Yesterday’s Reuters report probably summed it up best.
“The Walt Disney Pictures cartoon “Brother Bear,” released nationwide on Saturday so as not to compete with Halloween festivities the night before, grabbed the No. 2 position with $18.5 million from 3,030 theaters — a figure within expectations.”
Note the precision of that language: “… a figure within expectations.” If you’re looking a translation of that particular phrase in your “English to Hollywood-ese” dictionary, let me save you the trouble. “… a figure within expectations” is certainly not a flop but it’s not exactly a hit. It’s sort of like hitting a double in baseball. Which — admittedly — is not a home run. But — given that you’re already halfway home — it’s nothing to be sneezed either.
Based on what I’ve been hearing from Mouse House insiders, all in all, folks at Disney are fairly pleased with the way “Brother Bear” performed this past weekend. Based on preliminary box office projection, it now looks as if “Brother Bear”‘s total take during its domestic run will fall somewhere between “Mulan”‘s $120 million and “Lilo and Stitch”‘s $145 million. Which will make the guys down at Walt Disney Feature Animation-Florida very happy, I’m sure.
Of course, given the amount of effort that the Walt Disney Company put into promoting “Brother Bear,” you’d actually have had to have been a bear — hibernating in a cave for a year somewhere — to have not known that this Walt Disney Pictures release was opening at a theater near you this past weekend.
It seemed like every time I had the television tuned to ABC, ESPN, ABC Family, Toon Disney and/or the Disney Channel, Rutt and Tuke would eventually pop up. And in their easy going, very Canadian way, these two moose would say “How’s it goin’, eh?” then remind all TV watchers that “Brother Bear” was going to be opening at a theater near you this very weekend.
Speaking of Rutt and Tuke: I heard an interesting rumor this past weekend. It seems that the very same folks who got upset about how the words “S-E-X” allegedly appeared in the sky in the original version of “The Lion King” and then went ballistic because “Aladdin”‘s title character reportedly says “Good teenagers, take off your clothes!” are reportedly in a frenzy over “Brother Bear”‘s moose friends. Why for? Well — according to the rumors that I’ve heard — these folks supposedly believe that Rutt and Tuke are Disney animator’s less-than-subtle tribute to the joys of f*cking and toking (I.E. smoking marijuana).
Okay. Given that the “Aladdin” and “The Lion King” rumors turned out to be totally false (Don’t believe me? Then go check out Barbara and David Mikkelson’s excellent Urban Legends Reference page, www.snopes.com, and then click through their Disney section. You’ll get the full skinny on what Simba and Aladdin are really up to there), I really don’t want to give this whole alleged Rutt and Tuke controversy much credence.
I mean, sure, the word “rut” — according to the on-line version of Merriam-Webster’s dictionary — does mean “an annually recurrent state of sexual excitement in the male deer.” While the more broad translation of the word means “sexual excitement in a mammal.”
But Rutt is the name of the moose in “Brother Bear.” That’s R-u-t-t. NOT r-u-t. And as for Tuke … As any fan of “Second City Television” will tell you, Tuke is just WDFA-F’s somewhat sly tribute to Doug and Bob McKenzie, the beer-swilling SCTV characters who actually provided the inspiration for Rutt and Tuke. (For those of you who don’t know: Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas — the Second City vets who’ve been portraying Bob and Doug for over 20 years now — also did the voicework for Rutt and Tuke.)
So what is Tuke a tribute to? Not toking weed, that’s for sure. It’s an Americanized version of Toque — the soft knit hats that the McKenzie brothers always wore. (And never seemed to take off. Hey, that’s another Bob and Doug reference. “Take off, eh?” I love those guys. Anyway …)
Getting back to Disney’s promotional efforts for “Brother Bear”: One of the weirdest attempts at corporate synergy on this film came last Wednesday on ABC’s hit soap, “General Hospital.” As Jason Morgan (portrayed by GH hunk, Steve Burton) and his wife, Courtney (Alisha Leigh Willis) attempted to comfort a crying baby, which toy did they reach for? You guessed it! A Tumble-n-Laugh Koda. Which is reported this year’s attempt by the folks at Disney to corner the “Tickle Me Elmo” market (I.E. Be the toy of choice this holiday season.)
Speaking of Koda … Here’s another “Brother Bear” related rumor that I heard this past weekend. And this one might actually be true.
Okay. You understand that “Brother Bear” was allegedly inspired (in some part) by the success of Disney’s “The Lion King,” right? Well — as the story goes — WFDA-F animators thought that they should sneak some sort of “Lion King” tribute into their film. Which is why — one time in the film as Kenai and Koda are bedding down for the night — the camera pulls back and reveals that the two bear are actually sleeping on a miniature version of Pride Rock.
I have to admit that I myself did not catch this last week when Jeff, Nancy, Flo and I went down to NYC to see “Brother Bear” at the Ziegfeld. Which is why I’m now throwing this story out to JHM readers to see if they can corroborate it. And — if one of you guys in Orlando who actually worked on this picture wants to chime in with the definitive answer — that’d be cool too.
Okay. Now that “Brother Bear”‘s crucial first weekend has passed and the film has performed “within expectations,” what’s next for Disney Feature Animation? Or — to be more specific — traditional animation at WDFA? Is this form of film making really dead at Disney after “Home on the Range” gets released next April?
Not according to Floyd Norman. “And who’s Floyd Norman?” you ask. Just a legend in the animation industry. Floyd’s this huge talent who — over the years — seems to have worked for every single studio in the industry. From Disney to Hanna Barbera to Pixar. And everyone who works with Norman just sings this guy’s praises — both for his sweet, giving nature as well as his wicked sense of humor. (Don’t believe me. Then go check out today’s “Cartoon Crazy” column from Jackson “Pop Culture” King. That column also features a great Floyd Norman story.)
Anywho … a few weeks back, I wrote to Mr. Norman and asked if he had some thoughts to share about what currently was going on at Walt Disney Feature Animation. Given that Floyd is one of the only folks left whose work experience at the Mouse Factory reaches back almost 50 years, I knew that he’d have a really interesting perspective on what was going on inside that studio. That Norman would be able to see the forest through the trees, so to speak.
Floyd responded with this great little story that he called “Mickey’s Garage Sale.” Which sheds some light on a little known era in Disney Feature Animation’s history. And — in an odd sort of way — offers some hope for WDFA’s future.
Okay. That’s enough yammering introductory remarks from yourself truly. Now let me get out of the way here so that you folks can enjoy Norman’s first JHM story:
Mickey’s Garage Sale
By Floyd NormanBack in the sixties, the Walt Disney Studios faced a tough decision. Should they keep their animation department, or over time, phase the whole operation out. You’ve got to remember that the cost of producing an animation feature was escalating like crazy. It cost nearly six million dollars to make a film. Add to that, it took a huge staff working over a period of years. To make matters worse, the incredible staff of talented Disney artists was beginning to reach retirement age. Besides, the Disney vault was chock full of animated films that would continue to make money for the company for decades. It became increasingly clear there was simply no reason to continue making Feature length cartoons.
So, crazy as it may sound, the Walt Disney Studios had what could be called one of animation’s biggest garage sales. Beautiful animation desks were sold at a fraction of what they were worth. An inbetweener’s desk would cost you about a hundred bucks, and a layout desk, or a background painter’s desk went for about a hundred and twenty five dollars. Many artists loaded up their trucks and vans with these special Disney treasures. Anyone who worked at the studio back then could tell of the sprained muscles they got from lifting these beautifully built, but very heavy desks. Some artists kept these desks in their garages for decades, only to later sell them for thousands of dollars.
I was one of the lucky kids who got to work with Walt Disney on his last animated feature. When “The Jungle Book” was released, it made a ton of money. Those of us who worked on the film were surprised at how well it did. The public wanted good Disney films. All we had to do was make them. It appeared animation was not dead after all. Maybe the selling of all those desks had been a bit premature.
The studio limped along for years after the death of the Old Maestro. Animation was still around, but it sure wasn’t breaking any box office records. Enter Michael Eisner, Frank Wells and the new Disney management team. Under the leadership of Roy Edward Disney and film boss, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Walt Disney Feature Animation entered a new golden era. Films like “The Little Mermaid”, “Beauty and the Beast”, and “Aladdin” showed that animation still had box office clout. When “The Lion King” pulled in three hundred million in its domestic release alone, it seemed that animation had nowhere to go but up.
Flash forward to today with the Disney Company announcing thousands of layoffs. Feature Animation no longer enjoys the reputation of being Disney’s crown jewel. Departments are being scaled back as more and more animation artists hit the streets. It all looks so familiar. When I helped friends load animation desks into their trucks many years ago, who could have guessed that one day movies like “The Lion King” would be a gold mine for Disney. After all, traditional animation was too expensive, too labor intensive, and took much too long to produce. Why would any company in their right mind want to produce traditional animated features?
Is it time for another Garage Sale? When I talk to animation artists today, many are out of a job. Those lucky enough to still be employed are nervous about the future. It makes me wonder if the studio bosses would make the same mistake they made back in the sixties. They wouldn’t be that dumb, would they?
Do you folks appreciate the weird parallels between the era that Floyd describes in his above story and what’s going on at WDFA today? By that I mean: history’s literally repeating itself again, gang. Disney Feature Animation HAS been selling off its animation desks again. And — citing the high cost of making these movies as a factor — the suits at the Mouse Factory are once again talking about getting Disney out of the traditional animation business.
But then along comes “Brother Bear.” Which — just like “Jungle Book” — is this movie that has a central character who’s a bear. So will the box office of this particular film once again be big enough to get WDFA exes to reconsider their decision to slowly move the Mouse out of the traditional animation business?
I don’t know the answer to that question, folks. But I’m grateful to Floyd Norman for sharing his long range view of the animation business with us today. (By the way, Floyd’s got a brand new book of cartoons coming out: “Son of Faster, Cheaper.” Look for a review of this funny little volume to pop up on JimHillMedia.com later this week, okay?)
That’s it for today, folks. Your thoughts?