The pandemic has ravaged the box office, and streaming services have been on the rise. To keep up with the services like Netflix, Disney+ is taking Turning Red away from a theatrical debut, and putting it straight to Disney+ on March 11. This came as news to Pixar, who thought they would be part of the big box office comeback. 

Kareem Daniel, Chairman, Disney Media & Entertainment Distribution, released a statement to the media saying, "Disney+ subscribers around the world enthusiastically embraced Pixar's Academy Award-winning Soul and the critically-acclaimed Luca when they premiered exclusively on the service and we look forward to bringing them Pixar's next incredible feature film Turning Red." 

The statement went on to tell the story behind the move, saying, "Given the delayed box office recovery, particularly for family films, flexibility remains at the core of our distribution decisions as we prioritize delivering the unparalleled content of The Walt Disney Company to audiences around the world." 

While Disney seemed excited about the move, an unnamed Pixar staffer told Insider, "Until today, we all thought Turning Red would be our return to the big screen, and everyone at the studio was so excited about it being this film in particular. It was quite a blow."

It's safe to say Pixar's employees who worked on the movie were excited to see it on the big screen, but Disney always puts finances first. The company knows that streaming will get families signed up and that they'll be able to hold them and gain ground on larger streaming shares if they do. 

This is one of those things that's easy to understand from both sides. Still, the thing that worries me is Disney lacking any confidence that the box office would be normal by March, and not even shifting the movie's release but taking it directly to streaming. 

Let us know what you think about the situation in the comments. 

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