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.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)