00:00Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for failed movies that have potential, until Disney got their hands on them.
00:20Number 10, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
00:30Topping Kingdom of the Crystal Skull shouldn't have been this hard, but maybe we didn't give Spielberg enough credit, since Disney's follow-up fumbled even harder.
00:40With a $3 million budget, the fifth indie movie was a costly disaster.
00:45James Mangold directing? Great on paper. Harrison Ford? Gave it everything he had in a standout performance.
00:50NATO? Wax and wood. Anything else? It's heavy.
01:02But even they couldn't save this sluggish final chapter.
01:05The action was bland, the new characters were predictable, and the whole thing felt like a setup for a spin-off no one asked for.
01:11All it offered were nostalgic reminders of past indie movies.
01:14What do you think?
01:17No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
01:19I'd take a bottle of water.
01:23Whoa!
01:25Oh, bring me the-
01:26Number 9, Mulan.
01:30This reboot had the chance to boldly reimagine the animated film.
01:38The new Mulan could have been a grounded war epic with heart.
01:41What we got instead was a soulless, sanitized version that forgot what made the original special.
01:46The once charming characters were now devoid of personality.
01:49The humor?
01:50Practically non-existent.
01:52Even the action scenes were ruined by amateur editing and camera work.
01:55Yes, commander.
01:56While they did toss in a few notes from Reflection, it felt more like a guilt trip than a tribute.
02:14The film's lack of soul undercut any attempt at being serious.
02:18When that happens, you're left with nothing worth remembering.
02:21Number 8, Strange World.
02:32Whoa.
02:34What are you-
02:36Oh, ah!
02:36Disney's hot streak in the 2010s ended fast, and Strange World was the proof.
02:41We will admit that the premise was interesting.
02:44A Jules Verne-inspired adventure that echoed Atlantis and Treasure Planet.
02:47Visually, the film also had some flair, but none of it mattered due to the bland characters
02:52and atrocious pacing.
02:54Oh, Ethan!
02:55Dad!
02:55Stay behind me.
02:56Who's he?
02:57Ethan, meet your grandpa!
02:58Dad's Jaeger's plane?
03:00The one and only.
03:01It didn't help that every emotional beat was undercut by bad attempts at humor.
03:05Disney wanted the film to be fun and meaningful, but both the sci-fi elements and characters
03:10lacked depth.
03:11What made it really sad is that nothing about it was exciting.
03:14For a film with such extensive world-building, it built nothing lasting at all.
03:18Dad!
03:20Get out of the way!
03:21Here they come!
03:27Number 7, The Lone Ranger.
03:31Hey, hold it right there.
03:36I'm afraid I have to take you in.
03:38After striking gold with Gore Verbinski's Pirates films, Disney thought throwing money
03:42at anything would make them rich, even an old western no one really cared about.
03:46The Lone Ranger had trouble written all over it from the get-go.
03:50Johnny Depp's casting was controversial, given his questionable connection to Native American
03:54heritage.
03:55The production budget had also ballooned to a whopping $250 million.
03:58Worst of all, the story just couldn't decide what it wanted to be.
04:12It dragged when it should have galloped, and not even the creative set pieces could stave
04:15off the boredom.
04:16Turns out, not everything needs a reboot.
04:18Number 6, A Wrinkle in Time.
04:39All the pieces were there.
04:41A beloved young adult novel, a visionary director, a star-studded cast, including Oprah Winfrey.
04:47Yet somehow, A Wrinkle in Time never found its rhythm.
04:50The special effects were out of this world.
04:52But when your visuals outshine your characters, you have a problem.
05:05Emotional arcs were also half-baked, leaning so hard into its moral lessons that it forgot
05:10to tell a good story.
05:11Disney banked on this being a huge franchise.
05:14Instead, it was one of their biggest box office blunders.
05:16Fans will just have to wait for the book to get adapted properly.
05:30Number 5, The Black Cauldron.
05:32This dark fantasy came when Disney animation was not so popular.
05:47In an effort to get teenage viewers, they worked on an adaptation of Lloyd Alexander's series,
05:52The Chronicles of Perdaine.
05:53However, cramming two books into one script should have been the first sign that it wasn't
05:57going to work.
05:58Several of the crew left due to such choices, including John Musker and Ron Clements, the
06:03duo who'd later direct The Little Mermaid and Aladdin.
06:0512 minutes were then deleted after they were told the film was too violent.
06:18What hit theaters afterwards was an awkward blend of horror and childish fantasy.
06:23Too shallow for teens, too scary for kids, and too muddled for just about anyone else.
06:27It's mostly remembered now for almost sinking Disney's animation department.
06:31And if that wasn't bad enough, it ended up losing financially to the Care Bears movie.
06:36Yes, the Care Bears movie.
06:40Munchings and crunchings in here somewhere.
06:43Guggy!
06:45You're alive!
06:46He's alive!
06:48Number 4, Tomorrowland.
06:50With George Clooney starring, and Brad Bird, the man behind The Incredibles, and Mission
07:03Impossible Ghost Protocol directing, Tomorrowland had every reason to succeed.
07:07But Disney aimed for the stars, and missed.
07:10The world's futuristic design was gorgeous, captured by Bird's distinct visual direction.
07:15We can tell that the filmmakers had a love for the original theme park land.
07:18However, underneath the shine, was pretty hollow storytelling.
07:33The plot meandered, the tone was awfully preachy, and lacked a sense of wonder.
07:37We were supposed to be transported to a new world, but it felt like we were stuck in a
07:41Disneyland commercial.
07:42Maybe the studio should stop pouring hundreds of millions into movies based on their parks.
07:46All right, that's enough.
07:52That's enough!
07:53Number 3, John Carter.
07:55Will I go?
07:58Go, damn you!
08:04This take on Edgar Rice Burroughs' Martian books should have been a hit.
08:08Sci-fi, romance, and action, all wrapped up in a classic pulp adventure.
08:12Andrew Stanton had the pedigree and passion after directing Finding Nemo and WALL-E.
08:17Unfortunately, his transition to live-action filmmaking proved rocky.
08:29Endless reshoots, a bloated runtime, and an abysmal marketing push killed any momentum.
08:35Even the title confused people.
08:37Was it a drama?
08:38A fantasy?
08:39Science fiction?
08:39No one knew who or what John Carter was.
08:42Many thought the film looked expensive, but also uninspired.
08:45It's no surprise that Disney buried one of its biggest flops in the dirt.
08:49Orc-o-hen.
08:52Orc-te.
08:55Weaves.
08:58Arsum.
09:00Arsum.
09:01Number 2, Wish.
09:03Isn't truth supposed to set you free?
09:06Or why do I feel so weighed down by it?
09:10We were all hoping this was going to be something special.
09:12Wish was supposed to be a celebration of Disney's 100 years of magic.
09:16The semi-traditional animation, classic musical numbers, and Oscar-winning lead Ariana DeBose
09:22seemed to represent everything Disney stands for, except it didn't.
09:26Nearly everything about it felt forced.
09:28The stylized mix of 2D and 3D animation looked unfinished.
09:32Oh, fantasy land in the sky, huh?
09:36How about Maryland?
09:39The perfect nanny for your horrible children.
09:43Popping this one!
09:45Making the film look like a knockoff of Disney's own films.
09:48Even the songs sounded like they were cooked up by an algorithm.
09:51They're catchy, sure.
09:52But none of them stir emotion like musicals are supposed to.
09:55In trying to pay homage to its greatest hits, Disney forgot what made them timeless,
09:59and settled for releasing a lackluster tribute.
10:02Hang it on the wall.
10:03In the dungeon.
10:04Please, no!
10:05The dungeon smells really bad!
10:09Long live the queen!
10:11Long live the queen!
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10:26Number 1.
10:29Artemis Fowl
10:30This one should have been a slam dunk.
10:40With so many beloved books, a built-in fanbase, years of anticipation, and a skilled director at the helm,
10:46Artemis Fowl had everything going for it.
10:48Things went sideways fast when the film finally released on Disney+.
10:52So what happened?
10:53For starters, the movie changes so many things
10:56that it's barely recognizable to fans of the book.
11:06So much of the original plot was dropped for clarity, but it still left viewers confused.
11:11We don't even know where to begin with the special effects and cinematography.
11:14Did Disney give up halfway through production and think we wouldn't notice?
11:17What could have been a smart, slick fantasy turned into a cautionary tale
11:21of how not to adapt books into movies?
11:26Everybody, stand back!
11:33It's feeding time!
11:35Were any of these movies just a few changes away from being a hit?
11:38Tell us which movie you think was the most likely to succeed down in the comments below.
11:41Those days are coming on.
11:44We'll see you next time.
11:45We'll see you next time.
11:45Bye.
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