One thing we've seen but not previously commented on are widespread complaints that Disney failed to promote animated film Strange World, which resulted in a huge theatrical $100 million (US) loss.

Lightyear not being awesome and some of the Strange World teasers also underwhelming we had assumed that it was just a dud film and Disney had wisely cut their losses. But it having arrived on Disney+ we've now seen it and are puzzled.

It's actually very good.

And not just for its big gay Disney first of an openly gay animated main character.

The average Rotten Tomatoes critic rating is a slightly dire 6.4 out of 10 and the IMDb.com average is 5.5.

We reckon it deserves more like 8.

Many not-enough-promotion complainers accuse Disney of wanting to avoid queer controversy.

But possibly this is one of those cases of science fiction made for science fiction fans, not being completely understood or appreciated by a wider audience.

And especially following Lightyear's poor performance, Disney pre-emptively pulled the rug out from underneath it.

Understandable albeit unfortunate.

It's both visually and narratively delightful.

Especially keeping in mind that this is a family film intended to be understood by children, the story isn't overly complex but is well told and engaging.

Including timely social commentary about problem solving, like a scene with three generations of this family sitting down to play a new board game.

Grandfather and father wanting to kill their way past a problem and the game spanking them for it because the goal is a diplomatic solution.

Violence is still at the core of most video games but there is growth in non-violent options and it's interesting to see that possibly reflected here.

We also appreciated it avoiding tired tropes.

No spoilers here because this was revealed prior to release, the grandfather had been missing for a very long time and never met his grandson.

Conversing about a boy the grandson has a crush on, we braced ourselves for the old-person-reacts-negatively-to-homosexuality routine.

Didn't happen.

Grandfather wasn't surprised or bothered in the slightest.

We understand this trope being rooted in real world generational attitude differences towards sexuality and the potential value of showing an older character adjusting their views on it.

But this film isn't set on Earth and it's nice sometimes just to see sexuality represented but a complete non-issue.

Strange World is streaming now on Disney+.

[ Main Image: Strange World. Credit: Disney via IMDb.com. ]

References

Donohoo, Timothy (November 16, 2022). Disney Is Sending Strange World Out to Die. CBR.com.

IMDb.com. Strange World. (viewed January 3, 2023)

Rotten Tomatoes. Strange World. (viewed January 3, 2023)

Rubin, Rebecca (November 26, 2022). Disney’s ‘Strange World’ to Lose $100 Million in Theatrical Run. Variety.

Wikipedia. Strange World (film). (viewed Januar 3, 2023)