During Thanksgiving 2024, Moana 2 shattered box office records, further solidifying Disney's dominance over the holiday weekend. Since the 1988 hits like Three Men and a Baby and Oliver & Company, Disney has consistently used Thanksgiving weekend or the pre-Thanksgiving weekend as a prime launchpad for major animated and live-action releases. The studio's Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar titles have often led the charge, but live-action hits like Unbreakable and The Muppets have also found success during this time.

Uncover the Surprising Box Office Failures of Disney's Thanksgiving Releases

The Rescuers Down Under: A Pre-Thanksgiving Setback

As the Disney Renaissance was in full swing with Oliver & Company and The Little Mermaid, The Rescuers Down Under arrived on the pre-Thanksgiving weekend in 1990. It faced tough competition from the family movie Home Alone and was quickly overshadowed. The weight of this competition proved too much, and the film never managed to rebound during the longer holiday season. Jeffrey Katzenberg, the head of Disney Animation at the time, pulled all advertising for The Rescuers Down Under after its disastrous opening weekend. This marked a brief setback for Disney before they went on to dominate with titles like Toy Story, Beauty and the Beast, and Aladdin in the 1990s.The failure of The Rescuers Down Under served as a reminder that even Disney, with its track record of success, could face setbacks. It showed that even the most beloved studios can have a movie that fails to connect with audiences.

Out Cold: A Dumb Comedy That Didn't Cut It

Out Cold is a snowboarding comedy that came from Disney's adult-skewing Touchstone Pictures division. In the early 2000s, extreme sports movies were dominating theaters, but Out Cold failed to make a splash. With Zach Galifianakis in a supporting role, this film was one of the many dumb comedies that audiences and critics rejected. It failed to clear $15 million worldwide, highlighting the difficulty of getting audiences to connect with certain types of movies.The Touchstone Pictures label had found success with other silly comedies like Wild Hogs and Bringing Down the House, but Out Cold was unable to follow in their footsteps. This failure showed that even within Disney, not all movies are guaranteed to be hits.

Treasure Planet: The End of an Era

Today, Treasure Planet has a dedicated cult fanbase that praises its groundbreaking animation techniques. However, in November 2002, it was a historic flop for Disney. The film cost $140 million to produce but failed to clear $110 million worldwide, losing gigantic sums of money for the studio.Its failure played a significant role in the decline of hand-drawn animation at Disney. It also signaled the end of the studio taking risks on costly action-oriented family animation. Treasure Planet showed that even with a great concept and impressive animation, a movie could still fail to connect with audiences on a commercial level.

Old Dogs: A Family Comedy That Didn't Bark

Wild Hogs was a big success in 2007, and Disney naturally wanted to finance more projects from director Walt Becker. His follow-up, Old Dogs, was a family comedy that was critically savaged. It made less than a third of the domestic gross of Wild Hogs, showing that even with a familiar team, a movie could still fail to resonate with audiences.After this Thanksgiving box office dud, Disney and Becker did not immediately collaborate again, highlighting the importance of a movie's success in determining future projects.

The Good Dinosaur: Pixar's First Bomb

With The Good Dinosaur, Pixar Animation Studios returned to Thanksgiving after a long break. But unlike their previous successes, this movie did not achieve the same box office success. It became both Pixar's first true bomb and the first title from the studio to make under $360 million worldwide.The Good Dinosaur remains the lowest-grossing pre-2020 Pixar movie in history, showing that even Pixar, with its reputation for excellence, can have a misstep.

Strange World: The Biggest Box Office Bomb of 2022

Even Treasure Planet fared better than 2022's Strange World. This movie was the biggest box office bomb of the year, failing to reach $74 million worldwide despite its high production costs and opening during a usually winning time for family-oriented Disney movies.Estimates suggest that Strange World could lose as much as $197 million for Disney, highlighting the financial risks associated with big-budget movies.

Wish: A Princess Musical That Missed the Mark

Strange World's failure could be attributed to it being an oddball Disney Animation title. But Wish, a princess musical, also failed to connect with audiences in 2023. Despite being designed to be a crowdpleaser and an ode to Disney's past, it ended up losing the studio $131 million.This showed that even with a familiar formula, a movie could still fail if it doesn't resonate with audiences. Disney's decision to turn to a reliable franchise like Moana for their next Thanksgiving blockbuster shows their recognition of the need to return to what works.