Attaining commercial success in a creative industry is a very difficult endeavor. Unlike technical problems which have a clearly defined goal and limitations on how to get to that goal, the creative arts have no limits and no direction. So, what exactly makes for a commercially successful artist. Putting aside the cynical aspect of how industry connections are required in certain creative arts fields, let’s theorize exactly what makes an artist become popular in the modern day. Perhaps, in order to become widely successful, one needs to be wildly innovative. The artist needs to create work that is different from what has come before so they can stand out from the crowd. While this holds some truth, it is a falsehood to say that the most innovative artists are the most successful. Rather, these artists are usually quite unsuccessful (commercially speaking) though they tend to attract cult following of dedicated fans. On the other hand, perhaps to be successful, an artist needs to be intentionally derivative. See what people like from previously popular work and copy that. While this also is partially true, when given the choice between the imitation and the original, most people will stick with what is tried and true. Then, we have determined to be commercially successful is to be innovative and derivative. In other words, to walk the thin line between experimental and cliché, so that a “new” work of art is created. One that is accessible enough to be enjoyed by the masses but novel enough so as not be considered dull. Succeeding in this feat is obviously much harder said than done and it becomes even more difficult when you consider the general aversion to risk that big corporations have when they cannot pinpoint a specific goal that risk is being taken towards.
Consider the Disney Entertainment Empire. In the past year, the Disney Corporation has seen many of their theatrical releases flop continuing a trend which began with the COVID-19 pandemic shutdowns. One proposed reason for these flops is that Disney simply is not innovating. This is due to a variety of factors. With the success of their live-action remakes of classic movies, Disney associated safe and guaranteed success with existing IP’s. This assurance made the business side of Disney hesitant to pursue radically new ideas because they fundamentally saw the way to profit as create extremely derivative work. In other words, the business heads saw creative innovation as a risk that was not worthwhile considering they had a whole backlog of movies that they could milk for cash from remakes. This idea of turning back to the safety of derivative works is so ingrained into Disney that they are getting outcompeted by historically much weaker studios such as Sony Pictures Animation with the Spiderverse films. Ironically, this philosophy is antithetical to Walt Disney himself who was a lifelong innovator. Not only does Disney’s lack of innovation make their own movies bland and uninspired, it has left them with no clue of where to go. An excellent example of this aimlessness is the studio 100th anniversary film Wish which flopped at the box office and looks like a watered-down version of the classic Disney animation in films like Sleeping Beauty. Additionally, Wish is filled with many easter eggs which pitifully attempt to call the viewer attention back to more beloved past works. While it is true that innovation inherently involves risk, when an experimental movie fails, a conclusion can be drawn. The audience reaction can help the company gauge where they should go next. Through innovative risk-taking a new strategy and direction can be plotted. If Disney only looked at their own history, they would learn this very lesson. The studio was in worse peril in the 1980s facing a similar problem with high budget films failing. However, they made a smart bet trusting Alan Menken and Howard Ashman to create The Little Mermaid which paved the way for the Disney Renaissance and decades of success. While the Disney renaissance was in some sense a return to the fairytale roots of the company, it also updated the tried-and-true format to modern Broadway sensibilities incorporating showtunes which are instantly recognizable today. This combination of derivation and innovation created something new and interesting which led to success. To conclude, the Disney Empire is not going to crumble anytime soon even if they lose some money in the short term. In the end, they will be forced to innovate having no more old properties to turn to. When this happens, the world can look forward to another Disney renaissance laying just around the corner.