I got a note this past weekend from HatMadder
Am I the only who’s confused by what’s going on in Burbank these past few week? First Disney changes “Rapunzel” ‘s title to “Tangled” and then cancels “The Snow Queen” outright because studio execs reportedly believe that modern moviegoers are no longer interested in watching feature length animated fairy tales. But then they announce that they’re making a sequel to “Enchanted.”
Did any of those executives actually watch “Enchanted” ? If so, don’t they realize that this 2007 Walt Disney Pictures release pays tribute to that studio’s library of animated fairy tales? So what’s the point of making a sequel to “Enchanted” if Disney execs no longer believe that there’s really an audience out there for these sorts of movies?
Copyright 2007 Disney. All Rights Reserved
Long story short, MatHadder, the reason that Walt Disney Pictures has put an “Enchanted” sequel into active development is that the “Enchanted” franchise is now a known commodity. That – provided that Disney Studio execs mount the proper sort of promotional campaign (more importantly, pick the right opening weekend) – “Enchanted 2” is virtually guaranteed to turn a profit.
As for the reason that Disney opted to change “Rapunzel” ‘s title to “Tangled” … According to the Mouse’s market research, it would seem that – outside of the United States & Germany – the story of Rapunzel itself has very little name recognition. More to the point, even those among surveyed who actually recognized Rapunzel’s name, these people had little or no knowledge of what her fairy tale was actually about. They knew that this story featured a princess with long hair who was trapped in a tower. But beyond that … zippo.
So here was Disney’s marketing department trying to trade on Rapunzel’s name recognition only to then discover – outside of the U.S. & Germany – this fairy tale didn’t really have any name recognition. Which then forced the Studio to rethink how it was going to sell this particular animated feature.
Copyright 2008 Disney. All Rights Reserved
Now to answer the really difficult question: Did “The Princess & the Frog” ‘s overall box office performance really have an impact on Disney’s decision to retitle “Rapunzel”? Well … I’m not going to lie to you folks. There are a lot of people in Burbank who are still scratching
their heads over the disconnect that seems to have occurred in regards to Disney’s return to hand-drawn animation. I mean, how is it that a film that was this heavily hyped and received so many glowing reviews (i.e. this Ron Clements & John Musker movie received a 85% freshness rating over at Rotten Tomatoes) still needed eight weeks in wide release before it was finally then able blow through the $100-million-in-domestic-ticket-sales box office barrier?
The prevailing theory in-house seems to be that having the name “Princess” featured so prominently in TPATF’s title may have had a detrimental impact on this movie’s grosses. That – to be specific – young males may have deliberately shied away from buying a ticket to a movie that had the word “Princess” in its title. Which seems to have been a contributing factor in
Disney’s recent decision to rename “Rapunzel” “Tangled.”
Know this, though: At least from the Disney Consumer Products’ side of the fence, “The Princess and the Frog” was a smash hit. This past holiday season, most retailers regretted not taking a bigger position when it came to merch associated with Disney’s newest hand-drawn animated feature. Given that they typically sold through everything that they had in stock by Thanksgiving and then had to turn away customers who specifically came in looking for Princess
Tiana toys in the weeks leading up to Christmas.
Photo by Nancy Stadler
Speaking of Princess Tiana: Of all the Disney Princess dolls that were sold over the 2009 Christmas shopping season, Tiana moved the most units. Which is pretty extraordinary for a brand-new character.
So as far as DCP is concerned, “The Princess and the Frog” was a home run. They’d love it if WDFA turned out a new movie like that every year. Whereas the folks on the Studio side of things, who judge success not by how many dolls were purchased, but – rather – by how many tickets were sold … “TPATF” ‘s grosses weren’t quite what they were looking for.
Which bring us back to “Rapunzel” … Or – as this film is now known – “Tangled.” As I understand it, in an effort to win over young men, to convince them that this Holiday 2011 release is far more male friendly that “The Princess & the Frog,” the posters, trailers and TV ads for this upcoming WDFA production will place a pretty heavy emphasis on Rapunzel’s love interest, the infamous bandit Flynn Rider.
Copyright 2009 Disney. All Rights Reserved
Mind you, just as the title of “TPATF” was adjusted for different foreign markets (EX: In Germany, this Ron’n’John production was known as – simply – “Kiss the Frog”), “Tangled” ‘s title will also be tweaked as this picture is trotted out around the globe.
Which is why you just have to love the French. I mean, here’s Disney execs reportedly so upset about the impact that the word “Princess” has on “The Princess and the Frog” ‘s box office that they changed “Rapunzel” ‘s title to “Untangled.” And yet – in spite of all the brouhaha back in Burbank — what does Disney Studios France’s marketing staff choose as the title for this
holiday 2010 / January 2011 release? “Princess Rapunzel.”
Anywho … What’s your take on “Rapunzel” ‘s name change? Do you think that retitling this CG feature “Tangled” is really going to compel that many more young males to buy tickets to this new WDFA production?
Your thoughts?