Normally at WDW’s “Night of Joy” Christian music events, it’s the performers who are on stage at WDW’s who are doing all the promoting. Who spend their time between songs talking up their new CDs and/or upcoming tour schedules.
However — starting next month — it’ll be the Mouse who’ll be doing the preaching to the faithful. As tens of thousands of church-goers descend on the Magic Kingdom on September 9th & 10th to listen to the best in Christian Pop, Rock and Gospel, the Walt Disney Company plans to use this golden opportunity to do some serious promoting of the studio’s upcoming holiday release, “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.”
Copyright Walt Disney Pictures / Walden Media
And Mickey will really be beating the “Narnia” promotional drum during this year’s “Night of Joy” weekend. How so? Well, some of the top Christian Music artists who are scheduled to be appearing at NOJ will be performing songs from a soon-to-be-released album that features music that was inspired by this Walt Disney Pictures and Walden Media production. Chief among these will be Five-time Grammy Award Winner Steven Curtis Chapman (who will be singing “Remembering You”), TobyMac and Kutless.
Then there will be “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe” info stations set up around the Magic Kingdom. Where “Night of Joy” attendees can watch the film’s trailer as well as learn about the production of this motion picture.
Copyright Walt Disney Studios / Walden Media
Then — at 12:30 a.m. — as NOJ comes to a close, each attendee will be handed a goodie bag as they exit the theme park. And inside each bag will be a souvenir CD which features songs by selected “Night of Joy” performers … along with a bonus track: “The Chronicles of Narnia Audio Magazine.”
Add to this that each of the chaperones that attend this year’s “Night of Joy” event will be gifted a special “Chronicles of Narnia” DVD. Which they’ll then be encouraged to show to the children at their churches once they get home … And you can see that the Walt Disney Company is planning on mounting a full court press in its effort to get the faithful to come out & see this film.
Copyright Walt Disney Pictures / Walden Media
Now contrast this with Mickey’s plans for a “Chronicle of Narnia” walk-through exhibit at the Disney-MGM Studio theme park. This behind-the-scenes exhibit will supposedly fill two soundstages with props, costumes and sets. Yet there won’t be a single display in this exhibit that touches on the fact that “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” was supposed to be a Christian allegory.
Confused yet? You shouldn’t be. This is just another example of the Walt Disney Company trying to have its cake and eat it too. With the hope that this will help make the movie version of C.S. Lewis’ novel-for-children even more of a blockbuster at the box office, the Mouse is taking a two tiered approach to the promotion of this picture.
Copyright Walt Disney Pictures / Walden Media
To the general movie-going public, “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” is just being sold as an epic fantasy-adventure. Something along the lines of New Line Pictures’ “Lord of the Ring” film trilogy or Warners’ on-going “Harry Potter” series.
But to evangelical Christians, “Narnia” is being sold as a deeply spiritual picture. One that actively embraces the allegorical elements of C.S. Lewis’ stories.
Copyright Walt Disney Pictures / Walden Media
Mind you, the Mouse isn’t just relying on this year’s “Night of Joy” event to get that message out. The studio — working with Walden Media — hired Motive Marketing, the Westlake, CA.-based firm that masterminded the promotional campaign for Mel Gibson’s blockbuster smash, “The Passion of the Christ.” To hedge its bet, Disney has also hired another Christian-based company — Grace Hill Media — to consult on the over-all marketing of “Narnia.”
Of course, given that the Walt Disney Company has typically been very stand-offish when it comes to the subjects of faith and religion, some within the Hollywood community has been rather surprised to see the Mouse so obviously eager to get in bed with evangelicals if it will help turn “Narnia” into a blockbuster. Toward that end, Disney’s own in-house publicity machine has been stressing that the studio isn’t just reaching out to Christians in its efforts to promote “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.” That — thanks to the studio’s promotional efforts at Comic Con — now science-fiction and fantasy fans are also aware that this $100 million movie is being released to theaters on December 9th.
Copyright Walt Disney Pictures / Walden Media
“We don’t want to cater to one fan base over the other, or at the expense of another,” or so says Dennis Rice, Disney’s senior vice president for public relations.
Well, tell that to the folks who’ll be attending this year’s “Night of Joy” events at WDW’s Magic Kingdom. They think that they’re coming to that theme park on September 9th & 10th for an evening of great Christian music. But — whether they like it or not — what these folks are also going to get is some heavy duty hype for Disney’s “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.”
FYI: JHM is going to have a reporter and a photographer on the scene for this year’s “Night of Joy” events. So be sure to drop by the site on Monday, September 13th so that you see some images from this unique in-park promotion of this upcoming Walt Disney Pictures / Walden Media release.