Disney's Strange World

Today, Disney just revealed the tentative title for their 61st animated film titled "Searcher Clade". "Searcher Clade" will release in theaters on November 23, 2022 and is directed by Don Hall. Hall has co-directed several films for Disney, including Raya and the Last Dragon, Winnie the Pooh, and Big Hero 6 for which he won an Academy Award. He is currently working on the upcoming Baymax! series for Disney+, which is based on the film which won him an Oscar and is due for release sometime next year.

Cool,what's it about?

While the synopsis for the movie hasn't been revealed yet. We do know that the script is written by Qui Nguyen, writer of Raya and the Last Dragon. And produced by Roy Conli (Tangled, Big Hero 6) and executive produced by chief creative officer Jennifer Lee. More information can be read in the article by Disinsider.

Well, we do know the names of three character´s that are in the film: Ethan Clade, Meridian Clade, and Captain Calypso Kahn. Also from the article:

Interesting. . . a male protagonist. Not counting Ralph Breaks the Internet, since that was a sequel, I don't think we've had one of those since Big Hero 6.

And I think it's debatable that Ralph was the protagonist of Ralph Breaks the Internet.

They should have just made a Princess movie with the entire Princess lineup, since they were clearly more invested in those scenes than in having Ralph be anything other than an insecure dumbass.

Ralph was definitely the protagonist of the second film, since he was responsible for setting off the first act (creating the new course that caused Vanellope to break the controller) and the third act (purchasing the virus) and the climax centers around assuaging his fear of abandonment and change.

I get what you're saying, but in Ralph Breaks the Internet he comes off more like a non-traditional antagonist to me. If you view Vanellope as the protagonist, then Ralph is both helping her achieve her goal and trying to hold her back. At best he's a deuteragonist. Both Wreck-It Ralph and Ralph Breaks the Internet seem to be operating on the idea that Ralph achieves his goals, or unlooked-for personal growth, through helping Vanellope achieve her goals.

Neither Ralph, nor Vanellope, seem to consider overmuch what effect their actions might have on others, at least in the beginning.

Edited by Robbery on Aug 24th 2021 at 10:57:44 AM

I know that we know pretty much nothing about Searcher Clade, but given the names of some of the characters ("Meridian Clade", "Captain Calypso Khan"), I'm inclined to guess it might be some sort of sea adventure movie, perhaps involving a treasure hunt as the main plot (hence the "searcher" part of the title).

That's definitely a major departure from the fairy tales and buddy comedies Disney has gravitated towards over the past ten years, but it also makes me kind of nervous for it. If Encanto— a much more traditional Disney movie— isn't doing very well in theaters, how successful will Searcher Clade be, assuming my theories about it are true?

Expect to hear princess fans howl in protest. There appears to be a vocal contingent of Disney Princess fans who will complain loudly when Disney goes more than two films without a princess.

It's hard to say. Disney hasn't had much success in the last 20 years with straight-up adventure movies (or ever, for that matter). It should be pointed out that while "Encanto's'' numbers haven't been impressive, it had the best opening of any animated film during the pandemic.

Edited by Robbery on Dec 3rd 2021 at 7:38:57 AM

who will complain loudly when Disney goes more than two films without a princess.

Which is ironic considering that for most of the company's history, the "princess" movies (which I'm defining as fairy tale/folklore-based movies with female leads) were the minority. Walt Disney made only three of those in his lifetime, after all.

Even though they're didn't do masses of Princess movies while he was alive the three that they made (Snow White, Cinderella and Aurora) were significant enough that they were the start of the 'Disney princess brand' and Walt would have capitalized on the princesses movies had he known how successful they were,as it was they enjoyed varying degrees of success,Snow White put them on the map but the other two could have done the opposite

Returning to Searcher Clade— and, again, assuming it's the kind of movie I think it's going to be— do you think there's a big enough audience to make it a success?

If they market it properly, then sure? Making the movie is one thing, but it's only half the battle. Selling it to others, making them believe it as much as you believe in it? That's the other half. And it's just as crucial.

Movies like Atlantis and Treasure Planet weren't doomed by any lack of marketing, but by the fact that their target audiences weren't interested in them. Now, you could argue that today's teen and young adult moviegoers are not those of twenty years ago, and that Disney today isn't as strongly associated with the Girl-Show Ghetto now that it owns the likes of Marvel and Star Wars. But it would still be a very risky move.

I think the audience could be more receptive to it, as Disney has successfully branched out into other kinds of animated films. Today's audience, in my opinion, seems more accepting of Disney being experimental.

Uh, I would heavily disagree with that. I was in that target demographic for both films and adored them greatly. And, as I grew up with them being forgotten and underrated, almost everyone my age I talked to didn't know they existed. And loved them the second they watched them and wondered why they never knew those movies existed.

I don't remember a lot about Atlantis' release, but Treasure Planet was put up against fucking Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets at the Box Office. And Disney was also in competition with itself against The Santa Clause, a holiday appropriate kid's film from an established franchise.

Disney didn't market the film well, internally they did not like it and especially because of the company power struggle that was occurring at the time, and they sent the film out to die. There's a rather in-depth You Tube Video Essay on the film that kinda goes into what went wrong there, but, yeah, Disney kinda set themselves for failure once they had the finished product.

I would also point out that, a film that deals with a missing dad that doesn't glorify or justify him, he's just gone and that's ok is a surprisingly mature and rare take for a movie, let alone animated Disney movie, and it certainly resonated with an audience of children who experienced a growing commonality of parents separating and not having the 'Nuclear Family Ideal' that's so common to media. There was very much an audience for this and partially why it's so beloved now for many as they can see themselves in Jim and his struggles.

Since when has Disney been experimental today??? Cuz they've been pretty safe and formulaic for awhile. And most of their "out there" stuff tends to be more superficially experimental.

Edited by InkDagger on Dec 3rd 2021 at 1:41:38 AM

Seems like people have forgotten about Wreck-it Ralph and Big Hero 6 that they think that Disney can't market a non princess male lead films anymore.

I mean, I think Disney does need to do more male lead movies that have genuine character depth and arcs but... I wouldn't consider "Male Lead" to be remotely experimental. That's pretty laughable.

Edited by InkDagger on Dec 3rd 2021 at 5:01:24 AM

I meant that Disney was being more experimental in the types of films they were doing. The stories haven't been particularly new and different (though they've occasionally been a bit more complex). I suppose that the best way to say it is they've branched out a bit from myths, legends, and fairy tales. I'd say Zootopia may be one of the most different films they've done in a while, compared to the usual type of Disney film. It is about the usual sort of thing, "follow your heart," "try new things," "have faith in yourself," but it's also about, you know, racism, which is pretty different for a Disney film.

Perhaps I should elaborate. See, straight-up action/adventure animated movies, as opposed to buddy comedies, fairy tales, and family dramas, have never been Disney's forte. Their various attempts to venture into this genre, such as Atlantis and Treasure Planet, were box-office flops.

It's symptomatic, I would argue, of a greater issue Disney has had for many decades. I explained this in the main Disney thread, but I'll post it here. Basically, the teenage male audience is the great white whale Disney has always failed to catch. They tried in the early 1980s with horror and sci-fi movies like Tron and The Black Hole, as well as their first PG-rated animated movie, The Black Cauldron. They tried again in the 2000s, with Atlantis and Treasure Planet, with equally miserable results. There was Pirates of the Caribbean, admittedly, but that had the appeal of being based on a famous Disney ride, so it hardly counted. Finally, they just threw up their arms and bought Marvel and Star Wars.

Unfortunately, even after that, they've still failed to produce a successful in-house movie aimed at that demographic. And their attempts have been many— Tomorrowland, A Wrinkle In Time, Artemis Fowl, The Prince of Persia, John Carter, The Lone Ranger, the list goes on and on.

So taken within that context, Searcher Clade, if it is indeed the kind of movie I think it is going to be, represents another attempt at this by Disney. The million-dollar question is, will they succeed this time?

I don't see why Pirates should be disqualified simply for being based on a pre-existing source?

I'm guessing Pirates being disqualified was because it already had a built in audience, so people would have checked it out to see how well it would have been adapted. With an original movie, it would be harder to gain an audience since there's no guarantee it will be a success.

You hit the nail on the head. Pirates of the Caribbean was already an iconic Disney ride, so it had an advantage in that regard. Also, as a pre-existing franchise, it wasn't aimed at attracting new audiences to the Disney name the way the other movies I listed were.