The monumental success of “Inside Out” 2 and “Deadpool and Wolverine” created a buzz that swirled around the recently held D23: The Ultimate Fan Event in the US.
Talk of the two films and how well they performed at the box office — “Inside Out” 2 becoming the highest grossing animated film ever and “Deadpool and Wolverine” crossing the billion dollar mark — punctuated the weekend’s activities, underscoring the optimism felt as the company shared its plans for the future with its fans.
For Alan Bergman, co-chairman of Disney Entertainment, the success of the films were a result of CEO Bob Iger’s decision to bring entities like Pixar and 20th Century Fox into the Disney mix over the years.
“He made some strategic permanent purchases, which has been fantastic for us,” he said.
More than that, Bergman relayed, it’s the people and teams behind these big projects who are responsible for the success this past year has brought.
“As strong as these brands and these properties are, they're nothing without the incredible talent that we have. Because brands, if you don't keep them strong, they will go away.”
As Bergman sees it, the seven entities within his purview – Disney, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar Animation Studios, Marvel Studios, Lucasfilm, 20th Century Studios, and Searchlight Pictures – are headed by leaders who bring both their experience and enthusiasm to each of the projects Disney Entertainment adds to its slate.
Whether it’s Pixar’s Pete Docter diving into the science of emotion in order to create a film that deals with anxiety or Walt Disney Animation’s Jennifer Lee working with animator Mark Smith to tell the next part of the Frozen story over two films.
But success is never a guarantee, and Docter says getting through the disappointments has helped make the company stronger.
“You commit yourself to doing the best work you possibly can,” he says. “You try to take risks, you try to move outside of your comfort zone, and you hope that that's going to connect with people.
“And when it does, it's the most thrilling thing ever. When it doesn't, it's a disappointment… but you carry on because that's what you need to do. And that's what I live for.”
With the upcoming projects announced during the course of D23, The Walt Disney Company cements its hopes for the coming years – through its entertainment offerings, expansion of parks and cruises, and a ground-breaking deal with Epic Games that sees Disney characters venturing into the hugely popular video game Fortnite.
As ever, it all starts with the story and branches out from there.
“I love the phrase that technology is always in search of content,” says Lucasfilm’s Kathleen Kennedy.
“Because my experience has been that we have an idea and we use the technology to push it to the next place.” Reflecting on the advancements that have been made since George Lucas formed Industrial Light & Magic, Kennedy believes the technology should always be in service to an idea.
“That’s what we carry through Lucasfilm,” she says.
“And when we're asked to get involved in anything that has to do with technology, many of the people inside ILM want to know, ‘What's the story? What are we trying to say?
“What do you want to feel when you see something? And that's the perfect combination of how you use technology to its best advantage.”
For Lee, who has “Moana” 2 and “Zootopia” 2 on the near horizon, deciding when to create a sequel is informed by a similar principle.
“It’s always going to be that there’s more story to tell,” she says.
“Particularly for [director] Jared Bush with ‘Moana’, I think he's going to be following Moana into her 50’s at this point, because there's so much to do with her, and because of the love of these characters.
“Through social media and events like D23, we get to see fans connect to these characters in a deeper way, and it's such a privilege if the audiences want more.”
It’s the fans that helped “The Mandalorian” branch out from an episodic show to a feature film, “The Mandalorian & Grogu”, that Jon Favreau will be directing.
“With the launch of Disney Plus, ”The Mandalorian“ was the first show that was done and we were sort of moving into territory we didn't frankly know a whole lot about,” says Kennedy.
“And thanks to the fans, the show became a huge hit and took the world by storm.”
It was at this point, she adds, that they thought about how it would progress as a story, the plan being to do a few seasons and then a movie.
“It's interesting because we're doing the opposite with Rogue One, and the transition from a movie into a series that's also been quite successful. So the fact that we can move from platform to platform is really interesting, especially for the future of distribution.
“There is no doubt that the consumer is going to take in these stories in lots of different ways.”
For Kevin Feige, who has the release of “Captain America: Brave New World” coming up soon, the Marvel Cinematic Universe is set up in such a way that fans are able to tap into it at various points.
“One of the biggest Marvel hits on Disney+ right now is the preschool show ‘Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends’ and in theatres right now, the number one movie in a world is the very R-rated ‘Deadpool and Wolverine’, and people understand where in the lifecycle they fit into Marvel, from preschool to adults, and that allows us to really tell all sorts of stories.”
For Docter, his next aim is that fans who loved the first “Inside Out” and “Inside Out” 2 will follow the story in a new extension of Riley’s world in Dream Productions, an animated series that shows the way her dreams are made, “on time and on budget” each night.
Yet with each new project, it’s still never a given that the next iteration of an idea will fly.
“We feel the pressure to just live up to our own standards,” says Docter. “We want to deliver something out in the world that we are proud of. This is not science. This whole thing is a mystery.
“Otherwise, we would just consistently do $2 billion movies,” he chuckles.
“It's always a little bit of a crapshoot. And so we're trying to make every one of these the best they possibly can be and once in a while, the stars align and it happens.”