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Credit: DisneyThe Walt Disney Company has been celebrating a major business milestone this year-the 100th anniversary of the company.
As part of the Disney100 celebration, Disneyland unveiled all-new character outfits, Park decorations, and special offerings. It was also announced that the celebration would make its way over to Walt Disney World as EPCOT would become the host Park for their version of events. Walt Disney World finished celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Park earlier this year, after almost two years of the event.
Walt Disney World’s Disney100 will start sometime in September, running through next year. However, the Resort has been getting some doubtful backlash to EPCOT being the host Park, considering it still has construction walls up around the entire front area of the Park, almost four years after first announcing the EPCOT Overhaul Project. It’s unclear if the walls will be down in time for the event at Disney World, but according to recent reports, it doesn’t seem likely.
Unfortunately for Disney, the Parks aren’t the only area not up to par with the 100 years celebration. Disney has suffered a few blows this year in terms of its entertainment, with Marvel releasing the worst-performing Marvel movie earlier this year followed by allegations against MCU newcomer Jonathan Majors. Pixar’s Elemental (2023) also struggled to resonate with fans as the Super Mario Bros. Movie and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse became some of the top-grossing animated films.
Disney’s live-action films have also struggled, with controversy surrounding the Lilo & Stitch remake while The Little Mermaid (2023) managing to see success even while dealing with claims of “wokeness,” racism, and other issues. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, released just a couple weeks ago, failed to the amount of success Disney had been hoping for for the supposed final installment of the franchise. Now, according to Bloomberg, The Walt Disney Company is considering delaying an upcoming movie if the WGA and SAG strikes continue much longer, continuing Disney’s unfortunate year.
Wish is Disney’s first film to feature any 2D animation since The Princess and the Frog in 2009. The movie follows Asha (Ariana DeBose) as she fights to save her kingdom from the power-hungry King Magnifico (Chris Pine). Featuring a mix of 2D and 3D animation, the film was expected to be the culmination of 100 years of animation and the year’s celebration of The Walt Disney Company’s anniversary.
However, with the industry strikes, one of the major rules for actors is that they aren’t allowed to do any sort of promotion for their films. As such, DeBose, Pine, and the other actors involved in the film wouldn’t be allowed to do any interviews, red carpet events, or other promo for Wish ahead of its release. With the movie already set to be released in November and no end in sight for the strikes, a delay of the movie could push it to next year, essentially ruining the effectiveness of marketing it as Disney’s 100th anniversary movie.
The irony comes from the fact that Disney CEO Bob Iger has been one of the studio executives adamantly against negotiations, claiming that the demands are too “unrealistic.” Iger has been called out by everyone from Ron Perlman to Bryan Cranston to Marvel star Sean Gunn for his recent comments.
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