Disney is by no means finished. Yet nor does it occupy the place in popular culture that it once did, where its every new release is a must-see. The recent, profitable trend for live-action adaptations of their most popular animated films is grinding to a halt, due to lack of material, and if you’re excited about Mufasa: The Lion King, then all I can say is that I’m very happy for you. What the company now needs is someone visionary, a Walt for the twenty-first century who will rise to the occasion of creating genuinely ground-breaking family films that make audiences want to head out to the theater again rather than shrug and say “I’ll wait for streaming.” But as long as Iger, Kathleen Kennedy and co. remain in place, such an outcome is extremely unlikely. Pinocchio may have wished upon a star, but the rest of us will be wishing for something quite different — and, alas, equally unattainable.
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