By Foster Nicholas | Sports Editor
During summers as a kid, I would ride my bike two miles to the nearest movie theater every Tuesday to check out whatever film had just been released. Spending just five dollars on a ticket, I could lean back and guarantee that I would see something I could enjoy, something I had never seen before.
Kids and adults no longer have that opportunity, as unique ideas have gone by the wayside in favor of greedy cash grabs.
Since 2015, Disney and Pixar have had just five combined original animated films that could be considered box office hits. Taking away all sequels and franchises, Disney won over audiences with “Encanto” (2021), “Zootopia” (2016) and “Inside Out” (2015). For Pixar, the hits were also sparse — just “Luca” (2021) and “Coco” (2017). Almost everything else released in that timespan has been a recycled idea.
To be fair to Disney, a few original ideas have bombed during that timeline, such as “Turning Red” (2022), “Wish” (2023) and “Strange World” (2022). Those films could be the reason why the production company has decided to release a flurry of films building on other successful content instead of creating something new for fans.
At San Diego Comic Con, Disney and Pixar announced “Moana 2,” “Incredibles 3,” “Frozen 3,” “Toy Story 5,” “Zootopia 2” and a live-action “Moana.” All of these movies are set to release before December 2026.
So, as Disney cashes in on old ideas, we moviegoers are losing out on quality entertainment. I’m not saying some of these movies won’t be well-done, but the idea behind creating sequels has always been making an easy buck. Since the beginning of movie culture, the follow-up is always a cash grab, and it’s too bad that it has become the norm.
Only once in cinematic history has a sequel won an Academy Award for Best Picture — “Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” in 2003. With that in mind, sometimes those films aren’t the most viewed at cinemas. Marvel has done a phenomenal job at building off of ideas the right way and trying to connect storylines, but when it comes to animated films like “Frozen,” one is more than enough to get the story across.
I’m sorry, but nobody needs or wants a “Frozen” or “Moana” cinematic universe. Get over it.
Sequels, prequels and franchises aren’t the only unoriginal ideas blasting through Hollywood. So far in 2024, more than 20 biopics have been released on streaming services or in theaters. The genre’s success has fallen since the release of “Oppenheimer” in 2023, a film that garnered 13 Academy Awards.
While films can sometimes be a breath of fresh air or feel unique, their ideas are still unoriginal and take away from what the movie industry was created for: experiencing the unimaginable. Movies such as “Oppenheimer,” are exceptionally well done, but if I asked if you’d seen the highly-anticipated Bob Marley or Ronald Reagan films released this year, the answer would probably be a resounding no.
Remember when Robin Williams, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon each made their way on the screen with award-winning, unique films? Those days weren’t that long ago. Films such as “Good Will Hunting,” “Dead Poets Society” and “The Talented Mr. Ripley” changed the way we view what a movie can be. Now, we’re stuck in a recurring nightmare of the film industry pawning off old ideas as semi-decent money-makers instead of creating art.
Oh, what a breath of fresh air that is, right?
