Big Hero 6 | November 7, 2014 | Now available on home video

[Melvin Frohike]

BH6 numbers are clearly satisfying

Wait, Big Hero 6's box office run is not nearly ready to deactivate yet. Baymax, I am NOT satisfied with my care!

Edited December 23, 2014 by Melvin Frohike

[wileECoyote]

I'm sure WDAS is much more satisfied in the general direction of their movies than DWA.

BH6 was not going to breakout like Frozen. But as long as it feeds money into the Disney machine with merchandising and likely spinoffs, Disney should be happy.

[Omni]

They were probably hoping for a little more, and to be honest it had the potential to get to 250+. WIR was solid domestically and a tad weak overseas, so if this ends up beating it by only 20% or so overall, there's certainly room for some minor disappointment. Of course, merchandising is what really matters for Disney and it's still too early to tell, but it doesn't seem Baymax will become some sort of icon among kids and teens.

[Fullbuster]

They were probably hoping for a little more, and to be honest it had the potential to get to 250+. WIR was solid domestically and a tad weak overseas, so if this ends up beating it by only 20% or so overall, there's certainly room for some minor disappointment. Of course, merchandising is what really matters for Disney and it's still too early to tell, but it doesn't seem Baymax will become some sort of icon among kids and teens.

 

I beg to disagree, they seem to love Baymax.

[Melvin Frohike]

They were probably hoping for a little more, and to be honest it had the potential to get to 250+.

That's exactly what I was thinking, but after seeing movie after movie underperform--especially family fare--my expectations had already begun to drop toward the baseline, and the movies that have been released afterward have only confirmed that it's not a great time for the DOM box office (at least for the "big" releases). In this light, Big Hero 6 is doing rather well, exceeding the expectations of many others while meeting or exceeding the baseline for a movie of this cost (if it continues to do well OS, as it has been so far), which is far from something to sneeze at. Ask DWA whether they feel that success is a given. WDAS sure don't feel that way--maybe they don't have the sense of elation and pleasant shock that Frozen gave them, but they'll take the feeling of sheer relief that Big Hero 6 will be a success (almost certainly more of one than Wreck-It Ralph and maybe even Tangled, when all is said and done) any day. "Success" sounds so boring, but in this type of enterprise its definition is a pretty high standard in the grand scheme of things.

 

WIR was solid domestically and a tad weak overseas, so if this ends up beating it by only 20% or so overall, there's certainly room for some minor disappointment.

I agree, but at the same time I had this fear that it could inexplicably flop, so right now I'm really not disappointed. At the end of the day, we can apply all of the reasoning we want, but the audience is unpredictable, and with the stench of box office failure and disappointment heavy in the air this season and for most of this year, I'll gladly take Big Hero 6's success, thank you very much.

 

Of course, merchandising is what really matters for Disney and it's still too early to tell, but it doesn't seem Baymax will become some sort of icon among kids and teens.

People seem to like Baymax in particular, but I'm not sure how much this will translate into merchandise sales. As one anecdotal case in point, I was at Disneyland on Sunday and saw a vendor selling a bunch of Baymax and Olaf helium balloons (they looked pretty cool, too). She had about the same number of each, but I saw a lot more people with an Olaf balloon, and sure enough I saw the same vendor a bit later and she only had a couple of Olaf balloons left and almost as many Baymax balloons as she had started with. No, I don't expect the movie to match Frozen in this regard, but Baymax is really the main hook of the movie, the movie is new and fresh, and he wasn't going against Elsa here.

By the way, business at the Disneyland Resort, including Downtown Disney, was extremely brisk that day in general--I know it's Christmastime and all, but wowsers! Anna and Elsa's Boutique--a whole store devoted to Frozen merchandise and princess makeovers for little girls--was packed, and they were pumping out little Elsas and Annas all day long. In contrast, I went to the nearby Anaheim GardenWalk mall later for dinner, and that place was DEAD! Disneyland was sucking up everybody and their money, and within the event horizon Frozen seemed to be doing the same thing.

[Jonwo]

Boy centric Disney animated films with the exception of The Lion King and to an extent Aladdin have never sold as well compared to the girl centric films, as I've mentioned before, Disney has the girl demographic covered from an early age to preteens but boys are much tougher to grab and while Disney has Pirates, Cars, Star Wars and Marvel that can fill that up but in terms of their own IP from WDAS and WDP, they have struggled with stuff like Atlantis, Treasure Planet, John Carter, Lone Ranger etc all flopping but recently Wreck it Ralph and BH6 have been successful but a phenomenon like Frozen but for boys hasn't happened in 20 years.

[Sal]

Part of the trouble I'm finding from the merchandising aspect is that the stuff I really want to get is impossible to find.  It's easy to get toys of Baymax in the armour, but the non-armoured Baymax is virtually impossible to find.  I've been trying since the movie opened to find anywhere local that sells the big Baymax plushes but I've had no luck.

[wileECoyote]

Boy centric Disney animated films with the exception of The Lion King and to an extent Aladdin have never sold as well compared to the girl centric films, as I've mentioned before, Disney has the girl demographic covered from an early age to preteens but boys are much tougher to grab and while Disney has Pirates, Cars, Star Wars and Marvel that can fill that up but in terms of their own IP from WDAS and WDP, they have struggled with stuff like Atlantis, Treasure Planet, John Carter, Lone Ranger etc all flopping but recently Wreck it Ralph and BH6 have been successful but a phenomenon like Frozen but for boys hasn't happened in 20 years.

Disney doesnt have much problems selling to girls. The princess line really helps and that's where, I believe, WDAS main strength is in, fairy tales that have strong appeal to girls.

Disney bought Marvel to plug that gender gap.

Going back to BO expectations though. Yeah I had BH6 doing close to 250 so maybe my expectations were high. However, I'm not disappointed. Disappointing would've been WiR numbers. And given the BO doldrums so far this year, I believe BH6 did well enough.

[Dingdong123]

Woah. The thread is alive!!

Anyway, I'm satisfied with BH6's performance. If not for the too much family competition (something Frozen managed to benefit from), this could've probably grossed about 230-240M! It managed to fend off Penguins of Madagascar easily, lol. And weekend drops has been especially better than WiR except for the 2nd weekend (Ralph benefitted from veteran's day), and last weekend (the arrival of family movies hurt Baymax) so I believe that WOM has been very great.

Hopefully Disney execs won't be overshadowed by the Frozen success in thinking that BH6 did bad and I hope they handle Baymax and Big Hero 6 properly in the coming years.

[Dingdong123]

Part of the trouble I'm finding from the merchandising aspect is that the stuff I really want to get is impossible to find.  It's easy to get toys of Baymax in the armour, but the non-armoured Baymax is virtually impossible to find.  I've been trying since the movie opened to find anywhere local that sells the big Baymax plushes but I've had no luck.

THIS.

Everyone I know LOVES Baymax non-armored more than Baymax in suit. Like hello Disney?! Where are the plushes and non-armored Baymax merchandise? I also passed by a toy store before and they're just selling Baymax in his suit. Crazy.

[Spidey Freak]

Boy centric Disney animated films with the exception of The Lion King and to an extent Aladdin...

 

To an extent? Aladdin merch was EVERYWHERE in the 90's. It even successfully spawned a spin-off series which is easily Disney's best spin-off series. No, Aladdin is right up there with TLK in terms of boy-centric success, though the presence and appeal of Jasmine and "A Whole New World" did go a long way in making the film more girl-friendly.

 

I think Tarzan can be described as a boy-centric Disney film that was successful "to an extent". 

[Melvin Frohike]

Boy centric Disney animated films with the exception of The Lion King and to an extent Aladdin have never sold as well compared to the girl centric films, as I've mentioned before, Disney has the girl demographic covered from an early age to preteens but boys are much tougher to grab and while Disney has Pirates, Cars, Star Wars and Marvel that can fill that up but in terms of their own IP from WDAS and WDP, they have struggled with stuff like Atlantis, Treasure Planet, John Carter, Lone Ranger etc all flopping but recently Wreck it Ralph and BH6 have been successful but a phenomenon like Frozen but for boys hasn't happened in 20 years.

All true except that even the Lucasfilm and Marvel properties together pale in comparison to the power of the Disney Princess. Only the Cars franchise comes anywhere close, but not that close, and now with Frozen plus Disney Princess, the girl segment of the market still dominates Disney's balance sheet.

 

 

Disney doesnt have much problems selling to girls. The princess line really helps and that's where, I believe, WDAS main strength is in, fairy tales that have strong appeal to girls.

The fairy tales and other movies appeal to boys just fine--what really slays in merchandise sales, however, is all the little girls out there who fancy themselves princesses. There certainly is a special kind of mystique about this.

 

Disney bought Marvel to plug that gender gap.

In terms of merchandise, only partially.

 

Anyway, I'm satisfied with BH6's performance. If not for the too much family competition (something Frozen managed to benefit from),

Frozen would have managed just fine against direct competition, too, especially limp competition like what Big Hero 6 is facing. If it can still overshadow the latter in some ways a year after its release, it could have done the same to any competition from animated/family movies in 2013.

this could've probably grossed about 230-240M! It managed to fend off Penguins of Madagascar easily, lol. And weekend drops has been especially better than WiR except for the 2nd weekend (Ralph benefitted from veteran's day), and last weekend (the arrival of family movies hurt Baymax) so I believe that WOM has been very great.

Well, they're not directly comparable anymore, day-to-day, being this close to Christmas now, since Big Hero 6 is five days closer to Christmas than Wreck-It Ralph was at the same point in their runs. Hopefully this also means that Big Hero 6 can take somewhat better advantage of the holidays.

 

Hopefully Disney execs won't be overshadowed by the Frozen success in thinking that BH6 did bad and I hope they handle Baymax and Big Hero 6 properly in the coming years.

At least WDAS has Lasseter to shield them regarding the kinds of movies they make (he has more power now than he did when Frozen was summarily shelved in his face back in 2010), but who knows about the rest of Disney, as we saw with how Frozen was marketed last year.

 

 

Everyone I know LOVES Baymax non-armored more than Baymax in suit. Like hello Disney?! Where are the plushes and non-armored Baymax merchandise? I also passed by a toy store before and they're just selling Baymax in his suit. Crazy.

Yes, they do need to sell the right merchandise, and it seems in this case that the public knew what they wanted--huggable Baymax plushies, duh--well before the movie was even released, but marketing and merchandising executives alike tend to be arrogant in their belief that they know what will sell (like many movie executives, for that matter), so never mind what the public say they want, they'll want this other stuff more because I said so. This is why I think all too often certain things that the public are clamoring to buy are denied, being "too cool to ever happen"--executives think that they know best, and sometimes going with the obvious is beneath them. They'll only change their minds when money talks, and then their new mindset will soon become obsolete as well, leaving them eternally behind the curve. This goes for Disney just as much as any other company--the reasons they are generally SO successful in licensed merchandising (Disney dominates here like they do in the theme park industry--imagine if they dominated the movie industry, which may not be far off the mark next year, at least ) are the IPs that are handed to Disney Consumer Products and the well known Disney synergy, but otherwise they are no different.

[cory]

Woah. The thread is alive!!

Anyway, I'm satisfied with BH6's performance. If not for the too much family competition (something Frozen managed to benefit from), this could've probably grossed about 230-240M! It managed to fend off Penguins of Madagascar easily, lol. And weekend drops has been especially better than WiR except for the 2nd weekend (Ralph benefitted from veteran's day), and last weekend (the arrival of family movies hurt Baymax) so I believe that WOM has been very great.

Hopefully Disney execs won't be overshadowed by the Frozen success in thinking that BH6 did bad and I hope they handle Baymax and Big Hero 6 properly in the coming years.

It could still hit $230m... barely

Edited December 24, 2014 by cory

[edroger3]

A mother and her 8yo daughter coming out of the cinema after seeing Big Hero 6

 

M: Susan, do you..

D: (angry) Mum, how many times I must tell you that my name is ... Elsa!

M: Ok Sus.. ehm .. Elsa, do you like this new Disney movie?

D: (surprised) Oh, is this a Disney movie?, I have thought was a Marvel movie!

M: Darling, now Marvel is a Disney thing!

D: (confused) I haven't saw any princess, no songs, this isn't Disney!

M: However there are a lot of interesting charachters...

D: What? just a boring and silly girls!... but .... that white big snowman! is cute!

M: It's a robot, honey, its name is Baymax!

D: Yes? But it gave warm hugs to its friend! How a robot can do this?

M: (thoughtful) Hmm.. it's hard to explain... is a kind of technological nurse... something like a not human best friend ... (horrible.. how i can talking to a eight years old about Disney try to develope herself in new Asia-Pacific market?). .. and what about the story?

D: There are two brothers, one disappeared, but the other didn't go looking for him!

M: Because he is died!

D: Died?

M: He died trying to protect his brother (this is not so, but simplifying..).

D: (very interested) Oh, this is an act of true love, why he hasn't been defrosted?

M: (screaming) NOBODY had icy powers in this movie! IT ISN'T FROZEN!

D: (screaming even louder) Then I DON'T CARE!

M: ( ...Damn this movie and who did it!)

 

Merry Christmas to all!

Edited December 24, 2014 by edroger

[Dingdong123]

A mother and her 8yo daughter coming out of the cinema after seeing Big Hero 6

 

M: Susan, do you..

D: (angry) Mum, how many times I must tell you that my name is ... Elsa!

M: Ok Sus.. ehm .. Elsa, do you like this new Disney movie?

D: (surprised) Oh, is this a Disney movie?, I have thought was a Marvel movie!

M: Darling, now Marvel is a Disney thing!

D: (confused) I haven't saw any princess, no songs, this isn't Disney!

M: However there are a lot of interesting charachters...

D: What? just a boring and silly girls!... but .... that white big snowman! is cute!

M: It's a robot, honey, its name is Baymax!

D: Yes? But it gave warm hugs to its friend! How a robot can do this?

M: (thoughtful) Hmm.. it's hard to explain... is a kind of technological nurse... something like a not human best friend ... (horrible.. how i can talking to a eight years old about Disney try to develope herself in new Asia-Pacific market?). .. and what about the story?

D: There are two brothers, one disappeared, but the other didn't go looking for him!

M: Because he is died!

D: Died?

M: He died trying to protect his brother (this is not so, but simplifying..).

D: (very interested) Oh, this is an act of true love, why he hasn't been defrosted?

M: (screaming) NOBODY had icy powers in this movie! IT ISN'T FROZEN!

D: (screaming even louder) Then I DON'T CARE!

M: ( ...Damn this movie and who did it!)

 

Merry Christmas to all!

That daughter is a mess. Lol.

[Dingdong123]

Big Hero 6 is staying at more than 2,000 theatres this weekend!! Really great.

[tong kosong]

Going to watch it now. Lucky it is still playing in 4 Indonesian theaters even though it has been playing for around a month.

[Spidey Freak]

That daughter is a mess. Lol.

Sadly if that is based on a real convo, then it strengthens my hunch that if WDAS would have followed up Frozen with a princess film like Moana instead of BH6, then the BO would've been far more impressive.

[wileECoyote]

Merry Christmas all

Edited December 25, 2014 by WileECoyote

[TServo2049]

Of course it would have. Apples to oranges. Moana will probably do excellent business come 2016.

I'm still amazed that in the Katzenberg era, Disney was able to get three fairy tale musicals out in a four-year period. And then top it off with a "B" picture which few people at the studio had faith in, becoming their highest-grossing film ever. 1989-94 was insane.

Edited December 25, 2014 by TServo2049