Turning Red

[Disney's Divinity]

Encanto and Raya were more diverse than Luca....so I don't think that works.

I actually think it's a sign of protectiveness on Disney's part. By being streaming only, they avoid the "flop" articles you see being written about Encanto despite it being the biggest animated film gross of the year. No matter how they perform, because of the pandemic affecting the box office, they'll be labeled an underperformance even when they're a success.

[Sotiris]

‘Sing 2,’ ‘Turning Red’ Hit Home Viewing Early Amid Fragile Family Box Office
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/busin ... 235072000/

[Rumpelstiltskin]

A lot of moviegoers who wants to see Turning Red at the theaters already has Disney+, so Disney will actually lose money on these. Unless the amount of people who decide to subscribe to the streaming service primary because of this movie is numerous enough for them to exceed a theatrical release. Not sure if that's the case.

[Sotiris]

It's understandable why they feel this way. They went from being the king of the box office to making direct-to-video product. Even though their movies perform incredibly well on streaming, that can't replace the status, relevance and cultural influence that comes with a theatrical release.

Pixar staff in 'shock' and 'disappointed' that its next movie 'Turning Red' will skip theaters and go straight to Disney+
https://www.insider.com/pixar-staff-dis ... ney-2022-1

“Everyone Is Really Bummed Out” Over Pixar’s Third Straight-to-Streaming Film
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movie ... 235076701/

[estefan]

I think the actual content in that article is important to mention:

"It's safe to say that we're all feeling extremely disappointed," one Pixar staffer told Insider Friday after Disney made the announcement. "Until today, we all thought 'Turning Red' would be our return to the big screen, and everyone at the studio was so excited about it being this film in particular. It was quite a blow."

Another staffer on Sunday told Insider that it was a "shock" the movie, slated to come out March 11, got the straight-to-Disney+ treatment.

"Sucks, but I get it," the staffer went on to say.

With the surge of new COVID-19 cases around the world due to Omicron, as well as a record number of children being hospitalized due to the variant, studio movie release plans are very different now than they were over the summer, and the staffers Insider spoke to understand that.

"With Omicron infections so high, I haven't heard anyone say the decision to pivot to streaming is wrong," said one staffer.

Basically, they're disappointed that rising cases meant "Turning Red" would not be their first film to be released in theatres since "Onward", but they also understand why Disney had to make this decision.

I don't think streaming is anywhere the same as direct-to-video was back in the day. Not when you have Netflix and Amazon spending hundreds of millions of dollars on individual movies and shows or major names like Leonardo DiCaprio, Ryan Reynolds and Nicole Kidman agreeing to star in movies produced by streaming services. The theatrical experience is important, but over a year of having films premiere at home should have removed any stigma that might exist. There are even prestige films by acclaimed directors like "The Irishman" and "Mank", which might not have been produced had Netflix not stepped in and agreed to fund them. "The Mitchells vs. the Machines" was sold to Netflix and that didn't prevent it from being widely acclaimed by critics and hugely popular with audiences, nor is it affecting possible Oscar chances.

That Disney sees "Turning Red" as a way to drive subscribers to the service actually shows how much they value the Pixar name and recognise its popularity with viewers. When the movie premieres, it will be featured front and center on the home page of D+ and that's the best advertising there is.

[Patricier21]

I think the actual content in that article is important to mention:

"It's safe to say that we're all feeling extremely disappointed," one Pixar staffer told Insider Friday after Disney made the announcement. "Until today, we all thought 'Turning Red' would be our return to the big screen, and everyone at the studio was so excited about it being this film in particular. It was quite a blow."

Another staffer on Sunday told Insider that it was a "shock" the movie, slated to come out March 11, got the straight-to-Disney+ treatment.

"Sucks, but I get it," the staffer went on to say.

With the surge of new COVID-19 cases around the world due to Omicron, as well as a record number of children being hospitalized due to the variant, studio movie release plans are very different now than they were over the summer, and the staffers Insider spoke to understand that.

"With Omicron infections so high, I haven't heard anyone say the decision to pivot to streaming is wrong," said one staffer.

Basically, they're disappointed that rising cases meant "Turning Red" would not be their first film to be released in theatres since "Onward", but they also understand why Disney had to make this decision.

I don't think streaming is anywhere the same as direct-to-video was back in the day. Not when you have Netflix and Amazon spending hundreds of millions of dollars on individual movies and shows or major names like Leonardo DiCaprio, Ryan Reynolds and Nicole Kidman agreeing to star in movies produced by streaming services. The theatrical experience is important, but over a year of having films premiere at home should have removed any stigma that might exist. There are even prestige films by acclaimed directors like "The Irishman" and "Mank", which might not have been produced had Netflix not stepped in and agreed to fund them. "The Mitchells vs. the Machines" was sold to Netflix and that didn't prevent it from being widely acclaimed by critics and hugely popular with audiences, nor is it affecting possible Oscar chances.

That Disney sees "Turning Red" as a way to drive subscribers to the service actually shows how much they value the Pixar name and recognise its popularity with viewers. When the movie premieres, it will be featured front and center on the home page of D+ and that's the best advertising there is.

As a lifelong Pixar fan, Couldn’t agree more

[Rumpelstiltskin]

It has definitely not the same status or impact as a streaming title compared to one with a theatrical release. The latter draws more attention from the media, there is the red carpet, interviews and so on.

Not Disney or animation, but Alex Garland said that if he knew that his Annihilation would not be shown on the big screen, he would have made it differently. A movie made for the big screen and a movie made for the small screen is not the same (you need to ask the directors what changes this require).

Red is also said to be the first female directed Pixar movie (after Brenda Chapman left the production of Brave), so it is understandable if they wanted it to have a theatrical premiere for that reason too.

I know that if I was a director, or the author of a book that had been adapted into a movie, I too would feel a bit cheated and very disappointed if it went direct to streaming when it was always intended as a cinematic experience.

[Disney's Divinity]

We talked about it in the Encanto thread already, but Disney is hurting themselves with these straight-to-streaming tactics. It's going to make it that much harder for animated films to draw the same crowds as before. Like DTV films helped to make the public view hand-drawn films as not worth seeing in theaters, this is doing the same to 3D films.

[PatrickvD]

Disney is wisely growing its streaming business. Direct to consumer release windows are here to stay. Even if theatrical windows do return to some sort of normalcy, streaming premieres are going to stick around.

And they’re not hurting the medium. Encanto blew up on streaming. Turning Red can do the same.

[Sotiris]

We talked about it in the Encanto thread already, but Disney is hurting themselves with these straight-to-streaming tactics. It's going to make it that much harder for animated films to draw the same crowds as before. Like DTV films helped to make the public view hand-drawn films as not worth seeing in theaters, this is doing the same to 3D films.

I worry about that too. Maybe this won't affect sequels and offshoots from already-proven franchises, but original animated films could struggle to make a profit in theaters even after the box office recovers and eventually be deemed only suitable for streaming.

[Disney's Divinity]

On the one hand, I'm fine with Disney screwing themselves here since they were / are trying to screw theaters with their direct-to-streaming; a good case of burning themselves with their own fire. The downside is and will be hearing Encanto and next year's WDAS films being called underperformances because Disney has trained families not to see them in theaters, causing their grosses to regularly land lower than things like Spider-Man, for example.

Their streaming service will grow long-term regardless, it's short-term millions they're losing this way. And they aren't making the $$$ they're accustomed to as it is these past two years; they're going to keep the losses going for another year or more it looks like.

[unprincess]

I worry about that too. Maybe this won't affect sequels and offshoots from already-proven franchises, but original animated films could struggle to make a profit in theaters even after the box office recovers and eventually be deemed only suitable for streaming.

^Yeah but that's gonna affect all films not just animated ones. Like I had mentioned in another thread streaming has been a game changer and even if things go back to normal in a couple years I dont think things will be the same. I think only big theme park ride type event films like Superhero flicks and big genre films will draw enough viewers to theaters to do the big BO numbers like before. And everything else people will probably rather just stream at home. That includes animated films, the bigger and more epic the more likely I think they will do well in theaters. Smaller Slice of Life stuff like the last 2 Pixar films will struggle. The only exception is if they were already part of a big successful franchise pre-covid like Sing 2 , which is probably why they feel more confident about releasing Lightyear in theaters.


So about Turning Red, I saw the full trailer when I saw Encanto in theaters and I think it looks really cute. I love Mei's panda form. Though I kinda wish the movie was set n the mid/late 90s rather than the early 2000s b/c Im crazy nostalgic for the 90s these days, lol. Also the Aardman/Cal Arts mouth design aesthetic bothers me a lot less here than it did in Luca.
Pixar seems to really be into these low stakes slice of life films lately with this, Luca and Onward. I enjoyed them but I usually prefer more epic or folklore/legend type stories.

[Farerb]

I agree with you, Estefan, and moreover I'd even say that the theatrical experience feels "cheap" nowadays when the most successful movies are Marvel #256, sequels, IPs and other stuff that only younger people care about. Other more serious movies either didn't do that well (like West Side Story, Dune, Last Night in Soho, etc..) or were intended for streaming. Even big stars and directors talk about how originality died in cinema and how it lies in platforms like Netflix, and now even Amazon and Apple, yes they release crap as well, but as long as they release art house films their reputation is safe. Maybe that's what Disney tries to do with Pixar - to balance their service with quality material alongside crap like Sneakerella.

Anyway, to me the success of Disney and Pixar films was never about dry box office numbers, but about how much people like and care about them years later, do people really say "well I shouldn't watch Pinocchio or Alice in Wonderland because they didn't do well at the box office", it's irrelevant, especially to kids and families (personally this obsession with box office numbers seems to be something that came along with social media as if people only watch films because all they want is to "win at it", this is such a joyless approach).

I also don't think Pixar will get the same reputation as the awful cheap DTV sequels as long as they receive critical acclaim and love from the audience.

[Sotiris]

Yeah but that's gonna affect all films not just animated ones. Like I had mentioned in another thread streaming has been a game changer and even if things go back to normal in a couple years I don't think things will be the same. I think only big theme park ride type event films like Superhero flicks and big genre films will draw enough viewers to theaters to do the big BO numbers like before. And everything else people will probably rather just stream at home.

The difference is that animation had been widely successful at the box office as recently as 2019 unlike adult fare which has been struggling for almost a decade now.

Anyway, to me the success of Disney and Pixar films was never about dry box office numbers, but about how much people like and care about them years later, do people really say "well I shouldn't watch Pinocchio or Alice in Wonderland because they didn't do well at the box office", it's irrelevant, especially to kids and families.

The one affects the other. How a film performs, by whatever the measure of commercial success is, heavily influences how the studio treats it and how much it markets and advertizes it afterwards which affects its shelf life. Pinocchio and Alice are beloved today (I would argue Alice is still not very highly-regarded among the Walt-era films) because they got theatrical re-releases and were shown on TV regularly and were promoted on home video. Do you think they would have had the same longevity if the studio had buried them after initial release like they did with The Black Cauldron?

[Disney's Divinity]

The one affects the other. How a film performs, by whatever the measure of commercial success is, heavily influences how the studio treats it and how much it markets and advertizes it afterwards which affects its shelf life. Pinocchio and Alice are beloved today (I would argue Alice is still not very highly-regarded among the Walt-era films) because they got theatrical re-releases and were shown on TV regularly and were promoted on home video. Do you think they would have had the same longevity if the studio had buried them after initial release like they did with The Black Cauldron?

And re-release second chances stopped happening for lesser films over two decades ago; if any gets them, it will be something like B&tB or TLK and nothing else.

I think Alice gets promoted a great deal by Disney simply because people love Wonderland specifically, regardless of what version it is. It's one of those things like Oz, where everyone knows the cast of characters. I think a lot of merchandise moved for it are simply from fans that love the mythos of Wonderland, not so much the Disney movie itself.

[Farerb]

Cover for The Art of Turning Red:

https://www.amazon.com/Art-Turning-Red- ... 797200852/

[Rose Dome]

I’d be interested in reading that

I’am particularly curious about how the beast form changed over time

[blackcauldron85]

“Everyone Is Really Bummed Out” Over Pixar’s Third Straight-to-Streaming Film
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movie ... 235076701/

Not really anything new that hasn't been posted here in other articles, but it's still being talked about in new articles...

[Sotiris]

Japanese poster.


Source: https://twitter.com/DisneyStudioJ_A/sta ... 8591856640

[D82]

^Nice poster. The cover for the artbook is not bad either. Here are also some new book covers from France and Spain (more on the links):


Sources:
https://www.amazon.fr/ALERTE-ROUGE-LHis ... ef=sr_1_10
https://www.amazon.fr/ALERTE-ROUGE-Maxi ... ref=sr_1_9
https://www.amazon.fr/ALERTE-ROUGE-Colo ... ref=sr_1_6
https://www.amazon.fr/ALERTE-ROUGE-Colo ... ref=sr_1_7
https://www.amazon.fr/ALERTE-ROUGE-Supe ... ref=sr_1_8
https://www.amazon.fr/ALERTE-ROUGE-Gran ... ref=sr_1_4
https://www.amazon.fr/ALERTE-ROUGE-Ench ... ef=sr_1_11
https://www.amazon.es/Red-Disney-presen ... ef=sr_1_20
https://www.amazon.es/Red-Megacolor-Dis ... ef=sr_1_18
https://www.amazon.es/Red-Primers-lecto ... ef=sr_1_12
https://www.amazon.es/Red-Libro-pegatin ... ef=sr_1_19
https://www.amazon.es/Red-Supercolor-co ... ef=sr_1_16
https://www.amazon.es/Red-Gran-Libro-pe ... ef=sr_1_21