jpanimation wrote:What a stupidly long off-topic rant about perceived flops but it just kind of irks me to constantly hear them mistakenly being called flops (unless the numbers I have are wrong, in which case I'd like to be presented with the correct numbers).
Bold numbers come from boxofficemojo.com, numbers in parentheses and in question are from
www.the-numbers.com.
To be fair jpanimation firstly, I not only used the word perceived (Adj. Perceived - detected by instinct or inference rather than by recognized perceptual cues; "the felt presence of an intruder"; "a sensed presence in the room raised goosebumps on her arms"; "a perceived threat") but put it in quotes to show I didn't agree with the use of the word.
And regardless of the financial facts, Disney itself has presented those two films (and a few others recently) as "disappointing" during its earnings reports. But that probably comes down to unrealistic expectations (which have bedevilled Disney animation ever since The Lion King really) and their hype. So again, it probably comes down to hype and Disney believing its own marketing.
If you're taking umbrage at me selecting and probably picking on Treasure Planet or Brother Bear, I'm sure most regular posters here over the past few years will verify that I personally adore each film (and while I've not seen Princess and the Frog and won't for a long time) I can tell you know, I still expect to like TP and BB more then TP&TF even when I have seen it.
Secondly, there's more than one way to define "flop". It could be financial, creatively or critically. I perceive (note: no quotes) Michael Bay's Transformers to be nothing but a huge flop - nothing, absolutely nothing is even close to satisfactory about that film - its nothing but a huge, expensive tribute to the shallowness and creative void that is Michael Bay. But sadly, it made money. Shed loads of money in fact.
However, while I was saying it doesn't matter if some people on the internet post negative comments about The Princess and the Frog because if it is a good film it will easily rise above them and be recognised as such when it really matters - 5, 10, 15, 20... longer... years from now, hopefully one day everybody will wake up and realise Transformers (and films of that ilk) are worthless wastes of screen time and the film will all but be forgotten a decade from now.
Babaloo wrote:I am also very optimistic for a new golden age, or "New-age Disney" like enigmawing said , and I really think that it could happen since the feature animations that are due to be released within the next couple of years sound like they can do Disney justice.
What? Because most of them are of a fairy-tale leaning?
[sigh]
As cynical as I am (and I admit I am) I find it troubling that we have all this talk of a "Golden Age" of Disney approaching, when all they are doing is looking to the past. I think the 2000's were the Golden Age - a period of Disney Animation even more varied in subject matter and true, creative ideas (even if sometimes the ideas weren't quite executed perfectly - and that's fine, when you experiment you have to accept not everything will be perfect) as the first two or three decades of the Studio when Walt was in charge.
I was hoping the phrase "You don't miss what you've got to its gone" would apply here, but it seems many people here are still keen to go straight back to "The Little Mermaid".
As for merchandise sales equating to popularity. Maybe. Relating to quality? No, not really. Cars has sold more merchandise than any other Pixar film (including the Toy Storys apparently).
Wikipedia wrote:On June 22, 2006 Disney Consumer Products announced that Cars merchandise broke records for retail sales based on a Disney-Pixar product, recording 10-to-1 more volume than Finding Nemo.[22] DCP reports that product expansion will take place in the fall alongside the DVD release of the film. Mattel has announced that Cars toys will continue through 2008 with the release of at least 80 new vehicles. A 36 car pack called "Speedway of the South" will feature most of the race cars seen during the opening race sequence of the film.
Estimates from the New York Daily News indicate that sales of Cars merchandise two weeks out from the release of the film amounted to US$600 million. Estimates put out in November by the Walt Disney Company peg total sales for the brand at around $1 billion.[18]
Not only is Cars generally regarded as the weakest Pixar film, its not even the Pixar film with the biggest box-office.
, and I really think that it could happen since the feature animations that are due to be released within the next couple of years sound like they can do Disney justice.
