Box office Strange World grossed $38 million in the United States and Canada, and $35.6 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $73.6 million. which makes it
one of the biggest box-office bombs of all time. In the United States and Canada,
Strange World was released alongside
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery and
Devotion, as well as the wide expansions of
The Fabelmans and
Bones and All, and was initially projected to gross $30–40 million from 4,174 theaters over its five-day opening weekend. The film made $4.2 million on its first day (including $800,000 from Tuesday night previews), which led to less optimism about it meeting initial box office projections and could debut to as low as $23 million. The film ended up debuting even lower than initial re-adjustments, making $11.9 million in its opening weekend (a five-day total of $18.6 million). Overall, it ranked in second place at the box office behind Disney's own
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Several publications labeled the film a
box office bomb, with
The Hollywood Reporter saying was "the worst opening for a Disney Animation Thanksgiving title in modern times" and
Variety calling it a "catastrophic result for Disney". The low box-office opening was attributed to negative
word-of-mouth, large budget overall, the lack of movie theater attendance, the expectation of its streaming release on
Disney+ as the result of
COVID-19 pandemic, rocky company politics, conservative backlash over inclusion of gay characters, critical reviews, a vague and unremarkable premise, and lackluster marketing compared to other Disney animated films. Some analysts believe that then-Disney CEO
Bob Chapek's decision to send
Pixar's recent animated movies,
Soul,
Luca and
Turning Red, straight to Disney+ so that Disney could focus on building its streaming service caused consumer confusion for families. When
Bob Iger returned as Disney CEO prior its release, the distribution division - which was formerly led by Kareem Daniel - was quickly dismantled.
Strange World completed its theatrical run in the United States and Canada on February 2, 2023.
Streaming Strange World was the most watched movie worldwide on Disney+ for the last week of 2022 and the first two weeks of 2023. It topped the Disney+ chart in almost every country where it was available.
Critical response Audiences polled by
CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale, while those at
PostTrak gave it an overall positive score of 82%, including an average four out of five stars.
Strange World was the first film from Walt Disney Animation to earn lower than "A–" and is considered the lowest CinemaScore rating of all Disney animated films since 1991. Peter Debruge of
Variety wrote "it's the characters as much as the environment that make this vibrant,
Journey to the Center of the Earth-style adventure movie colorful and diverse in all the best ways. Great as the people and places they explore may be, however, the relatively unimaginative story consigns this gorgeous toon to second-tier status ... instead of cracking the pantheon of Disney classics." Lovia Gyarke of
The Hollywood Reporter praised the visuals, writing it was "meticulously and wondrously rendered by the
Strange World animators, who drew much of their inspiration from pulp magazines of the 30s and 40s. There's a painterly feel to the landscape, which, combined with the film's sci-fi bent, might trigger memories of Disney's
Treasure Planet." Tracy Brown of the
Los Angeles Times also praised the visuals as "vibrant, weird, visually stunning... From its lush palette to its cute and deadly flora and fauna, this strange, mysterious world is very much deserving of its status as the film's title character."
Richard Roeper of the
Chicago Sun-Times wrote while the film is not in the same category as "
Frozen,
Zootopia and
Encanto, it's a family-friendly fun fest with the expected ingredients of fast-paced action, ingenious visuals, terrific voice performances and, yes, some heaping spoonfuls of upbeat messaging about family ties, the importance of being true to oneself and how we should all take great measures to take care of not only each other but the world in which we live, no matter how STRANGE that world might be." Brian Truitt of
USA Today gave the film three stars out of four, stating
Strange World is "an enjoyable piece of vibrant world building that steps away from the musical bent of recent non-Pixar efforts like
Encanto and the
Frozen flicks." Odie Henderson of
The Boston Globe praised the film's environmental and father-son messages, as well as the "excellent voice-over work plus the score by Henry Jackman make the preachiness palatable and the film fun. The look of Avalonia's underworld is a lovely distraction; its garish and bright pinks, reds, and greens look lifted from the colored roofs of a suburban New Jersey neighborhood in the 1970s." For
The Washington Post, Kristen Page-Kirby found "the story is too basic and the characters too slight for
Strange World to pack a punch. The visual beauty of the film isn't enough. After all, pretty is as pretty does — and in
Strange World, pretty doesn't do much." Jacob Stoller of
Paste Magazine admitted that while the film "can be arresting—especially with its inventive setting and bulbous creatures—and its attempts at deconstructing the sweaty, macho-man ethos hawked by its inspiration are admirable. But with muddled themes and slight characters, remnants of the old dime magazines coordinate to bring
Strange World down on the wrong side of familiar." Cath Clarke of
The Guardian felt the characters "aren't half-bad", but the "clunky script feels like it's been re-drafted and re-drafted to the point of incomprehension – blowing any chance of conveying a message. However well-meaning, it makes for a surprisingly dull watch."
Accolades == Notes ==