Frozen

Frozen was released on November 27, 2013, produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios, and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. The film became known for its addition two new princesses, and its relatability. Also this was the first movie to ever have the message that a  woman doesn't need to be rescued by a man, and that the love for a sister or family member is the most powerful force of all. The movie's female lead actresses are Idina Menzel and Kristen Bell. Idina Menzel has a Broadway background that was perfect for the role of Elsa. On the other hand it was not known that Kristen Bell, who plays Anna, had an incredible voice and as  result people were surprised to find out that she was the voice behind Anna. The film is quite popular for the soundtrack, as its songs are quite catchy and the lyrics are well-known to a large audience. The film had some sneak peek previews that took place on June 18, 2013 and September 26, 2013, teasing the audience quite a bit. Not only were there sneak peeks to raise awareness for the film but there had been some meet-and-greets with Anna and Elsa at Disney parks. Another marketing tool was Demi Lovato doing a cover of "Let it Go" (the film's number one song) before the film was released, and it was played repeatedly on Disney channel. The film was then released in November earning a gross of $400,736,600 (imdb.com). To gain a larger viewing audience "like other Disney media products which are often localized through Disney Character's Voices International, Frozen was translated and dubbed into 41 languages" (Disney.wikia.com). With more languages the film became more available in variety of countries. Frozen was available through download through Google Play, iTunes, and Amazon, and it was able to be purchased by DVD (the film sold over 3.2 million on the first day of purchase). In addition to downloads and DVDs, a game was created entitled Frozen: Olaf's Quest in many different formats. The film expanded from the film industry onto Broadway (soon to come) as "Disney CEO Bob Iger stated that Disney Theatrical Productions is in early development of a Broadway stage musical adaptation of Frozen (Disney.wikia.com) as of January 2014. So stay tuned for more Frozen that will be coming soon!
Frozen is a film that I fell in love with. The casting was done in a very meticulous manner, gathering a team of very talented actors and actresses. The title of the film is neutral, hoping to retrieve an audience of both boys and girls (the film was originally entitled Ice Princess, which sounds more girly). The film was extremely advertised, and I honestly found about it through Demi Lovato's Instagram because she was posting photos letting her fans know to listen to her cover of "Let it Go". I also remember the first day that the DVDs were being sold, and how many of my friends went to Walmart to purchase it. I also purchased an Olaf toy for my sister from the Frozen collection.

References

Cdn. (n.d.). Frozen poster. Retrieved from http://cdn3-www.comingsoon.net/assets/uploads/2013/09/file_109012_1_frozen-poster-small.jpg

Disney Wikia. (n.d.). Frozen - DisneyWiki. Retrieved February 26, 2015, from http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Frozen

IMDb. (n.d.). Frozen (2013) - IMDb. Retrieved from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2294629/?ref_=nv_sr_1

Brave

Brave was released on June 22, 2012, produced by Pixar Animation Studios, and distributed through Walt Disney Pictures. The original release date was June 15, 2012. Just as the release had been changed, the title of the movie was changed several times. The film can described as the following "The film departs from the traditional fairy tale storyline, neglecting the romance that has been associated with these stories." (disney.wikia.com). During the process of creating this film, staff members traveled to Scotland to gather research of their culture, Pixar animators created a variety of 350 brushes in Photoshop, and some of the animators actually participated in archery classes and learned about sword fighting. A sneak peek of the film was shown, letting viewers watch the first half an hour of the film, and there was positive feedback, giving confidence to producers that it will be a successful film. When the film was released in June 2012, it made a gross of $237,282,182 (imdb.com). The film expanded into the video game industry by creating an app, which is similar to Temple Run, entitled Temple Run: Brave. The film was then later available for purchase through DVD format, and downloading in November 13, 2012.
I enjoy watching this film, and I have purchased the DVD version of it. I really like how the staff members traveled to Scotland to learn about the Scottish culture because it definitely showed through the attire, accents, and settings of the film. Giving a preview of the film was a great choice because it gave an idea of how an audience will react to the film, whether that'd be positively or negatively.

 

References

Disney Wikia. (n.d.). Brave - DisneyWiki. Retrieved February 19, 2015, from http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Brave

IMDb. (n.d.). Brave (2012) - IMDb. Retrieved from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1217209/?ref_=nv_sr_2

IMDb. (n.d.). Brave poster. Retrieved from http://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV5BMzgwODk3ODA1NF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwNjU3NjQ0Nw@@._V1_SX640_SY720_.jpg

 

 

Planes

Planes was released on August 9th, 2013, being produced by DisneyToon Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment. The movie is spin-off of the film Cars, and was not produced by the same production company, which was Pixar Animation Studios. To promote the film, a product collection called "Cars Take Flight" as created. Also, on September 14th, 2012, an event called "Cars Take Flight" took place at the Chicagoland Speedway. Not only was this event hosted but a "Cars Take Flight" website was created, and on this website a contest was taking place. "Cars Take Flight official website launched a contest whose prize was a vacation to Cars Land" (disney.wikia.com). In addition to the collection, event, website, and contest, a display of several characters from the movie were shown at the San Diego Comic-Con 2013. Another unique event took place which was this: "To celebrate the release of the film in the United Kingdom, the 2013 Camp Bestival featured a world record attempt for the most paper airplanes flying at once" (disney.wikia.com). To get the film's word out, several pilots flew around in airplanes with banners of the movie logo on it. The film was quite successful due to all these different marketing methods. At the Box Office, the film earned a gross of $90,282,580 (imdb.com). Planes expanded from the movie screen to the video game world with a gamed entitled Planes: The Video Game being release in several formats.
The film is not one of my favorites because sequels tend not to live up to the high expectations of such a successful first film, but I definitely give props to the marketing plan the production team created. The marketing methods touched many areas that include the internet, video games, collection designs to be purchased, and several public appearances that were made. The film's target audience is clear, and straightforward going for a younger audience.

 

 

References

CDN. (n.d.). Planes poster. Retrieved from http://cdnvideo.dolimg.com/cdn_assets/7417b080bf128232622a34fd4e516af98b011490.jpg

Disney Wikia. (n.d.). Planes - DisneyWiki. Retrieved February 12, 2015, from http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Planes

IMDb. (n.d.). Planes (2013) - IMDb. Retrieved from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1691917/?ref_=nv_sr_2

 

Monsters University

Monsters University was released on June 21, 2013, produced by Pixar Animation Studios, and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures. The film made earned  a gross of $268,488,329 at the box office (imdb.com). The release date for the film had changed several times, and was said "to be released on November 16, 2012, but was pushed back to November 2 to avoid competition with another film, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2." (disney.wikia.com). The official release had then been set on June 21, 2013. The plan to change the release was a smart move, as the movie may have been affected negatively with such a well-known movie series coming out around the same time. This is one of the many factors that made the film a huge hit. Let's talk more about the marketing strategy for this film. The first trailer to be shown was released online on June 20, 2012, and also in theatres while Brave was screening. Different trailer versions for the film were released by several news outlets like YouTube, ITunes Trailers, Yahoo!, and The Huffington Post. The film expanded from trailers to creating a website in October 2012 (click here to view the website), and is described as the following "The website covers all subjects of a real university website, and includes a store where related merchandise can be bought" (disney.wikia.com). The film had a playful, funny idea of playing an April's fools day prank in which "the website was changed to look like it had been hacked and vandalized by Fear Tech, Monster University's rival school" (disney.wikia.com). Another sneak peek for the film was shown on February 15, 2013, and it was also shown on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. The film was targeting a national audience, and released a trailer in Japan for example. The last major appearance for the film's promotion was during the Kid's Choice Awards in 2013. The marketing, and promoting methods for this particular film resulted with success.
I really enjoyed this movie, and own a copy of it. The website created is fun, unique, and interactive, and an overall genius idea. However, it does not work well in terms that the overall audience consists of young children, that may not be able to navigate the website as it resembles closely to an actual college website. Other than that, the marketing ideas were quite out of this world, and they definitely got attention for it, which resulted in a larger audience than ever imagined.

References

Disney Wikia. (n.d.). Monsters University - DisneyWiki. Retrieved February 3, 2015, from http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Monsters_University

IMDb. (n.d.). Monsters University (2013) - IMDb. Retrieved from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1453405/?ref_=nv_sr_2

Monsters University. (n.d.). Monsters University. Retrieved from http://monstersuniversity.com/edu/

Nerdist. (n.d.). Monsters University Poster. Retrieved from http://www.nerdist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/MU_Bleachers_Online_1s_w2.0.jpg