Should Disney Studios Stay Away From Action/Adventure Movies?
A very astute comment was passed my way and poses an interesting question. With the John Carter Debacle firmly in hand, should Walt Disney Studios stay away from producing live action / adventure movies and stick with the more family friendly G - PG type movies?
The track record of the last few years hasn't exactly gone Disney's way in their big budget action / adventure movie releases (live acting not animated). Before JC, we had TRON2: Legacy which, at best, was a minor to moderate success but generally not critically well received. Before that was the failures of Prince of Persia: Sands of Time and the Sorcerer's Apprentice - not exactly stellar efforts. You could make the case that Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland was an action / adventure film (it did have a battle scene) but mostly it was a quirky fantasy by a quirky director and his equally quirky star.
Walt Disney Studios has made several trips to the bank and back with Pirates of the Caribbean franchise but really, that gets back to first movie, by far the best of the series, but it was an entertaining well crafted movie based on a classic and highly recognizable Disney theme park ride. (And if Guillermo del Toro ever makes his Haunted Mansion movie or Tom Hanks and Tim Allen get together for The Jungle Cruise, I would expect equally impressive results).
On the flip side, last year's The Muppets made on a fairly small budget by modern standards (about 45 milion) was a moderate success grossing close to 90 million in the US and about 150 million world-wide. Tangled and Princess and the Frog were also successes of the moderate variety (though probably not what Disney had hoped). If you throw Alice in with this group, then Disney could have good reason to gloat and smile. Also include the wonderful movie - Enchanted (semi-animated).
You do have to ignore the movies made by Robert Zemeckis and his ImageMovers Digital - A Christmas Carol and Mars Needs Moms, these two movies were produced independently from Walt Disney Studios (with almost all the CGI work done in here in Northern California). Zemeckis had a 4 picture deal with Disney that Disney promptly terminated after the first two flopped miserably.
And you have to dismiss anything that comes from Marvel Studios. Like the Pixar arrangement, Marvel movies will be made independently from Walt Disney Studios.
Outside of Pirates of the Caribbean (the original), what was the last great action / adventure non-animated movie made by Walt Disney Studios? National Treasure? (debatable) The Rocketeer? (debatable). Do you have to go all the way back to 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea?