The Disney Movies That Bombed Over Thanksgiving

As a cinema devotee with over four decades of movie-watching under my belt, I’ve witnessed the rise and fall of many a film studio, and Disney has always been one that consistently delivers the goods – or so it seemed. Over the years, there have been a few missteps on their part, especially during Thanksgiving weekend, when they usually reign supreme.

Over the Thanksgiving weekend in 2024, Moana 2 broke numerous box office records, strengthening Disney’s long-standing dominance during this holiday period. Since releases like Three Men and a Baby and Oliver & Company in 1988, Disney has consistently chosen either Thanksgiving or the days leading up to it as the ideal time for launching significant animated and live-action films. The most successful of these have been productions from Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar, but live-action hits such as Unbreakable and The Muppets have also premiered in theaters during this festive season.

Even though Disney, known for setting new standards during Thanksgiving with their blockbuster releases, couldn’t secure an unbreakable box office record. In fact, Disney has had its fair share of flops during the Thanksgiving weekend, including some expensive animated films that have unfortunately left a mark in cinematic history for less desirable reasons. Here are some Disney movies that underperformed during Thanksgiving weekend, despite typically dominating the box office.

The Rescuers Down Under

As Disney was starting its renaissance with “Oliver & Company” and “The Little Mermaid,” “The Rescuers Down Under” was released over the pre-Thanksgiving weekend in 1990, which almost disrupted everything. Overwhelmed by the competition from family movie “Home Alone,” “The Rescuers Down Under” failed to recover during the longer holiday season. Disney Animation head Jeffrey Katzenberg even stopped all advertising for the film following its disappointing opening weekend. Soon after, Disney would rule Thanksgiving with “Toy Story,” “Beauty and the Beast,” and “Aladdin,” leaving “The Rescuers Down Under” as a final box office stumble before Disney truly took off in the 90s.

Out Cold

If you’re unfamiliar with this crude comedy, it’s not surprising as many people are! This snowboarding-themed film, produced by Disney’s mature-oriented Touchstone Pictures (known for comedies like “Wild Hogs” and “Bringing Down the House”), was one of several extreme sports movies popular in cinemas during the early 2000s. However, “Out Cold”, featuring Zach Galifianakis in a supporting role, was among the Touchstone comedies that both audiences and critics dismissed. This movie failed to earn more than $15 million globally.

Treasure Planet

Initially, “Treasure Planet” struggled to achieve success when it was released by Disney in November 2002, marking a significant financial loss for the company. Despite its expensive production cost of $140 million, the film failed to generate revenue over $110 million globally. This disappointing performance played a pivotal role in phasing out traditional animation at Disney and discouraged studios from investing in high-cost action-oriented family animations in the future. Today, however, “Treasure Planet” has garnered a loyal fanbase who appreciate its innovative animation techniques.

Old Dogs

In 2007, the movie “Wild Hogs” was the 13th highest-grossing film in North America. This success likely led Disney to finance any future projects directed by Walt Becker. His next project, which starred John Travolta (from “Wild Hogs”), was “Old Dogs”, a family comedy that received harsh criticism and only made about one third of what “Wild Hogs” earned domestically. Given these results, it’s no surprise that Disney and Becker didn’t work together again immediately following this Thanksgiving box office flop.

The Good Dinosaur

For the first time since “Toy Story 2” in 1999, Pixar Animation Studios delved back into a Thanksgiving theme with “The Good Dinosaur”. Regrettably, the characters Arlo and his companions didn’t achieve the same box office triumph. Being both Pixar’s first major flop and the studio’s first release to gross less than $360 million globally, “The Good Dinosaur” currently holds the record as the lowest-grossing pre-2020 Pixar film of all time.

Strange World

Compared to “Strange World” from 2022, the animated film “Treasure Planet” generated higher global revenues. Regrettably, “Strange World,” which was the biggest flop of 2022, failed to amass $74 million worldwide despite its high production cost and a release during an ordinarily prosperous period for family-oriented Disney films. The projected losses for Disney from “Strange World” reached staggering heights of up to $197 million!

Wish

It’s possible that the low box office performance of movies such as “Strange World” and “Treasure Planet” during the Thanksgiving weekend could be explained by their unique and less mainstream Disney Animation themes. Perhaps audiences weren’t in the mood for action sci-fi movies at this time of year. Additionally, the disappointing performance of “Wish” in 2023, despite its history of popular princess musicals over Thanksgiving, resulted in a loss of $131 million for the studio. This unexpected failure prompted Disney to return to a familiar franchise like “Moana” for their Thanksgiving blockbuster, a strategy that has been successful so far.

2024-12-01 03:10