From the upcoming live-action “Moana” (2026) to “Toy Story 5” (2026) releasing this summer, Disney’s roster is filled with endless sequels, prequels and remakes. Much of the public perception of this creative decision has been negative, with many complaining that the films are full of nostalgia bait or are simply easy cash grabs for the company. Yet, these films have generated billions of dollars for the corporation. So, is this fatigue really the public’s dominant view? And is this phenomenon going away anytime soon?
One reason these movies are making billions of dollars is that there aren’t many family movie options in theaters. Just last year, around Thanksgiving, some of the movies playing in theatres were “Wicked: For Good” (2025), “Predator: Bad Lands” (2025), “Hamnet” (2025) and “Zootopia 2” (2025). Undoubtedly, the more appealing options for families would be “Wicked: For Good” or “Zootopia 2,” and between the two, families may be more inclined to attend the latter given the Disney name.
In the past decade, nostalgia pandering has worked wonders for Disney. While the company still produced the occasional movie like “Encanto” (2021) or “Coco” (2017), new Disney original films that reach the same level of popularity seem few and far between. This can be attributed to the Disney corporation intentionally putting equal, if not more, priority on remakes and sequels than new original films — something both Disney CEO Bob Iger and Pixar CCO Pete Docter have mentioned in recent interviews.
From a business standpoint, this decision stems from a stark profit differential between Disney’s new original films and those that use existing intellectual properties. This is evident in “Elio” (2025), which earned just $20.8 million in its domestic opening weekend, the lowest of any Pixar debut. By comparison, the live-action remake of “Lilo & Stitch” (2025) made over $145 million in its U.S. opening weekend, setting a Memorial Day record.
Of course, these titles aren’t the only ones following a similar pattern, as many of the original films Disney has released have not gained as much popularity as their predecessors, including “Wish” (2023) and “Strange World” (2022). Their lack of success could be blamed on the surge in streaming service popularity, a lasting effect on moviegoers from the pandemic; however, it also stems from negative fan reception, with some feeling that Disney missed the mark with its storytelling.
An example of this was the public’s reaction to “Wish.” The film’s failure was monumental, since it was intended to celebrate Walt Disney Animation Studios’ 100th anniversary. When the film’s concept art book was released, images of the original sketches went viral, with many people online expressing that they wished Disney had stuck with the original plotline. Perhaps the studio scrapped that plotline because it was trying to move away from the traditional fairytale damsel-in-distress trope. Many of the company’s recent films feature female leads who do not engage with romance, including characters like Moana, Raya from “Raya and the Last Dragon” (2021) and Elsa from “Frozen” (2013). It seems like the studio has become almost afraid of writing romances, suggesting that being a strong female lead is antithetical to romance.
The studio is conflating critiques of its new films with a perceived lack of public interest in original IP. If Disney can learn anything from Sony’s “KPop Demon Hunters” (2025) becoming a cultural phenomenon, it’s that audiences want creative, new ideas. As Sony receives praise for its other projects, such as the “Spider-Verse” trilogy, Disney needs to recognize that audiences want inventive animation styles, well-written stories and original ideas. Even Sony did not believe in “KPop Demon Hunters,” as the film was only set for a straight-to-streaming release on Netflix. Yet, the positive critical reception it received, along with its popularity among general audiences, indicates that viewers are eager for new creative projects.
Since the new trailer for Disney’s upcoming live-action remake of “Moana” dropped three weeks ago, many comments foretell a negative reception of the movie. Perhaps this time will finally be different, as the film will be competing with several other popular blockbusters over the summer. Maybe, if the film flops, it would finally indicate to Disney that audiences want new, original projects, but I would remain cautiously optimistic about that.
