2022)

• Disney CEO Bob Chapek Thinks Adults Don’t Want to Watch Animated Movies (Collider - 2022)

• Why Did Disney Stop Giving Pixar Movies Theatrical Releases? (MovieWeb - 2022)

• Pixar’s ‘Turning Red’ Skips Theaters & Heads To Disney+ (Deadline - 2022)

• Why Strange World's Streaming Success Could Be Bad For Animation (ScreenRant - 2023)

• Disney’s ‘Strange World’ to Lose $100 Million in Theatrical Run (Variety - 2022)

• ‘Strange World’ To Lose $147M: Why Theatrical Was Best Decision For Doomed Toon (Deadline - 2022)

Laugh-O-Grams Studios

• Failure Made Disney Great (Fee Stories - 2016)

• Secret Talks January 1, 1928 (WaltDisney.org/archive.org)

Additional Material

• Disney’s 10 biggest animated flops (AV Club - 2022)

• The Uma Thurman film so bad it made £88 on opening weekend (The Guardian - 2010)

• Six reasons why movies flop (BBC Bitesize)

• 50 classic films that flopped when they were first released (Insider - 2021)

• Extracts/Clippings can be found here