Is It Normal For A Diz Film To Have No Hype?

[CensoredAlso]

If they weren't anticipating a high demand:

A) they wouldn't have bothered doing anything past the point of releasing stuff on DVD after Muppet OZ... no virals, no special, no comics... nothing. They would have just tossed it in the same pile they tossed the Saban shows unless they bothered selling the thing back to Henson

B) they wouldn't have bothered with the script , even after Segal badgered them to do so...

C) Above all, even if they did the movie, they'd toss it into a January, mid April, or even an August release and just get it over with... the Pre-Thanksgiving slot is ONLY reserved for movies they really want to take a risk with. Had Princess and the Frog got that slot instead of around Christmas it MAY have done something.

Well then maybe there's nothing to worry about yet.

 

[Duke Remington]

As far as I can recall, trailers for "Tangled" didn't start getting released to the public until around spring or summer of 2010, only a few months before that film arrived in the theaters.

 

[BobThePizzaBoy]

As far as I can recall, trailers for "Tangled" didn't start getting released to the public until around spring or summer of 2010, only a few months before that film arrived in the theaters.

Also an interesting and related tidbit: The Muppet Christmas Carol, which of all of Walt Disney Pictures' 1992 releases had the 2nd biggest theater count on it's opening weekend, was filmed the summer before it came out... meaning the trailers probably came out very close to release day and it did perfectly fine for 1992 standards.

 

[Frogpuppeteer]

C) Above all, even if they did the movie, they'd toss it into a January, mid April, or even an August release and just get it over with.

if they really didnt care they would dump it in september, thats the true dumping ground for movies and the slowest time for theaters. my friend and i just had this convo last night, he works in a movie theater and we are both surprised a movie my work is featured in was moved to september instead of its original april date

 

[minor muppetz]

Now I know eight months may seem like a lot, but Disney is known for releasing teaser trailers and posters two years in advance(such as the case with The Incredibles and Tron Legacy) Standard is at least a year.

Really? I had no idea of this.

Though I do remember a number of 1995 video releases containing trailers and/or announcements in those mini-video catelogue things that came with VHS releases (is there a right term for them) for the VHS releases of The Aristocats and Aladdin and the King of Thieves, yet those releases didn't come out until a year later (and I'm thinking the third Aladdin movie came out two years after it was advertised in a video, though I'm not too sure).

 

[dwmckim]

Also an interesting and related tidbit: The Muppet Christmas Carol, which of all of Walt Disney Pictures' 1992 releases had the 2nd biggest theater count on it's opening weekend, was filmed the summer before it came out... meaning the trailers probably came out very close to release day and it did perfectly fine for 1992 standards.

MCC though was quite specifically a Christmas movie. "The Muppets", while originally planned for a Christmas release date (since changed to Thanksgiving) is not a holiday film in regards to the story. Films that are about a specific holiday typically don't have promotional blitzes far ahead of time but have more intense pushes once they do begin.

Again, movie-specific promotion not taking place this early isn't so much a problem as not doing anything at all with the overall brand and keeping its momentum going. The momentum that previously existed has come to a grinding halt and it's dead silent right now. That's a problem.

 

[Drtooth]

I was at the Disney Store yesterday... they had, like 2 Animal shirts, one was new... that's about it.

Yeah, I'm trying to be optimistic and everything, and I have no doubt when the movie comes out, we'll see a lot more stuff... but so far, the constant stop and go drive for publicity, while I understand they're trying hard not to overdo it, is annoyingly over cautious. There are small steps they can do... granting Boom a stay of execution and letting them have a 4 month extension on the Muppet license to publish the last 4 Muppet Show comics (even just slapping them in a graphic novel), slowly eking out Muppet Merchandise in stores, starting with maybe a Kermit plush, a few more T-shirts... something small to wet our appetites for Thanksgiving, even putting some Muppets.com/XD clips on their YT account. I still fail as to see why they didn't have a production vlog hosted by Jason...

It's the small things that will help the franchise out in the long run. I expect to see Muppet Movies re-released closer to the movie and putting free movie tickets in them as a cross promotion. If they can do that with Big Mama's House every time yet another installment comes out, they can sure as heck do it here.

 

[frogboy4]

May 24th will mark exactly 6 months before the premiere. 6 months! That's a long time. Sure, we could talk about teasers and what happened 10 years ago and what's happening with the Smurf blitz and this and that, but this is not that.

It's too soon. The film business has changed. I'm not just saying in the last 10 years, I'm saying in just this past year. The Muppets aren't some cheesy marketing ploy to revive a nostalgic property for quick cash. This is a thoughtful project and I think Disney has been going about it the right way since the EW spread last year. They're trying to rebuild the Muppets as an enterprise.

I can't complain right now because I trust their strategy. Sure, it would be great to see a teaser, but so many films start their marketing campaigns so early that audiences get tired of the hype. People often think such films should already be on home video when they still have yet to hit the theaters. I'll be ready to complain May 25th.

Pirates comes out this May 20th. That's when I believe all of this will begin. That, in particular, will show Disney's faith in Muppets for all audiences beyond just the kiddie crowd. However, I'm almost certain they'll put an ad before June 24ths Cars 2.

Incidentally, Rise of the Apes was bumped to Thanksgiving and then recently moved up to August. The Muppets' competition is now "Arthur Christmas", the 3D toon from Sony Pictures, "Hugo Cabret", a 3D kids film directed by Martin Scorsese and "Project X", a top secret raunchy ad-libbed shaky cam comedy for young adults. I think the magic of the Muppets and the star power of the movie will put it on top. Knock on wood.

Anyway, it's too soon! Nobody's landed.

 

[Drtooth]

The movie promotions and trailers I can forgive until May... there's NO way Diz would have had anything ready by Untangled, and they could have only got away with a Teaser by Tron 2, but they were filming at the time. And it's foolish to think Diz will start packaging the trailer to any movie less than Pirates or Cars, since... well, let's face it, how many people are going to want to see a nature film?

Movie or not, the Muppets is a long lasting franchise, and merchandise pops up every now and then. The funny thing is, the Smurf blitz started up as soon as news of a movie popped up... all the way back when Paramount was supposed to release their trilogy (why why why didn't they do their version? WHYYY! ?) and inconsequential Smurfs stuff started popping up. I don't see why self standing products like more shirts, a couple small toys of Kermit only, and all that is completely out of the question.

I'm sure once SS is on break, we'd see them film something new... but we need to keep small bits of momentum rolling.

That said, the only movie I'm really worried about is Arthur Christmas. It looks dreadful, and 8 times out of 10, people will flock to a BAD Christmas movie to get fake holiday, let's buy crap spirit. They are getting worse, they're often trope filled, and thankfully they cooled off last year... but the Star power of the Muppets better outshine another "I'm an independent thinker that no one understands" kiddy film.

 

[BobThePizzaBoy]

That said, the only movie I'm really worried about is Arthur Christmas. It looks dreadful, and 8 times out of 10, people will flock to a BAD Christmas movie to get fake holiday, let's buy crap spirit. They are getting worse, they're often trope filled, and thankfully they cooled off last year... but the Star power of the Muppets better outshine another "I'm an independent thinker that no one understands" kiddy film.

I'm only excited about Arthur Christmas solely because it's an Aardman movie. That said, it looks like a big departure from their traditional style, which could be a good or bad thing. Though I'm definitley more excited about The Muppets though, that's not a doubt.