new blog: Five Reasons Why We're Not Seeing "Planes: Fire & Rescue" in Theaters

[LeahZ]

Let’s start off by stating the obvious – we are not the target demographic for Planes: Fire & Rescue. We are not between the ages of 4 – 10 and we don’t have any children. However, after watching 2013′s Planes, there is no way that we could sit through this sequel that was given the green light six months into the production of the first film.

Read more here:

http://blog.wdwinfo.com/2014/07/19/five-reasons-why-were-not-seeing-planes-fire-rescue-in-theaters/

 

[Kristina4109]

Great blog and I agree with everything! Not interested in going to see this in the theaters, and possibly not ever.

 

[surferdave]

Too bad Disney doesn't make more movies for boys. You may have issues with how they did these movies but I'm sure young boys can only take so many princess movies, no matter how much Disney tries to disguise them as something else in their marketing.

 

[Sparkly]

Too bad Disney doesn't make more movies for boys. You may have issues with how they did these movies but I'm sure young boys can only take so many princess movies, no matter how much Disney tries to disguise them as something else in their marketing.

Pixar, Wreck-It-Ralph, Dumbo, assorted other movies with male protagonists want a word with you..

 

[surferdave]

Pixar, Wreck-It-Ralph, Dumbo, assorted other movies with male protagonists want a word with you..

Having a male protagonist doesn't make it a movie for boys. The Notebook had a male protagonist.

Wreck-It-Ralph was my favorite Disney movie for kids from the last 10 years or so, but it was mostly set in the Sugar Rush game. Boys don't tend to think a movie was made for them when it's mostly pink on the screen for 90 minutes. (Salmon, actually, it's not pink!)

Pixar hasn't added much to see in a while; Monster University was kind of a weak effort itself bringing nothing new to the table, and Brave was, well, a princess movie.

I'm not sure how to address an example from 1941.

The Planes movies may be low quality productions living off Pixar's fading reputation, but they're filling a demand that Disney's not otherwise doing very much about. I don't blame parents of young boys for taking their sons to see it, or for wishing there was more Planes visibility in the parks.

 

[Teleclashter]

I don't buy the argument that boys need something like Planes in order to be interested in Disney. I grew up watching Disney movies, including all of the princess ones, and I am pretty positive I didn't separate from Disney movies until I became a teenager and at that point I would've been out of the Planes demographic.

Wreck-It-Ralph may have took place mostly in Sugar Rush, but it was still clearly aimed more at boys. Cars and Cars 2 are for boys. Big Hero 6 is probably going to be the go-to movie for young boys. Going back even further, it could be argued that Aladdin, The Lion King, Hercules and Toy Story were marketed more for boys.

I think we have made our point on the Planes issue enough, but I stand by what I've said. Planes was made solely for the purpose for parents to take their kids to the movie and then buy a bunch of cheap merchandise. I don't blame Disney for wanting to make a boatload of money, but I do blame them for not putting a little more effort into the production so it ends up being more worthwhile for everyone.

Having a male protagonist doesn't make it a movie for boys. The Notebook had a male protagonist.

Wreck-It-Ralph was my favorite Disney movie for kids from the last 10 years or so, but it was mostly set in the Sugar Rush game. Boys don't tend to think a movie was made for them when it's mostly pink on the screen for 90 minutes. (Salmon, actually, it's not pink!)

Pixar hasn't added much to see in a while; Monster University was kind of a weak effort itself bringing nothing new to the table, and Brave was, well, a princess movie.

I'm not sure how to address an example from 1941.

The Planes movies may be low quality productions living off Pixar's fading reputation, but they're filling a demand that Disney's not otherwise doing very much about. I don't blame parents of young boys for taking their sons to see it, or for wishing there was more Planes visibility in the parks.

 

[DisneyKentucky]

FWIW, Marvel is Disney. As is Star Wars. Granted these are boy specific my daughter is all over the DisneyXD Star Wars Rebels promos right now. She's a big Clone War fan.

Also, let's be real. Brave, Rapunzel, Frozen, Mulan and Princess and the Frog are not in the same mold as Princess movies from Disney past. They have something for everyone.

I still wish Craig would have written "Why 'Planes: Fire & Rescue' is better than 'Maleficent.'" The reaction would have been fantastic.

 

[surferdave]

I don't buy the argument that boys need something like Planes in order to be interested in Disney. I grew up watching Disney movies, including all of the princess ones, and I am pretty positive I didn't separate from Disney movies until I became a teenager and at that point I would've been out of the Planes demographic.

Times are different now; there are way, way more choices for boys than you and I had. Personally I'd be a lot more interested in some of the Dreamworks & Blue Sky offerings than I would be in the latest Disney princess movie.

Wreck-It-Ralph may have took place mostly in Sugar Rush, but it was still clearly aimed more at boys. Cars and Cars 2 are for boys. Big Hero 6 is probably going to be the go-to movie for young boys. Going back even further, it could be argued that Aladdin, The Lion King, Hercules and Toy Story were marketed more for boys.

I think Ralph was kinda neutral; it was made to draw boys and girls into the theater but wasn't going to make a fanatic out of many of them. Cars and Toy Story definitely did but it's been a while since those movies were made (and Planes is Disney still trying to dip into that market). I have high hopes that Big Hero 6 will finally fit the bill. I suspect that the movie will be a lot more about super heroes and robots than the ads featuring the cute puffy balloon guy chasing the ball are letting on; I'm guessing Disney is trying to get girls interested the same way they used early ads to make boys believe Frozen was going to be about Olaf.

I think we have made our point on the Planes issue enough, but I stand by what I've said. Planes was made solely for the purpose for parents to take their kids to the movie and then buy a bunch of cheap merchandise. I don't blame Disney for wanting to make a boatload of money, but I do blame them for not putting a little more effort into the production so it ends up being more worthwhile for everyone.

I don't think we disagree that much. I just think your reasoning amounts to not buying a into a bad product more than it does taking a stand on an issue.

 

[robertgp124]

Read the blog post and was disappointed the comments had closed. I simply wanted to add this - there's not a thing in the blog post that I really disagreed with, yet we went to see Planes 2 for a sneak preview (we have a four year old). I dreaded it. My wife and I were debating over whether one of us could take the hit and stay to watch it while the other escaped - we truly weren't looking forward to it.

Having said that, we saw the movie and loved it. Perhaps others will disagree, but I felt like this had a much better storyline and was about the right length (75 minutes). It wasn't perfect, but we found it funny and touching at times.

I don't know if Craig and Shaun would change their mind if they saw the movie, but we did. (I haven't listened to this week's podcast yet, so if something was said, haven't heard it yet.)

 

[mla973]

DH and I took DS4 to see the movie this past weekend. We really liked Planes, and thought this was a great movie. Yeah, there are some cheap one-liners in there.

I still thought it was way better than Cars 2, which I completely dislike.

Disney movies always have a nice message, and this one did as well. I give it two thumbs up!