Part 6/10:
A critical factor behind Disney’s financial woes is their penchant for inflated production costs. Big-budget animated movies, often costing $200 million or more to produce, have become commonplace. While Marvel and Illumination studios under Universal are producing successful animated features with budgets around $90–$100 million, Disney remains entrenched in spending extravagance that hampers profitability.
The Competition: Illumination and Others
Meanwhile, studios like Illumination have set an example by producing successful animated hits on tighter budgets. The Minions franchise, the Nintendo movie, and The Mario Movie are prime examples of how smaller budgets can yield significant profits, even with modest box office numbers.