The Marvels (2023)

[pengbuzz]

I don't despise Disney, at least not until recently. I'm a stockholder, for crying out loud. I watched my stock go into the toilet because of this crap. My shelves are full of classic Disney movies. I want them to go back to making what they used to make. They just don't want to.



Their breadth is paper-thin. Here is the problem that I think they are having, at least in part, because this is the problem that a lot of companies are having. Because we, as a society, have allowed public schools to become left-wing indoctrination centers, where they teach more about politics than they do getting kids to read, that most kids come out as nice little socialists, who go marching off to work, if they can find anyone willing to take them and their stupid gender studies degrees, and they think that they get to push their beliefs on others, instead of doing what their employers want.

Over the last couple of weeks, I've been going through my daughters' rooms, since both of them live on the east coast now, and in my oldest daughter's room, I found homework from college, where she was required to write a paper on how gender is fluid and anyone can be anything they want to be. This wasn't in a sociology class or anything, this was in an English class. The social programming is a real thing. Luckily, she came out of it thinking it was just as stupid as I do, but the pressure to conform is extremely strong. Then they go out into the real world, where a lot of them just can't handle it, and they take those programmed biases right into the workplace.

Disney, and most other companies, have to hire these people and these people are like locusts. They move around and destroy everything they touch. It's not long until everything just goes to hell. This is going to get a lot worse before it gets better because we have an entire generation of these little socialists infesting everything.



Back then, they just wanted to entertain people. Now, they want to "educate" them. It's why these movies are all failing, because people don't want to be educated, they want to be entertained. We don't care about the message, we care about the product. Companies need to realize that they have made a massive mistake buying into any of this. It has harmed almost every company that has gone down that road.

I say good.

Either that or they end up going into the ground, and this current crop of people end up sitting around a pile of rocks blaming everyone else for the failure of the human race.

 

[Captain Dunsel]

so how long until apple buys them? That's the new conspiracy right?

The stock price has not yet hit rock bottom …Apple can patiently wait to purchase them, if they really want to.

 

[batguy]

I don't think that people necessarily need to be fired in order for changes to be made. All it takes is a directive/order from high up in the pecking order to say no more and things will start changing. But, as I said previously, it's going to take time. This isn't the kind of thing that you'll see changed overnight. It's going to take them time to first figure out what they want changed and to what degree, then it's going to take time for the changes to take effect since there will already be projects near or ready for release that have been made under the previous model.

I'm certain that it's going to change because this messaging and this extreme DEI is costing the company money and Disney, like every other corporation out there, is in the business of making money. If one of the top execs of the studios doesn't want to make the changes, you can bet that Eiger will step in and order them to enact the changes, and it's Eiger who's insisting on no changes, then the board will almost certainly step in and fire him because it's hurting their share prices. So, one way or another, someone, at some level of the company, is going to enact changes if only to raise the bottom line.

But that's what I'm saying. I don't think the directive will come from higher-up.

Maybe Iger will say "Okay, back off on the wokeness". But what he won't say, is this: "Start making real compromises in this quarter's box office returns in order to invest in the long-term quality of the franchise". And the latter is what needs to start happening.

More likely is that Iger will fire Feige and/or Kennedy. I mean, he's gotta punch down in the blame game. He needs some fall guys right now. It will help him convince the shareholders that he's changing something.

But who will Iger put in their place? Less wokeness + same crap quality in general = not much box office improvement.

I don't think Disney's box office will start looking GOOD again until many of the heads at the top have rolled. At least Kennedy, Feige, and Iger. And probably some more people immediately below them who were hired for being similar to them. This process probably has a few more years to go as they desperately try everything under the sun to avoid doing what's necessary.

By that time Apple may own Disney. Bob Iger probably won't keep trying to fight the inevitable bad press anymore. He already got rich and accredited for screwing up Disney. That period is over. Now all that's left is a lot of hard thankless work for less pay if he stays there trying to fix it. He will take his last ridiculous paycheck and bail. Let some other sucker clean up that mess.

 

[Cephus]

I saw that on the news as well; so they're finally admitting what we knew all along, eh?

I can't wait for all of the fawning fools that make excuses for it.

 

[Tan Djarka]

Okay, I finally saw it. I know I'm late to the conversation, and I haven't read the entire thread, but... At the risk of rehashing what's already been said, here are my impressions:

Based on the trailer(s), it looked like the place swapping might be confusing or distracting. It wasn't. The musical/singing planet? Stoopid. Evacuating the space station using the flurgen(?). Interesting, but ultimately... Meh. A few times, though I can't think of anything specific, some moments seemed a little forced or agenda driven (if you know what I mean). Finally, that moment between Carol and King Valkyrie. Maybe it's just to satisfy my prurient interests, but I'd be okay with that being explored a little further.

Bottom line? I don't think it's the dumpster fire of a train wreck some are making it out to be. While it's not the best the MCU has to offer, it's probably not the worst either (I'm lookin' at you Thor:Love and Thunder). It's a mindless high spirited romp that kept me mostly entertained.

I don't know what the issue is with the MCU right now. Is it like the progression toward Endgame, where we don't have a clear picture of where everything is going? Or is it like the Star wars universe, where they literally have no idea where it's going? I'll stick with it a little while longer. Either it's going to get better, or the whole thing will collapse under it's own weight.

I now return you to the hate fest, already in progress...

 

[pengbuzz]

Okay, I finally saw it. I know I'm late to the conversation, and I haven't read the entire thread, but... At the risk of rehashing what's already been said, here are my impressions:

Based on the trailer(s), it looked like the place swapping might be confusing or distracting. It wasn't. The musical/singing planet? Stoopid. Evacuating the space station using the flurgen(?). Interesting, but ultimately... Meh. A few times, though I can't think of anything specific, some moments seemed a little forced or agenda driven (if you know what I mean). Finally, that moment between Carol and King Valkyrie. Maybe it's just to satisfy my prurient interests, but I'd be okay with that being explored a little further.

Bottom line? I don't think it's the dumpster fire of a train wreck some are making it out to be. While it's not the best the MCU has to offer, it's probably not the worst either (I'm lookin' at you Thor:Love and Thunder). It's a mindless high spirited romp that kept me mostly entertained.

I don't know what the issue is with the MCU right now. Is it like the progression toward Endgame, where we don't have a clear picture of where everything is going? Or is it like the Star wars universe, where they literally have no idea where it's going? I'll stick with it a little while longer. Either it's going to get better, or the whole thing will collapse under it's own weight.

I now return you to the hate fest, already in progress...

Not making back what it cost to create it would be one. Having more woke forcibly rammed down one's gullet is yet another.

 

[dascoyne]

I don't despise Disney, at least not until recently. I'm a stockholder, for crying out loud. I watched my stock go into the toilet because of this crap. My shelves are full of classic Disney movies. I want them to go back to making what they used to make. They just don't want to.

If you're a stockholder then you, of all people, should be hoping, even against all hope, for Disney to recover, no?

I, too, was a big shareholder in Disney, but I sold every last share early into phase 4. With what they were doing across the board with their IPs the writing was on the wall. Phase 4 was only the last straw.

 

[joberg]

The current zeitgeist:

 

[joberg]

 

[AJTaliesen]

IMO there probably won't be any serious change at Disney until a lot of people have been fired. That hasn't happened yet.

Sad part is that they have fired a lot of people, but instead of starting at the top, they started at the bottom. As if firing the guy who plays Mickey in the friendship fair is what’s going to right the ship.

 

[Cephus]

If you're a stockholder then you, of all people, should be hoping, even against all hope, for Disney to recover, no?

I, too, was a big shareholder in Disney, but I sold every last share early into phase 4. With what they were doing across the board with their IPs the writing was on the wall. Phase 4 was only the last straw.

Of course I am. Now Disney isn't a big part of my portfolio, I have lots of other profitable investments that more than offset their stupidity, but yes, I want them to get back to being a profitable company.

They just don't seem interested.

 

[Cephus]

Sad part is that they have fired a lot of people, but instead of starting at the top, they started at the bottom. As if firing the guy who plays Mickey in the friendship fair is what’s going to right the ship.

Of course they did, because the people who need to be fired are the people who decide who gets fired. That's a recipe for disaster. They need Nelson Peltz to come in and start chopping heads from the leadership.

 

[Riceball]

If you're a stockholder then you, of all people, should be hoping, even against all hope, for Disney to recover, no?

I, too, was a big shareholder in Disney, but I sold every last share early into phase 4. With what they were doing across the board with their IPs the writing was on the wall. Phase 4 was only the last straw.

Unless you're needing to cash out soon, right now is a very good time to invest in Disney, that is if you think they'll be able to right their ship. This is because investment 101 says buy low, sell high, So right now is a good time to buy Disney stock because you can buy more for your dollar. Selling now would mean a loss since the shares were most likely bought at a much higher price. In fact, if you have a 401K or own any mutual funds, there's a fair chance, depending on what exactly they invest in, that you have any number of shares of Disney stocks in your account(s) now, depending, once again, on what kinds of investments your accounts go for and whether or not the ones managing the accounts feel that Disney will eventually rebound.

 

[Riceball]

Sad part is that they have fired a lot of people, but instead of starting at the top, they started at the bottom. As if firing the guy who plays Mickey in the friendship fair is what’s going to right the ship.

These firings aren't about righting the ship, it's about cutting costs. While they could cut the jobs of the top people and save tons of money that really doesn't work because those people would need to be replaced and above a certain level, you can't cheap out on their pay because nobody wants all of that responsibility while getting paid (relatively) little for it.

 

[dascoyne]

Unless you're needing to cash out soon, right now is a very good time to invest in Disney, that is if you think they'll be able to right their ship. This is because investment 101 says buy low, sell high, So right now is a good time to buy Disney stock because you can buy more for your dollar. Selling now would mean a loss since the shares were most likely bought at a much higher price. In fact, if you have a 401K or own any mutual funds, there's a fair chance, depending on what exactly they invest in, that you have any number of shares of Disney stocks in your account(s) now, depending, once again, on what kinds of investments your accounts go for and whether or not the ones managing the accounts feel that Disney will eventually rebound.

Fortunately, I don't use the stock value as a bellwether. I abide by the Peter Lynch school of thought and, with what Disney was undergoing internally, the quality of their IP's films, their future projects and prospects, their unfortunate situation with the Hulu acquisition from Comcast, their moves against DeSantis that harmed the theme parks, the effects of COVID on profitability of their Cruise Line etc ... I thought it best to move out before the stock started to really nosedive, and I am glad I did.

I've been a long time shareholder in Disney before the acquisitions, and I bought more during MCU phase 1. I would have been in the black even if I held it and waited until today to sell. Typically I do ride out the storm and buy during dips but, that is only with companies with which I have long term interest in holding. For the aforementioned reasons Disney's bad management and corrosive internal culture make it hard to hold my interest in keeping Disney any longer. As I mentioned earlier, I didn't (and still don't) see Disney digging themselves out for a long time, if at all.

I see unrealized lows up ahead which would be a better time to buy, if you're so inclined. And I have no doubt there will be some degree of rebound at some point but, for me, the question is whether or not Disney is going to reach the highs of the past or not. So far I am not seeing that potential. In the meanwhile I maximized my profits and invested in more promising stock.

 

[pengbuzz]

The big problem right now is that Disney's reputation is tarnished on several fronts. One of the danger of having such reputation is that they could make a wonderful movie that would "bomb" at the box office because of said reputation.
The viewing public would not bother going to the theaters...maybe the streaming could save that movie...maybe.
When you're putting fast food films for so long and having back to back...to back failures

Especially when folks are struggling to put food on the table period, no one wants to spend money on movies that ram woke ideology down the windpipe.

 

[Cephus]

Fortunately, I don't use the stock value as a bellwether. I abide by the Peter Lynch school of thought and, with what Disney was undergoing internally, the quality of their IP's films, their future projects and prospects, their unfortunate situation with the Hulu acquisition from Comcast, their moves against DeSantis that harmed the theme parks, the effects of COVID on profitability of their Cruise Line etc ... I thought it best to move out before the stock started to really nosedive, and I am glad I did.

I saw the writing on the wall a long time ago and sold off a lot of my stocks that were customer-facing and moved into stocks that were producers of goods or raw materials. I bought heavily into lumber futures just before Covid and that was a fantastic investment as lumber usage skyrocketed. Disney is one of the few companies I hang onto, mostly so I can watch what they're doing and yes, I hope someday, they get better, but I don't think that's going to happen any time soon.

 

[joberg]

Unless you're needing to cash out soon, right now is a very good time to invest in Disney, that is if you think they'll be able to right their ship. This is because investment 101 says buy low, sell high, So right now is a good time to buy Disney stock because you can buy more for your dollar. Selling now would mean a loss since the shares were most likely bought at a much higher price. In fact, if you have a 401K or own any mutual funds, there's a fair chance, depending on what exactly they invest in, that you have any number of shares of Disney stocks in your account(s) now, depending, once again, on what kinds of investments your accounts go for and whether or not the ones managing the accounts feel that Disney will eventually rebound.

That the counsel that usually works: in case of panic/problems; start buying their stocks. It's bound to go up

 

[joberg]

Is someone finally waking up?

 

[Cephus]

View attachment 1766583

Is someone finally waking up?

No, he's been saying that for a long time and then doubles down on messaging. He knows what the problem is, he just won't do anything to change it.