Entertainment

POLL: Just 16 Percent Of Americans Prefer Current Disney Content As Company’s Favorability Sinks

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1 day ago

January 13, 2025

A new Rasmussen survey has provided bad news for Disney as the company attempts to reverse years of declining box office returns and diminishing interest in its streaming services. The new poll found that Disney’s current releases — a number of which have faced intense criticism over the inclusion of left-wing social issues in films marketed to children — are wildly unpopular when compared with the company’s classics.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey found that 47% percent of respondents believes that Disney content is currently worse than they remember it in the past. Just 16 percent of respondents believe the company’s entertainment has gotten better, while an additional 29 percent believe the quality is largely the same as it has always been. In terms of overall favorability, 49 percent of respondents indicated that they hold a positive view of Disney while 43 percent expressed a negative view, giving the company a net favorability rating of +6 percentage points.

According to the new poll, the company currently trails President-elect Donald in terms of favorability. According to the RealClearPolitics average of polls that measure Trump’s favorability, he is set to enter the White House with an approval rating 11 percentage points in the green. Trump’s unfavorable rating is also lower than Disney’s 43 percent, according to recent surveys from Insider Advantage and Harvard-CAPS Harris, which measured the president-elect’s unfavorable rating at 42 percent and 40 percent respectively.

‘Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny’ cost Disney more than $130 million due to a poor box office showing

The Rasmussen Reports survey highlights Disney’s box office and public relations struggles. In late 2022, the board of the Walt Disney Company ousted CEO Bob Chapek and replaced him with longtime executive Bob Iger, who ran the entertainment giant for 15 years before leaving just two years prior. The news came after shares of Walt Disney Company were down nearly 40 percent on the year after the company announced lower-than-expected for the final quarter of the fiscal year, including an astonishing $1.5 billion loss on its direct-to-consumer division, which includes the Disney+ streaming service.

Over a ten-film stretch from 2022 through the summer of 2023, the company had lost more than $1 billion over its last nine film releases, a stretch that included box office disasters like “Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny,” “Lightyear” and “Elemental.” The former accounted for a massive loss after it missed projections by a wide margin last summer. The film — which spotlighted the Toy Story character Buzz Lightyear — was projected to gross over $135 million in its worldwide opening. It ultimately pulled in just $85.6 million worldwide. The Pixar production was criticized by many parents and international fans for including a kiss scene involving a same-sex couple. Disney also incurred a $100 million loss on “Strange Love,” which contained similar themes.

The biggest Disney content disaster of the year was its “Star Wars” spinoff series “The Acolyte,” which featured a transgender actor, as well as a coven of Lesbian witches. The show was canceled after just one season, which cost Disney more than $250 million. In what has become a familiar routine, show runners and cast members blamed the program’s cancellation on sexism and racism from fans.

While Iger’s return has come with some successes — including a first year of profitability for the company’s streaming assets — Disney has struggled to bring stability back to its parks division, which has led to layoffs. In order to turn the company around, Iger has set up a committee that is tasked with finding a new chief executive. As part of the search to replace Iger, the company has tapped Morgan Stanley Executive Chairman James Gorman to lead the effort. Gorman has experience in succession planning, as he previously led a replacement search at Morgan Stanley.