Disney movies used to be an event. When one was announced, you knew you were going to get something you hadn't seen before. They lived up to the name "the Magic Kingdom" because it was one. Innovation, super storytelling, memorable characters, unforgettable music... all of these things helped to make Disney something so special that people kept coming back to the company even into adulthood to rewatch what they were blown away by as children.
Then, something happened. Indeed, it happened to all of Hollywood, but most tragically to Disney.
Safety became the goal. Risk-taking was frowned upon. Studios just stuck to what they knew worked. This worked for a bit as people came back to the theater to ride the high they got when they first saw what they saw, but then, over time, it lost its luster.
It didn't help that Disney attacked its customers with agenda-driven movies and shows. Watching "The Proud Family" tell you "Slaves built this country" and are victims of white culture, constantly seeing queerness shoved into kids' movies, and incessant messaging shoved in your face in shows like "She-Hulk" and the Star Wars sequel trilogy was a stupid, stupid move.
But at the core of it all was the corporate mistake of "risk-aversion." That might work for many a corporate entity, but not necessarily for those in the entertainment industry.
Let's just say it like it is: Disney is boring now.
The films it releases don't wow. There isn't that innovative spark that honors its legacy. When they say "Hollywood is out of ideas," the first studio one could point to as an example is the House of Mouse.
But the ideas are out there; it just takes bravery from a corporation to try new ideas.
Sony did, and now it has a breakout hit on its hands that no one saw coming because I don't think even the company thought anyone was going to bite on it. It wasn't even a theatrical release. They tossed it onto Netflix.
A large chunk of my readers might not have heard of it, but a movie called "KPop Demon Hunters" came out quietly with very little fanfare. I saw it on my Netflix front page and passed it by, thinking it was just Netflix slop for young girls. Then, quickly, I noticed it climb to the top of the Netflix charts. Still, I ignored it. Things climb to number one on Netflix all the time, and I'm not wholly unconvinced that Netflix puts its finger on the scale to prop things up.
Then, talk about it online began hitting my feeds. People raved about it, said the story was amazing, the animation refreshing, and the songs addictive. So one night, I decided to see what all the talk was about and hit play.
I was surprised by how much I liked the movie. I was not the target demographic by a long shot, but I was still thoroughly entertained by what I saw in the same way I imagine my grandpa felt when he took me to watch "Toy Story" when I was little. The characters were very likable, the themes were relatable, the animation was refreshingly new in style, and I was getting something that I hadn't seen before.
You could tell this movie was a risk, as it defied so many modern rules in terms of what a corporate board would give nods to. Korean culture dominates this movie, and even in some of the musical moments, the Korean language is used, but still, you can't help but love it all. The songs are spectacularly written and performed, including one called "Golden," which has now climbed to the top of the Hot 100 chart according to The Hollywood Reporter:
“Golden,” performed by the movie’s fictional protagonist group Huntrix, tops the chart seven weeks after it first debuted at No. 81 at the beginning of July, steadily rising over the past month. It dethrones Alex Warren’s “Ordinary,” which has topped the Hot 100 for an overwhelming nine of the past 10 weeks, with the Atlantic rising star’s song of the summer moving to No. 2.
“Golden” took the top spot with 31.7 million streams, 7,000 sales and 8.4 million radio airplay impressions, per Billboard. Elsewhere, pop superstar Chappell Roan debuted at No. 3 this week with her latest single, “The Subway,” her second Top 5 debut of the year after country-tinged “The Giver” opened at No. 5 back in March. “The Subway” opened with 25.1 million streams and 6,000 sales. Morgan Wallen and Tate McRae’s “What I Want” and Justin Bieber’s “Daisies” round out the top five this week.
And that's not the only song from the movie to chart either.
What did Disney offer as of late?
"Elio," a movie that was tired before it was even released. It was animated in the unoriginal Cal-Arts style often seen in cartoons on Nickelodeon, so it's not even Pixar's own. The movie is a reverse "Lilo & Stitch" that had to be heavily rewritten and re-edited because the creator wanted it to have tons of "queer" elements in there, insinuating the child in the movie was gay. The film ended up being Pixar's biggest flop of all time, and no one will remember it unless they're recalling Pixar's lowest moment.
"KPop Demon Hunters" proves originality isn't dead; corporations are just refusing to be original. Disney, for its part, would rather release another "Frozen" sequel, spend millions on another Marvel superhero smash-fest, or drag some classic out of the vault kicking and screaming to turn it into another uninspired live-action remake.
Sony rolled the dice and won big, and in the process created something new that people are so hungry for that it sent a song performed by a fictional band from an animated movie to the top of the charts.
Disney is dying by a thousand cuts, but the deepest one is that it's walked away from its true self, that original, innovative spirit that made it what it is. Sony looks to be taking that throne now.
