Disney Animated Films
Topic: Pixar: Disney's Cash Cow? (The Aftermarket Thread)

#	Author	Message
21	leemac Sun 6/21/2009 1:00p	^^ They do try to do stuff outside the box - DCP produced that expensive Wall-E robot - it just didn't sell. The Disneyshopping.com warehouse still has crates of the $270 white elephant. We recently moved home and we have a mountain of paper products that I had to sort through. I came across boxes of Walt Disney Gallery catalogs and I had forgotten what an incredible array of merchandise that they produced. And they only ever had 5 stores I believe (and a few concessions-within-Disney Stores). I think you are completely right - diversity is key. Everything is so same-y these days.
22	Mr X Sun 6/21/2009 1:44p	Who exactly did they expect to market a $270 item to? Doesn't seem like something you'd plunk down your cash for just to give to a child (that would fall into "big purchase" range like a bike or something...I just can't see a kitchy robot appealing to the parentals). So who? Collectors? I guess my point is something with a price like that isn't a great example, since it could be the coolest thing in the world and still not sell (having said that, there was this really cool Eve robot and I came *this* close to buying it...but I do take cost into consideration and it was nearly $100...money I'd rather spend on a nice dinner or weekend trip or something).
23	Mr X Sun 6/21/2009 1:47p	***I think you are completely right - diversity is key. Everything is so same-y these days.*** Yup. Sadly, Tokyo Diz has succumbed to the generic as I'm sure you are aware...searched the whole bloody park the other week for a "DisneySea" T-shirt, just a simple one, to no avail. Now it's nothing but character crap and special event crap (same crap in every store even!).
24	Socrates Sun 6/21/2009 8:00p	If Disney could market an "Action Bed" for Bedknobs and Broomsticks, they can market toys for Up. Socrates "The unexamined life is not worth living."
25	TheRedhead Mon 6/22/2009 9:39a	""<<The makers of "Bolt" did it. They made a hit with extremely marketable characters. >> Do you think so? I thought that the characterizations were rather formulaic and the look was very homogeneous." Of any movie Disney has had recently, I thought they'd go nuts with Bolt. It had a wise-cracking hamster who rolled around in a ball for Pete's sake! Perfect opportunity. Also, the show-within-the-show was that Bolt was on a hit tv series. So why not market toys as if you're making toys for the series? Go over the top. Have fun. Be daring. And you also had a sullen, sarcastic cat. If we learned one thing from Garfield, it's that people will buy sullen sarcastic cat crap. I'm just saying that there was -some- opportunity to think outside the box, but instead I only saw a plush dog, a plush hamster, and a plush cat. And I was looking! Booooooooring. That's my point. If I'm Pixar, and someone in Disney management is saying that I need to make my films more toy-friendly, I would counter with the fact that they can't seem to sell toys for the ones that could be toy-friendly. Or at least make something that sparks the interest of the buyers at large. So what's the point? Just let me make my art. I'd also like to know how soon merchandising and theme parks get involved in a picture. And does everyone get to provide creative input for the fun stuff that lasts long after the movie's out of theaters? The theme parks especially seem tragically behind the curve. Oh... "Is this Aloha Stitch? He is my favorite toy - I absolutely love him." Yep. Best. Toy. Ever.
26	Kar2oonMan Mon 6/22/2009 10:57a	I truly, honestly believe that the secret to after-market success is really the same as the secret to making a successful feature film: Engaging characters, and most importantly, a great story. The reason that the Disney "brand" means anything to people is because the "magic" is made up of personal memories and the emotions those compelling characters and stories bring out in people (or consumers, to be crass). I think over-engineering these films and getting too far out in front with the merchandising angle is what became something of a turnoff for Disney feature animation. As a parent, i started feeling a bit worked over by the ceaseless Happy Meal promotions, the toy commercials, the catalogs all before a film was even released in theaters. I mean, they're wanting me to plunk down hard-earned money of Pain and Panic toys from Hercules 6 months before the thing hits theaters. As an audience member, that tells me where the priorities are. In other words, I think you have to earn permission from the audience to sell them after-market products. You deliver the goods in terms of a solid movie with wonderful, imaginative characters and then once we've gotten to know each other, I'll want to buy them for the kids in my life. Is that hopelessly naive? Or is it long term thinking? The Pixar brand has become every bit as important as the Disney brand. Thus far, the Pixar brand seems to show a little more restraint, whether by plan or by happenstance, than the Disney brand did in the 1990's in terms of the marketing overkill. And the sad part of that is that the feature animation Disney created in the 90's was really terrific stuff that will stand the test of time. It's just that the marketing overkill made it easy to forget that the films themselves had heart and style and were much more than an excuse to sell plush animals and action figures.
27	trekkeruss Mon 6/22/2009 11:13a	"The Pixar brand has become every bit as important as the Disney brand. Thus far, the Pixar brand seems to show a little more restraint, whether by plan or by happenstance, than the Disney brand did in the 1990's in terms of the marketing overkill." That may be true for most of the Pixar films, but CARS merchandise is everywhere and on everything you can imagine.
28	Kar2oonMan Mon 6/22/2009 11:25a	Yes, but who is leading that charge? Was that Pixar or Disney;s marketing machine? And either way, it's an example that seems to underscore what I was getting at -- the film has compelling characters and a good story (I know that isn't universally agreed upon, but I liked the movie a lot, so there.) and the merchandise becomes a hot must-have toy. My young nieces and nephews were visiting us this weekend. They have never been to a Disney park, but they love the movies and Disney Channel. It was interesting to see what films they connect with. One of my nieces is 3 and a half, and watches Lilo & Stitch again and again. She LOVES LIlo, yet there isn't a whole lot of Lilo merchandise out there (certainly not in comparison to all the Stitch merchandise, let alone Cars stuff).
29	DlandDug Mon 6/22/2009 11:35a	Incredibly enough, what ultimately dictates whether a film or video or TV show has a strong after market is the consumer. The creators can do everything they can to come up with cute characters that will translate well into plush or PVC. Marketing can sell every license in the book, from stuffed toys to fiberglass fishing rods for girls (don't laugh-- there's a full line of Disney fishing rods [Princesses to Hannah Montana] ON THE SHELVES). The merchandising folks from each manufacturer can sell through on the pre-orders and assure end caps in every retail outlet in the country. Every strategic alliance can be leveraged to the hilt (that's the tie in with Coke, the interstitials on every network the parent company owns, the blow-in cards in magazines and the special coupon packed into every DVD in release for six months). Experts can be hired to create a viral campaign that gets the stuff placed on YouTube, FaceBook and HuffPo. You can even get public officials to endorse (or deplore, depending on the positioning) the product in the news. But in the end, if the people don't buy it, it's all for naught. The idea that Disney can create (or force Pixar to create) productions that will guarantee after market sales is really kind of silly. If ANYONE could do that, we'd never have all those Mummy action figures and Ratatouille cooking sets and Road to El Dorado video games clogging the aisles at the discount toy store. It's the consumer who ultimately makes Cars a phenomenon, and relegates anything by DreamWorks to 3-6 months on the shelf.
30	Scottydem Mon 6/22/2009 12:19p	Finding Nemo is THE BIGGEST Disney movie money hog to date, even beating Lion King, and it def. deserves that title. However, I do think the franchise would be ruined if a sequel presented itself. I hope the day they decide Nemo 2 is possible never comes. I firmly think, well know, the last successful Disney-only movie was Mulan. And that was what 1999? It has been 10 years since a semi decent Disney only film has been made to make big bucks. What a blunder coming out of the Disney Decade.

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