Star is also appearing in some merchandise. Steven Thompson has also made a snow globe for the Disney store and one of the characters that appears on it is Star.
UmbrellaFish wrote: โTue Apr 01, 2025 3:34 am
Great eye! I saw this on the Disney Store website but did not register Star. Iโm so glad Star is still being used!
They are going to earn as much money as they can using it. I think that they had too much expectations on this character and that they expected a better receivement from the audience.
Well, it`s hard to even see him in that globe. But frankly I never liked his design, so I don`t care about him being included. At least Asha and Valentino looked better than Star.
I'm glad that Disney isn't totally abandoning the property, even if I wasn't super impressed with it.
It helps set some precedence for Disney weaving in their box office failures into merchandising and whatnot, though I don't know how long it will take until we get a Treasure Planet parade float.
Asha's limited edition doll is now on sale at Disneystore.com Her price now is about 45$ but I saw on Facebook that someone get her for 12$. They must be really desperate to sell her for this price.
Thumper_93 wrote: โThu Apr 24, 2025 5:56 am
Asha's limited edition doll is now on sale at Disneystore.com Her price now is about 45$ but I saw on Facebook that someone get her for 12$. They must be really desperate to sell her for this price.
Well all the merchandise ended up on sale with 70% of discount. It was obvious that the LE doll was not going to sell even with the low size of the edition. In Europe it sold out because the first day of release she had a huge discount too. I paid 130โฌ for her and I regret it because she's a character that I don't love so much and I know that if I have to get rid of her in the future I'm going to loss all this money.
How do you know that? As far as I know, there is no concrete evidence from Disney or its creators explicitly stating that Star was made to sell toys.
Because Star has much more merchandise that other characters from the film. Obviously they are not going to say it but it's quite obvious that they made some choices with this character in order to make it a hit character.
Appeal and merch potential arenโt mutually exclusive, you know. Actually, the filmmakers in the making-of documentary and making-of book highlighted that Star's round shape was inspired by foundational animation principles. Specifically, co-director Chris Buck mentioned that Star is "kind of like a bouncing ball," referencing the "squash and stretch" technique taught in Animation 101, which emphasizes the use of simple shapes like circles to convey motion and emotion effectively. Many iconic characters across animation history have been massively merchandised, but that doesn't mean they were conceived only for that reason. Think Mickey Mouse or Baymax. Just because a character is toy-friendly doesnโt mean thatโs the only reason it was made. Starโs visual simplicity also helps it express emotion clearly and work as a symbol of hope in the story.
Studios make characters that are toy marketable, that's a fact. They can say what they want but movies are made to sell toys and merchandise, that's what gives them more money. All the characters use to have some characteristics to attract kids and the audience.
In Disneyland Paris you can get a free Asha doll when you spend more than 80โฌ. They made a 70% discount last year but it seems that they couldn't sell everything even with this huge discount
Since I`ve usually ranted about how Wish is promoted and how it`s merchandise is lacking or still present, I went to the Disney Store in London earlier this summer and there was absolutely zero merchandise for it. But one of my local stores in Norway recently had some children sweaters of Asha and Valentino. Funny enough.