We often talk these days of the unprecedented times that Disney is operating in. The company seems to be at the forefront of the culture wars — with accusations flying that Disney is no longer the “family-friendly” corporation it was designed to be.

In the past few months, Disney has become entangled in lawsuits with the governor of Florida, faced accusations from investors that its political involvement puts the company at risk, and faced criticism for adding R-rated content to Disney+.

In addition, earnings are not where investors would like them to be — largely because Disney’s relatively new streaming service, Disney+, is not profitable. Since Bob Iger returned to the company as CEO in November 2022, he has reorganized the company, and cut $5.5 billion in costs, including eliminating 7,000 jobs.

But, this is not the first time Disney has faced similar challenges. Let’s get in our time machines and head back four decades to the early 1980s, shall we?

The park then known as EPCOT Center opened on Oct. 1, 1982. The construction had taken more than 3 years, and at the time, it was the largest private construction project in the country. It was also a very expensive project, with an estimated cost topping $1 billion.

While attendance at EPCOT during its first year exceeded expectations, analysts were skeptical about the park’s long-term success (spoiler alert: they were wrong). In 1983, Disney launched its first cable network — the Disney Channel — and the expense of creating original content for the channel was also raising eyebrows.

By 1984, Disney had been in a 3-year earnings slide, and there was talk of a hostile takeover of the company. At the box office, Disney had struggled for more than a decade. In fact, at the start of 1984, Disney had not produced a major box office hit since Mary Poppins in 1966. There were a few moderate successes — movies like Robin Hood, Pete’s Dragon, and The Apple Dumplin’ Gang, but the real blockbusters of the era were made for more mature audiences — Star Wars, Jaws, Flashdance, Tootsie, Mr. Mom.

And that’s when Disney set out to make live-action movies for more mature audiences, too. Splash — featuring curse words and nudity — was the company’s first release for its new studio — Touchstone Pictures. “Mickey Mouse is growing up,” then-Disney CEO (and Walt’s son-in-law) told The New York Times in an article headlined “The Troubled World of Disney.”

If you haven’t seen it, Splash stars Tom Hanks as a man who falls in love with a mermaid named Madison, played by Daryl Hannah. He meets Madison when she saves him from drowning. Hannah is nude in several scenes, yet the movie was rated PG, because the nude scenes were deemed “non-sexual” and “essential to the plot.”

”We do have to deal with more contemporary, provocative themes,” Miller said in 1984. ”Four-letter words are all right, if it’s done in good taste and you come out of the theater with a good feeling. I would make an ‘On Golden Pond’ today, or ‘Kramer vs. Kramer,’ ‘Ordinary People’ or ‘Tootsie.’ ”

Disney executives were open about the idea that they were trying to capture a movie-going audience ages 15-24, who weren’t into animation and the company’s G-rated offerings. So, Disney bet on Tom Hanks and a nude Daryl Hannah for a box-office smash. 

And, the plan worked. Splash cost $11 million to make, and made $69 million at the box office. What’s more, it proved that Disney’s jump into entertainment for older audiences could work, and Disney rode that wave, making more Touchstone hits like Ruthless People, Down & Out in Beverly Hills, and The Color of Money. 

The successes re-invigorated Disney’s entertainment division and convinced investors that Disney could still win in the movie game. Michael Eisner took over from Miller as CEO of Disney in 1984, and stock prices started to climb from their historic lows. 

So, while we might think the challenges facing Disney right now are unprecedented, the company that has been around for 100 years has seen similar trials before. Keep following DFB for all the latest news about The Walt Disney Company!

Join the DFB Newsletter to get all the breaking news right in your inbox! Click here to Subscribe!

 

 

The post How Nudity and Tom Hanks Saved Disney first appeared on the disney food blog.