Credit: DisneyThe latest releases from Disney Animation have yet to meet the company’s expectations. While movies like Elemental have a distinct fan following, the studio’s recent productions haven’t had that special Disney touch. While Disney Animation has gone out of its way to try and tell alternative stories and expand its inclusion initiatives, they’ve stepped far away from the tried-and-true formula.
Disney’s most recent successes, like Moana, Encanto, and Coco, shared a common denominator. They were big, bright, and bombastic musicals focusing primarily on animation and soundtrack. In a way, they were stereotypical Disney production the company is known for producing.
Disney Animation Should Get Back to Basics
At one point, many of Disney’s most successful films followed a specific formula that eventually became a stereotype. With that in mind, that’s not to say that it didn’t work for almost a century.
Until the late 2010s, the company’s heavy hitters were almost always animated musicals with heroes, heroines, animal/non-human sidekicks, over-the-top villains, and gorgeous visuals to tie it all together. With the upcoming Wish on the horizon, it seems like Disney is taking the hint. However, Disney needs to go even further with the idea.
We’re not saying Disney Animation needs to revert its creative practices, but the main reason Disney became the household name fans all know and love is because of its animated musicals. With many famous singers, songwriters, and other artists entering the movie industry, Disney has more than a few big names to welcome into the company. It certainly worked for Lin-Manuel Miranda.
The studio has some of the most world-renowned talents at its disposal, and their penchant for creating infectious musical numbers certainly hasn’t changed. After all, we’re still talking about Bruno, even two years later.
Stereotypes can be incredibly controversial, but sometimes they work for a reason. The best thing Disney can do is take a step back to look at what resonated well with the audience and made them millions before.
Should Disney Animation return to the traditional formula or continue trying alternative stories? Tell Inside the Magic what you think in the comments below!