Disney Suffers Huge Awards Embarrassment For First Time Ever

The award show is specific to the animation industry and, with Disney being a pioneer in the genre, it’s sure to be a hefty blow to those at the top to have not been named for the prestigious nomination.

2023 saw the House of Mouse put out two animated features, Elemental and Wish, with neither one making the cut.

Disney’s absence in the feature section of the Annie Awards is especially bleak considering that 2023 was the studio’s 100th anniversary.

In fact, Wish was meant to celebrate the monumental occasion but fell incredibly short of box office expectations.

Starring names like Chris Pine, Ariana DeBose, and Alan Tudyk, the animated feature barely broke its production budget of $175-200 million, depositing only $223.4 million into its bank account by the time its theatrical run ended.

On the other hand, Elemental was Disney’s big comeback film of the year. The movie was in theaters at the same time as other major summer blockbusters including The Flash and Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, and suffered low numbers during its opening weekend.

But, unlike Wish, the buzz surrounding Elemental grew over the next few weeks, making it a box-office success. 

In the past, Disney has opted out of the Annie Awards, pulling their titles from the nominating process, although they were still considered by the folks at the top. As of right now, no reports have suggested that this is the case for their 2023 titles.

Pushing Disney to the side and making way for a wave of new studios to soar in the animated genre, Netflix is the big sweeper when it comes to Annie nominations, landing nine mentions for its title, Nimona.

Other popular productions include Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, The Boy and the Heron, and Suzume with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem and Elemental also catching the eye of the Annie Awards’s nomination team. 

Disney’s dip at the box office and award circuit in 2023 comes after a tough 2022 with titles like The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild and Lightyear, also not making a wave with its once-dedicated following.

Hoping to put some extra cash in their pockets, the studio recently announced its plan to re-release a handful of films that never made it onto the big screen due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Included in the lineup are Soul, Turning Red, and Luca, which have been taking turns in theaters since early January.

As for the future of Disney, 2024 may be the year that it will bring itself back from the edge.

Although the studio is only releasing one animated feature this year, Inside Out 2 is still expected to be a massive success. With a handful of recognizable voices returning, audiences are looking forward to the follow-up of the 2015 Pixar and Disney production.

Source: Cartoon Brew