Mickey Mouse

[Maerj]

M-I-C-K-E-Y: The leader of the brand

Seeking to boost fortunes, Disney plans a new marketing effort focusing on Mickey Mouse's 75th anniversary
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By Richard Verrier
Los Angeles Times
Originally published July 23, 2003



LOS ANGELES -- Mickey Mouse, once described by Walt Disney as "a little fellow trying to do the best he could," is now being called on to do even better.

Trying to turn around its flagging merchandising operation, Walt Disney Co. is planting Mickey's vintage visage in some hip new places and planning to roll out the mouse in an aggressive marketing campaign centered on his 75th birthday.

On its face, using Mickey Mouse to full effect as a marketing tool would seem a no-brainer for Disney executives. After all, over the last three-quarters of a century, Mickey has sustained himself as one of the most recognizable figures in America, if not the whole world.

Yet when Andy Mooney arrived at Disney a few years ago to rescue its merchandising division, he was stunned to find how much the Burbank entertainment giant was underutilizing its famous mouse. Mooney had been hired away from sneaker maker Nike Inc., where he had a front-row seat to the marketing power of celebrity endorsements. Think Michael Jordan.

But Mickey, he found, was sitting on the sidelines, tangled in a thicket of marketing do's and don'ts dating back decades. Mooney, chairman of Disney's consumer products unit, was determined to free the mouse, bucking a conservative corporate culture reluctant to tamper with the company's signature image, hand-drawn by Walt Disney himself.

"This is our swoosh," Mooney successfully argued, likening Mickey to Nike's trademark logo.

As a result, Mickey Mouse is on the loose.

Already, he has been stretched across a snug T-shirt worn by actress Sarah Jessica Parker during a racy scene on HBO's "Sex and the City" series. Minnie surely would blush. Disney also hired a graffiti artist called Mear, whose most recent work was an antiwar mural, to spray-paint a 1930s-style Mickey Mouse comic strip on the side of a Sunset Boulevard building last week. "Very nice," said one onlooker with an orange Mohawk.

Meanwhile, at trendy Fred Segal in Santa Monica, shoppers are paying top dollar for silk pants (costing $250), belt buckles and purses adorned with Mickey's retro image from the 1920s and '30s. It was enough to make Katie Couric, the host of NBC's "Today Show," ask, "Is it true that Mickey is the new black?" while interviewing the style editor of People Magazine this month.

Today, the company plans to announce other changes aimed at elevating Mickey's profile.

A series of Mickey Mouse U.S. postage stamps is in the works. Classic comic books, as well as a daily syndicated comic strip featuring Mickey and his pals, are being rolled out once again. Two new direct-to-video movies, including a new 3-D version of the mouse, will be released next year. And as part of the hoopla, consumers can expect lots of news footage as 75 artists and celebrities are asked to create their own statues of Mickey Mouse.

Whether the campaign will succeed remains unclear. Operating income for Disney's consumer products group plummeted more than 50% from $893 million in 1997 to $386 million in 2000, and it has remained basically flat since then. As part of a restructuring of the group, the company recently announced plans to close more than 100 of its 500-plus Disney Store outlets and put the rest of the retail chain up for sale.

A national advertising campaign to spur Mickey-related sales three years ago, anchored by the slogan "Why do we love the Mouse," had little effect. Sales of Mickey paraphernalia, which account for about 40% of the company's overall merchandise revenue, have remained stagnant in recent years.

But now Disney is hoping a hipper image will make Mickey more appealing to a new generation of teenagers. The idea is that once kids see stars wearing T-shirts featuring the mouse, they will be drawn to all things Mickey, including a line of vintage apparel that Disney plans to roll out to mass retailers.

"Mickey has always been cool," said Dennis Green, vice president for apparel at Disney consumer products, who also came from Nike. "It's just the way he has been represented hasn't always been cool."

The challenge facing Disney is that its core audience keeps getting younger, shrinking the pool of potential consumers, as the competition grows. The last decade has seen an explosion of animated characters from rival film studios and cable television shows such as "SpongeBob SquarePants" and "Rugrats."

Licensed merchandise drove Disney's growth during the 1980s and '90s, when a string of animated hits including "Beauty and the Beast" and "The Lion King" sparked huge demand for toys, clothes and scores of other items.

When "The Lion King" hit theaters in 1994, it was the only major animated release that year.

This year, 17 animated films were up for Oscar consideration — the bulk of them from studios other than Disney.

The company always has had something of a fluid relationship with its cornerstone character, one that author John Updike once labeled "the most persistent and pervasive figment of American popular culture in this century."

"Mickey Mouse has always been in some phase," said Walt Disney chief Michael Eisner. "He's an actor sometimes he gets work, sometimes he's retiring, and sometimes he's coming back."

Long before he became a corporate icon, Mickey was a mischievous deckhand aboard a riverboat in the 1928 film "Steamboat Willie," his debut. He would go on to star in more than 100 cartoon shorts in the 1920s and '30s. But as his fame grew, so did complaints about his sneaky behavior.

Disney animators eventually softened his appearance, making his body more pear-shaped, expressive and appealing to children. Even though he starred in "The Mickey Mouse Club" television show in the 1950s, Mickey's popularity began to be overtaken by Donald Duck and Goofy, according to Disney archivist Dave Smith. Mickey was featured in fewer and fewer films, bringing a 30-year gap between "The Simple Things" in 1953 and "Mickey's Christmas Carol" in 1983.

Through the 1990s, Mickey was largely underemployed as an entertainer. Besides his role as chief greeter at Disney's theme parks and a few modest film appearances, his only other major gig was on the Saturday morning television cartoon "MouseWorks."

Efforts to spark a commercial revival of the mouse over the years have invariably met with resistance from traditionalists who feared that the company might cheapen the character.

"This is a debate that has gone on for the 75 years since Mickey Mouse has been around," Mooney said. "That's a good thing. If you have people who don't care internally about what to do with the character, you don't have a decent business."

The 1995 "Runaway Brain" marked Mickey's return to animation shorts for the first time in years. Many objected to the plot in which a mad scientist transplants Mickey's brain into a monster's body and vice versa.

"It's clear Mickey is not himself He overcomes that in the end, but the very fact that Mickey was possessed was very disturbing" to some people, Mooney said.

Some of Mooney's new ideas also have been met with raised eyebrows.

"Twice Upon a Christmas," one of the two new Mickey movies appearing on video next year, marks the first digital version of Mickey. "The movement of Mickey to 3-D was hotly debated," Mooney said. "There's a group of folks internally who believe that 2-D animation is the correct form in which to portray Mickey."

Another source of contention was the 2002 interactive video game "Kingdom Hearts," which broke the taboo of having Mickey interact with characters outside his traditional group of friends.

Likewise, there were misgivings about hiring a graffiti artist to spray one of Walt's classic cartoons on a wall. Attitudes changed when Mooney convinced skeptics that the mural was paying homage to Walt.

"I don't think embalming is a good thing," Mooney said. "I think the brand needs to be rejuvenated to be relevant to the future."

Experts agree. Revitalizing Mickey's career — especially as an entertainer — "is really, really critical," said Kevin Lane Keller, professor of marketing at Dartmouth College. "There's a stretch of kids who really didn't have much connection to the brand."

Mooney recalled "discovering" Mickey and his pals during his first few months on the job, after he spent a day poring over the company's archives. "There was this treasure trove of art," Mooney recalled. "We just felt that if we could expose it to contemporary consumers, something could happen."

First came a product blitz that put Mickey Mouse and the gang on toothbrushes, cereal boxes and juice cartoons. More recently, Mooney launched a new line of consumer electronics products, including a 13-inch television set that has yellow feet and speakers that look like ears.

The retro-Mickey effort began after Disney executives noticed that shops in Hollywood were selling 30-year-old Mickey T-shirts — some for as much as $100. The company then invited designer Jackie Brander, who has the largest floor space at Fred Segal in Santa Monica, to develop a line of Disney vintage apparel.

Then, instead of just encouraging retailers to push the product, Mooney borrowed a technique commonly used by Nike, Armani and others in the fashion industry called "seeding." That's where marketers "nurture" demand for a new product by encouraging celebrities to wear it.

Disney doled out retro T-shirts to stars at events such as last week's ESPY awards hosted by Disney-owned ESPN, as well as to publicists, fashion editors and designers. Before long, trendsetters — from actress Jennifer Aniston to musician Avril Lavigne — were wearing the T-shirts at events and magazine shoots.

Disney says the stars weren't paid, but the company acknowledges orchestrating at least some things behind the scenes. The appearance on "Sex and the City," for instance, came after Disney contacted two of the show's staff members.

Mooney insists that he is being careful not to exploit Mickey. "If you look at the original cartoon shorts, they were targeted at adults," he said. "Mickey had a little edge, a little attitude.

"So I don't view anything that's being done now as disrespectful to what Walt would have done."

Copyright © 2003, The Los Angeles Times

[Prince Adam]

Well, a 3-D Mickey is something I'll need to see before I accept.

Does anyone watch the Amanda Show?
Well, I'm "Mickey's #1 Fan, please!"

[MickeyMouseboy]

i was on sex and the city! on jessica's chest!

[Prince Phillip]

The challenge facing Disney is that its core audience keeps getting younger, shrinking the pool of potential consumers...

Well, YEAH!!! DUH! What do they expect, when that's all they aim their films at!!!! And now they only want to do films for 4-10 year olds!!!! Well, don't complain about shrinking demographics, when you are targetting your films at an audience so young!

[DVDisney]

I HATE the Amanda Show!!

Anyways, congratulations Mickey!

[Prince Adam]

YOU WHAT??????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i cannot believe there is someone who doesn't like the Amanda show. I know it's a few years old, and it's really childish, but still. how old are you DVDisney? it's usually adults who don't like amanda show. if you're over 20, than it's not your fault: adults just don't understand the Amanda show. well, I love it, and Penelope Taynt is too funny.

[Sulley]

While I don't have the Mickey TV they talked about, I have seen it. It has a matching DVD player and telephone. I do have the telephone. It's actually a great little phone even better than my parents' Panasonic. The Mickey phone is from Motorola and can be found at Circuit City or Sears. Besides, it's totally stylish.

[jesus_brer]

Go mickey mouse

[jesus_brer]

Go mickey mouse

[Loomis]

Go mickey mouse

yeah he rocks and stuff.

Go mickey mouse

he just goes off like a frog in a sock...

[Sulley]

I have to say, Loomis, you have the kind of sense of humor that I enjoy employing most. To my friends, though, I am just weird sometimes.

[indianajdp]

YOU WHAT??????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i cannot believe there is someone who doesn't like the Amanda show.

No kidding..geesh.


.....What the hell is the Amanda Show

[Loomis]

I have to say, Loomis, you have the kind of sense of humor that I enjoy employing most. To my friends, though, I am just weird sometimes.

Thank ya - you are very kind

Actually, I've found that a people on this forum share my sense of humour, which is quite frightening....

Most people think I am weird - but I tend to encourage that (just a bit):P

[2099net]

The challenge facing Disney is that its core audience keeps getting younger, shrinking the pool of potential consumers...

Well, YEAH!!! DUH! What do they expect, when that's all they aim their films at!!!! And now they only want to do films for 4-10 year olds!!!! Well, don't complain about shrinking demographics, when you are targetting your films at an audience so young!

To be fair Phillip, Atlantis and Treasure Planet were not specifically aimed at 4-10 year olds. And the audiences found it hard to accept these as "Disney" movies - as seen by their box office. (You would have thought a few more of the anime fans would have gone to see Atlantis - if only to complain about it ripping off "Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water" -See here, it's the Lion King all over again!)

I also think Lilo and Stitch is not a film made for 4-10 year olds.

[2099net]

Well, a 3-D Mickey is something I'll need to see before I accept.

There was a 3-D Mickey at the last Oscars. This is the only picture I can find however:





Most people didn't like it, and I'll admit I'm one of them. To be fair to Disney though, we don't know how long they had to prepare for the broadcast. Twice Upon a Christmas could be much better (having Mickey iun a totally CGI environment may help too).

[Prince Adam]

I'd rather he wasn't wearing glasses-that makes him look a little strange.

And about Atlantis vs. Nadia, what Kirk Wise said about them not knowing about the anime series until after the film's completion, yeah right. They must have known: you can't have so many similarities by accident.
But in Atlantis's defence, it seems to have done a lot better than Nadia, or else the rest of the world would have heard of this tv series by know.
That's like the woman who claims J.K. Rowling ripped off her "Larry Hotter" with "Harry Potter". If that's true, lady: yours wasn't successful, and Harry Potter was, so sucks to be you: what's done is done.

[2099net]

I'd rather he wasn't wearing glasses-that makes him look a little strange.

He's wearing glasses because of a gag involving reading the nominations for best animated short.

And about Atlantis vs. Nadia, what Kirk Wise said about them not knowing about the anime series until after the film's completion, yeah right. They must have known: you can't have so many similarities by accident.

Personally I doubt after the Lion King fiasco, Disney would 'rip-off' another Japanese animated series again. After all, Disney animated movies are released in Japan as well. It's not as if they could do it in secret. I think it must be a co-incidence.

But in Atlantis's defence, it seems to have done a lot better than Nadia, or else the rest of the world would have heard of this tv series by know.

Well, not really. How many Japanese films or television series are known outside of Japan? It's nothing to do with quality, most non-Western audience members just refuse to watch them. American entertainment dominates the world. Plus, Disney has the Disney marketing machine behind their creations.

If you want to discuss this further, I suggest starting a thread on the off-topic board.

Now to get this back on topic, I was reading a post on Animation Nation in response to this press release that basically said that House of Mouse had ruined Mickey as a character. Does anyone else agree. I strongly disagree.

House of Mouse (and Mouseworks), if anything, took Mickey back to his roots. In HoM Mickey is not above getting angry or frustrated. And look at some of the new shorts that they have created for the shows. In these Mickey could once again become the slightly cheeky, daredevil hero he once was (I love the shorts with the Phantom Blott - just watch Mickey in these - the closest he's been to the late 30's cartoons for a long time).

Experts agree. Revitalizing Mickey's career — especially as an entertainer — "is really, really critical," said Kevin Lane Keller, professor of marketing at Dartmouth College. "There's a stretch of kids who really didn't have much connection to the brand."

As far as I'm concerned House of Mouse/Mouseworks has done more to revitalise Mickey's career then a single 3D cgi animation segment in a DTV will.

[Uncle Remus]

Mickey will soon rule the world after he is done being the President of the USA. then when Mickey is done, Will Smith will become the next president since everyone say that Will Smith might run for President of the US and that he might be the new Ronald Regan and all.

also i'm 13 years old and i really dont like the Amanda show. i prefer kids comedy like All That and Kenan and Kel instead of stuff like the Amanda show. ( Amanda Bynes knows that she will never be good as Carol Burnett and Tracy Ullman and someday she'll lose her fame. ha ha ha ha )

[DVDisney]

Mouseworks, I forgot about that!
I like House of Mouse more, but I really would like Mickey to stay 2D.

About The Amanda Show, I really hate it, its DUMB comedy, same goes for the new All That. Kenan and Kel was great. All That hasnt been all that, or anything, since Kenan and Kel left. Id rather watch SNL anyday.

[Prince Adam]

Following up on what 2099net was talking about, a great way to revitilize Mickey's popularity would be to release House of Mouse box sets. I love the TV series, and I wish that they would do that instead of releasing the rather disappointing "Snowed in..." feature.
However, I am REALLY excited about "Three Musketeers" and "Twice Upon...".
I hope 3 Musketeers will be much like Prince and the Pauper, and "Twice Upon" should be as good as "Once Upon" (don't sink to the level of "snowed In...")

If you look at "Snowed in at the HOuse of MOuse", the cartoons really stand out against the House backdrop-the animation of our favourite mouse is much better in the shorts than in the intersitial (or whatever that word is).

I really do watch House of Mouse for the cartoons, and that's why I'm looking forward to "Twice Upon..." so much.

Am I sounding two-sided here? Am I making my point come across clearly enough? Probably not, so I'll try again later.