Wish | Walt Disney Animation Studios | November 22, 2023 | Chris Pine plays a baddie DILF, new trailer has dropped, reactions are reactions

[ThePrinceIsOnFire]

There is little to no awareness over this project, the marketing has been dire so far and it looks like this is the same old "company of colorful misfists embark on a journey to save the world/planet/kingdom" stint that disney has been pulling for every single movie since Rapunzel. 

The visuals look lazy and uninspired, this new tecnique lacks the flair of the traditional animation and the detail of the full 3d, making everyhting look cheaper.

 

That being said, I hope children aged 3-8 will enjoy this one like they did with Encanto, because sure as hell disney keeps lowering its target audience age with every single release, the days of Hunchback of notre dame/Pocahontas (as in, more mature animated stories that targeted the whole family, adults included) are long gone, so it really is a matter of the product actually making it big with small children.

 

I can see this being a big hit depite the lack of promotion the way Encanto was, all it needs is to go viral somehow and be liked by that 3-8 age group that is heavily targeted. 

[Eric Loves Rey]

2 hours ago, Bob Train said:

Ralph Breaks the Internet.

Can he fix it?

[Speedorito]

2 hours ago, Morieris said:

oh a little story hint here.

Quote

Alan Tudyk also stars as a talking goat, Valentino Hall

Why does the goat have a last name?

[AniNate]

And why is it "Hall"?

[El Squibbonator]

1 hour ago, ThePrinceIsOnFire said:

There is little to no awareness over this project, the marketing has been dire so far and it looks like this is the same old "company of colorful misfists embark on a journey to save the world/planet/kingdom" stint that disney has been pulling for every single movie since Rapunzel. 

 

 

I was going to mention that, too, as a possible reason we haven't seen much buzz for it. In all honesty, this movie looks like something we've seen plenty of times before. Now, that doesn't necessarily mean it's going to be bad, or even that it's going to be anything like how the trailers make it look-- again, refer to Elemental, which was a much more creative and interesting movie than its marketing let on. But it does mean that people who have grown more cynical and jaded about Disney's animated movies since 2010 or so might not be convinced that Wish is a must-see. 

 

In a way, I'm reminded of what happened to Disney at the end of the 1990s. What was once new and revolutionary was done over and over again until it became predictable and formulaic, and people were less and less willing to give the studio a chance. 

Edited September 18, 2023 by El Squibbonator

[AniNate]

I think that's been the case pretty much through their whole cgi era with the possible exception of the Ralph and Frozen sequels, they've never had the huge up front adult demand that Pixar movies once did. I saw Zootopia opening day and my theater was completely empty, lol.

[Bob Train]

Illumination also has upfront demand, Secret Life of Pets is the only original IP to open over $100m DOM.

[Porthos]

Curious as to what sort of "marketing" people even expect two plus months out for this type of film.

 

What even is "marketing" in an era when so many folks don't even watch broadcast/cable TV?  Are y'all just complaining that there isn't enough viral marketing for this?  Or that it hasn't hit your various social circles yet?

 

I mean, specifically, what is the complaint here?  Not enough trailers?  Short features released to social media (again two plus months in advance)?  Coz, gotta say, I'm finding the "no marketing" complaint that I see in so many film discussion threads the last couple of years to be bewildering (as an "for instance" I've seen the "no marketing" complaint for The Creator despite a fairly big marketing campaign for it on various sporting events).

[AniNate]

I think people just start to get antsy if we pass the halfway point from the last trailer and there isn't a new one yet

[MovieMan89]

4 hours ago, Bob Train said:

Ralph Breaks the Internet.

I would say Frozen 2 if anything, but regardless those 2 are sequels so they’re not the same situation. 

[El Squibbonator]

Maybe "marketing" isn't quite the right word, but I'm not sure exactly what is. I'll try to explain it better. See, in the months leading up to the releases of the Frozen movies, Moana, and Encanto, there was a very real sense, at least from the discourse I saw both in person and on the internet, that people were talking about these movies. They saw them as big events they were looking forward to, and there was a lot of speculation, even outside their target audience, about what they'd be like. We saw a lot less of that with Strange World, and unfortunately we're seeing a similarly low amount of it with Wish. 

[AniNate]

10 minutes ago, El Squibbonator said:

Maybe "marketing" isn't quite the right word, but I'm not sure exactly what is. I'll try to explain it better. See, in the months leading up to the releases of the Frozen movies, Moana, and Encanto, there was a very real sense, at least from the discourse I saw both in person and on the internet, that people were talking about these movies. They saw them as big events they were looking forward to, and there was a lot of speculation, even outside their target audience, about what they'd be like. We saw a lot less of that with Strange World, and unfortunately we're seeing a similarly low amount of it with Wish. 

 

This just goes to show how vague and anecdotal the concept of "buzz" is. Honestly given it seems that Google Trends is confusing the movie Wish with the Disney cruise ship Wish, it actually seems pretty decent at the moment. In any case, what matters in the end is what people actually think of the movie. There won't be any marketing better than an enthusiastic critical reception.

 

I also wouldn't say the buzz for Encanto was that potent even up to and during its theatrical release. It's only really once it dropped on streaming that it took off. Obviously I'd prefer that not be the case in a more Covid-stable situation. 

 

 

Edited September 19, 2023 by AniNate

[JustLurking]

2 hours ago, Eric Poirot said:

Can he fix it?

That's too big an ask for anyone I'm afraid

[dudalb]

You also have a "Burn Out" factor with 

21 hours ago, El Squibbonator said:

Maybe "marketing" isn't quite the right word, but I'm not sure exactly what is. I'll try to explain it better. See, in the months leading up to the releases of the Frozen movies, Moana, and Encanto, there was a very real sense, at least from the discourse I saw both in person and on the internet, that people were talking about these movies. They saw them as big events they were looking forward to, and there was a lot of speculation, even outside their target audience, about what they'd be like. We saw a lot less of that with Strange World, and unfortunately we're seeing a similarly low amount of it with Wish. 

This might be a case of burn out with this kind of animated movie.

[Bob Train]

Disney needs to start putting out more Posters and TV spots.

[dudalb]

ALso, you put out a lot of "Event" movies in a genre in too close a time space, they soon cease to be "events".

[ThePrinceIsOnFire]

26 minutes ago, Bob Train said:

Disney needs to start putting out more Posters and TV spots.

I agree, but upon further refelection I think this is a solid strategy from disney. The pre-schoolers and children aged 6-9 have very short attention span and can get easily tired of something the same way they can obsess over something else. Having posters/TV spots out 2 months before release is not going to have a draw effect on the children, so it might be better to have  a very heavy promotion window in the days before the release, so that children can push their parents to bring them to the theatres right away when they see, and fall in love with, the characters from the new animated film.

 

This film is not aimed at adults (not even "disney adults" to be fair) and everything about it, from the design of the star to the animal companion to the excess of musical moments, the oversaturated visuals (not on the Encanto level but not that far off either) is specifically done for very small children only. This isn't and isn't trying to be a four quadrant movie (disney has long abandoned the idea after the flops of its late 90's early 2000's films like Atlantis and Treasure Planet), it is poised to have no love story, very limited action and overall no scary moments, and I doubt that any mature theme will be featured at all.

 

So all in all, I think it's fair to judge this (and its marketing) as a product that has a target audience that is not the usual public that movies seek (the coveted 15-49 demo) so the usual rules should not apply here.

 

That being said it does sadden me a little to see that WDAS has turend itself into a studio that only makes stuff aimed at small children, but with PIXAR as a competitor it's only fair that they would leave the more mature stories aside, as Pixar has proved itself over time as more succesful in creating animated stories aimed at a more mature public.

Edited September 19, 2023 by ThePrinceIsOnFire

[AniNate]

Let's not go down the Pixar v Disney path. It's disingenuous to say WDA hasn't found an appreciative adult audience with a lot of their recent work. Certainly Frozen, Moana, and Encanto have found a sizable following, and one of the directors of Frozen is involved in this movie so I'm pretty sure that's the kind of tone they're aiming for. 

 

The pre release cynicism for this movie also isn't much different from their others the last decade ofc.

Edited September 20, 2023 by AniNate

[MovieMan89]

On 9/18/2023 at 6:36 PM, El Squibbonator said:

Maybe "marketing" isn't quite the right word, but I'm not sure exactly what is. I'll try to explain it better. See, in the months leading up to the releases of the Frozen movies, Moana, and Encanto, there was a very real sense, at least from the discourse I saw both in person and on the internet, that people were talking about these movies. They saw them as big events they were looking forward to, and there was a lot of speculation, even outside their target audience, about what they'd be like. We saw a lot less of that with Strange World, and unfortunately we're seeing a similarly low amount of it with Wish. 

Err… was there? Frozen and Encanto I remember being very muted in marketing. Frozens opening felt completely shocking. Wasn’t there just the one teaser with Olaf they mostly pedaled for months and called it a day? 

[AniNate]

I just took a little trip through memory lane in the Frozen thread and yeah, people were pretty down on that movie all the way through mid October. The only things keeping morale high were inside info about the story and songs. The first trailers for that movie were the cringy slapstick and snark driven kind that no one old enough to post on a forum really cares for. But the last trailer which actually promoted one of the songs started to turn things around, and everyone got on board once the enthusiastic critic reviews started coming in.

 

Personally the teaser for Wish was one of their more immediately persuasive ones in recent memory, and I hope that's the tone they continue to use with the rest of their marketing.