'Frozen,' 'Muppets' and Disney's tuneless marketing
Disney's Oscar-winning animated musical "Frozen" recently passed $1 billion at the worldwide box office. Almost $400 million of that came from North America, where Disney focused its entire marketing campaign around a goofy snowman.
"Frozen," now available on home video, isn't really about that snowman. It's a musical about two sisters, based on the fairy tale, "The Snow Queen." So why did Disney barely mention this in the weeks preceding its November theatrical release?
Nobody in the studio will freely admit to it, but let's call it like it is: Their marketing strategy was designed to trick boys and their parents into seeing a "girl" movie. Girl movies just don't sell like they did back in the golden age of Disney animation, at least according to that one time Disney didn't make gobs of money from one.
That case in question was 2009's "The Princess and the Frog," a 2D animated musical that Disney heavily promoted as a return to the tradition of classic princess stories. Despite a warm critical reception, it only made $104 million at the domestic box office, and it led to another shutdown of Disney's 2D animation department.
It also deepened a trend where Disney marketed its movies based on what it thought audiences would pay to see, rather than what the movie was actually about.
The story of "Rapunzel" became "Tangled," and the trailers for the movie made prominent use of the film's adventurous male lead.
The Disney/Pixar movie "Brave" couldn't hide its plucky heroine from the marketing, but there was little mention of the film's central mother-daughter conflict.
And "The Snow Queen" became "Frozen." Queue the hilarious snowman antics, and hold your tongue about letting anything go.
As a person who liked all these movies, I'm disappointed that Disney believes it needs to trick people into seeing good films about strong female characters.
Stranger yet, Disney doesn't believe people will pay to see musicals anymore - the very thing adult audiences associate most fondly with the Disney brand. Initial marketing for "Tangled" and "Frozen" didn't even hint at the musical components that dominate the films.
Their newest release, this weekend's "Muppets Most Wanted," is also a musical, but you wouldn't know it from the advertising either. It's a direct sequel to a well-liked musical that won an Oscar for one of its songs, so what's the harm in selling the connection?
You could argue the marketing works. After the disappointing run for "Princess and the Frog," Disney's new male-friendly, music-free strategy helped "Tangled" net $200 million at the domestic box office and almost $600 million worldwide.
"Frozen" is an enormous hit too, but it didn't become one because of a snowman. The male-friendly, music-free marketing probably helped the opening weekend grosses, but "Frozen" is a phenomenon because of its music and the compelling female-centric storyline. You know, the stuff Disney didn't think would sell tickets in the first place.
While everyone inside Disney's marketing sweatshop will try to take credit for the movie's billion-dollar haul, in reality the studio simply lucked out. Last week, Entertainment Weekly ran a story about Disney's sluggish reaction to "Frozen" demand, including long-sold-out merchandise at Disney Stores and a lack of character presence in its theme parks.
After all, the boys they tricked into seeing the movie wouldn't want an Elsa costume or to wait in line at Disneyland for Princess Anna to stamp their autograph book.
Something tells me the lesson won't be learned. The sad fact is Hollywood is a male-dominated industry, and Disney is just a player within a biased system. I guess I should just be happy there are more female characters that break from the "damsel-in-distress" tradition in the Disney vault.
Disney did a good thing making a movie about two sisters who reject the chauvinistic trappings of fairy tales. I just wish they had the courage to stand up for it before the movie made a billion dollars.
Tyler Wilson can be reached at twilson@cdapress.com.