Weekly Box Office and Film Discussion Thread

[MuppetSpot]

I just saw zootopia, the only thing that's disappointing about zootopia was that there wasn't a short before the movie. Oh well.

 

[Drtooth]

Yeah. That's the only thing that was kinda a let down. I really should have seen Frozen in theaters just for "Get a Horse." Really missed out on that opportunity.

 

[Mynameisdean]

Yeah. That's the only thing that was kinda a let down. I really should have seen Frozen in theaters just for "Get a Horse." Really missed out on that opportunity.

I saw Frozen on New Years Day 2014, and while I hated that, Get a Horse! Was cool with its blend of animation.

 

[Drtooth]

Seems Zootopia passed the 800 mil world wide mark and it hasn't even opened in all territories yet. It's at least the second or third most successful Disney movie (if you count The Lion King's 3-D rerelease). Here's hoping it surpasses Frozen or comes really really close. If only for the reason that if Zootopia is that successful at least it'll say to Disney "HEY! Cool it on the Frozen stuff already." No..eh..pun intended.

Also Deadpool slowly became the most successful movie in the X-Men franchise. There's loose talk that the third Wolverine movie may also be R rated. And frankly, I agree with that sentiment. I saw the good Wolverine movie (the one where he's in Japan, not the one that studio heads put Deadpool in and then took out) and the thing that sort of insulted my intelligence was that Wolverine used his claws like the 1980's TMNT used their weapons. Barely and when he did it was always interrupted by a discretion shot. I never bought the whole "Today's PG-13 Movies are like the R rated movies of the early days" crap. PG films weren't that tame back then. But you have a character who's go to move is slashing things. I think anyone over the age of 9 pretty much expects to see Wolverine's claws actually slash things. Give the dude an R rating and show some violence that you'd easily see on an average TV 14 program. SHIELD has more graphic violence and it was nominated for a Kid's Choice Award.

 

[mr3urious]

Seems Zootopia passed the 800 mil world wide mark and it hasn't even opened in all territories yet. It's at least the second or third most successful Disney movie (if you count The Lion King's 3-D rerelease). Here's hoping it surpasses Frozen or comes really really close. If only for the reason that if Zootopia is that successful at least it'll say to Disney "HEY! Cool it on the Frozen stuff already." No..eh..pun intended.

It even had a bigger opening than Frozen, I believe.

 

[Drtooth]

Openings are one thing, but endurance is also key. Zootopia has had some great endurance, and that's due partially to the lack of competition (unless kids really want to see Superman V Batman). While I applaud what Frozen did as far as breaking the formulaic Disney princess movies, Disney's been really hitting that one hard for money. And I get it, I'd get why they'd tend to focus on something that's a license to print money. But they need a new license to print money that comes from their own animation studio. I mean, sure we have Marvel, Star Wars, the princess brand, Pixar, and their Preschool shows, but they really haven't had a new movie hit to make that much money off of long after the film disappeared from theaters. Hopefully Zootopia becomes that next cash cow. An appealing female lead that isn't a princess? Wacky side characters? No fairy tale tie in? They had that sort of success with Lilo and Stitch for years. Zootopia seems like it can easily follow that sort of popularity and become Disney's next big merchandising cash cow. I'd say anthro characters already have that built in fanbase, the same that worship Disney Afternoon cartoons. And hopefully this gives them more reason to make quirkier films. The next few seem just as quirky.

 

[Pig'sSaysAdios]

Seriously! Everything in Zootopia is marketable. A talking rabbit and fox who are cops, a tiny evil sheep, anthropomorphic animals, beautiful architecture. Generally more characters and story than Frozen .

 

[D'Snowth]

Yes, I remember when I was a kid what a big deal everybody made out of LILO & STITCH for veering away from their typical princess formula . . . now only that, but they also made a big deal out of how they designed the human characters as a departure from their typical absolutely perfect and flawless shapes, such as Lilo being short, squat, and pudgy, and Nani not exactly having a model's hourglass shape.

But I can go along with all of that, because I remember what a great movie LILO & STITCH was . . . though, to be honest, much like FROZEN, I found the L&S gravy train got a little too much at times. It garnered a TV show, that was alright . . . then further sequels came along . . . that was start to get a bit much . . . then it was like they did all of these bizarre crossover specials, like one they did where T.J. and the gang from RECESS visited them.

 

[Pig'sSaysAdios]

then it was like they did all of these bizarre crossover specials, like one they did where T.J. and the gang from RECESS visited them.

UGH, those were awful. Even when I was six I hated them. It didn't make any sense for any of these shows to be in the same universe, especially not Recess. And the writers didn't really put much effort into trying to make these shows gel together. I can maybe understand other shows like Kim Possible and Jake Long crossing over because they live in worlds full of super villains, fairytale creatures and aliens. But Recess and The Proud Family were always meant to be a lot more realistic.

 

[Drtooth]

Seriously! Everything in Zootopia is marketable. A talking rabbit and fox who are cops, a tiny evil sheep, anthropomorphic animals, beautiful architecture. Generally more characters and story than Frozen .

I really see a lot coming out of Zootopia. They have the standard movie in theaters merchandise now, but even when Frozen first came out it had actually less merchandise than it would after it became the massive hit it did. Which makes sense. Disney has been burned by merchandising of flop films before. Though it seems they knew ENG wasn't going to do well since they screwed that film on the merchandising (even years later when most films get anniversary related toys).

There's a lot to Zootopia they can certainly look into. I'd say a series of short cartoons about life in Zootopia would be a smart step rather than just going deep into animated series and sequel territory. There's certainly a lot of milk in that cash cow. And since it's making that much at the box office globally, I'm sure we'd start seeing a lot of it by next year. I'm hoping for Pez dispensers.