Disney's centennial tribute film, Wish Photo:VCG

As Disney's much-anticipated centennial tribute film, Wish, fails to meet expectations at the box office, concerns have arisen over the Magic Kingdom's declining strength in IP production. 

Despite being released during a less popular time frame in late November in the Chinese mainland and Thanksgiving weekend in North America, the film has fallen short of expectations both in China and internationally.

In its 11 days of screening, Wish accumulated a meager 38.07 million yuan ($5.38 million) in the Chinese mainland and a global box office of only $83.446 million. Despite high expectations before its release, the film seems to be struggling to recoup its estimated $200 million production budget.  

Adding to the disappointment, Disney's animated film reputation has taken a hit as Wish only has a 48 percent freshness rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a modest 6.7/10 rating on Chinese media review platform Douban.

It's worth noting that one of Wish's directors, Chris Buck, and writer Jennifer Lee previously collaborated on the immensely successful Frozen film series. Frozen and Frozen II (2019) achieved global box-office revenues of $1.328 billion and $1.458 billion, respectively.

Drawing a comparison with Wish, when Frozen II premiered in the Chinese mainland in 2019, it earned a total 860 million yuan. In contrast, Wish's screening rate dropped from 12.4 percent at its premiere to a mere 2 percent by Monday, suggesting a challenging road ahead for the film.

The lackluster performance of Wish during the Thanksgiving weekend in North America echoes the challenges Disney's film business has faced in recent years. While some industry experts attribute declining theater attendance to the rapid rise of streaming services during the pandemic, the film's underwhelming results primarily stem from its own lackluster appeal, laying bare Disney's struggles in maintaining compelling IP production.

Undoubtedly, as Disney's centennial blockbuster, Wish draws heavily from the studio's classic formulas. However, it falls short of recreating a rich and enchanting magical realm akin to Frozen's "Let It Go." The emergence of cliches, the simplistic transformation of the antagonist, betrayals by friends, and the triumph of justice over evil characterize Wish as a standard fairy tale. The narrative fails to provide the main character Asha with sufficient character development, resulting in a lack of the vivid personality seen in characters like Anna and Elsa. The villainous king's transformation lacks subtlety, failing to reflect the rich internal world of character change. In summary, while Wish qualifies as a fairy tale, it falls short of excellence.

In recent years, Disney's film output seems more like assembly line products, focusing on remakes and sequels rather than the captivating magic and meticulous craftsmanship. While Wish boasts impressive animation, it fails to replicate Disney's past magical moments in storytelling.

As Disney celebrates its 100th year, recent film releases have fallen short of past box-office successes, reflecting a decline in Disney's IP production capabilities. Despite accumulating iconic IPs like Mickey Mouse, Disney princesses, Zootopia, Marvel heroes, and Pirates of the Caribbean, the studio hasn't created a similarly impactful animated IP since Frozen in 2013. 

"We lost some focus," Disney's CEO Bob Iger acknowledged a shift in focus in an interview with CNBC, admitting the studio's mistake in leaning into quantity over quality during the pandemic. 

Looking back to the 2023 releases, including Indiana Jones 5, The Marvels, and Wish, they have all received subpar reviews and box-office performance compared to expectations. Even without considering the impact of the pandemic, global box-office revenue has fallen below $1 billion for Disney, marking the first time since 2014.

As Disney blows out 100 candles, the response from the "Wishing Star" seems elusive, leaving the wish for a cinematic resurgence unfulfilled.

The author is a reporter with the Global Times. life@globaltimes.com.cn