Top 15 Disney Movies That Failed Horribly

May 2024 · 12 minute read

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The name Disney is related to beloved entertainment. Whether it is classics like The Lion King or Beauty and the Beast, or more recent hits like The Pirates of the Caribbean or Frozen, and even its more moderen ventures into the wildly fashionable Marvel Cinematic Universe and the new Star Wars films, there is no denying Disney is the biggest entertainment juggernaut of our age. When folks recall to mind Disney, they call to mind large identify movies. Being some of the biggest entertainment companies in history, Disney's affect is deeply entrenched in culture around the globe.

While it goes without announcing that over the years Disney had produced one of the most a success movies of all time, the corporate has additionally made its justifiable share of pricy box-office screw ups. Disney, like every corporate, makes mistakes. And after we get started speaking Disney-level cash invested in a movie, we're talking some beautiful pricey failure. After all, if you happen to invest a fortune into a film, a corporation wishes it to be a big ruin hit to get that a reimbursement. When that doesn't happen, Disney had had field workplace bombs that have value them colossal quantities of cash, now and again tens of thousands and thousands of dollars. The old pronouncing about "the bigger they are, the harder they fall" rings true right here.

No matter what your opinion on the inventive advantage of the movies themselves, here are 15 Disney movies that flopped horribly at the box workplace.

Sleeping Beauty

It may seem laborious to consider given the movie's recognition as a Disney classic this present day and Aurora's coveted standing as a Disney Princess, but on the time of its unlock Sleeping Beauty didn't even earn again its manufacturing costs. Sleeping Beauty was once filmed in CinemaScope with Eyvind Earle as its leader animator, who used to be recognized for his meticulously beautiful yet time-consuming taste.

1959's Sleeping Beauty cost $6 million to make, the most costly Disney movie up to that date (over two times the previous 3 animated features). It was once released to blended essential reception and underperformed on the field workplace, incomes most effective $5.3 million and resulting in Disney's first annual loss in 1960. Disney would not return to the fairy story style once more until 30 years later after Walt Disney's loss of life with 1989's The Little Mermaid.

Tomorrowland

Disney's 2015 science fiction adventure movie was once praised for its unique premise, futuristic visuals, musical score, and compelling action, but won blended evaluations for its asymmetric tone and writing. Despite an all-star cast together with George Clooney and Hugh Laurie, it failed to make an affect with audiences, who in large part neglected the movie.

Tomorrowland was supposed to be without equal film tribute to Walt Disney's fascination with futurism and medical innovation, including his contributions to the 1964 World's Fair and his unrealized imaginative and prescient of the deliberate neighborhood of EPCOT. Instead, the film used to be a convincing failure at the field workplace, earning $209 million worldwide towards the cheap of $one hundred ninety million and marketing prices of round $330 million. Tomorrowland lost a whopping estimated $120-A hundred and forty million for Disney.

The Black Cauldron

The Black Cauldron is widely considered Disney's greatest animated flop. One of the lesser-known Disney cartoons, the film was an adaptation of Lloyd Alexander's The Chronicles of Prydain fantasy novels. Disney obviously had excessive hopes for it: it used to be the costliest animated film ever made on the time, and the primary Disney production to use computer-generated imagery.

The Black Cauldron is thought of as Disney's darkest movie. It was once the first to obtain a PG rating, and its tone used to be criticized as too intense for youngsters. Critics referred to as it "ambitious, but flawed" and it performed poorly at the box workplace, grossing $21.Three million domestically in opposition to the cheap of $44 million. The Black Cauldron was this kind of large loss for Disney they considered final their animation division. It wasn't launched on video until more than a decade after its authentic theatrical run.

Mars Needs Moms

2011's Mars Needs Moms isn't just the worst Disney field workplace bomb but one of the crucial largest cinematic failures in historical past. The high-tech CGI film price Disney $one hundred fifty million to make and handiest made a depressing $39 million back, leading to a $111 million loss. The film used to be this kind of catastrophic failure that Disney closed ImageMovers, a three way partnership that specialize in stop-capture animation. 450 folks lost their jobs.

Why did a Disney emblem film do so badly? Critical and audience reviews discussed the stop-motion animation crossed the edge into "uncanny valley" - the concept that of one thing animated trying to glance actual but showing creepy and off-putting. The tale of a mom being kidnapped from her child was also criticized, as well as the lack of imagination put into the tale. Negative word-of-mouth on social media also contributed to seal its fate because the worst Disney bomb.

Home On The Range

This totally forgettable animated movie about a trio of dairy cows capturing a bounty hunter with a view to save their farm from foreclosure was once panned by critics upon unlock and failed to excite audiences. The B-list Home on the Range was once released all over the duration referred to as the "Disney Renaissance" when it gave the impression they may do no wrong, but even a company like Disney can not keep succeeding forever.

Home at the Range used to be described by critics and audiences as being direct-to-video quality and underperformed at the field workplace, bringing in $103.Nine million to the movies prices of $a hundred and ten million. It ended up costing Disney seven million greenbacks. It was once the remaining 2D animated film that Disney would do till The Princess and the Frog five years later.

Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time

Continuing the tradition of video game movies starting from horrible to "meh," Prince of Persia: the Sands of Time was based on the preferred sport franchise and gave the impression poised for good fortune. The high-flying platforming motion and magical/fantastical components of the collection gave the look of they might be successful. Prince of Persia used to be described by way of Disney and Jerry Bruckheimer as "the new Pirates of the Caribbean," however like many film variations of games, it failed to make the leap to the large display.

Though it was the highest-grossing online game movie of all time prior to it lost the crown to Warcraft in 2016, it earned $335 million internationally (handiest $90 million domestically) in opposition to the cheap of $200 million and marketplace costs of up to $One hundred million. While Prince of Persia did turn a benefit, it was now not nearly as much as Disney had hoped and plans for a sequence have been scrapped.

The Lone Ranger

Even ahead of the discharge of 2013's The Lone Ranger, the movie gave the impression doomed to a questionable legacy. Controversy arose about Johnny Depp depicting the Native American personality Tonto from the unique radio/tv collection. Further anger and accusations of racism have been aroused via the narration, where Depp's Tonto is recounting the tale to a young boy while he is fairly literally a museum piece at a fair, which would appear to indicate that Native Americans are relics of the previous quite an existing other people.

The movie additionally suffered from an incoherent plot, damaging critical evaluations, and a normal indifference from film audiences. The Lone Ranger made a decent $260.5 million at the box workplace, but it cost around $250 million to make and Disney spent another $a hundred and fifty million on an intensive advertising marketing campaign, obviously anticipating extra from the film than it could ship.

John Carter

One of the costliest flops in box office historical past, John Carter was a movie adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs' Barsoom pulp collection, released in 2012 to mark the centennial of the titular personality's first appearance within the 1912 serial A Princess of Mars. In the fingers of Finding Nemo and WALL-E director Andrew Stanton, it appeared that it could not fail. John Carter's Mars-set sci-fi motion appeared destined to grow to be the brand new Star Wars and could have spawned a complete series.

Unfortunately, the film were given blended opinions from critics and failed to hook up with audiences in any significant means. John Carter made $284 million on the field office against a production and advertising prices of $350 million, resulting in a staggering lack of at least $One hundred million for Disney and turning into one of its greatest monetary disappointments.

Fantasia

Really, you ask? The iconic Fantasia was once a field office bomb? Surely it can't be true! But it is: regardless that 70 years later it is considered one in every of Disney's most undying and loved masterpieces, when it used to be first launched in 1940 Fantasia was once such a monetary crisis that it put the future of all the company in jeopardy.

Walt Disney's puppy challenge gained sure critiques from critics, however World War II bring to an end European distribution fully and the American target market reaction was chilly. The movie price $2.8 million to make (very excessive for the time) and best introduced in $1.3 million. Fantasia has since been re-released on home video to immense reputation, changing into successful and synonymous with the Disney logo.

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice

Disney's live-action movies are a vintage case of hit-or-miss: for each The Avengers or Pirates of the Caribbean, there's a dismal flop like The Sorcerer's Apprentice. A live-action adaptation of the vintage Mickey Mouse sequence from Fantasia, the film banked on Nicolas Cage's star energy to hold it, and each Disney and Cage have been likely hoping it will be a identical hit like their earlier partnership for the National Treasure films.

Instead, the movie failed to conjure up praise from critics or price tag gross sales. As a homage to Fantasia, it used to be very unfastened, and it lacked charm or originality. The Sorcerer's Apprentice mainly broke even with a budget of $150 million and a box workplace of $215 million, but with advertising and marketing costs added in it ended up dropping hundreds of thousands.

Treasure Planet

Box office bombs for Disney are on no account restricted to their live-action productions, as demonstrated by 2002's Treasure Planet. A science fiction adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's vintage swashbuckling pirate novel Treasure Island, the movie used to be an experiment in adding a new inventive new twist to the tale. Treasure Planet in reality got sure opinions from critics for its spectacular visible style and unique premise, nevertheless it failed to capture the pastime of moviegoers. What few other people went to move see it gave excellent viewer rankings, but the public at large paid no consideration.

Disney spent $A hundred and forty million making Treasure Planet, but it ended up most effective making $38 million within the U.S. and $110 million international. One of its dearer animated flops, Disney took a lack of about $70 million.

Mr. Magoo

This 1997 live-action remake of the preferred Mr. Magoo caricature from the Nineteen Fifties starred Leslie Nielsen in considered one of his extra inglorious roles. Produced by the Walt Disney Pictures branch of the Walt Disney Company, Mr. Magoo was launched to destructive critiques from each critics and audiences, who felt the humor of the original shorts didn’t translate well to the big display, and Nielsen's performance used to be undermined by means of a generic script and poor jokes.

Mr. Magoo also faced anger from audiences who idea it was once a mocking portrayal of the blind and near-sighted, and activist teams protested the film as getting all of its jokes from making fun of a disability. Mr. Magoo ended up making simplest $21.Four million against a budget of $30 million. Faced with the movie's deficient performance and a critical public backlash, Disney pulled it from theaters after two weeks.

The Adventures Of Ichabod And Mr. Toad

Back within the 1940s, Disney launched a sequence of "compilation" motion pictures consisting of multiple animated shorts telling different stories in numerous segments. The last of these was 1949's The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad, which told the story of The Wind in the Willows and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow with well known celebrities Basil Rathbone and Bing Crosby as narrators.

Ichabod and Mr. Toad was once released to lukewarm crucial reception and limited field office success. The two shorts had been later damaged up and sold independently on home video and re-broadcast in a number of other codecs over subsequent many years. Nowadays it is most remembered for uplifting the Mr. Toad's Wild Ride appeal at Disneyland Park. The corporate wouldn't do a segment production once more till The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh years later in 1977.

The Alamo

2004 was an overly tough year for Disney; possibly its worst in historical past. After Home on the Range and Around the World in 80 Days bombed, along got here The Alamo, not best one of the worst flops Disney has ever had, however one of the vital pricey flops in movie history. Critics and found the movie tiresome with a plodding tempo and lack of pressure, whilst audiences had been bored out in their skulls by means of what was intended to be a movie a couple of ancient combat.

The Alamo value $107 million to make and handiest made $25 million on the box workplace worldwide. I'm attempting very hard to not make a "remember the Alamo? Disney would prefer not to" funny story, however it is tough.

Around The World In 80 Days

Disney has encountered serious problems in terms of adapting classic novels into movies, as evidenced via their free adaptation of Jules Verne's novel Around the World in 80 Days. With an all-star cast together with Jackie Chan, Steve Coogan, Arnold Schwarzenegger, (*15*), and both Owen and Luke Wilson, it seemed like a successful comedic work in the making.

But neither critics or audiences had been inspired with the consequences. Around the World in 80 Days used to be criticized for having virtually not anything to do with its source subject material, and regardless that it tried to infuse the tale with comedic and steampunk components, it was once in large part unimpressive. It was once additionally a failure on the field workplace. With production costing $a hundred and ten million with advertising and marketing prices of $30 million, it earned a paltry $Seventy two million worldwide.

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