The Walt Disney Company has a lot to be optimistic about for its feature film presence in the coming year. While Disney had a respectable showing of its own at the 91st annual Academy Awards last night, coming home with four Oscars, the combined Oscar take-home of every studio the company will own once it’s acquisition of Fox properties is complete came in at 11 awards total.
The critically acclaimed blockbuster Black Panther earned 3 of Disney’s wins; the film won the Original Score, Production Design, and Costume Design categories. Pixar’s Bao also scored a win for Disney in the Best Animated Short group.
Fox’s seven Oscar wins were in large part due to the success of Bohemian Rhapsody, which claimed four Oscars alone including a Best Actor win for Rami Malek’s portrayal of Freddie Mercury. Along with the Queen biopic, Fox also gained wins from Fox Searchlight’s The Favourite (Lead Actress) and Skin (Live Action Short Film) as well as Best Documentary for National Geographic’s Free Solo.
Disney’s acquisition of 21st Century Fox properties should be nearing its conclusion, and while The Walt Disney Company can’t take credit for Fox’s 2019 success, it does bode well for them that they are picking up some extremely relevant studios. What remains to be seen is whether these Fox properties, or Disney’s own studios, can maintain their quality and pump out such successful films over the course of this major corporate transition.
Image: Disney
