Walt Disney Company Investor Conference Q1 2005 Overview

[Luke]

The Walt Disney Company's first Investor Conference of 2005 was held this past Monday and Tuesday. You can listen to all the activities on the <a href="http://media.corporate-ir.net/media_fil ... ml">Disney investors site</a>, but we've weeded through it all to summarize the items of interest to site visitors.

The Company expressed confidence in their plan to release two Platinum DVDs per year, but admitted they are still studying the line to determine what's best in terms of release and moratorium schedules. Last fall's DVD debut of <i>Aladdin</i> did not perform as well as <i>The Lion King</i>, which was the best selling re-release ever. The studio is looking to go through the Platinum cycle all over again when a high-definition DVD is established. Sales for the quarter were down in comparison to last year's which were driven by mammoth sellers <i>Finding Nemo</i> and <i>Pirates of the Caribbean</i>. Nonetheless, sales have remained strong and prices will remain static for now. One thing for certain is that we'll continue to see more direct-to-video movies, which have boasted double or triple-digit returns with recent successes like <i>The Lion King 1½</i>.

In the world of upcoming Disney films coming to theaters, a 50/50 breakdown between "Disney" and "Touchstone" productions is to be expected, which will mean more live action films released under the Walt Disney Pictures branch. This stems from the fact that these films have been accounting for only 30% of spending, but 70% of profits. In terms of Feature Animation, a staggering twenty computer-generated projects are in the works right now, with <i>Chicken Little</i> the first to be released. The studio vowed to create more stories featuring Pixar's characters, acknowleding a <i>Toy Story 3</i> script which for the time being is going forth without any involvement from Pixar.

The Monday evening (7:15 PM Eastern) studio presentation unveiled new previews for <i>Glory Road</i>, <i>Herbie: Fully Loaded</i> (promised to be seen all over this summer with heavy marketing campaigns), and <i>The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe</i> (which is being considered for film-themed park attractions). Casting revelations included that comedian George Carlin will voice a character in <i>Cars</i> and Patrick Warburton has a part in the live action <i>Sky High</i>.

A subtitle and premise were revealed for the much-anticipated sequel <i>Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest</i>, which will arrive in theaters July 2006. (See Jack's thread for more info.) Meanwhile, we can expect to see Broadway stage productions adapted from Disney animated films <i>Tarzan</i> and <i>The Little Mermaid</i> in the near future.

[TM2-Megatron]

In terms of Feature Animation, a staggering twenty computer-generated projects are in the works right now, with <i>Chicken Little</i> the first to be released. The studio vowed to create more stories featuring Pixar's characters, acknowleding a <i>Toy Story 3</i> script which for the time being is going forth without any involvement from Pixar.

Of their announcment, these are the ones that I find dissapointing. Mostly the complete abandonment of traditional animation as far as theatrical features go; CGI will get start to get awfully stale after not too long (especially 20, one after another).

I'm of mixed feelings about the Pixar sequels. I, for one, would love to see a theatrical sequel to Monsters, Inc. provided it's well-done and captures the same spirit Pixar did. Perhaps even an Incredibles sequel could work. However, I have more difficultly envisioning a well-done sequel to Toy Story (2 is really enough), A Bug's Life or Finding Nemo.

[Disney Guru]

Hey, thanks for posting the info Luke. It all looks totally awesome lol.

[Mermaid Kelly]

BROADWAY LITTLE MERMAID!!!!!!!!!!!!! YESSSS!!!!!!!!!!!

[lolopimp]

How disappointing to hear that Aladdin did as good as last year's Aladdin. But the good news is that the Platinum Line will be re-done in HD!!! It means more Lion King for the near future! And of course, a better Beauty and the Beast transfer, I'm starting to look ahead of time and already getting excited.

[Jake Lipson]

Hmm.

It's very disappointing, personally, that Aladdin failed to catch on, but I was afraid of that. They made a serious mistake keeping it out of print as long as they did, which seemed to be even longer than normal. And as a result I'm sure it was hard for people to remember it, especially since Lion King has now overshadowed its successes in 1992.

Are any solid sales numbers on that available? I haven't been able to find any. It's potential that it could devolop suprise "legs," much like Pirates, Nemo and Brother Bear are continuing to be a huge source of video revenue for Disney despite having been released, in the case of the former two, over a year ago. Hopefully they will keep it in print a while (I know it's due to leave again in January 2006, but if it hasn't sold well by then it may make sense to keep it in print indefinately) and allow it to find its audience again.

The title and plot for Pirates II have yet to grow on me. It seems that the sequel is retreading the first one's ground (the pirates and now Jack trying to get out of a curse, Will and Elizabeth's love and now marriage being threatened, etc.) However, there are many plot points that Dick Cook didn't mention; we know for example that Bootstrap Bill will be involved because he's been cast, and Jack's father's got something in it too. So, maybe the new directions will mix with the reused elements to bring something great to the screen; the plot doesn't sound like much from what we know yet but it's got potential if done right. I hope they do it right.

I also think that wrapping things up with Pirates III in 2007 is a good idea, as opposed to the rumored original plan to pull a Matrix and release them in the same year six months apart. Part of the failure of The Matrix sequels was that they weren't as good as the first, of couse, but another part, especially with Revolutions, was that the public was so saturated in all things Matrix that weariness insured. You've got the endless pre-release hype, the Reloaded release concurrent with the video game and marketing for both of those, the Reloaded IMAX rollout, the Animatrix DVD in the summer. Then just when you begin to take a breather, there's Reloaded on DVD and Revolutions three weeks later. It was just so much so quickly that I think it ultimately hurt the franchise. If the sequels had been better it might've worked out differently, but I still think they would've been better off letting the public have a breather in between. (And, contrary to most people, I *DO* love the sequels, too, but...the poiint remains valid.)

I think it's good that Disney's going more of a Lord of the Rings route with these. That will let the second movie run its course and do well in theaters and DVD without being overdone with hype for the third, while still allowing them to kick off promos for the second sequel when Dead Man's Chest comes to DVD around December 2006. The breather will still have been there, and a year to anticipate the third will let the fans have fun speculating while buying the filmmakers more time to polish the third one to their liking. If this is handled right, I think it will be very successful for both Disney and the fans of the property.

[Ciaobelli]

some people are making it sound like Aladdin was a bomb because it didn't do as well as TLK, I mean TLK was the highest selling rerelease ever!!

I am sad to see that 2d is dead, at least Miyazaki is still going strong. Pixar sequels a sequel to monsters would be craptastic, why ruin such a perfect ending?

[2099net]

In the world of upcoming Disney films coming to theaters, a 50/50 breakdown between "Disney" and "Touchstone" productions is to be expected, which will mean more live action films released under the Walt Disney Pictures branch. This stems from the fact that these films have been accounting for only 30% of spending, but 70% of profits. In terms of Feature Animation, a staggering twenty computer-generated projects are in the works right now, with <i>Chicken Little</i> the first to be released. The studio vowed to create more stories featuring Pixar's characters, acknowleding a <i>Toy Story 3</i> script which for the time being is going forth without any involvement from Pixar.

And then people say Disney only do sequels, or have no interest in originality or feature animation...

[Tascar]

Unfortunately I have to agree with the cynics on this one. Just because Disney has 20 CGI projects in the works doesn't mean that all 20 of them will come to fruition. That 20 also does not negate the possiblity of them being sequels to Pixar films. Perhaps I am just a cynic, but it's going to take alot more than a paper announcement for Disney to win back more of my support.

[deathie mouse]

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Prince Eric
Joined: 20 Sep 2003
Posts: 345
Posted: Sat Feb 05, 2005 9:20 pm

I just have a feeling the Buena Vista is keeping the end-of-year sales for Aladdin and Mulan under wraps. If Sleeping Beauty could sell 2.3 million copies in it's three-and-a-half month opening, then I know these two could have. On the list Luke posted in response to my question/thread, they were nowhere on the list, the lowest sold 2.2 million units. I think they may not have wanted to compare them to previous 2-Discers. I agree Jake Lipson. If I'm correct, Aladdin has been pretty much abset for 10 years, which I believe is the longest for any animated classic. The older movies had re-releases in theaters many times and had several home video releases. Aladdin has been kept under tight wraps for so long, but hey, Beauty and the Beast sold 6.6 million copies, so I'm thinking it sold near around the same amount. I'm kind've worried about them "testing" out the Platinum line. I think that mean that they could in effect stop the line if they have one more dissapointment.
It's a shame, but I think Aladdin could be suffering for more political reasons...

[BILLONEE]

Traditional animation is to Disney what Coca Cola is to a Coke bottle. It should never be forgotten in favor of computer animation. If anything, Disney should treat the two different styles as choices from film to film.
Disney needs to get away from the deteriorating habit of producing sequels (& Hollywood should quit producing remakes!) & get back to what it does best. That is to create from it's heart & not from a previous movie's blueprint. That is their path back to greatness! Thank You.---Bill

[Isidour]

Hey,there´s no news about the Lion King Brodway play to other countrys?
or it will be played just on the US??
or even a TLK OB Play DVD?