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Why doesn't Disney make anymore animated movies with male protagonists who are 18-25?

Aadiboy

Aadiboy

Member
Nov 4, 2017
3,640
I'm talking along the lines of Aladdin, Hercules, Tarzan, hell, even TLK even though all the characters are animals. The most recent animated Disney movies with male leads are Big Hero 6, which stars 14 year old Hiro, and the Wreck it Ralph duology, which stars a middle-aged video game character. Neither of which are really what I'm looking for.

The last movies that fit my criteria are Brother Bear, Treasure Planet, and Atlantis. Are the failures of those movies the reason we don't get Disney movies with male adult leads?

I mean, I can't complain about the quality of recent Disney animated movies, most of them have been great hits. But during the Disney Renaissance they were producing great movies with both male and female protagonists, so it's weird that they kind of just stopped doing that.
 
Richiek

Richiek

Member
Nov 2, 2017
12,063
Disney bought Marvel and Star Wars precisely because they had trouble appealing to the male demographic compared to the female demographic with their animated features.
 
JCHandsom

JCHandsom

Avenger
Nov 3, 2017
4,218
Maybe because the popular current and past genre movies are absolutely riddled with white guys aged 18-25, in all mediums, for centuries, and the current creative and marketing environment favors a broadening approach towards diversity as globalization expands markets and marginalized groups are able to utilize technology to promote themselves, their cultures, and their work.

Apparently "Where are all the young, white, male heroes?" is something people are actually asking.
 
Soneji

Soneji

Banned
Oct 29, 2017
1,454
People don't care about the problems of young men unless they tie romance to it or sometimes if it's an animal. All those successful young male stories have romances pretty up and center and/or have an anthro character. The other ones failed without the romantic element and Atlantis managed to be bad enough to fail with it.



Jarmel said:
Zootopia?
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Judy is the protagonist and she is 25, Nick is the deuteragonist and he is 33.
 
OP
OP
Aadiboy

Aadiboy

Member
Nov 4, 2017
3,640
Honestly guys, this isn't a bait thread or anything. I'm not lamenting female led Disney movies, I think Zootopia and Moana are the best Disney movies since 2000. And obviously males lead the vast majority of movies and are in no way underrepresented. I'm just saying, instead of Hiro and Ralph, why not a character who is Aladdin's or Hercules' age?
 
kinoki

kinoki

Member
Oct 28, 2017
1,697
Onward, Aladdin, The Lion King, Spider-Man: FFH (not technically Disney but Marvel), ... but the real question is: how many are enough? It's by far the most common demographic represented so isn't that enough?
 
gsab1

gsab1

The Fallen
Oct 28, 2017
207
Treasure planet under preformed, animated movies are made for children and young boys/teenagers have many things that are made for them already.
 

Deleted member 4461

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Oct 25, 2017
8,010
JCHandsom said:
Maybe because the popular current and past genre movies are absolutely riddled with white guys aged 18-25, in all mediums, for centuries, and the current creative and marketing environment favors a broadening approach towards diversity as globalization expands markets and marginalized groups are able to utilize technology to promote themselves, their cultures, and their work.

Apparently "Where are all the young, white, male heroes?" is something people are actually asking.
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OP only said male, and used Aladdin as an example

Aladdin ain't white

To answer OP tho, probably as the other dude said - that's what Marvel/Star Wars is for, I guess.
 
Ziltoidia 9

Ziltoidia 9

Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,141
Cultural changes occur which causes story changes. Maybe it is worth looking into developing a new one with a return to this type of character, and use them in a different light? Though mostly that demographic I don't think was ever Disney's bread and butter? Specifically that age demo?
 
Sandfox

Sandfox

Member
Oct 25, 2017
24,743
Disney made a big push for that audience during the post-renaissance era and didn't find notable success again until Princess and the Frog. Now they seem to focus their own projects towards the Disney Princess audience, while they use Marvel properties to appeal to everyone else. They clearly make attempts to blur that line though.

Richiek said:
Disney bought Marvel and Star Wars precisely because they had trouble appealing to the male demographic compared to the female demographic with their animated features.
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This.

HStallion said:
Why isn't Disney making more films about old men?
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You joke, but Up was a good movie.
 
Soneji

Soneji

Banned
Oct 29, 2017
1,454
Treasure Planet's failure, due in part by Disney's own failure at marketing for it, was really the end for young men starring in their films. It's unfortunate, because it was refreshing to have those themes of father abandonment and male bonding, with no romance for the male lead even hinted at. At the end of the movie it's his mother he is dancing with.
 
Ziltoidia 9

Ziltoidia 9

Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,141
Also, the thought that just getting rid of that type of character isn't going to fix it, when the thought is that charactors of the demo were used in a way to conform to gender roles. I feel like a better course is to change the way the character acts, not just delete the whole demo.
 
kirbyfan407

kirbyfan407

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,102
Do characters like Flynn from Tangled and Kristoff from Frozen not count? I get that they're not the MAIN characters, but they are protagonists. Flynn in particular is central and there to make Tangled more appealing to younger boys. (I'd love to bring up Maui from Moana since he's central like Flynn, but I'd say he acts more like he's in his 30s and he's technically super old.)

If not, Onward is coming out next year with two young male leads, Soul has a male protagonist (though I think he's older), and we also just got Toy Story 4, which is all about Woody (is he too old?). If we're not counting Pixar, I'd find that odd, since I'm pretty sure Disney is looking at their movie lineup on the whole, rather than each studio individually.

If you're asking why we don't get more musicals with a main male lead...I'm guessing they find more success if they target younger girls primarily. Merchandise sales of the Disney princesses is also presumably way higher than sales of Hercules (the character) and Aladdin (the character) ever were. Meanwhile, Marvel is heavily dominated by men and probably does crazy numbers for merchandise. (Of course, Disney is trying to expand the gender diversity here, too.)

Overall, if you look at Disney's animation as a portfolio, I think they have a decent mix.
 
Soneji

Soneji

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Oct 29, 2017
1,454
Disney seems to go through trends in an era, this ones is the middle aged, jaded with life man, usually bonding with a younger woman/girl(Ralph, Nick, Maui).
 

Deleted member 42102

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I can see where you're coming from OP but the Marvel movies are riddled with em but in regards to animation. They probably figure they already produce so much content for that target demographic they don't really feel the need to pump out movies for em? Not saying it's the case but it's all I can think of at the moment.

But as a PoC, I often wonder this same question about black male protagonist between these ages. We hardly seem em if ever and lord knows it's even worse for black women. In regards to corporations just being corporations though, all these companies are starting to realize the profitability of the slightly untapped white woman market.

Still want my dark skinned male Frozen counterpart called Melted. I'll be waiting Disney!
 
kirbyfan407

kirbyfan407

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,102
Soneji said:
I was actually just thinking about Flynn and went to look up how old he is...apparently he is 26. Just missing that cutoff heh.
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Ah, interesting. I'm guessing there are other Disney protagonists who don't make the cutoff. This is a total assumption, but I thought Ariel and Moana were both likely slightly younger than 18. (Perhaps it's only Moana.)
 
Wanderer5

Wanderer5

Prophet of Truth
The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
10,982
Somewhere.
Well, it's Pixar, but there is Onward, where at least one of the brothers is probably in that age range (I think Tom Holland's character is a bit younger).
 
Sandfox

Sandfox

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Oct 25, 2017
24,743
Ojhe said:
I can see where you're coming from OP but the Marvel movies are riddled with em but in regards to animation. They probably figure they already produce so much content for that target demographic they don't really feel the need to pump out movies for em? Not saying it's the case but it's all I can think of at the moment.

But as a PoC, I often wonder this same question about black male protagonist between these ages. We hardly seem em if ever and lord knows it's even worse for black women. In regards to corporations just being corporations though, all these companies are starting to realize the profitability of the slightly untapped white woman market.

Still want my dark skinned male Frozen counterpart called Melted. I'll be waiting Disney!
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Yeah, Spider-Verse especially has me wanting to see Disney put out a film with a black male lead. I think Princess and the Frog is the only movie with a black lead we have gotten from them in general.
 
Ziltoidia 9

Ziltoidia 9

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Oct 25, 2017
6,141
I guess it just comes down to what is profitable. MCU is more compatible with a wider age range while not many males identifying in that age range would care that much to watch classic Disney style animation movies. I still feel though writing good characters should be done regardless, but since Disney didn't really write characters like Spider-Man, they aren't exactly being creative.

Male characters aren't inherently bad, it was how they were written for the longest time. Only way to break the mold is to break the mold.
 

Deleted member 5359

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Aadiboy said:
Honestly guys, this isn't a bait thread or anything. I'm not lamenting female led Disney movies, I think Zootopia and Moana are the best Disney movies since 2000. And obviously males lead the vast majority of movies and are in no way underrepresented. I'm just saying, instead of Hiro and Ralph, why not a character who is Aladdin's or Hercules' age?
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Onward?
 
Sou Da

Sou Da

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
16,738
Aadiboy said:
Honestly guys, this isn't a bait thread or anything. I'm not lamenting female led Disney movies, I think Zootopia and Moana are the best Disney movies since 2000. And obviously males lead the vast majority of movies and are in no way underrepresented. I'm just saying, instead of Hiro and Ralph, why not a character who is Aladdin's or Hercules' age?
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I gave you an upcoming movie.
 

Deleted member 42102

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Sandfox said:
Yeah, Spider-Verse especially has me wanting to see Disney put out a film with a black male lead. I think Princess and the Frog is the only movie with a black lead we have gotten from them in general.
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Spider-Verse would be such a tough act to follow though sheesh. I'd hate to be whoever's tasked with topping that. Considering they just lost their youngest character I'm assuming Ms. Marvel (Kamala) will be taking up this role or maybe Nova (Sam)?
 
Seesaw15

Seesaw15

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Oct 27, 2017
8,809
Because they own marvel/star wars so they got the 18-25 demo covered and when they tried to make animated films starring them they bombed.

Young kids are more appealing tbh.
 
OP
OP
Aadiboy

Aadiboy

Member
Nov 4, 2017
3,640
Onward looks cool, I guess I should include Pixar as well, even though their movies kind of have their own feel. Though this thread made me realize I'm really looking for a fairy-tale musical with a male lead. Though everyone here has kind of pointed out that Star Wars and MCU already cover this demographic pretty well, so it makes sense they make the choices they do on the animated side.
 
Sandfox

Sandfox

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Oct 25, 2017
24,743
Ojhe said:
Spider-Verse would be such a tough act to follow though sheesh. I'd hate to be whoever's tasked with topping that. Considering they just lost their youngest character I'm assuming Ms. Marvel (Kamala) will be taking up this role or maybe Nova (Sam)?
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Riri Williams would be an interesting choice as well.

For live action it will most definitely be Ms. Marvel unless one of the younger X-Men break out or something.

Marvel doesn't do animated films, so they're perfectly free to use Spider-Man characters in their animated projects.
 
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