Disney’s Strange World
This is a movie that is bursting with creativity and imagination, but creativity this far out of the box clearly shook Disney’s confidence in the film.
Strange world doesn’t really do anything super new when it comes down to story. Its a very basic and predictable father son and grandson story that has been told a million times. The charm of the movie is the journey not the destination.
The cast of characters is also a nice change in the Disney universe to have a family dynamic that isn’t the typical story book life but perhaps more like real life. An interracial couple, a 3 legged dog and a gay son. The one good thing about it is that it is treated as normal. Basically another opportunity to normalize gays in society which I can respect as I enjoy seeing interracial couples in films treated normally. Its just the way to normalize something is to just have it without putting a giant “I’m Gay!” scene in there. For instance the best way to handle it is how The Mitchells vs the Machines did it. It was clear the character was gay but there wasn’t a seen that specifically pointed it out. Every other aspect of the movie is played out like normal but the scenes where they establish that the kid is gay feel cringy because it feels forced.
The casting here is also not very perfect. Jake Gyllenhall does a great job with his character, its really the grandfather that is a major role but I feel like Dennis Quad just wasn’t right for the look of the character. I would have casted Kurt Russel instead, other than that the voice acting feels like it fits.
You most likely have heard that this movie isn’t very good due to the fact that Disney released it in theaters and immediately released it on streaming, which guarantied that it would fail at the box office. Some political folks will say its because of the gay character was to edgy to have with the recent issues with Disney and Florida laws. I honestly think its because the creativity in this movie just about crosses the line from interesting creature design to straight up nightmare fuel. If I saw this as a child it would give me nightmares. Aside from the tentacle monster villains that are from a Cthulhu nightmare even the peaceful animals in the background are frighting. The dear creatures with the tentacle head is creepy as hell. So where I agree some executive freaked out about the gay content in the story, the other side of this is the fact that the creature are scary in here when you get to the end and finally understand how it all comes together it makes sense but its still terrifying.
The final outstanding thing about this film and the reason why you should watch it, is the animation. It is some of the best animation that I have seen. Not just character movement but the lighting and textures are outstanding and amazing. Its a shame that the amazing work in this film might be overlooked because the lack of confidence that Disney has in the project.
Overall this movie is great for movie night but I suggest parental guidance first. The creature design might scare the little ones. Otherwise the animation is great and the story is good. Kids will enjoy the reveal even if parents see it coming. I suggest everyone give this film a try if you have Disney Plus that is the place to watch it at since the theater experience can be expensive for families.