a. Title of Article:
So Disney Bought Marvel… What Does It All Mean?
b. APA Citation
Young, P. (2009, August 31). So Disney Bought Marvel… What Does It All Mean? Retrieved December 18, 2014.
c. Important Quotes:
1. "Disney has always struggled to find its place in the world when it came to reaching the teen/young teen male audience. It’s no wonder, because shows like Hannah Montana, The Jonas Brothers and every freakin’ princess movie ever made is geared and marketed towards girls of every age."
2. " Also, nothing Disney does is low budget, they pride themselves in doing things over and above how it should be done to keep up appearances."
d. Analysis:
We have all heard about it, Disney owns Marvel; comics, movies, superheroes and all. You might be wondering why. When Iron Man (2008) was released Marvel was very tight-fisted and mostly broke until the movie was released, nevertheless, the movie was great (If you haven't seen it you are living under a rock and you can go watch it after reading this sentence). During this time Marvel essentially sublet their distribution to Sony to get money. In 2009 Disney bought Marvel for 4 billion dollars which could seem small in the film industry, however, if your company barely pushed through your last production would you decline 4 billion dollars? Maybe Marvel didn't sell just because of their money issues but it seems like a pretty legitimate reason.
Why did Disney want Marvel? One reason, the only reason why companies want anything, money. By buying Marvel Disney proved itself worthy of a previously neglected audience: boys. When I was younger not once did I ever hear a boy praising Ariel for her hair or talking about how Miley was Hannah and Lily found out. Nope! Not once. And why is this acquisition of little boys good? (Wow, I just made Disney seem like a Pedophile) Because not only will these superhero movies appeal to boys, but also girls, men, women, and most teens. The same cannot really be said about Snow White or Hannah Montana.
The Avengers (2012) was a prime example of Disney's success in its acquisition, the movie has brought in about 632 million domestically and 1.5 billion world wide. Personally, I have seen the movie about five times (and yes, if you haven't seen this one, it's on Netflix) and I will be sprinting to the closest theater when Avengers: Age of Ultron comes out in 6 months.
Thursday, December 18, 2014
Thursday, December 11, 2014
Week Three Blog Posting- Adults Watch Disney?
a. Title of Article:
Why Children's Movie Audiences Are Filled With 24-Year-Olds
b. APA Citation:
Hugel, M. (2013, December 11). Why Children's Movie Audiences Are Filled With 24-Year-Olds. Retrieved December 12, 2014.
c. Important Quotes:
1. "As we deal with financial and political unrest, it's reassuring to watch a film where we know the stakes and the outcome."
2. "They set themselves apart from others in mainstream Hollywood by appealing to our yearning for the simplicity of childhood, and lamenting a world of unoriginal, misogynistic adult fare"
d. Analysis:
In the story Peter Pan, children never want to grow up, and they never do. Today the adult is nostalgic and sentimental of their childhood. Disneys target audience is of course children under 18 but today we see a percentage of families going to the theater along with a percentage of others. These "others" are adults. Why? The author of the article speculates that it might be due to nostalgia or maybe because it is a predictable escape from our society. Has Disney changed their movies to secretly cater to the desires of adults? Or is this percentage of attending adults due to a deep rooted love of Disney?
One can doubt the particular outlining of the adult audience by Disney but Disney has a deep rooted presence in the "younger adult" generation (20-27). During their childhoods, Disney movies had began to become more popular for example movies like Aladdin (1993) are still watched and enjoyed today. Now movies like Frozen (2013) and Into the Woods (2014) have and will attract adult audiences. Maybe these movies are a sort of escape from our society and the trials and tribulation of it. They bring back childhood memories of watching movies with their family and provide a predictable plot. The main character will never die brutally, and the main character will never have to pay taxes, go through divorce, or worry about the stock market. Maybe Adults are so attracted to these movies because these movies are a paragon of what their lives could be or could have been; simplistic and without trial and calvary. These movies remind the viewer of childhood, when life was simplistic and watching a Disney movie would be the highlight of their days. In this case, nostalgia and marketing play off each other for this emerging adult audience.
Nevertheless, this is just another audience that Disney is able to target because of their longstanding history in the film industry.
Why Children's Movie Audiences Are Filled With 24-Year-Olds
b. APA Citation:
Hugel, M. (2013, December 11). Why Children's Movie Audiences Are Filled With 24-Year-Olds. Retrieved December 12, 2014.
c. Important Quotes:
1. "As we deal with financial and political unrest, it's reassuring to watch a film where we know the stakes and the outcome."
2. "They set themselves apart from others in mainstream Hollywood by appealing to our yearning for the simplicity of childhood, and lamenting a world of unoriginal, misogynistic adult fare"
d. Analysis:
In the story Peter Pan, children never want to grow up, and they never do. Today the adult is nostalgic and sentimental of their childhood. Disneys target audience is of course children under 18 but today we see a percentage of families going to the theater along with a percentage of others. These "others" are adults. Why? The author of the article speculates that it might be due to nostalgia or maybe because it is a predictable escape from our society. Has Disney changed their movies to secretly cater to the desires of adults? Or is this percentage of attending adults due to a deep rooted love of Disney?
One can doubt the particular outlining of the adult audience by Disney but Disney has a deep rooted presence in the "younger adult" generation (20-27). During their childhoods, Disney movies had began to become more popular for example movies like Aladdin (1993) are still watched and enjoyed today. Now movies like Frozen (2013) and Into the Woods (2014) have and will attract adult audiences. Maybe these movies are a sort of escape from our society and the trials and tribulation of it. They bring back childhood memories of watching movies with their family and provide a predictable plot. The main character will never die brutally, and the main character will never have to pay taxes, go through divorce, or worry about the stock market. Maybe Adults are so attracted to these movies because these movies are a paragon of what their lives could be or could have been; simplistic and without trial and calvary. These movies remind the viewer of childhood, when life was simplistic and watching a Disney movie would be the highlight of their days. In this case, nostalgia and marketing play off each other for this emerging adult audience.
Nevertheless, this is just another audience that Disney is able to target because of their longstanding history in the film industry.
Friday, December 5, 2014
Child Enslavement [Week 2 Posting 1]
a. Title of Article:
With Nearly 3 Billion Views, the Enigmatic "DisneyCollector" Fascinates Children on YouTube
b. APA Citation:
Castillo, M. (2014, August 29). With Nearly 3 Billion Views, the Enigmatic 'DisneyCollector' Fascinates Children on YouTube. Retrieved December 6, 2014.
c. Source Summary:
This source provides information and helpful statistics and insight of the effect of a YouTube video advertising a Disney product. This does not only say a lot about Disney audience but also the convergence between toys and media.
d. Important Quotes:
“This week's most viewed Web series video isn't a song, dance, skit or prank. It's a simple unboxing video of the Play Dough Sparkle set featuring the Disney Princesses”
“Her most popular video, Angry Birds Toy Surprise Jake and the Never Land Pirates Disney Pixar Cars 2 Easter Egg SpongeBob, has been seen 90 million times, which The New York Times paralleled to every single child under 5 in the U.S. watching the video four times.”
e. Analysis:
YouTube is no stranger to unboxing videos, which are essentially videos about people showing off the cool junk they bought. Unboxing videos become interesting when the product has not yet been released to the general consumer market. In this video, which was posted by an elusive “Disney Collector”, the unboxer shows Disney Princess sparkle Play Dough. The Disney Collector has released numerous videos on these products, and somehow, the videos have wormed their way into the mind of little children all around the world. Why are children so enamored? It’s something new and shiny, never before seen, and who would not want something that represented their favorite Disney Princesses. In fact, children become so enamored that they tend to watch the video 3 or more times just to fully comprehend and experience this feasible toy. Some of these kids are 5 years old or younger. Yes, 2-year-olds watch YouTube, it seems outlandish that children can comprehend an iPad so young, but they can.
Disney knows that their animated movies have made an impact on these children and exploit that by releasing toys. This has been the case for years and years, however, today it is even easier to tempt children into buying their toys. Children are constantly looking for a new toy, and now that they are immersed and obsessed with media it is only another way for large franchises to sell toys to children and their families. Disney is less of an entertainment outlet and more of a franchise aiming to enslave childrens' imaginations with sparkly PlayDough.
With Nearly 3 Billion Views, the Enigmatic "DisneyCollector" Fascinates Children on YouTube
b. APA Citation:
Castillo, M. (2014, August 29). With Nearly 3 Billion Views, the Enigmatic 'DisneyCollector' Fascinates Children on YouTube. Retrieved December 6, 2014.
c. Source Summary:
This source provides information and helpful statistics and insight of the effect of a YouTube video advertising a Disney product. This does not only say a lot about Disney audience but also the convergence between toys and media.
d. Important Quotes:
“This week's most viewed Web series video isn't a song, dance, skit or prank. It's a simple unboxing video of the Play Dough Sparkle set featuring the Disney Princesses”
“Her most popular video, Angry Birds Toy Surprise Jake and the Never Land Pirates Disney Pixar Cars 2 Easter Egg SpongeBob, has been seen 90 million times, which The New York Times paralleled to every single child under 5 in the U.S. watching the video four times.”
e. Analysis:
YouTube is no stranger to unboxing videos, which are essentially videos about people showing off the cool junk they bought. Unboxing videos become interesting when the product has not yet been released to the general consumer market. In this video, which was posted by an elusive “Disney Collector”, the unboxer shows Disney Princess sparkle Play Dough. The Disney Collector has released numerous videos on these products, and somehow, the videos have wormed their way into the mind of little children all around the world. Why are children so enamored? It’s something new and shiny, never before seen, and who would not want something that represented their favorite Disney Princesses. In fact, children become so enamored that they tend to watch the video 3 or more times just to fully comprehend and experience this feasible toy. Some of these kids are 5 years old or younger. Yes, 2-year-olds watch YouTube, it seems outlandish that children can comprehend an iPad so young, but they can.
Disney knows that their animated movies have made an impact on these children and exploit that by releasing toys. This has been the case for years and years, however, today it is even easier to tempt children into buying their toys. Children are constantly looking for a new toy, and now that they are immersed and obsessed with media it is only another way for large franchises to sell toys to children and their families. Disney is less of an entertainment outlet and more of a franchise aiming to enslave childrens' imaginations with sparkly PlayDough.
Friday, November 28, 2014
Pixar Animation Cost and Convergence [Week One – 11/24-11/28 (second posting)]
a. Title of Article:
1. Why Do Animated Films Cost So Much Money to Make?
2. Pixar to give away 'Toy Story' 3D RenderMan software
b. APA Citation:
1. Viswanathan, B. (n.d.). Why Do Animated Films Cost So Much to Make? Retrieved November 28, 2014.
2. Miller, J. (2014, June 3). Pixar gives away 3D film software. Retrieved November 28, 2014.
c. Source Summaries:
1. This source explains the production process of an animated film and puts the sheer scale of work into context. The author provides media to help show the physical scale of the projects also.
2. This source elaborates media ventures of pixar. The author is a specialized technology reporter for the BBC.
d. Important Quotes:
1. “During my undergrad, some of our classmates worked on a three minute animation film for a college event. That took about two months for a team of eight people. Multiply the quality by 1000X and the size by 100X and you get a Pixar movie.”
“Studios such as Pixar have 600 or more creative people working on a movie for three to four years.”
2. “Disney/Pixar are also looking to "build a community"’
“RenderMan, which has been around for more than 25 years, was "very important at the higher end of the entertainment, animation and visual effects industries"’
d. Analysis:
The sheer scale of an animation project is shocking, the man hours alone could bankrupt some of the richest people on earth, let alone the energy costs and equipment cost. It takes on average four years to complete a fully animated movie. What happens when companies like Pixar pour all their time and money into a movie and no good comes of it?
Pixar has been making technological advancements within animation for years, among these advancements is a rendering program named RenderMan (well-named one might add). This program was used in movies like Monsters Inc (2001) and Brave (2012), and has been used for 25 years. While Pixar tends to put itself above other animation companies, it leases the license for programs like RenderMan to other animation companies.This builds revenue and rapport between Pixar and other companies. Pixar announced that in early 2015 they will be making the RenderMan software commercially available for free. The Disney/Pixar firm claims this is to build a sort of community among viewers and smaller companies/organizations. Other animation giants had made a larger effect on the animation community (namely the British VFX companies) before Pixar and Pixar answered by releasing RenderMan. If ever one had heard of beating down the enemy and winning the vote, this was it.
For Pixar, the animation game is all about tactics. Yes, animation is expensive, and yes, they are giving away their software, but in the process they are building a larger “Pixar Community” and trying to rescue themselves from what seems to be a time of animation decline within their company (explained in the previous post on my blog). But no matter how many technology freebies Pixar wants to give out, the animation community is still the minority of their consumers and Pixar will need to do something big to grab hold of their general audiences once again.
1. Why Do Animated Films Cost So Much Money to Make?
2. Pixar to give away 'Toy Story' 3D RenderMan software
b. APA Citation:
1. Viswanathan, B. (n.d.). Why Do Animated Films Cost So Much to Make? Retrieved November 28, 2014.
2. Miller, J. (2014, June 3). Pixar gives away 3D film software. Retrieved November 28, 2014.
c. Source Summaries:
1. This source explains the production process of an animated film and puts the sheer scale of work into context. The author provides media to help show the physical scale of the projects also.
2. This source elaborates media ventures of pixar. The author is a specialized technology reporter for the BBC.
d. Important Quotes:
1. “During my undergrad, some of our classmates worked on a three minute animation film for a college event. That took about two months for a team of eight people. Multiply the quality by 1000X and the size by 100X and you get a Pixar movie.”
“Studios such as Pixar have 600 or more creative people working on a movie for three to four years.”
2. “Disney/Pixar are also looking to "build a community"’
“RenderMan, which has been around for more than 25 years, was "very important at the higher end of the entertainment, animation and visual effects industries"’
d. Analysis:
The sheer scale of an animation project is shocking, the man hours alone could bankrupt some of the richest people on earth, let alone the energy costs and equipment cost. It takes on average four years to complete a fully animated movie. What happens when companies like Pixar pour all their time and money into a movie and no good comes of it?
Pixar has been making technological advancements within animation for years, among these advancements is a rendering program named RenderMan (well-named one might add). This program was used in movies like Monsters Inc (2001) and Brave (2012), and has been used for 25 years. While Pixar tends to put itself above other animation companies, it leases the license for programs like RenderMan to other animation companies.This builds revenue and rapport between Pixar and other companies. Pixar announced that in early 2015 they will be making the RenderMan software commercially available for free. The Disney/Pixar firm claims this is to build a sort of community among viewers and smaller companies/organizations. Other animation giants had made a larger effect on the animation community (namely the British VFX companies) before Pixar and Pixar answered by releasing RenderMan. If ever one had heard of beating down the enemy and winning the vote, this was it.
For Pixar, the animation game is all about tactics. Yes, animation is expensive, and yes, they are giving away their software, but in the process they are building a larger “Pixar Community” and trying to rescue themselves from what seems to be a time of animation decline within their company (explained in the previous post on my blog). But no matter how many technology freebies Pixar wants to give out, the animation community is still the minority of their consumers and Pixar will need to do something big to grab hold of their general audiences once again.
Thursday, November 27, 2014
The Decline of Animation and the Birth of Live-Action for Disney [Week One – 11/24-11/28 (first posting)]
a. Title of Article:
Pixar’s Sad Decline- in 1 Chart
b. APA Citation:
Orr, C. (2013, June 24). Pixar's Sad Decline—in 1 Chart. Retrieved November 27, 2014.
c. Summary of Article:
This sources provides compelling information for Pixar’s movie rating decline, the article is written by The Atlantic’s principle film critic. The author writes from the position of concerned and “heart-broken” viewer.
d. Important Quotes:
1. “A Pixar film used to be the surest bet in American cinema. Now it's a cross-your-fingers-and-hope-for-the-best proposition.”,
2.“Pixar used to make films that utterly transcended any kids-movie/grownup-movie distinction”
e. Reflection on Article:
Over the past years, Pixar’s movie ratings on various websites (i.e. MetaCritic and Rotten Tomatoes) has dramatically fallen from it’s 1995 hit of Toy Story. Recent movies such as Cars 2, Brave, and Monsters University have been a sore disappointment in ratings compared to Finding Nemo or even Toy Story 3. Animation has always been considered childish in a way but Disney is moving in the right direction. Improved animation comes hand in hand with the advancement of technology, however, if the story line is unappealing, then the animation will be ignored. Animation within Disney is dying, a shift from animation to live-action is necessary and is becoming apparent.
In some aspects, Frozen (2013), was a sort of redemption for Pixar in the sense that the story line was up-to-date and easily appreciated. Frozen somehow managed to attract older teenage audiences as well as the young generation of girls, but this is a small step compared to the somewhat-animated movie Ted (2012). Disney finally figured it out, Animation is close to dead, this may have sparked their move to live action movies of which there is an expected 7-12 coming out in the next 5 years. Maleficent (2014) was a much needed change in Disney’ s reputation, but it came with risk and a price. The movie was split in the film critic world but got an acceptable rating from general audiences (but in the end, the general audience is larger and will be the main consumer group). The outcome of big budget movies like the Avengers is teetering on the edge, and will be a tipping point for Disney’s future in 2015.
Pixar’s Sad Decline- in 1 Chart
b. APA Citation:
Orr, C. (2013, June 24). Pixar's Sad Decline—in 1 Chart. Retrieved November 27, 2014.
c. Summary of Article:
This sources provides compelling information for Pixar’s movie rating decline, the article is written by The Atlantic’s principle film critic. The author writes from the position of concerned and “heart-broken” viewer.
d. Important Quotes:
1. “A Pixar film used to be the surest bet in American cinema. Now it's a cross-your-fingers-and-hope-for-the-best proposition.”,
2.“Pixar used to make films that utterly transcended any kids-movie/grownup-movie distinction”
e. Reflection on Article:
Over the past years, Pixar’s movie ratings on various websites (i.e. MetaCritic and Rotten Tomatoes) has dramatically fallen from it’s 1995 hit of Toy Story. Recent movies such as Cars 2, Brave, and Monsters University have been a sore disappointment in ratings compared to Finding Nemo or even Toy Story 3. Animation has always been considered childish in a way but Disney is moving in the right direction. Improved animation comes hand in hand with the advancement of technology, however, if the story line is unappealing, then the animation will be ignored. Animation within Disney is dying, a shift from animation to live-action is necessary and is becoming apparent.
In some aspects, Frozen (2013), was a sort of redemption for Pixar in the sense that the story line was up-to-date and easily appreciated. Frozen somehow managed to attract older teenage audiences as well as the young generation of girls, but this is a small step compared to the somewhat-animated movie Ted (2012). Disney finally figured it out, Animation is close to dead, this may have sparked their move to live action movies of which there is an expected 7-12 coming out in the next 5 years. Maleficent (2014) was a much needed change in Disney’ s reputation, but it came with risk and a price. The movie was split in the film critic world but got an acceptable rating from general audiences (but in the end, the general audience is larger and will be the main consumer group). The outcome of big budget movies like the Avengers is teetering on the edge, and will be a tipping point for Disney’s future in 2015.
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