The Death of Touchstone Pictures

0:00 [Music] in February of 1984 print advertisements began appearing in newspapers Across America announcing the creation of a brand new Venture from the Walt Disney Company touted as being the beginning of a new Disney tradition Touchstone films would be a brand new label which Disney would use to release films that were adult themed movies more mature than those released by it staple Walt Disney Productions the company's founder Walt Disney had created a brand that was synonymous with G-rated entertainment from 1939 into the 1960s the studio produced dozens of successful animated

0:45 and live-action films that won the approval of parents and kids alike and the term Disney itself began to invoke a specific connotation if a film had the Disney stamp of approval parents could feel comfortable taking their kids to see it despite the company's Monumental success Walt expr expressed some dissatisfaction with the brand he had boxed himself into upon the release of 1962's Academy award-winning drama To Kill a Mockingbird Walt reportedly held a private screening for his friends and family and expressed the desire to be able to make films of a similar nature the film dealt with topics like racism and criminal justice themes that Disney films had never previously dared to tackle but Walt's dream of making more mature films would never come to fruition as he passed away in

1:31 1966 after his death the Disney company did its best to push forward many projects that were put into motion under Walt's Reign were completed including the Jungle Book and the Florida theme park Disney World a string of feature films would be released in the following years that didn't deviate Too Much from the Disney formula but by the late 1970s the company was moving towards riskier projects that branched out into unfamiliar territory in 1976 Walt's son-in-law Ron Miller was appointed as the Studio's executive VP in charge of production serving as an executive producer on many of the company's films under his leadership 1979's the black hole was released a science fiction Adventure film that attempted to capitalize on the success of Star Wars Not only was this Disney's most

2:16 expensive film to date costing the studio an estimated $20 million but the film was one of the darkest that Disney had produced receiving one of the company's first PG ratings and featuring an all adult cast along with mildly violent scenes that were a far cry from the film of Walt's era while the film was nominated for several Academy Awards for cinematography and special effects the black hole was a box office disappointment being outgrow significantly by that Year's Star Trek film critical response was equally mediocre and some were questioning the overall direction that the company was going in you know I got to ask the question at least raise it can Disney make a good film anymore it's been a long long time since we've seen them by 1980 Studio Executives wanted to move even further into adult Orient content

3:02 but they understood that the Disney label could potentially confuse movie goers 1980s PG comedy Midnight Madness was released with only the buen a Vista distribution logo avoiding any reference to Walt Disney Productions the following year saw the wide release of Watcher in the woods a teen oriented horror film that had gone through extensive re-editing and re-shoot after a botched 1980 Premiere neither of these films were well received and the subsequent years would be Rocky for the studio as many of their fil films failed to land with critics and audiences alike the studio continued releasing family films but increasingly embraced more edgy content in an attempt to capture the growing teen Market a 1980 study by the motion Picture Association of America

3:47 found that 60% of filmgoers were between the ages of 12 and 24 and this demographic was far more likely to frequent films like Star Wars and Raiders of the Lost Arc than the latest Disney offering still Disney was eager to appeal to this demo and the studio continued producing films with dark themes in attempt to win their favor by 1983 however it was clear that this strategy wasn't working 1982's Tex based on the SE Hinton novel of the same name was a commercial disappointment and 1983's fantasy Something Wicked This Way Comes flopped majorly grossing only $8 million on a $20 million budget even 1982's Innovative Tron which Disney hoped would launch a franchise similar to Star Wars underperformed at the box

4:33 office and a string of bombs resulted in the studio losing an estimated $50 million between 1982 and 1983 subsequently Disney's stock dropped from $82 to $52 per share during the year of 1983 Ron Miller was promoted to president and executive chief of the studio in February of 1983 Miller had attended Walt's screening of To Kill a Mocking Bird back in the 1960s and wanted to fulfill his father-in-law's Wish by producing edgy your film films but understood that a change of approach was necessary it appeared that many filmgoers had become weary of the Walt Disney name assuming that anything the company released would be made for kids so it was decided that Disney would create a new distribution label that would release adult-oriented feature

5:18 films family films would continue to be released under the Walt Disney Pictures label while the new brand would release any film that was deemed too mature for kid audiences Disney enlisted San Francisco based Consulting business wordmark to help come up with a catchy name for their new Venture and out of 12200 potential names Touchstone films was chosen with silver wind coming in a close second the name was derived from a tool used to test the purity of gold and silver and Disney felt it was the perfect name for their new label as it emphasized the reputation of quality that Disney was known for with Touchstone Disney hoped to produce both adult-oriented dramas and teen movies but teen audiences had grown more sophisticated since the Heyday of Walt Disney they they saw Disney films as being childish something they would

6:03 attend with a grandparent rather than with a date Executives hoped that the Touchstone label could be used to leverage more of the youth film Market as their films would be released with no mention of Disney while Disney released Timeless films Touchstone aimed to release timely films quality movies that dealt with topics that Disney had never previously touched Executives touted films like Kramer versus Kramer Tootsie and ET as the standard and while they did not rule out the possibility of R-rated release es they did assure the public that their films would not include gratuitous violence or quote unquote tasteless themes touchstone's first release was 1984's Splash a PG fantasy comedy starring Tom Hanks and Daryl Hannah about a New Yorker Who falls in love with a mermaid Splash was an instant Smash Hit Upon its release in

6:50 March topping the box office at $6.2 million and generating Disney's highest grossing opening weekend ever Disney's prospects were Beginning to Look up but just as their luck was turning around the company would face an existential crisis that threatened to rip it apart several days after splash's release board member Roy E Disney nephew of Walt Disney and Son of co-founder Roy Disney announced his resignation from the company some suggested that his decision was a protest against the mildly sexual themes present in Splash a first for Disney while Roy would ultimately rejoined the company several months later his abrupt departure signaled turmoil on a larger scale many within the company Roy included were growing increasingly unhappy with Ron Miller's

7:36 leadership aside from its floundering Motion Picture division the Walt Disney Company had been the target of several hostile takeover attempts in the early 80s in the spring of 1984 New York investor Saul Steinberg came close to taking over the company buying shares with the intention of selling off all of the company's assets including its film library and theme parks Disney successfully thwarted this attempt by buying back his shares at a premium but just Weeks Later another investor attempted to do the same thing the legacy of Walt Disney was in Jeopardy and the company was at serious risk of being stripped for parts and dissolved as the head of the studio Ron Miller was given the blame and at the company's 1984 annual stockholders meeting Miller reportedly suggested that Disney would abandon films altogether if they didn't

8:22 have a hit by 1987 in September of 1984 under the guidance of Roy Disney the company's board of directors voted to oust Miller replacing him with former Paramount executive Michael Eisner who would serve as CEO Eisner later reflected that he knew very little about the company or its films having never watched their Classics like Snow White or Sleeping Beauty and this Detachment made many feel that Eisner was perfect for the job at Paramount he had gotten numerous hit films produced like Raiders of the Lost Arc and terms of endearment and his corporate philosophy was that a company had to take chances and innovate in order to succeed Warner Brothers executive Frank Wells was brought in to serve as president and the duo began the long process of trying to save the

9:08 sinking ship of the Disney Company the new leaders had their work cut out for them reportedly working 18-hour days to try to turn things around Eisner brought in Jeffrey Kats andberg from Paramount to serve as chairman of Walt Disney Studios but Reviving the company's Fortune would be no easy feat splash's success appeared to be a fluke as touchstone's next film a drama entitled country starring Jessica Lang was released in Fall of 1984 to good reviews but low box office returns while Splash helped bring Disney out of the red and into the black with a $2 million profit in 1984 1985 would be rough for the studio as nearly every film they released flopped touchstone's third film a fantasy Adventure entitled baby Secret Of The Lost legend received poor reviews

9:54 in mediocre ticket sales while summer of 1985 saw the Dismal failure of two of Disney's most ambitious projects turned to Oz and the Black Cauldron both films had faced grueling production schedules and Bloated budgets together costing the studio a whopping $72 million while only returning about 33 million touchstones My Science Project a teen comedy answer to Weird Science also flopped along with Walt Disney Productions Adventure film The Journey of Natty Gan which received rave reviews but grossed only $9 million on an $8 million budget Walt Disney Studios had taken a beating but Wells and Eisner were not giving up with the help of Investment Company EF Hutton Disney formed Silver Screen Partners 2 an entity which raised $150 million to

10:41 fund future Disney films Eisner and wells's goal was for Touchstone to release 8 to 10 films per year while Walt Disney Productions would release four desperate for another hit Eisner tried to Lobby the stars of Splash to return for a sequel and had reportedly been pushing for a Christmas 1985 release But ultimately this project never materialized this would be inconsequential for Touchstone however as Down and Out in Beverly Hills the first R-rated film ever produced by Disney was released in January of 1986 opening it number one at the box office and becoming the company's biggest hit since Splash grossing $62 million domestically on a $14 million budget the film was the first project green lit under the regime of Eisner Wells and kenberg and its high profit margin was attributed to Michael eisner's cunning

11:28 ability to keep film budgets low one of eisner's iies was to hire either upand cominging actors or formerly popular actors who were experiencing a career slump he favored stars who would work cheap due to their circumstances and B Midler was the perfect candidate as she had received an Oscar nomination for 1979's the rose but hadn't starred in a hit movie since after the release of down andout in Beverly Hills however Midler received some Oscar buzz for her role prompting Touchstone to sign her to a multi-film development deal in April of the same year Touchstone reached an agreement with the showtime Network to airit film library for 5 years a deal reportedly worth hundreds of millions of dollars that would give the HBO competitor access to 50 films starting with Down and Out in Beverly Hills the

12:14 deal was projected to have a significant impact on Disney's future earnings and touchstone's success appeared to be turning the company's luck around shortly thereafter Touchstone films was renamed Touchstone pictures in the studio released its next film another R-rated comedy entitled Ruthless People which proved even more successful than their last film grossing a whopping $71 million Disney's foray into edgy rated territory had some wondering if the company was getting too far away from its roots many wondered what Walt Disney would think about the company's new direction to which Roy Disney responded quote he probably might not have made some of those kinds of films but on the other hand I don't think he would object to our doing them we're always running around saying what would Walt think but he's not around to tell us so it's really kind of counterproductive to

13:00 wonder what he might have done as Touchstone was becoming a brand unto itself Disney created a television distribution Wing entitled Touchstone television in 1985 while their first series a western called Wildside was cancelled after a six episode run their next production The Golden Girls was a Bonafide hit becoming one of the most watched shows on television by the end of its first season as Touchstone was successfully reaching adult audiences Walt Disney Productions was beginning to see success again with two modest hits in the summer of 1986 six The Great Mouse Detective and Flight of the Navigator touchstone's fall release of Martin Square's The Color of Money was a box office hit and earned star Paul Newman and Academy Award for best actor the first Oscar win for Touchstone not only had Touchstone proved its ability

13:46 to produce commercially successful films but it was now becoming a competitive place for oture directors to bring their work while other Studios of this era were hitting a snafu with recycled franchises and sequels Touchstone desired to make unique Standalone films 1987 would see the release of touchstone's most successful film yet Three Men and a Baby which grossed $240 million worldwide along with Good morning Vietnam another commercial hit that earned its star Robin Williams a Golden Globe for best actor the comedian had recently gone to rehab for cocaine addiction leading to his salary quota dropping significantly in true Eisner form Touchstone swooped in and signed him for the film which grossed $129 million on a $13 million budget

14:31 Williams would later joke that Disney cast its movies by hanging out at the back door of the Betty Ford Clinic Touchstone successes coupled with a re-release of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs helped Disney end the year with the second biggest box office receipts a huge leap from 2 years earlier when they ranked 10th the box office along with the revenue from their re-released animated films Touchstone was bringing in the revenue that Disney desperately needed to amp up its development slate by early 1988 the studio had had five animated features in production animation had always been the Bedrock of the Walt Disney Company but their animated features output had been severely scaled back in the 1980s with only three releases making it to theaters from 1978 to 1987 Disney Animation would make a stunning return

15:18 in June of 1988 with the release of the animation liveaction hybrid Who Framed Roger Rabbit a touchstone release the Rob zamus directed film paid homage to Hollywood's Rich history of Animation incorporating character from the Disney archives along with memorable characters from Warner Brothers and other Studios Roger Rabbit was not only praised for its Innovation but it exceeded all commercial expectations earning a record $1.2 million in its opening weekend an all-time high for Disney and while the company was undoubtedly thrilled with the film's whopping final gross of $350 million worldwide Roger Rabbit's success signaled something far more profound than just money this was the beginning of a new era for entertainment and Disney would be leading the charge with a string of massive hits that would later be referred to as the Disney

16:05 Renaissance in November of 1988 it was reported that Disney was looking to win more Oscars Executives had reportedly been embarrassed by Robin Williams's Oscar loss early that year and they were ready to up the ante the following month Disney announced the creation of Hollywood pictures a third distribution Wing that would release films similar to touchstone's Output the studio aimed to release up to 12 films annually through Hollywood pictures nearly doubling its current production slate as a way of expanding its dominance during an industrywide downswing in Film Production several large film companies had halted production due to financial troubles and a shortage in films was projected Disney hoped to not only fill the void at the box office but also achieve more critical Acclaim by the late 1980s Touchstone had successfully captured the young adult Market that

16:50 Disney had sought so desperately releasing teen comedy hits like Adventures in Babysitting and Can't Buy Me Love as well as the earnest series starring Jim vanney the following years would be kind to the company as it was showered with huge hits critical Acclaim and Academy Award nominations alike 1993 saw the Touchstone release of a nightmare before Christmas and that same year Disney acquired Miramax an independent production company founded by Bob and Harvey Weinstein which produced Niche art housee films by 1994 Disney's Renaissance was at its peak animated films like The Little Mermaid Beauty and the Beast Aladdin and the Lion King were huge box office hits and coupled with Touchstone successful

17:35 releases the company was dominating competition under the leadership of Michael Eisner and Frank Wells the company as a whole had gone from bringing in $225 million in Revenue in 1984 to $4.5 billion in Revenue a decade later but several fateful events were about to occur that would change the course of the company's trajectory significantly it's a somber mood that hangs over the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank California today as Hollywood says goodbye to Disney's late president Frank Wells on April 3rd 1994 Walt Disney Company president Frank Wells was killed when his helicopter crashed during a hking trip in Nevada's Ruby mountains the shocking news not only sent waves through the company but also created a

18:22 power vacuum Studio chairman Jeffrey kenberg had long had his eye on wells's position and according to kenberg Eisner had promised him the position if Frank Wells was ever to leave however after wells's sudden death Eisner assumed the position himself serving as both CEO and president it had been reported that Roy Disney did not want kenberg to assume that position thus in October of 1994 it was announced that kenberg would be resigning from his position at the company while kenberg had built the reputation of being a ruthless executive who would stop at nothing to save the company money he had also overseen a Monumental growth in the company's history while 198 5's The Black Cauldron had grossed only $21 million at the domestic box office 1994's The Lion King

19:08 earned over 300 million in North America plus another $1 billion in merchandise sales in 1994 alone Disney was not a company that just made films anymore but was the creator of multimedia franchises that had the potential to bring in billions of dollars in profits despite katzenberg's departure Disney's animation Department continued its box office Reign and its new partnership with CGI animation house Pixar would bring even more success to the company with its first feature Toy Story grossing over $200 million worldwide in 1995 Hollywood pictures 1994 film quiz show received the division's first Oscar nomination for best picture while 1996's the rock a co-production with Jerry brookheimer films earned the studio a whopping $335

19:54 million worldwide capping off the decade Disney received two best picture nominations in 1999 with touch Stones The Insider and Hollywood pictures the six sense as a studio Disney had achieved far more than it had set out to it had transcended its reputation for family entertainment and produced not only huge box office hits for adults but critically acclaimed films that won awards and Prestige the six cents would go on to earn $672 million at the box office becoming Disney's highest grossing liveaction feature ever but its success would spell the end for the distribution label the distributor would release a handful of films in the early 2000s before going defunct by 2001 Touchstone continued to produce its standard 10 to 12 films a year but the

20:40 nature of the film business was changing while Disney's animation Department had done Gang Busters in the 1990s they had suffered a string of flops going into the 2000s and rumors were circulating that Disney would shut down its handdrawn animation division entirely while Touchstone signs the second film from six sense director ight Shyamalan did well at the box office Disney was lacking in the franchise Department its rival Studio Warner Brothers had developed two huge franchises with the Matrix films and the Lord of the Rings series which Michael Eisner had reportedly turned down the opportunity for Disney to produce Disney would receive exactly what it needed with 2003's Pirates of the Caribbean curse of the Black Pearl which was released under the Walt Disney Pictures label to huge numbers proof that the

21:25 studio could release darker films without deterring audiences with the Disney name 2003 would also see Disney's films receiving a whopping 44 Oscar nominations mostly through mirax the company's indie film division had grown to overshadow Touchstone which continued to release Standalone mid-budget films but wasn't achieving the success it once had as the biggest box office hits were now generally associated with major franchises and despite the success of Pirates of the Caribbean some were growing weary of the company's leadership as Michael Eisner had reportedly tried to shut down uction of the film due to its high budget Disney's previous liveaction feature based on a theme park Ride 2002's The Country Bears had been a huge flop leading Eisner to nearly cancel the film that would lead

22:12 to the company's biggest franchise yet amidst this drama in November of 2003 Roy Disney resigned from his role at the Disney Company in protest of Michael eisner's leadership who he blamed for allowing the company to lose its Competitive Edge in creativity the company had eliminated its handdrawn animation Department in in favor of CGI in 2004 and some felt that Eisner had squandered the company's money on fruitless Ventures like the purchase and rebranding of the ABC Family cable channel by 2005 Michael Eisner had resigned as CEO of the Disney Company being replaced by former ABC president Bob Iger while Eisner had helped save Disney from ruin in the 1980s his micromanagement and divisive leadership style were blamed for lowering morale

22:58 within the company but regardless of 's job performance his departure would foreshadow some major changes at Disney in 2006 Disney significantly reduced its investment in Touchstone opting for the label to produce just two to three films per year the company cited the rising cost of Film Production and a desire to focus more on films released under the Walt Disney label in 2007 Touchstone Television was renamed ABC Studios the studio had produced numerous hits for various networks through the 1990s and 2000s but the touch Stone name was losing its potency Disney decided that a rebranding was necessary to streamline its corporate identity as they also dropped the buen a Vista distribution Name by 2008 the Touchstone label was being phased out completely it film's

23:45 Miracle at St Anna and Swing Vote were released that year to lackluster results grossing a combined 36 million after 66 million was spent on budgeting and marketing costs the Touchstone brand would ultimately be saved in name only the following year when when Disney announced a long-term distribution deal with DreamWorks the company founded by Steven Spielberg and Jeffrey kenberg after his departure from Disney Touchstone would serve as a distributor for six liveaction films per year from the company for a total of 30 Films the partnership proved successful with several films achieving both commercial and critical success but as the years passed Disney shifted its business model even more in favor of big franchises phasing out smaller films entirely in 2013 Disney and Jerry brookheimer films

24:31 announced that they were mutually ending their partnership brookheimer had begun producing for Touchstone in 1994 with the crime comedy the ref and had continued with films like Conair Armageddon and Pearl Harbor before hopping over to Disney to produce the Pirates of the Caribbean films by the 2010s however Disney had moved away from producing the types of projects that brookheimer specialized in their latest film The Lone Ranger had flopped big time and with Disney's acquisition of Pixar Lucas film and Marvel the studio was far less reliant on Independent Producers while brookheimer had reportedly tried to convince Disney to fully resurrect Touchstone as a proper Studio to produce his films they refused to do so their decision would mirror the rest of the film industry as big studios were increasingly less inclined to make

25:17 original adult-oriented films not based on existing intellectual properties in 2016 DreamWorks released their final film under the Touchstone label the Light Between oceans which fulfilled their contract before DreamWork signed a new deal with universal this would officially be the end of Touchstone as the 30-year-old Studio was finally laid to rest the death of Touchstone pictures marked not only the end of the distribution label that helped save the Disney company but also the end of the original Studio film by 2019 virtually all of Disney's theatrically released films were part of some existing franchise any non-franchise films were relegated to their streaming service Disney plus and initially this Choice seemed to pay off between Marvel Star Wars the flagship

26:03 studio and its recent acquisition of 20th century Productions Disney saw seven of its films surpassed the1 billion doll Mark at the global box office in more recent years however Disney's success has begun to wne theater shutdowns from the covid pandemic resulted in huge drops in overall box office numbers in 2020 and 2021 and by 2023 the industry was finally beginning to recover with films like Barbie the Super Mario Brothers movie and oen grossing roughly a billion dollars a piece but no films from Disney's vast collection of companies and franchises were able to break the one billion doll Mark with Guardians of the Galaxy volume 3 being their only Bonafide hit for the year high-profile releases like The Little Mermaid Indiana Jones and the dial of Destiny the

26:48 Marvels the Haunted Mansion and wish all produced disappointing box office receipts with many wondering if Disney could ever recover to its former preco glory as of now only time will tell but despite its abandonment of non-franchise films it can't be denied that Disney wouldn't be here today without Touchstone pictures and the original films It produced some of these movies have gone on to become beloved Classics While others have faded Into Obscurity but the overall existence of Touchstone opened the floodgates for new ideas giving artists opportunities to create diverse and daring projects originality and creativity are what built Disney in the early 20th century and also what saved it in the 1980s it may be necessary to bring these elements back to its film division for the

27:34 company to save itself once again if you'd like to see more videos like this please hit the like And subscribe button if you'd like to support me on patreon you can find the link in the description [Music]