I suspect that studios, within possibly a film cycle or two, are quite aware of what makes a good return on investment and what doesn’t. One problem is that Hollywood pays (far) more attention to international sales than before and what sells “there” might be less interesting “here”. So if they make stuff that fails to sell anywhere they’ll give up on that kind of thing.

So it comes down to what the international return of “family” movies are vs what’s being made now. If you want mild stuff, throw lots of cash at the box office or streaming service. And you have to outspend the rest of the world.

Oh, and Lord of the Rings had a lot of violence and discussions of Evil. And that’s ok? What about the Harry Potter flicks, as I recall lots of people thought them inappropriate at the time (witchcraft)?