Monday Mouse Watch: Unconventional promotion really paid off for “Up”

Jim Hill

15 years ago

It’s been kind of interesting watching the Pixar fan
community react to Rich Greenfield’s recent mea culpa in regards to “Up.”

Back in April, Greenfield (who’s this Wall Street analyst
that keeps tabs on The Walt Disney Company for Pali Research) expressed
concerns about this Pete Docter film. Saying that “ … We doubt younger boys will be
that excited by (”Up” ‘s) main character,” Rich expressed concerns that this
Pixar movie might under-perform domestically. Which is why he suggested that
investors sell off their Disney shares.

Well, three months later, “Up” has earned – to date — $273.5
million during its initial domestic run. Which now puts this Pete Docter movie
in the No. 2 spot for Pixar’s top stateside earners. Just ahead of the $261.4
million that “The Incredibles” pulled in when it was released domestically back in
November of 2004 but still behind the $339.7 million worth of tickets that “Finding Nemo” sold during its stateside run in May of 2003.

To his credit (And – trust me, folks – I know how just tough
it can be when you have to eat crow in regards to Pixar box office
projections), Greenfield – in his most recent Pali Research report – did admit
that he was “dead wrong” in regards to “Up.” Which (predictably) led to Pixar
fan sites posting pieces that featured headlines like “Dumb analyst who feared
‘Up’ failure eats humble pie.”

But here’s the thing: If you asked higher-ups within The Walt Disney
Company a year ago how they felt about “Up” … Well, they’d have told you –
while they personally loved this new Pete Docter film – they weren’t entirely sure
how “Up” would do domestically. You see, its unconventional subject matter made
this movie a real marketing challenge.

And given that this particular Pixar production was the
first to be released in Disney Digital 3D, it was crucial that “Up” do well
during its initial stateside run. Which is why the Mouse really struggled to
come up with just the right way to promote this motion picture.

Don’t believe me? Then let’s listen to what Donald Evans
(i.e. the senior vice president of Marketing for Walt Disney and Pixar
Animation Studios) had to say to the crowd that attended “Up” ‘s first screening. Which was held in the Aetna
Theatre at the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum
of Art in Hartford, Ct. back on May 9^th. According to Donald, even
finding just the right image for “Up” ‘s poster proved to be a real challenge.

“We initially shied away from the idea that we’d use
balloons as the image to sell ‘Up,’ “ Evans explained. “Our concern was that
balloons would make this movie seem too juvenile. Only after the ‘Up’ teaser
trailer – where the house is being lifted past the camera by all those balloons
– got such a huge reaction did we realize that most people, regardless of their
age, associate balloons with happy times. Birthdays, etc.”

But given “Up” ‘s unconventional leading man (i.e.
78-year-old Carl Fredricksen), Disney’s marketing department eventually decided
that they had to take an equally unconventional approach to getting the word
out about this new Pixar film. Which is why – for the first time ever – rather
than just showing isolated scenes of “Up,” the Mouse opted to screen fully half
of this movie for New York Comic-Con and WonderCon attendees in February.

Then – building on the success of those “Meet WALL-E”
vignettes that aired on the Disney Channel & ABC back in 2008 (which really
helped build audience awareness of the characters for that Andrew Stanton film)
– Pixar created a series of “Upisodes.” Which introduced viewers to Karl &
Russell. More importantly, these vignettes deliberately showed this 78-year-old
retiree and that 8-year-old Wilderness Explorer in a colorful jungle setting
doing comical things.

“It sometimes frustrates the filmmakers when we build our
trailers and teasers around gags,” Evans admitted. “But it’s been proven that
laughs will get people into theaters. Mind you, it’s the characters, the
emotion and the story that will then get them to come back and see a movie a
second time. But to get an audience there the first time, you need to have some
big laughs in your trailer.”

Of course, one distinct advantage that The Walt Disney
Company has over its competition is the Disney Channel.

“We like to think of the Disney Channel as our secret
weapon,” Donald continued. “We regularly use the Disney Channel as a way to
introduce characters and key concepts for upcoming films to a very desirable
demographic months ahead of time.”

Which why – when
“Princess Protection Program” debuted on that cable channel late last month –
the studio’s PR department made sure to load up that new Disney Channel
Original with lots of promotional featurettes for “The Princess and the Frog.”
Doing what they could to get the word out about that new John Musker & Ron
Clements movie months ahead of its November 25, 2009 release date.

Long story short: Taking an unorthodox approach to promoting
“Up” (EX: Sending those two “Up” themed cluster balloon teams out around the
country to create unique photo ops that could then be used to help promote this
new Pixar film) actually did pay off. For a brief six day period there (i.e.
Saturday, June 27^th through Thursday, July 2^nd), “Up” was
the top grossing domestic release for 2009. Until “Transformers: Revenge of the
Fallen” and its CG robots blew right by Carl & Co.

As to how “Up” will do over the rest of its domestic run …
Given that the Disney Digital 3D version of this Pete Docter movie has already
chased out of most multiplexes by the arrival of other 3D films like the
previously mentioned “Transformers” sequel as well as “Ice Age: Dawn of the
Dinosaurs,” “Up” obviously isn’t reaching the same box office heights that it
did back in May & June.

But that said, studio insiders insist that there’s still plenty
of helium left in those balloons that Carl tied to his house. Which is why we
shouldn’t be all that surprised that – by Labor Day – “Up” has added an
additional $25 million or so to its domestic box office totals.

In fact, there are those in Burbank that are saying that
this Pete Docter film stands a very good chance of floating past the $300
million domestic threshold. Which would
then put Karl, Russell, Dug and Kevin in very rarified company.

You see, only five other Walt Disney Pictures releases have ever
made more than $300 million during their initial stateside runs. And those
films are “Pirates of the Caribbean – Dead Man’s Chest” ($423.3 million), “Finding
Nemo” ($339.7 million), “The Lion King” ($328.5 million), “Pirates of the Caribbean – At World’s End
” ($309.4
million) and “Pirates of the Caribbean – The Curse of the Black Pearl” ($305.4
million).

And beyond that lies whatever “Up” will earn during its
international release … Which – these days – is where Pixar films traditionally
earn most of their money. Which is one of the main reasons that the Mouse opted
to debut this Pete Docter film at the Cannes International Film Festival. More to the point,
it’s why Pixar will have such a huge presence at this year’s Venice Film
Festival. With five of that animation studio’s founding directors receiving Golden
Lion awards.

So I guess what I’m saying here is don’t be too hard on Rich
Greenfield of Pali Research. Given what Disney’s PR department was doing back
in the late winter / early spring, it was clear that “Up” was a picture that
the studio was somewhat concerned about. But what Pali hadn’t counted on was
that Disney’s unconventional promotional approach would actually pay off.

Your thoughts?