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kylesvariouslistsandstuff · 4 months

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Worth noting that we're almost two weeks into 2024, and there are still two undetermined films on this year's Disney slate...

One of them is just simply "Untitled Disney", and it's set for release September 8, 2024...

The other is the annual Thanksgiving Walt Disney Animation Studios offering.

According to some screenshot of a supposed Disney movie/series slate that was floating around a month ago, Disney took both of these movies off the calendar... But I concluded, for multiple reasons, that that screenshot was fake. As it did not resemble the kind of PDF document that Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures usually puts out when there's a change in the release schedule. The formatting was all different, and it included Disney+ shows, which these things never do.

So, I rule that the 9/6/2024 release - whatever it may be - and the 11/27/2024 WDAS movie are still on the boards. At the moment... Of course, that's always subject to change!

Disney would've kicked this year off with the Pixar space adventure ELIO in March, but that got pushed all the way back to the summer of 2025... The year instead begins with theatrical releases of the three Pixar films that went straight to Disney+ on their initial release... So the year actually begins, in terms of a NEW theatrically-released movie, with a 20th Century Studios release: Horror reboot THE FIRST OMEN. April 5th.

And earlier today, they moved their new PLANET OF THE APES movie up two weeks, to avoid duking it out with FURIOSA and GARFIELD. Plus they can get all the large-format screens to themselves for a lil' bit.

Anyways, we're in 2024 now... And we know nothing about these two movies. I'm guessing 9/6/2024 is going to be another 20th Century Studios movie, or a Searchlight movie. Sometimes "Untitled Disney" is a placeholder for that kind of movie, and September's usually the time to release one of those kinds of lower budget, more adult-oriented movies.

But we know what's been happening with WDAS' latest pictures at the box office, and who knows what morale is like over there. They too are developing shows for Disney+, like Pixar was, until Iger recently mandated cuts to Pixar after Disney+ continued to lose money for the larger company... I'd imagine WDAS might be in a similar predicament? Maybe not? But it's unusual that we don't know for sure - as in, not through leaks or word thru the trenches - what the 2024 WDAS movie is. Even STRANGE WORLD, we knew about it a year away from release... They're kinda cutting it close with this one?

Unless WDAS takes 2024 off completely, for whatever reason. I figured the very possible animation strike would affect this movie anyways. But even without a strike, their recent woes might lead to a back-to-the-drawing-board moment, as often is the case when a studio has a string of money-losers. It often leads to a week or so of everyone wondering, "What should we be doing? What kinds of movies should we be making??" And then they try that, and they see how that goes...

Anyways, should all go swimmingly, I wouldn't mind seeing the new WDAS get delayed. Especially if it's still having its kinks ironed out. Also, kind of a wild opinion, but WDAS doesn't always have to do the Thanksgiving thing, ya know? STRANGE WORLD and WISH weren't saved by that slot, neither was something like TREASURE PLANET many moons ago. WDAS did do a March release with ZOOTOPIA in 2016, and almost did that again in 2018 (at one point GIGANTIC, at another point RALPH BREAKS THE INTERNET) before abandoning it... Like, a WDAS movie doesn't always have to be the summer or the holiday season. Many other animated movies have proven that, too.

Heck, WDAS movies used to show up at the randomest times of the year. Before the world of blockbuster filmmaking, during a time when the movie theater industry was a whoooole lot different.

Did you know that SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS, which had its world premiere on December 21, 1937, went into general release... In February of 1938? February. Yes, cold-ass February... And still managed to become, at the time of its release, the highest-grossing film of all time? (A record swiftly usurped by GONE WITH THE WIND a little over a year later.)

PINOCCHIO, CINDERELLA, and PETER PAN were February releases, too. DUMBO and THE JUNGLE BOOK came out near Halloween in their respective release years. BAMBI was a late August release. SLEEPING BEAUTY and 101 DALMATIANS came out in late January of their release years.

Summer slots became more of a regular thing for Disney starting with THE RESCUERS in 1977, which was a June release. THE FOX AND THE HOUND originally was eying Christmas 1980, but because of the Don Bluth-led animator exodus, ended up being a July 1981 release. THE BLACK CAULDRON, similarly, was out in July 1985. THE GREAT MOUSE DETECTIVE? July 1986.

But then once the Renaissance fired up, it was initially all about Thanksgiving. OLIVER & COMPANY, LITTLE MERMAID, RESCUERS DOWN UNDER, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, and ALADDIN all did the holiday thing...

When THE LION KING broke all records for an animated movie in summer 1994 - the June date given to it after production problems delayed it from its original Thanksgiving 1993 slot, then Disney was all about the summer again. Barring WINNIE THE POOH (2011), the last time WDAS had a summer movie was... 2002... LILO & STITCH. From BOLT-onwards, it was almost always towards the end of the year with their movies. Again, ZOOTOPIA an exception, RAYA AND THE LAST DRAGON as well because of COVID-19 (it would've been Thanksgiving 2020 if nothing had happened).

Maybe it doesn't have to be Thanksgiving/Christmas all the time?

Suppose we see the new WDAS movie in, say, March 2025? And the next, maybe at another time of the year?

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