Walt Disney Animation Studios has been around for over 100 years and has made some of the top-earning animated films of all time. Nevertheless, Disney movies have recently declined in popularity and quality. The question is: why?
Since the coronavirus pandemic began in 2020, Disney Studios has released more unsuccessful films than usual. The public has been wondering what happened to creating show-stopping classics? As it would turn out, there are actually several factors at play for Disney’s downfall.
One of the reasons for the cessation of popularity is the company’s audience. As the years progress, fans often demand diversity in newer movies. While this can be a good way to represent more people and draw in a larger audience, not everyone sees eye-to-eye on the subject. Groups such as MAGA (President Trump’s Supporters) and some conservatives have been complaining about subjects such as the same-sex kiss in Disney’s Lightyear and mentions of periods in Turning Red. Since Disney and Pixar received angry backlash from more inclusive films (Even though there’s frankly nothing wrong with them), the studio has been rewriting movies with themes such as Trans, Gay, Neurodivergent, and Hispanic characters to please the right-leaning parties. However, in doing so, they have angered the more left-leaning groups. It’s a bit of a lose-lose situation.
I have a theory that Disney’s reasoning behind this decision is due to fear of losing funding, despite being a multi-billion-dollar company. Around May of 2025, President Trump cut almost all funding for PBS (Public Broadcasting Service) and PBS Kids in order to silence subtle messages against MAGA within shows such as Sesame Street. Thus, Disney is trying to stay on the current President’s good side, so as not to lose money.
After President Donald Trump’s reelection, Disney has been especially against including more diverse topics. Rather than using them to spread good morals and stories, Disney seems to prefer using less inclusive themes to stop the President’s Supporters from complaining.
Another factor behind Disney’s Downfall is the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to the worldwide lockdown, many people were unable to go to work, creating a staff shortage within Disney’s studios. Plus, in the event that the company did create and launch a film, there would be no open theatres for the public to come watch the movie. This caused Disney and Pixar to send films such as Luca straight to streaming services like Disney+.
After the pandemic, popular original franchises became much harder for the company to produce. There could be other reasons why, but the main one is Disney’s shift to quantity over quality. To put it simply, instead of taking creative risks for the chance of smashing success, Disney has released several films that they know will draw in the public’s attention and rake in some money. Examples include Moana 2 or the live-action remake of Lilo and Stitch, as the box office money shows that sequels and remakes of successful movies often do better than new ideas for films. Unfortunately, this means that Disney’s once creative imagination has been corrupted into a hunger for money.
The last issue Disney and Pixar have been facing is drastic staff changes within their animation departments. Animators, voice actors, and writers have been leaving and going on strike against the company because of unfair payment. This has caused significant delays within Disney and Pixar’s movie production.
Some companies, such as Sony and Dreamworks, have taken advantage of this window of opportunity that Disney has opened to release some of their most successful films yet. Sony released an innovative version of a classic story, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, as well as their own original story with its own written soundtrack known as Kpop Demon Hunters. DreamWorks created a live-action version of one of their classics, How to Train Your Dragon.
While it’s clear that Disney has been struggling these past few years, I do believe that they can make a comeback through hard work and creativity. Rather than prioritising quantity over quality, I think Disney should put more time, money, effort, and care into original plots and stories. They’ve proved that they can still make millions of dollars even if the films are a flop. Another thing Disney should do to reignite their movie magic is take more creative risks. The company should go back to doing what they did best: experiment. And even if their risk-taking doesn’t end well, then they can learn from their mistakes and persevere. After all, that’s what art is all about. Emotional connection combined with exploration.
I acknowledge that I am still a child, and I may not know all the ins and outs of running a proper business, but I can still have my own opinions about this situation. Disney should include more diverse subjects in their films. Some people might argue that the movies are directed towards children and should not include subjects that may confuse them. My opinion is that we should still include things such as protagonists with different races, or families that have same sex parents, or children who are neurodivergent, because at the end of the day, these things are part of life. People like that exist in this world. Don’t we want the future generations to accept and be kind to each other? To appreciate each other’s differences?
Wasn’t Walt Disney’s whole point of creating the company to bring happiness and inspiration to everyone? The whole ideation Disney is built on is to spread joy, not make money. I believe Disney should stay true to the morals that they created, because it seems as though they have forgotten what they stand for.
All in all, I think we shouldn’t give up on Disney just yet. When and if they succeed in bringing their magic back, the public will welcome them with open arms as they once did 100 years ago.
