The Princess and the Frog Discussion - Part III

[BelleGirl]

Goliath, I'm sure De Telegraaf and the AD will come up with big articles about the new Disney movie. Months ago with the release of Up John Lasseter was inteviewed by De Telegraaf and he mentioned The Princess and the Frog in it as well. I try to stay optimistic.
(I've pasted the article in my 'animation articles and reviews' scrapbook )

[PatrickvD]

Goliath, I'm sure De Telegraaf and the AD will come up with big articles about the new Disney movie. Months ago with the release of Up John Lasseter was inteviewed by De Telegraaf and he mentioned The Princess and the Frog in it as well. I try to stay optimistic.
(I've pasted the article in my 'animation articles and reviews' scrapbook )

so, no one noticed the Veronica? It's the #1 most read magazine and they had something along the lines of "a new disney classic"... on the cover! The review gave it 4 stars and called it an instant classic. There was a separate article as well.

Not to mention the huge posters I've seen in Amsterdam and Rotterdam. TV spots started airing as well. I think the movie will perform just fine. As for the february release date, schools will be out soon and Brother Bear and Bolt did fantastic business in the exact same time of year.

[BelleGirl]

so, no one noticed the Veronica? It's the #1 most read magazine and they had something along the lines of "a new disney classic"... on the cover! The review gave it 4 stars and called it an instant classic. There was a separate article as well.

Not to mention the huge posters I've seen in Amsterdam and Rotterdam. TV spots started airing as well. I think the movie will perform just fine. As for the february release date, schools will be out soon and Brother Bear and Bolt did fantastic business in the exact same time of year.

I 'm not subscribed to the "Veronica" magazine, so I haven't seen it. I will try to have a look at it. Maybe I can ask a brother of mine who does have a subscription to keep this issue for me. Is it the most recent issue? I suppose so.

[Marky_198]

Actually, Disney has to re-win the audiences all over again with the 2d classics.

Most people have lost their faith in Disney over the last few years, as just way too many cgi films, pixar stuff, etc came out. Also a lot of High school musical and Hannah Montana stuff.

Most of my family and friends see that as "Disney" nowadays.
They just lost track a bit and I can't blame them.

That's the reason why most of the world isn't really exited for a new Disney film anymore. Slowly audiences begin to realize that this is another handdrawn big classic, like the ones that used to be.
But that takes time.

It would have been a whole different story if the film came out right after Batb, Aladdin and the Lion King. Then the audiences would know how special this was and see the caliber of this film.

In fact, the whole new generation grew up without hand drawn classics coming out in cinema's. CG is all they ever watched in cinema's.

All of this is the main reason that the film isn't making huge amounts of money. It's all about building a reputation.
That's just how it works, for the genral audiences this film comes out of the blue and they don't see why this should be different from all the crap that came out the last 5 years. This film has to build up a reputation for itself, but it takes time, and then maybe the world is more excited for the next big handdrawn classic release.

Unfortunately audiences will get confused again with Rapunzel....

[BelleGirl]

Is the audience stupid or what?

Sorry for this rude remark, but I just have to laugh at the idea that the audience will become confused because Disney employs traditional animation next to CGI. Is it so hard to see that there are many different forms of animation? Have they forgotten that there have been several movie hits the past years that employed claymation and stop-motion technique? Didn't the audience notice the many Disney 'classics' available on DVD reminding them that traditional hand-drawn animation is a very important part of Disney?

Try to look at it from the bright side: traditional animation may be regared as 'new' and 'refreshing' now as the cinemas have been overflown with CGI for the past decade.

And what does 'not making huge amounts of money' nowadays imply? I've got the odd feeling that if a Disney movie doesn't do as well as The Lion King it's regarded is a failure, which is ridiculous.

[Goliath]

Is the audience stupid or what?

How else do you account for the succes of drivel like Alvin and the Chipmunks?

[ajmrowland]

Unfortunately, it seems that ever since the invention of the internet, people have been trying harder not to think.

I get the Little Mermaid argument, but I draw the line at Chipmunks and the "forgetting".

[DisneyJedi]

It's not fair! Hollywood is ruining hand-drawn's image by giving out crappy CGI movies and live-action adaptations of cartoons! All kids care about anymore is CGI with fart jokes and toilet humor!

[pap64]

Hey wait a minute... Didn't we already have this discussion way back in December? Are we doing the time warp AGAIN?





But seriously, the only ones complaining about the movie's "failure" are the fans. I would honestly love to hear some official comments from Disney themselves. Do THEY see the film as a success?

I am sure Disney would have wanted the film to perform more, but considering the extremely busy schedule and how in some ways the film was "experimental" they might be pleased with the results.

[ajmrowland]

I think they still have faith in the DVD/blu sales, at least. They wouldn't have had so many bonuses on the blu-ray otherwise.

Fact: History repeats itself. That's often very bad, but for this one time, it can be good. I'm predicting increasing popularity.

[Marky_198]

Try to look at it from the bright side: traditional animation may be regared as 'new' and 'refreshing' now as the cinemas have been overflown with CGI for the past decade.

And what does 'not making huge amounts of money' nowadays imply? I've got the odd feeling that if a Disney movie doesn't do as well as The Lion King it's regarded is a failure, which is ridiculous.

Yes, traditional animation in the cinema's IS regarded as something new for many people, so that's why it has to grow on them. That's what I'm saying.

The thing is, back in the 90's there were some tv specials, like when Aladdin came out. There was this huge buzz and excitement among the general audience. This whole atmosphere was indescribable.
That buzz and excitement doesn't even come close to the feeling people have nowadays with PATF.

It has all to do with reputation. People/audiences live in the moment, they have an opinion about what Disney is now.
Most of my family and friends have no clue about what Disney is producing anymore, while they did 15 years ago.

I'm sure this film will grow on people and the dvd/blu sales will be great, and I'm predicting increasing popularity too, but like I said, it takes time.
If the Little Mermaid and The Lion king had switched places in terms of release date/year, TLM would have made more money too.
It's all about the buzz and the reputation, and basically there was none of that now, because of what came out in the last 5 years.

Gross revenue The Little Mermaid: $183,355,863
Gross revenue The Lion King: $783,841,776

While in the end many people actually love TLM more, years later on dvd etc.

[blackcauldron85]

New Tiana show coming to Disneyland
http://www.laughingplace.com/Latest.asp?I1=ID&I2=73351

[DisneyJedi]

New Tiana show coming to Disneyland
http://www.laughingplace.com/Latest.asp?I1=ID&I2=73351

SWEET!!

[Goliath]

Most of my family and friends have no clue about what Disney is producing anymore, while they did 15 years ago.

Good point. This is true for me, too. Nobody knows PatF is coming. Also, they don't even know Bolt or Meet the Robinsons and the like are Disney-productions. They just throw it on the same pile with DreamWork's and other companies' CGI-animated films. Now Pixar, that's another story! Everybody knows what Pixar is and which films they've made, and they all love them.

[toonaspie]

Good god! Nothing can seem to go right with this 2D renaissance, can it?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100129/ap_ ... um_jewelry

Sigh.

Gotta keep hope alive for 2D though.

[DisneyJedi]

Hey, no worries. If I recall, Disney's gonna be releasing a 2D animated film every two years, to make the medium a little more special.

As for the news about the cadmium in the charm bracelets, all I can say is, "Oh, dear..."

[Flanger-Hanger]

But seriously, the only ones complaining about the movie's "failure" are the fans.

I'd like to see some examples of that.

I would honestly love to hear some official comments from Disney themselves. Do THEY see the film as a success?

Why would anyone in the company publicly admit to begin disappointed with the box office results? If your doing a fiscal report of some kind, you are in all likelihood going to minimize any disappointment and focus on how the film made back it's money for example.

I am sure Disney would have wanted the film to perform more, but considering the extremely busy schedule and how in some ways the film was "experimental" they might be pleased with the results.

I assume you mean that other releases like Avatar made for the "extremely busy schedule", but lets look at what other films have made so far that were released around the same time:

Sherlock Holmes: $192 million
The Blind Side: $234 million
Alivn 2: $205 million
It's Complicated: $100 million
Up in the Air: $70 million

Clearly the public took it's time to see what they wanted too, with even an R rated comedy matching a G rated Disney film's total.

The holiday season is always a busy time for films, this year was no different. There's no point in complaining about other film's preforming at the same time, especially if none of them have a G rating.

I'm still struggling to figure out why Frog is so "experimental", especially since the only differences between this and other Disney films are superficial at best (location, skin colour of lead heroine etc). If this film truly had anything "experimental" about it, it likely would not have been green lit in the first place. It's a hand drawn, G rated, fairy tale musical where a princess overcomes some sort of problems involving a villain with magic powers.

If this film had coarse language, extremes in violence, truly adult subject matter, an entirely different drawing style or method of animation, no dialogue, or some other variation in storytelling or medium that hadn't been used before in an animated Disney movie, it would qualify as "experimental".

I think what you're trying to say is that this film was controversial. Which is true, but there's a difference between controversy and experimentation.

[DisneyJedi]

http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=m ... hefrog.htm Hey, it's gained up to $99.5 million domestically now. An improvement? Well, yeah. But not by a lot.

[BwayJ]

Amazon now has a track list for the Bayou Boogie companion CD. Based on these titles, I think I'll wait to hear audio samples instead of buying it blind.

1. Everyday Princess Performed by Tiana
2. I Was Born to Blow this Horn Performed by Louis
3. Zippin' to the Zydeco Performed by Ray
4. Do What I Wanna Do Performed by Dr. Facilier
5. Mama Odie's Kitchen Song Performed by Mama Odie
6. Sing Away the Blues Performed by Tiana
7. When You're in Love You'll Understand Performed by Ray
8. Live to See You Smile Performed by Louis
9. Shadow Man Performed by Dr. Facilier
10. Night and Day Performed by Mama Odie
11. Play with the Band Performed by Louis
12. Life in the Swamp Performed by Ray
13. Love Is Magical Mystery Performed by Dr. Facilier

Tiana and Mama Odie get two songs each, while Ray, Louis, and Facilier get three each.

[Sky Syndrome]

OMG! Several more songs for Facilier! Eeeeeeeeeeeee! *takes deep breath and tries to calm herself* For those, I'm getting this CD the first day I see it at a outside-the-Internet store.

How sad that the song makers don't like Naveen enough to give him his own song! I bet it was because it'd sound like another "Prince Ali" so they thought it wasn't worth the bother to make it.