Last week, The Walt Disney Company couldn’t stop crowing about how well “Tinker Bell” was doing. How this new Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment title was selling well ahead of projections, moving over a million units during its first 48 hours on store shelves. But this week, the Mouse is setting its sights on the Lost Boys.
No, not those “Peter Pan” characters. But — rather — young male viewers ages 6-to-14 who aren’t all that interested in watching “Hannah Montana” & “High School Musical.” Which is why they’ve been ditching the Disney Channel in droves and are now watching Nickelodeon & Cartoon Network instead.
Given that this is a sizable audience segment with lots of disposable income ($50 billion worldwide), Disney’s determined to do whatever it has to recapture these lost viewers. Which is why — in early 2009 — they’re turning Toon Disney into Disney XD, a brand-new cable channel that’s deliberately being designed to be as appealing as possible to young male viewers.
Copyright 2008 Disney. All Rights Reserved
“And how exactly is the Mouse going to do that?,” you ask. Well, for over a year now, Mickey has been developing an entire slate of programming for Disney XD. This hyper-targeted cable channel will feature new live action shows, animated series, original movies as well as sports-related programming. With all of this content designed to (I’m quoting from the Disney XD mission statement now) …
“… reflect the fundamental values of boys 6-to-14, their strong desire to accomplish great things, meet new experiences head-on in a way that makes them feel empowered.”
“So what kinds of TV shows can accomplish something like that?,” you query. Well, as part of this testostrerone-based Extreme Makeover of Toon Disney, the Mouse will be rolling out “Aaron Stone,” an action-adventure series built around this video game virtuoso who leads a secret double life as a crime fighter. This new cable network will also be home to “Zeke & Luther,” a single camera sitcom about two best friends who dream of becoming the world’s best skateboarders. Disney XD will also feature several brand-new sports-based shows from ESPN-branded sports shows that are aimed at males 6-to-14.
And just this morning, XD Disney announced that it was ordering up another pilot for possible inclusion in this cable channel’s line-up. This proposed new series is tentatively titled “I’m With the Band.” It would detail the adventures of a tween musician who’s recruited to become the new lead guitar for a 1980s Spinal Tap-like group that’s now looking to make a comeback.
Kelly Blatz plays 16-year old Charlie Landers in “Aaron Stone,” a new
action-adventure series that debuts on Disney XD in February of 2009.
Photo by Brooke Palmer. Copyright 2008 Disney. All Rights Reserved
In short, Toon Disney is about to become a Disney Princess-free zone. While some of this cable channel’s shows are expected to survive the coming transition — chief among these being “Batman: The Animated Series,” “Jackie Chan Adventures” and “Power Rangers” — many other popular programs will be going off the air starting in February of 2009.
Mind you, the Mouse knows that this retooling / rebranding of Toon Disney is a huge gamble. But given the enormous amount of money that Disney Consumer Products regularly makes off of young males (EX: The “Cars” franchise generated over $2 billion worth of worldwide retail sales for the Company during 2007), Mickey feels that there’s even more dough to be had in creating a cable channel that caters to boys 6-to-14.
“And how might they do that?,” you continue. Take — for example — that “Phineas & Ferb” video game that the Disney Interactive Media Group currently has in the works. By promoting this new game on Disney XD — which, starting in February of 2009, will regularly showcase this Emmy-nominated series — the Mouse’s marketing department is almost sure to catch the eye of the audience that it’s targeting for this new video game.
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You should expect that other divisions of the Walt Disney Company will also try & make use of Disney XD. Use this new cable channel as a way to reach a very desirable demographic. I’m told that even Jerry Bruckheimer plans on getting in on the act, using Disney XD to help make boys 6-to-14 aware of his July 2009 release for Walt Disney, “G-Force.” Which is why we should expect to see Bucky the Hamster & Blaster the Guinea Pig turning up in bumpers for this cable channel starting next Spring.
Indeed, Mickey’s marketing staff plans on using Disney XD to make boys aware of many of the studio’s upcoming releases. Among the productions that are already slated to receive heavy promotion on this new cable channel are “Prince of Persia,” “Tr2n,” “Pirates of the Caribbean 4” and Tim Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland.”
Which — I know — makes it sound like we’re in a tail-that-wags-the-dog situation. That Walt Disney Company is only creating Disney XD so that it will then be able to sell products and/or promote its films to boys 6-to-14. And — yes — having a piece of straight pipe that leads directly to this very desirable demographic will be a key part of the appeal of this new cable channel. Especially when it comes to recruiting outside advertisers.
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But at the same time, one of the main reasons that Mickey has his A-Team working on the Disney XD project is that … Well, the suits want to see if lightning can strike twice. If the Company’s development team can actually take its highly successful Disney Channel formula (Which — thanks to programs like “Wizards of Waverly Place” and TV movies like “Camp Rock” — now has a complete lock on female tween viewers) and then translate that for boys. Better yet, take all of this new content that’s being created for Disney XD and then leverage that across multiple platforms like online, mobile and video-on-demand.
Of course, the big question here is … Will the Mouse actually be able to lure young male viewers away from such longtime Nickelodeon favorites as “SpongeBob Squarepants” and “The Fairly Oddparents” ? Will the shows that Disney XD already has in development and/or production really be strong enough to go head-to-head with Cartoon Network’s latest hit, “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” ? A series which — FYI — Mickey had really hoped to land for Disney XD, lobbying George Lucas long & hard before ultimately losing Clone Wars to Turner Broadcasting.
So what do you folks think? Does Disney XD actually sound that it will be able do what the Company wants? Which is help build brand allegiance with boys 6-to-14?
Your thoughts?
