Today, I want to talk a bit about Strange World, Disney’s newest full-length animated feature film.
Strange World released last November, and it did not do well in theatres. Very few people went to see it, which is a shame. Admittedly, I didn’t see it in theatres either. I waited until it was on Disney+ because of the continuing pandemic issues (which are particularly bad here in Texas where the idiots live). But from what I’ve heard the biggest problem was the lack of proper marketing/publicity. No one knew the movie existed! Or when it was out in theatres! There were almost no commercials for it on tv, only a handful of ads on places like Youtube (where most people still skip ads), no merchandise tie-ins with McDonalds or toys released ahead of the movie (which is standard practice! Sometimes the toys start popping up a full 6 months or year before the movie comes out!). NOTHING.
It is believed by many (including me) that this was probably an intentional decision by some of the higher-ups at Disney. ‘Cause here’s the thing: Strange World features the first interracial married couple/family in a full-length Disney animated film. It features a gay main character, whose gayness is not remarked on by a single other person in the movie as anything but completely normal (though I will say that after the fact, I saw several articles claiming that this was Disney’s ‘first gay romance’ and it is no such thing. That is really overstating the matter. The character IS gay. It’s not subtext. He very clearly states that he has a crush on a boy. But that element is background detail to the actual plot. There’s no ‘romance’ involved). It also features a plot that is a very blunt, hard-hitting, unapologetic allegory for our current environmental crisis and our over-reliance on fossil fuels.
Certain parts of Disney audiences (such as me) have been demanding, for years, better representation and diversity in Disney films, which Disney higher-ups have been pushing back against in various ways — mostly due to a fear of losing more conservative audiences in the US, and the entirety of the very lucrative and very conservative Chinese markets. It’s all about the money.
So, Disney finally gives us what we’ve been asking for, a very diverse and progressive story in which they clearly told the animators: “have fun! Go nuts!” and the animators totally brought it. And then they don’t ADVERTISE THE MOVIE AT ALL. And, unsurprisingly, the movie TANKS at the box office because no one knows it exists. But now Disney can point to the abysmal sales and wave their hands and say: “see! You said you wanted this, but then no one came to watch it and it failed, which means no one really wanted it at all and we can go back to what we were doing! We tried! Really! It’s not our fault the market isn’t there for this kind of thing! Back to the old standbys!”
The Disney higher-ups wanted it to fail, so that they would have an excuse to not do it again. I firmly believe that. And it’s a shame because the actual creators: the writers, the animators, the voice actors, etc. absolutely WANT to do this kind of thing, and want it to work and do well. And frankly, they KILLED it with this movie. It’s fucking GREAT. AND NO ONE SAW IT.
Let me expound on the actual movie now, for a bit.
Strange World, Disney’s 61st animated feature film, was written by Qui Nguyen, directed by Don Hall, and stars Jake Gyllenhall, Dennis Quaid, Jaboukie Young-White, Gabrielle Union, and Lucy Liu. The first thing that appealed to me when I finally DID see any trailers or commercials about this movie was the great 30s or 40s style pulp scifi feel of it. It’s even a hollow-earth story! And the movie as a whole really holds up to that early vibe.
The movie opens in Avolonia, a country completely isolated by surrounding impenetrable mountains, with an economy and culture that has grown stagnant. The great explorer Jaeger Clade (voiced by Quaid) has made it his mission to cross the wall of mountains to discover what exists beyond their lands, and bring new hope for the future to Avolonia. To that end, he drags his teenage son, Searcher (Gyllenhall), with him (very clearly against his will). But when Searcher discovers a strange plant in the mountains that releases electrical charges, he and the rest of their exploring crew realize that the plant is the key to their future prosperity and decide not to continue the journey. Infuriated, Jaeger continues on alone while Searcher returns home with the plant they call Pando.
Flash forward 25 years, and Searcher is a Pando farmer, who is regarded as a hero for bringing this plant back to Avolonia and thus ushering in a new era of modern technology including enormous airships and all the things one might expect with electrical power. His wife, Meridian (Union), and his son Ethan (Young-White) work the farm with him. However, Ethan longs for adventure, unknowingly very similar to Jaeger, the grandfather he has never met, and who is presumed dead somewhere in the mountains. Ethan also has a massive crush on his friend Diazo – a fact that is treated with the same kind of “isn’t he so cute” attitude as if the crush were a girl rather than a boy.
Everything changes when Callisto – once a member of Jaeger and Searcher’s exploring crew and now the President of Avolonia – arrives on a massive airship, and announces that Pando is dying. In order to save their way of life, Callisto asks Searcher (the expert on Pando) to travel with her to an enormous hole they have found in the mountains that appears to lead to a hollow-earth-type place and what they believe to be the SOURCE of Pando. Unsurprisingly, Ethan stows away, and Meridian follows, and when the airship descends into the hole to find a wondrous, bonkers world that exists beneath the mountains, the adventure really gets going.
From there, a lot happens. They are attacked by various creatures. They, of course, find Jaeger who has been trapped in the hollow earth for the last 25 years. Ethan becomes more and more enamored of adventuring, making Searcher feel as if he is being abandoned again, just like his father left him all those years ago. And throughout it all, there is a message of learning to coexist with the nature and creatures around you, rather than simply steamrolling over everything and believing you know what is best for the world. The conflict comes to a head when the travelers realize that Pando might be hurting everything, and will ultimately lead to their doom even if it is expedient in the interim, and must make a decision about how they will face the future not only for themselves but for all of their people.
It is not a subtle message. And frankly, GOOD ON THEM. Sometimes the themes need to be heavy-handed if you hope to get anyone to even notice, let alone pay attention. Especially these days. And it’s a message that works, and is worth hitting you over the head with.
On top of that, it’s also just a really fun movie! There’s a lot of humor and running gags throughout the movie. The family conflict between Jaeger, Searcher, and Ethan is touching, and relatable, and comes to a satisfying conclusion. The action sequences are enjoyable. And visually, it’s a joy to behold. Like I said, the studio clearly told the set and creature design animators to just got to town, go wild and they did not hold back! They went as bonkers as they could manage, and obviously had a blast doing it, and the visuals are just STUNNING. Colorful, and strange, and imaginative, and funny, and just so much fun.
So, all of this is just to say, essentially: if you missed out on this movie in theatres, like most of us did, and if you maybe didn’t even know it existed, I highly recommend you go check it out now! It’s on Disney+ right now. Make a family night of it – pop some popcorn, turn the lights down, grab the kids (if you have them, lol), or settle in by yourself with a glass of wine (like I did), and enjoy! I promise you won’t regret it!
Amanda Haimoto Rudd 