Disney's 'Wish' Is A Theatrical Bomb And The Latest In A String Of Woke Failures
Is it time to declare the Disney brand dead? Only a couple weeks ago the entertainment giant suffered one of its worst box office showings ever with the failure of The Marvels, a feminist driven girl-boss movie which was widely applauded by social justice advocates but ignored by the vast majority of the public. The film is expected to lose $200 million to $300 million once receipts are totaled and marketing costs are accounted for.
In a bizarre attempt at maximum cope, the media is hailing The Marvels as the largest ever theatrical opening by a black female director. When, in fact, the movie is actually the largest box office bomb made by a black female director.
Now, Disney's animated 'The Wish' is set to top that failure, falling well below box office predictions and bringing in only $32 million over a five day period including the once lucrative Thanksgiving weekend.
Numerous reports suggest that Wish is opening to empty theaters across the country. Media spin doctors have attempted to jump ahead of “get woke, go broke” accusations with articles claiming that the movie is not woke, but more “Libertarian” in its messaging. This is, for the most part, a dishonest deflection. The film's producers openly admitted their woke methodology in a number of interviews including their desire to inject Diversity and Inclusion messaging.
While the woke intent is more obscure than previous films, Wish features yet another precocious ethnic teen female (named Asha) banding together with her diverse cast of friends to fight a revolution against the white male patriarchy. The main villain is, of course, a white guy named “King Magnifico” who rules over the kingdom of Rosas using the magical power to grant wishes. However, the King doesn't grant everyone's wish, only some, and those who don't get their wish granted forget their wishes forever.
Asha believes this is unfair and that all people should have have their wishes returned or fulfilled (perhaps a vague nod to the concept of equity in which every person is taught to expect equality of outcome, not just equality of opportunity). When Asha finds a magical power that threatens the King's monopoly, he loses his mind with envy and goes full-bore dark side to keep control.
While this story arc could be interpreted as a criticism of centralized governance, the greater plot is far more socialist in its agenda. The evil King is overthrown by the power of “collective love”, the Queen sides with the revolutionaries and rules in his place and everyone gets access to equal wish fulfillment. It's a woke carnival side show.
Critics also argue that the film is mostly unoriginal, with an endless list of nostalgia references and character ideas stolen from better movies made decades ago. The most common reaction to Wish from theater goers? It's boring. This has been the M.O. of modern Disney for some time now – They dig up the bones of their previous successes and try to reanimate them instead of making something new and imaginative. This is what happens when a company hires creators based on diversity stats rather than talent.
Massive losses have been plaguing Disney month after month. Lightyear and Strange World featured LGBT messaging for children, which did not go over well with audiences. Indiana Jones: Dial of Destiny was another feminist replacement fantasy that bombed horribly. Almost every major Marvel and Star Wars release in theaters and on Disney+ has hit a brick wall in the past couple years, largely due to woke messaging. It's a failstorm of epic proportions.
The spin machine is working overtime to defend Disney's brand. Woke films like Elemental were flops at American theaters but made more money overseas (the movie still failed to break even once marketing costs and the theater cut is added). Wish will probably be handled the same way – A disaster in the US but a “moneymaker” in South Korea or Brazil. And at this stage in the game this is the best that Disney can hope for: Breaking even.
In the meantime, Disney's name is mud in America and for good reason. Rumors are swirling that the company is seeking to “de-wokify” future content, but it may be too little too late for an organization that only two years ago was so aggressive and prideful in their efforts to indoctrinate American youth.