Credit: Inside the MagicIn 1937, Walt Disney Pictures released Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs — a groundbreaking moment in the annals of cinema. This cinematic masterpiece marked The Walt Disney Company’s inaugural foray into the realm of full-length animated feature films, a milestone that not only revolutionized the animation industry but also firmly positioned Walt Disney Animation as a trailblazer in modern storytelling. Over the course of a century, Disney’s influence has expanded significantly, now spanning a diverse array of content.
Related: Disney Will Abandon Current Approach as New Movie Returns to Disney Tradition
With the dawn of their exclusive streaming platform, Disney+ (Disney Plus), as well as their foray into contemporary animation techniques like 3D and CGI, there has unfortunately been a bit of a decline in public perception with regards to the quality of
Now, it appears as if Disney is set to turn things around with a seriously surprising number of award nominations at the upcoming Golden Globes — but their comeback may not be all as it seems.
Continued Problems Despite Award Nods?
Recently, it was announced that Disney has made a bit of a comeback of sorts with a whopping 27 Golden Globe nominations for the upcoming awards season in 2024.
Reporter Scott Gustin shared to X (formerly Twitter) these award details, rounding up Disney’s sweep of nominations which include films and television programs from their owned studio properties, ABC, Hulu, 20th Century Studios (formerly 20th Century Fox), FX, and Searchlight Pictures:
Disney and its studios received 27 Golden Globe nominations. Poor Things (Searchlight), Bear (FX/Hulu), Only Murders in the Building (Hulu/20th), Fargo (FX), and Abbott Elementary (ABC/20th) all received multiple nominations.
Both #Elemental and #WishMovie were nominated for "Best Motion Picture, Animated." Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 was nominated for "Cinematic and Box Office Achievement in a Motion Picture." pic.twitter.com/8QD2BzyiZs
— Scott Gustin (@ScottGustin) December 11, 2023
Related: Marvel’s ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’ Breaks Impressive New World Record
In fact, as reported earlier, critical and audience darlings Nimona (2023) and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem (2023) have been edged out by Disney’s Wish (2023) in the “Best Motion Picture, Animated” award — a film much-criticized for its paint-by-numbers approach and formulaic characters. Pixar Animation Studio’s sleeper success Elemental (2023) was also nominated. Also worth highlighting is director James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023), which is being nominated for “Cinematic and Box Office Achievement in a Motion Picture”:
Both #Elemental and #WishMovie were nominated for “Best Motion Picture, Animated.” Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 was nominated for “Cinematic and Box Office Achievement in a Motion Picture.”
Both #Elemental and #WishMovie were nominated for "Best Motion Picture, Animated." Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 was nominated for "Cinematic and Box Office Achievement in a Motion Picture." pic.twitter.com/8QD2BzyiZs
— Scott Gustin (@ScottGustin) December 11, 2023
This impressive number of nominations could very well spell success for The Walt Disney Company. But success on paper — and merely in the realm of awards — does not always equal actual success. Especially in the long term.
The frequent criticism for Disney as of late is that it their projects are formulaic to a fault. With movies like Wish being suspected of being “written by AI” and Disney continuing to put out remakes of their classic animated films like The Little Mermaid (2023) starring Halle Bailey (Ariel).
So, what to do? Let’s take a look at what has worked within Disney’s own library of work to have a better idea of which direction Disney should head.
Taking a Leaf Out of James Gunn’s Book
Marvel director and writer James Gunn, now successfully poached by DC to helm DC Studios and its rebooted DC Universe (DCU) of films, released his final Marvel movie with Disney this year. Unsurprisingly, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 did ridiculously well, getting nominated for the “Cinematic and Box Office Achievement in a Motion Picture” Golden Globe award.
What’s interesting here is that Guardians 3 did not feel in any way a studio-pandering, by-the-numbers, overly corporate affair. In fact, it felt like quite the opposite.
Guardians 3 took considerable risks to great reward — an approach that has quickly become Gunn’s bread and butter.
Despite being a superhero-laden Marvel Studios film, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 saw a rather uncomfortable plot unfold. Frankly, the film consisted mostly of the semi-humanoid raccoon character Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper) uncovering and confronting the horrific circumstances that led to his sentience. Very early on, the movie established itself as something not for the faint of heart with graphic depictions of violence and animal cruelty. Yet, none of it felt misplaced.
Guardians 3 ended the trilogy of Guardians of the Galaxy films with stunning action and a heartwarming, passionate message — despite its earlier trauma. Certainly, audiences liked it enough for the Marvel film to earn a Golden Globe nom for being exceptionally successful at the box office.
Perhaps this is a sign to Disney that allowing filmmakers to see their visions and passions through to the big screen can absolutely translate into financial success. Disney would do well to heed this warning, lest they lose out to competitors that can give these creators (and audiences) the freedom and innovation they truly want.
Do you think Disney needs to renew their approach to filmmaking? Do you agree with these Disney Golden Globes nominations? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
More on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
This marks the final ride for the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s (MCU) Guardians of the Galaxy. In Guardians Vol. 3, the Guardians embark on another adventure through space, led by the gun-toting human (and former part-Celestial) Peter Quill, AKA Star-Lord (Chris Pratt). The team includes the daughters of Thanos, Gamora (Zoe Saldaña) and Nebula (Karen Gillan), the tree alien Groot (Vin Diesel), the adorable yet deadly Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper), the vengeful Drax the Destroyer (Dave Bautista), the empathic alien Mantis (Pom Klementieff), the Ravager Kraglin Obfonteri (Sean Gunn), Stakar Ogord (Sylvester Stallone), and newcomer Cosmo the Spacedog (Maria Bakalova).
In the movie, fans saw the introduction of Will Poulter as Adam Warlock and the reintroduction of Elizabeth Debicki as Ayesha, his “mother.” Chukwudi Iwuji portrayed the nefarious geneticist, the High Evolutionary, with Nico Santos playing his assistant, Theel. Additionally, Daniela Melchior took on the role of Ura, while Kai Zen portrayed Phyla-Vell. The cast also featured Linda Cardellini as Lylla the Otter, Asim Chaudhry as Teefs the Walrus, and Mikaela Hoover as Floor the Bunny, all of whom were former cellmates and allies of Rocket Raccoon.
The other films in the Guardians of the Galaxy series are Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1 (2014), Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017), and The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (2022).