First up, Mark S. writes in to ask:
You’ve done a number of stories lately about the impact that Disney Consumer Products has on the types of movies that the studio produced. What I want to know is is this a recent phenomenon or has Disney always done business like this?
Mark. S
How Does Walt Disney Studios and Consumer Products Interact?
To be honest, the Walt Disney Company tends to be very tight-lipped when it comes to discussing how the studio and the consumer products arm of the corporation actually interact. The concern here seems to be that … Well, if the public were to learn that Disney deliberately put certain characters and/or props into its motion pictures so that these items can then be turned into merchandise … That information might turn off a certain segment of the toy-buying public.
Asking for Specific Scenes in “Pocahontas” for Products
So the information that I have about this practice is mostly anecdotal. Stories that individual studio staffers have told me over the years. Take — for example — this tale that one of the lead animators on “Pocahontas” once shared with me.
This gentleman distinctly recalls the day that a representative from Disney Consumer Products sat in on an early story session for this animated feature. Particularly the moment when this DCP suit suggested that it might be fun if there was a moment in the movie where Meeko the raccoon braided Pocahontas’ long beautiful hair.
The story team agreed that this might be a fun bit of business for Meeko. Which is why this suit’s suggestion was then folded in the film …
Now where this gets interesting is that — in the weeks prior to the theatrical release of “Pocahontas” — Disney Consumer Products held a showcase on the Burbank lot. Where they revealed all of the toys that would be hitting store shelves just prior to this animated feature’s June 1995 release. And what should this lead animator on the film spy but a “Pocahontas” Braided Beauty doll …
… a toy from Mattel where Pocahontas’ hair could actually be braided by Meeko the raccoon.
Product Placement in “Mulan”
This experience left a really bad taste in a lot of animators mouths. Which is why — when this same suit from Disney Consumer Products showed up for a story session on “Mulan” and asked if it would be possible if Mushu could brush his teeth at some point in the motion picture … The animators were ready for him.
The crew working on “Mulan” then made a few discreet inquiries and discovered that DCP was (at that time) trying to cut a deal with Colgate-Palmolive. Which meant that the toothpaste that Disney Consumer Products wanted Mushu to use in this animated feature should be white-colored. Just like Colgate toothpaste.
Which is why the “Mulan” production team then conspired to make sure that the toothpaste that Mushu would use in “Mulan” would be blue-colored. Just like Crest. Which is a Procter & Gamble product.
The animators thought this move would be enough to torpedo DCP’s plan to get in bed with CP. But what they hadn’t counted on was — once Colgate-Palmolive took a pass on a “Mulan” promotional deal — Disney Consumer Products would then turn around and cut a deal with GlaxoSmithKline. The company that produces Aquafresh toothpaste …
Which is why the “Mulan” characters were then used to help sell that brand of toothpaste during the Summer of 1998.
Perhaps the most damning example of how closely Disney Consumer Products works with the studio in order to influence the sorts of films that the company makes comes from James B. Stewart’s “Disney War” (Simon & Schuster, March 2006). Which — in this passage — describes a high level meeting that Stewart sat in on.
On June 11, 2003, (Michael) Eisner has invited me to a creative meeting of the feature animation team, led by (Thomas) Schumacher’s replacement, David Stainton. Eisner usually attends these meetings … On an easel are boards with upcoming release schedules. “Teacher’s Pet” and “The Incredibles” for 2004, “Heffalump” for 2005.
“Disney War”
Stainton notes that “Heffalump” is based on a Winnie-the-Pooh character. “We’ve never done a heffalump,” he says. “Consumer products wants more characters.”
Eisner nods. “Get consumer products behind this,” he urges.
Which is why all of this Lumpy-the-Heffalump merchandise suddenly began turning up on store shelves last year.
So — as you can see — we’re talking about a very close working relationship between Disney Consumer Products and the studio. Some might say too close. So one wonders if this is going to be one of those aspects that new WDFA heads John Lasseter & Ed Catmull will soon be looking into. Keeping those DCP suits away from the story people. So that they can then concentrate of producing the best possible stories for new motion pictures. Rather than looking for ways to squeeze additional toyetic characters & props into upcoming releases.
Disney Animators Sneaking Messages into Films
Mary H. then writes in to say:
I really enjoyed last Friday’s “Why For” and your story about the bludging bishop. But I have to wonder: After this story got out there and that “Lion King” S-E-X story and “Aladdin” ‘s “All good teenagers take off your clothes” story got out there, didn’t Disney executives start to get paranoid about what their animators and effects people were trying to sneak into the studio’s films?
Mary H.
Indeed they did. In fact, the guys who worked on “Mulan” tell a great story about how paranoid Disney studio execs started to get in the mid-to-late 1990s. How many of you remember the skinny dipping scene from that movie?
Where Mulan had slipped away from camp to have a private bath. Only to have the Gang of Three come running down to the hill, ripping off their clothes …
… and joining the woman-that-they-still-think-is-a-man for a late night nude swim.
Everyone at the studio agreed that this was a really funny scene. But — even so — Disney execs were so worried that some “naughty bits” might accidentally and/or deliberately wind up in the finished film that they insisted that the lead animators for these four characters — Mark Henn, Broose Johnson & Aaron Blaise — be the only ones to handle this scene.
That way, if any unsightly bulges were to pop up in this part of “Mulan” …
… Well, the studio would then know who to fire.
Given that their jobs were on the line here, Mark, Broose & Aaron really toed the line while animating this section of the film. Which is why every lily pad is just where it needs to be …
… and why the camera is always placed in just the right spot. More importantly, at just the right height.
So while this scene in “Mulan” may seem risque, it really isn’t.
Lindsay Lohan Joke in “Chicken Little”
And finally, Lindsay-Lohan-Lover writes in to say:
I keep hearing that there’s a Lindsay-related in-joke somewhere in “Chicken Little.” Could you please tell where in the film this gag is?
Dear LLL,
To be honest, it’s not much of a joke. To get the reference at all, you have to remember that distinctive poster that Walt Disney Pictures created for the theatrical release of “Herbie – Fully Loaded” …
Mark Dindal & Randy Fullmer thought it might be fun if their November 2005 release riffed a bit on Disney’s big release for the Summer of 2005. Which is why their movie-within-a-movie featured this poster …
Unfortunately, given how few people actually saw “Herbie – Fully Loaded” while it was in theaters … Very few people got the joke.
Mind you, that happened a lot on “Chicken Little.” So many in-jokes (Like the one below. Which was part of the film’s original storybook-themed opening sequence …
… which was to have featured a brief cameo …
… by a very stylized version of Donald Duck) …
… wound up getting cut and/or watered down due to studio interference. Which is why it wasn’t really all that big a surprise that the day after “Chicken Little” was released on DVD, Dindal & Fullmer exited Walt Disney Studios. Reportedly because they were tired of dealing with then-WDFA head, David Stainton.
Of course, now that Lasseter & Catmull are running the Mouse Factory, one wonders if the creative team behind “The Emperor’s New Groove” will be invited back to Disney anytime soon. Though given that Dindal just signed to direct his first live-action film, “Sherlock’s Secretary” … It could be quite a while before Mark & Randy return to the Burbank lot.
Anyway … That’s it for this week. You folks have a great Columbus Day weekend, okay?