Last Wednesday, Kevin C. sent along this e-mail:
Hi Jim!
Long time lurker, many times reader of your columns. Love the web site.
Enough with the kissing up. I live literally behind the Magic Kingdom parking lot here in Orlando.
Photo by Robert Bish
The last time I was in the park … I noticed the official 2006 line of products with the usual Mickey, Donald, Goofy and Minnie on the cover like every year. There is apparently a new addition (in case you haven’t seen) on the logo… Stitch.
Photo by Robert Bish
I would love to hear why they added him with the traditional biggies.
Actually, Kevin, I can tell you why Stitch is so prominently featured with the Fab Five on this year’s merchandise for the Walt Disney World Resort. You see, back when the orders for most of these souvenirs were originally placed (Late 2004 / early 2005), Stitch was still thought of as a break-out character. One that the public just couldn’t get enough of.
Well, what a difference a year makes. If you want a true sense of how far this little blue alien has fallen out from favor, head over to the Magic Kingdom sometime and check out the lines for “Stitch’s Great Escape.”
Photo by Jeff Lange
Or should I say “the lack of lines”? Even though this Tomorrowland attraction has officially been open for less than 15 months now, the current wait time for “Stitch’s Great Escape” has already fallen (on average) to 10-15 minutes. Now contrast that to “Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin.” Even though that interactive “Toy Story” -themed dark ride opened ‘way back in October of 1998, this attraction is still averaging 25 minute line waits.
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Now keep in mind that this lack-of-line flies directly in the face of an on-going promotional campaign for this new Tomorrowland attraction. After all, every guest who uses the monorail to get to the Magic Kingdom still has to hear an on-board spiel that hypes “Stitch’s Great Escape.”
And yet all this extra effort has yet to translate into any extra bodies in SGE’s queue. In fact, if what some Tomorrowland-based cast members have been telling me proves to be true, attendance levels for “Stitch’s Great Escape” has already fallen below the numbers that “Alien Encounter” used to pull in. Meaning that the $25-30 million that WDI reportedly spent to turn AE into a more family-friendly attraction was basically a wash.
Now to be fair, it really isn’t WDI’s fault that “Stitch’s Great Escape” has fallen out of favor so fast. Nor is it the merchandise buyers’ fault that so many stores on WDW property are now loaded down with Stitch-related merchandise that really isn’t selling. No, if you actually want to find someone to blame for this particular boondoggle, it’s best to start with the Disney senior execs who actually set all these wheels in motion back in 2003.
Of course, that was back when “Lilo & Stitch” had just earned $145 million during its initial domestic release. Plus the additional $127 million that this film earned overseas. Now add to this the $198 million that “L & S” pulled in when it finally debuted on DVD & VHS … And you can see why the Walt Disney Company might have been eager to quickly capitalize on this particular set of characters. Milk this brand-new cash cow.
All this money — plus the $75.4 million that “Stitch! The Movie” (I.E. “Lilo & Stitch” ‘s 1st direct-to-video sequel. Which was first released to stores on August 23, 2003) earned — plus the high ratings that “Lilo & Stitch: The Animated Series” pulled down after the show made its debut on ABC Kids and the Disney Channel … seemed to signal to Disney senior execs that Stitch was going to become an evergreen. You know? A character like Mickey or Winnie the Pooh? One that generations would love for years yet to come.
Copyright Disney Enterprises LLC
So an executive decision was made to strike while the iron was hot. Which is why not just one but two new “Lilo & Stitch” direct-to-video sequels were quickly put into production: “Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch has a Glitch” (Which was released to stores back on August 30, 2005) & the forthcoming “Leroy & Stitch.” Plus an interactive “Stitch’s Photo Phone” show (Which was actually the precursor to the popular “Turtle Talk with Crush” attraction) was opened at Disneyland‘s Innoventions. And — of course — construction of “Stitch’s Great Escape” was finally given the greenlight.
Copyright Disney Enterprises LLC
Mind you, if Disney senior execs had actually been paying attention, they would have seen the warning signs that audiences were slowly but surely losing their enthusiasm for the “Lilo & Stitch” characters. The first real indication was that “Stitch! The Movie” only pulled in $75.4 million. Which was little more than half what “Lilo & Stitch” earned during its initial domestic release.
Then add to this the $43.7 million that “Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch has a Glitch” earned when it hit store shelves last year … And it quickly became clear that audiences’ enthusiasm for these particular characters were waning. By pushing too hard, by throwing far too much Stitch-related merchandise out onto store shelves over far too short a period of time, Disney had actually glutted the marketplace. It had accidentally over-exposed the Lilo & Stitch brand.
Not to worry, though. There is actually a cure for this peculiar condition. It involves taking the over-exposed characters off the market for a few years. Letting demand for the brand build and then slowly re-introducing these characters to the marketplace. Truth be told, this is actually what Viacom / Paramount is currently trying to do with the “Star Trek” franchise. Letting that property lie fallow for a few years, with the hope that the studio will then be able to reinvigorate the brand.
Photo by Robert Bish
So if you’re a collector of really odd Disney collectibles, you might want to rush out & snatch up some of these 2006 WDW souvenirs. For this will undoubtedly be the very last time that Stitch (I.E. That would-be evergreen character) will be paired with the Fab Five (I.E. Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy & Pluto. Disney’s really-for-real evergreen characters).
Photo by Robert Bish
Though, on second thought — given how poorly these Disney World souvenirs featuring Stitch are supposedly selling — I guess I wouldn’t actually rush out and try to buy up all of this stuff right now. I’d just wait a few weeks and then head on over to one of Orlando’s Character Warehouses. Where I’m sure that these 2006 WDW souvenirs will soon start showing up at severely discounted prices.
Your thoughts?
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