Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

Summary of 2009 Films

Metascore Breakdown Good / So-So / Bad:
31,56,13
Quality:	Performance:
C	C+

Although Disney finished in fifth place in domestic receipts among the six major studios, 2009 was a solid year for the studio, marking an improvement (by over $200 million) over a last-place 2008 performance. Disney experienced similar growth overseas, boasting its fifth-best year ever in foreign receipts.

The studio will continue to increase its total output of films -- especially live-action movies -- in 2010, thanks in part to a new five-year distribution deal with DreamWorks. As part of that deal, Disney's Touchstone unit will release six DreamWorks films this year.

Disney can boast the best overall quality out of all major studios in 2009, with a decent average Metascore of 55.3 and two "great" releases: the animated hit Up and the Japanese import Ponyo. In fact, animation appears to be what Disney still does best; only one of its animated films -- the guinea pig spy adventure G-Force -- failed to connect with reviewers or Metacritic users. The studio fared poorly when it attempted to make movies for more adult audiences, however, with comedies Confessions of a Shopaholic and Old Dogs tanking with audiences and critics (although the Sandra Bullock rom-com The Proposal at least made money).

In the Score Distribution chart, half of all scores (from the 25th percentile to the 75th percentile) fall within the shaded box, with the vertical line in the middle of the box representing the median. The Metascore is a weighted average of scores from top professional critics, on a scale from 0 (bad) to 100 (good). The User Score is an average of scores submitted by Metacritic users, on a scale from 0 (bad) to 10 (good).

Per-Film Average is the average domestic gross of all films released during 2009, and includes receipts through January 25, 2010 for films still in theaters. Rank indicates the studio's ranking among the six major studios. Sources: Box Office Mojo, The Hollywood Reporter, and Metacritic staff research.

* Domestic Gross includes box office receipts through January 25, 2010 for films still in theaters. The Metascore is a weighted average of scores from top professional critics, on a scale from 0 (bad) to 100 (good). The User Score is an average of scores submitted by Metacritic users, on a scale from 0 (bad) to 10 (good). Source for grosses: Box Office Mojo.