Even Tarzan, while great animation, had a weak soundtrack with the same 3 songs repeated several times throughout the movie. I mean, come one, "Put your faith in what you most believe in" - what a grammatical nightmare. But I digress... Get some decent songs to go with the movie, and then you might get somewhere. How much of 'Titanic's success flowed from the Celine Dion song that accompanied it? Anyhow, you get the point.
I was a projectionist at a theater when Titanic came out. We had that sucker for 9 months. 9 months, and I can tell you the nearly full theaters for most of that run was NOT due to Celine Dion's song. People didn't fork over 8 bucks so they can listen to "My Heart Will Go On" durring the end credits when they could here it for free avery 15 minutes on the radio. It was the Romeo and Juliet story, the epic drama and tragedy associated with the sinking of the Titanic, and Leo that appealed to so many different audiences. It was the movie that made the song popular and coincidentally pushed the soundtrack to second all-time.
That being said, though music is integral to a movie in creating mood and setting up scenes, it doesn't make or break a film. IT is merely a part. I honestly loved Phil Collins' songs in Tarzan; I was still working at the theater when the first Tarzan trailer was playing. I made sure I was in the house every time that particular trailer played. "Two Worlds" combined with the quick cut imagery gave me goose bumps.
I agree that it is time for a musical, but Tarzan is a poor example of missing the mark. It was the most successful non-Pixar Disney animated film of recent years. I believe that this is because it was based on a classic tale and that the music was excellent. There were 5 original songs used in the movie (more than Treasure Planet, Lilo, Emperor's Groove, and Atlantis since).
Remember, though, Treasure Planet is based on a classic tale as well.
I really enjoyed Treasure Planet, alot. I enjoyed Atlantis, too, though its production nightmares and numerous rewrites really killed any chance of it being a really good flick. Disney is trying real hard not necessarily to reinvent the wheel or their animation department, but just trying to evolve, be competitive and try new things. You've got companies like Dreamworks, Warner Bros and Fox going off in completely different directions animation wise; considering Disney is the leader in animation, they cannot just sit back and let others take over their market share.
One point no one has stopped to make in regards to Disney making non-musical/farey tale animated films right nows is this: they are gorwing with their audience. The small kids who made Little Maermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and Lion King a success are now teenagers and young adults. They no longer seek out G rated cartoons, they seek action and drama. In the back of their minds, though, they remember the Disney animated films in their childhood. If Disney gives them a product suiting more their age and tastes, but retains tat magic the audience remembers, they win. Thw whoel key is marketing it right.
That brings me to what I thought really killed Treasure Planet: marketing. Yes, they made a gamble on the release date and lost miserably. They wanted to take advantage of the increased movie-going holiday weekend, figuring people had pretty much gotten Harry Potter, James Bond and Santa Clause 2 out of their systems by then. they got greedy and lost out. Personally, I think this would have madea good spring choice, centered around the spring break time.
Treasure Planet lacked any real advertising. The first trailer I saw for it was on the Monsters Inc DVD a month or two back. They missed the boat cross-promoting it by attaching a trailer for it on the theatrical run of Lilo and Stitch. There weren't many TV ads that I saw. Disney hardly pushed TP as hard as they have other films, and cetainly not as far in advance as needed to put a deep lasting impression. TP basically just opened with little fanfare. I almost had forgotten it came out last week.
Disney also missed the boat on promoting it in the parks, especially MGM. I've been eagerly awaiting it since I saw the frist conceptual drawings almost 5 years ago in the animation tour, but honestly how many people liek me are out there, who get excited over a painting? They could have easily set up an exhibit, on an unused soundstage, to immerse yourself in the high tech/low tech environment of Tp. Who really could resist learning about hte movie and its production while searching the decks of a pirate ship in space?
Oh well, I hope Disney realizes there's hope for it on DVD (Ice Age made more in its first three days of relase on DVD than its domestic theatrical run!) and gives it a spiffy Colelctor's Edition release (ala Tarzan and Atlantis) that this underlooked and underappreciated film deserves.
)-but our paper gave it 2.5 stars and then gives a run down on a variety of other papers general reviews...not one outstanding, most were OK and a few disappointings...also the ad campaign must be having a hard time finding good reviews as they quote some Dayton,OH radio station as their main quote and then a few other minor outlets for some other quotes...
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