Reporting on Disney's transition from House of Mouse to monopolistic cultural monolith reveals how, last year, outgoing CEO Bob Iger cautioned the company against the "use [of] data to answer all of our questions, including creative questions," and it's a piece of advice current CEO Bob Chapek doesn't appear to be keeping front of mind.
Speaking at The Wall Street Journal's Tech Live conference yesterday (October 25), Chapek discussed wanting to tell stories in "a more customized, more personalized way" and the aim of "bringing together the physicality plus the media element of Disney" — the brand's real-world theme parks and Disney+ streaming service, specifically — as part of a wider conversation on the direction of Disney under his leadership.
The CEO also spoke about Disney's move to include more adult-oriented programming — like Pam & Tommy and The Kardashians — on its streaming platforms, and has appeared to have his comments interpreted as a slight against the company's vast catalogue of animated fare.
Chapek explained to WSJ, "Our fans and audiences put their kids to bed at night after watching Pinnochio, Dumbo or Little Mermaid, then they're probably not going to tune in to another animated movie, they want something for them."
Those closer to the culture consumption than the C-suite could argue that there is, in fact, an entire demographic of grown-ups out there who do take pleasure in tuning in to animated films, whether they be Disney classics or more modern titles. Yes, we're talking about the "Disney Adult."
At its core, the "Disney Adult" signifier is just another strain of cultural fandom — not far removed from fully grown people who cheer for pro sports teams, or those who preoccupy themselves charting a multiverse of heroes and villains (both ESPN and Marvel Studios are owned by the Walt Disney Company). Rolling Stone writer EJ Dickson defined this particular fan as follows in illustrating the phenomenon at feature-length earlier this year:
A Disney adult is someone who lives and breathes the brand, buying limited-edition mouse ears and popcorn buckets and branded fitness trackers the moment they drop, constantly posting free advertisements for the park in the form of Cinderella's Castle and Purple Wall selfies ... whilst wearing rose-gold mouse ears. To declare oneself a Disney fan in adulthood is to profess to being nothing less than an uncritical bubblehead ensconced in one's own privilege, suspended in a state of permanent adolescence, raised on a diet of wasp-waisted princesses and talking-animal sidekicks and dancing candelabras, refusing to acknowledge the grim reality that dreams really don't come true.
Dickson's feature, which should be read in full, highlights a series of viral moments that saw the wider Internet deem adult Disney fandom as "cringe" — including, but not limited to, "the TikTok video of the woman tearfully seeing the Magic Kingdom for the first time ... another of a woman tearfully hugging Goofy for the first time," and "a video ...of a Disneyland Paris employee interrupting a man trying to stage a proposal at the park."
It's moments like these — tied to Disney's new and enduring animated characters alike — that speak to a bit of wisdom from Walt Disney himself, who has been quoted as saying, "I do not make films primarily for children. I make them for the child in all of us, whether we be six or sixty."
In the present, Chapek describes this as "elasticity," telling WSJ, "I want to respect what this brand is. But at the same time, I know that we may be even more precious about what is 'Disney' than the consumer base is. If the consumer base has more elasticity, we probably ought to listen to our audience, which means we have more degrees of freedom than we probably thought."
Speaking at The Wall Street Journal's Tech Live conference yesterday (October 25), Chapek discussed wanting to tell stories in "a more customized, more personalized way" and the aim of "bringing together the physicality plus the media element of Disney" — the brand's real-world theme parks and Disney+ streaming service, specifically — as part of a wider conversation on the direction of Disney under his leadership.
The CEO also spoke about Disney's move to include more adult-oriented programming — like Pam & Tommy and The Kardashians — on its streaming platforms, and has appeared to have his comments interpreted as a slight against the company's vast catalogue of animated fare.
Chapek explained to WSJ, "Our fans and audiences put their kids to bed at night after watching Pinnochio, Dumbo or Little Mermaid, then they're probably not going to tune in to another animated movie, they want something for them."
Those closer to the culture consumption than the C-suite could argue that there is, in fact, an entire demographic of grown-ups out there who do take pleasure in tuning in to animated films, whether they be Disney classics or more modern titles. Yes, we're talking about the "Disney Adult."
At its core, the "Disney Adult" signifier is just another strain of cultural fandom — not far removed from fully grown people who cheer for pro sports teams, or those who preoccupy themselves charting a multiverse of heroes and villains (both ESPN and Marvel Studios are owned by the Walt Disney Company). Rolling Stone writer EJ Dickson defined this particular fan as follows in illustrating the phenomenon at feature-length earlier this year:
A Disney adult is someone who lives and breathes the brand, buying limited-edition mouse ears and popcorn buckets and branded fitness trackers the moment they drop, constantly posting free advertisements for the park in the form of Cinderella's Castle and Purple Wall selfies ... whilst wearing rose-gold mouse ears. To declare oneself a Disney fan in adulthood is to profess to being nothing less than an uncritical bubblehead ensconced in one's own privilege, suspended in a state of permanent adolescence, raised on a diet of wasp-waisted princesses and talking-animal sidekicks and dancing candelabras, refusing to acknowledge the grim reality that dreams really don't come true.
Dickson's feature, which should be read in full, highlights a series of viral moments that saw the wider Internet deem adult Disney fandom as "cringe" — including, but not limited to, "the TikTok video of the woman tearfully seeing the Magic Kingdom for the first time ... another of a woman tearfully hugging Goofy for the first time," and "a video ...of a Disneyland Paris employee interrupting a man trying to stage a proposal at the park."
It's moments like these — tied to Disney's new and enduring animated characters alike — that speak to a bit of wisdom from Walt Disney himself, who has been quoted as saying, "I do not make films primarily for children. I make them for the child in all of us, whether we be six or sixty."
In the present, Chapek describes this as "elasticity," telling WSJ, "I want to respect what this brand is. But at the same time, I know that we may be even more precious about what is 'Disney' than the consumer base is. If the consumer base has more elasticity, we probably ought to listen to our audience, which means we have more degrees of freedom than we probably thought."
