Puppy Dog Eyes

[tealin]

Dear Internet,

Please please please please please go see Bolt this weekend. I could mention the blood, sweat, and tears that went into it, I could tell its long and troubled history, I could list names of people to see it for, but I am going to forgo the heartstrings and stick to business.

Bolt is the first movie coming out that has been made entirely under the Pixar governorship. It's being seen as a test of how the Pixar alliance is working and whether or not the slow, baggage-ridden money pit that is Disney Feature Animation can pull its own weight. Opening against Twilight is, to paraphrase, a damned unfortunate business, albeit better than opening within a week of Harry Potter as was originally planned. Even so, Twilight is sure to cut into its success, and you can bet that when the money people look at the numbers at the end of the year they won't adjust for 'if we'd opened on a different weekend.' It's the numbers that matter in the end, and for that matter it's the opening weekend that matters most of all. The question 'do people want to see Disney animated movies?' will be answered by how many people bother to show up when one is released. I know it's kind of dumb that so much rides on opening weekend and not on what word-of-mouth can do, but that is the way the business works, and with the quick turnaround from theatres to DVD these days there really isn't time for word-of-mouth to work its magic if the film doesn't have a strong headstart. If you wait until it's on DVD, this tells the money people that the theatrical run is a waste of time and money, which can lead to straight-to-DVD movies and the attendant slide in story and artistic standards that results from a reduced budget and production schedule.

My main point here is consequences: The main thing riding on Twilight's success is the possibility of another Twilight movie. The reaction to Bolt will affect unrelated Disney Feature Animation projects all the way down the pipeline. Your money is your vote: if you buy a ticket for Bolt, you are saying 'yes, I enjoy Disney animation, please keep making it for many years to come.'

In case you're wondering if it's any good, my short answer is 'yes.' My long answer is: I enjoyed it, and the people I know who've seen it and haven't been surrounded by it for the last nine months really enjoyed it. It's been getting good reviews from critics as well. I haven't reviewed it here because I am coming at it from completely the wrong direction to do any objective commentary or even judge its entertainment value.

So GO SEE IT, okay?

Thanks,

Tealin

P.S. I may post some of the in-jokes this weekend.

Comments

[wizardelfgirl.livejournal.com]

What I would really want and appreciate would be if Disney spent a little more time on international promotion. They concentrate the bulk of their promotion strategies on the US, without realizing that the international market is also a very important source of money. So far we've only seen the international trailer and that trailer with Rhino singing HSM (not surprisingly it was shown with HSM3, which has been given a lot more promotion). So practically no one here (Mexico) knows about Bolt, and therefore there is no anticipation for the movie. And this goes for practically all Disney animated movies, really.

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

If it makes you feel any better, they really dropped the ball on advertising it here, too – it's had way less attention than HSM3 or Beverley Hills Chihuahua. But yeah, I hear you on the marketing; there was rarely much promotion of anything in Canada either. Barring the obvious explanation (that Marketing is actually on another planet) I guess there's something to do with ... proportion of return compared to how much it costs to conduct international campaigns? I dunno, I just draw the pictures. :)