Retro Mickey the comeback kid

[crusader]

Just came across this and found it interesting.

I believe it is very beneficial for the company to have the vintage cartoon characters visible to our children today through animation. Marketing this icon predominantly through retail outlets will dilute the longterm effectiveness of this classic imagery. This is a great counter to the over-commercialization of the mouse.

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=industryNews&storyID=3147244
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Mickey Goes Digital, Disney Wants Mouse to Roar
Wed July 23, 2003 10:37 PM ET
By Peter Henderson
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Mickey's back and going digital.

Walt Disney Co . is preparing a Mickey Mouse publicity blitz to renew interest in the company's most-famous character and capitalize on the 75th anniversary since he made his November 18, 1928 screen debut in the short "Steamboat Willie."

"It's Mickey's 75th year in show business. We've got a lot of stuff to sell," comedian Drew Carey joked at a Disney presentation of Mickey apparel, movies and theme park attractions that the company will roll out over the next year.

Though known worldwide, Mickey only recently got a regular daily cable television program, "House of Mouse" and will only make his digital debut in a computer-animated feature late next year, in a straight-to-video feature, "Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas."

He also stars with Donald Duck and Goofy in a separate straight-to-video movie, "The Three Musketeers," due next summer. Although Mickey has been in feature films before, perhaps most notably "Fantasia," Disney calls the "Musketeers" his first starring role.

Disney decided it did not want to take the financial risk of a theatrical release, however.

That would require a level of animation far beyond that required for home video or DVD, Chief Operating Officer and President Bob Iger told reporters. "Walk before you run," he told reporters.

Chairman and Chief Executive Michael Eisner said in a presentation that Mickey was reinvented for every generation and that it was time for a new "mutation" with the computer animated Mickey, who looked glossy and three-dimensional in a short shown to the audience.

Eisner made one of his first financial marks on the company by bringing out classic films on home video, and executives said they were similarly mining the archives with the new Mickey push.

Retro Mickey has shown up on T-shirts and apparel, and a line of Mickey comic books is in the works. The U.S. Postal Service is preparing Mickey Mouse stamps and Mickey takes another starring role this year in Walt Disney World attraction, a 3-D film called "Mickey's PhilharMagic."
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[PamOKW]

I've read several articles about how they are bringing Mickey out into the forefront again. It says that was one of the mistakes with the Disney Store (duh! How many times did people beg for Mickey?) The concern is always overexposing the Mouse but hiding him doesn't do much good either.

To that end.....there was an ad for Lord & Taylor in yesterday's NYT that had Mickey blushing. He's on a teeny tiny t-shirt that the girl wears with a super-mini kilt and super high stilletos! Look out Minnie.

 

[mitros]

Yea! Bring back the Mickey expressions line from the early 90's.

 

[meiandrew]

Its true !!! Was just talking to DW about this. Went to the Dis Store on 55th & fifth (NYC) today.... tons of Mickey stuff, including the retro Mickey Mouse Club tees which are very cool, and had to be bought. Also saw vintage Mickey tees upstairs, and was told more to follow. Great to see !!!

 

[airlarry!]

Eisner Wants Mouse to Roar, Virtually
Fri Aug 1, 2003 19:28 PM ET
By F. Wells
LOS ANGELES - CEO predicts profitability will return with new concept in family attractions.

The buzz is blowing through the entertainment world over the successful roll-out of brand new, yet vintage, Mickey Mouse items in the Disney Catalog. CEO Michael Eisner is ecstatic over the early numbers and has detailed his own personal green light given to further daring ideas which he says will return The Walt Disney Company (NYSE - DIS) to the profitability it showed during the go-go 90's.

Eisner was speaking in front of a raucous crowd of fans, media, and a coterie of his personal bodyguards at the Corporate Captains Convention, a week-long industry get together being held this week in Los Angeles.

"Fans of Mickey are in love with the idea of getting to see the big star again," Eisner said in a short presentation. "Pre-sells for the new Mickey direct-to-video adventure are through the roof, and our hunch that we did not need to spend the money, capital, or creativity to dream up an expensive full-length feature was correct."

Eisner went on to say that the latest craze over the admittedly cheaper-to-produce new Mickey material proves "the concept we have long demonstrated to our institutional investors at frequent PowerPoint session that our fans love the idea of the company and not necessarily the idea of new creativity. Just wait until they see what's next," beamed Eisner at the podium as cameras clicked away.

Eisner unveiled what he calls the very latest in entertainment attractions, Disney's MickeyLand. The plans shown at the convention highlight an entire new land for the Magic Kingdom, the original park which opened in Orlando in 1971, although he hinted that a clone of the land may well open up at what he calls the "wildly successful launch of The Disney Resort's sister park, Disney's California Adventure."

The plans show a complex series of walkways which give the appearance of being a queue, that signature Disney design where guests are entertained and immersed into the actual attraction. Only this time, there is a twist. "No new attraction will actually be built," crowed Eisner. "Instead, the queue/walkway of MickeyLand will wind itself around the land, passing up numerous mobile shopping attractions and mobile food attractions, and finally leading into a giant Mickey's World of Plush, where guests can pick up the latest Mickey memories from the Park."

Walt Disney used to build 'weenies' into his parks, which were his shorthand language for visible symbols or architecture or attractions that would call to the guest and bring them deeper into the park. Eisner's brilliant plan calls for the weenie to be a scaled down replica of Central Park, complete with a fifteen story condominium that over looks it. As guests wind through the 'queue', they will be able to look through the backside of the condominium toward Central Park, and for the first time in many of their lives, experience what it was like to grow up as Michael Eisner, fan of Walt Disney and his limousines.

The icing on the cake of MickeyLand is Eisner's idea not to build an attraction, yet sell souvenirs for the area. "It is a perfect response to those guests who have understood that since March of 2001, the tragedy in New York has forced us to cut hours, cut jobs, and cut creativity down to a bare minimum. Consequently, we have realized that what our guests want is the idea of a land that could be filled with attractions, not actually the attractions themselves, and we intend to give them everything they want."

The souvenirs will include postcards of the attractions designed but never built for MickeyLand, t-shirts and buttons proclaiming the names of the attractions not to be built in MickeyLand, and will even include FastPass privileges for those that want to add their tickets to MickeyLand scrapbooks ($29.95) on their return home.

 

[PamOKW]

I guess this is where we insert "April Fool's!"

 

[crusader]

Nice try Larry.

I think it went something like this:

Disney finally gets it and brings back the mouse set to star in his very own animated feature film next year.

These are original creations designed by award winning, critically acclaimed leading traditional animation developers here in the United States.

Recognizing the tremendous loss of appeal for 2-D animation in the motion picture industry, the company will save close to one hundred million dollars of production write-offs by distributing these films directly to consumers through video retail outlets.

This new line of direct-to-video products will preserve the sanctity of traditional animation by transcending it into an evolving consumer market, while continuing to incorporate advanced technologies.

In response to the many consumer demands for more vintage merchandise, the company has introduced the Retro Mickey line of products as well.

To see more of the legendary mouse who started it all, tune in to "House of the Mouse" now showing on your local television cable programming.

 

[airlarry!]

You say tomato, I say tomahto.

I am glad you caught where the sarcasm was inteded to strike.

Before anyone says anything, I was not picking on vintage Mickey nor collectors. I love retro Mickey styles just as much as anyone.

I was trying to make a comment about this:

"That would require a level of animation far beyond that required for home video or DVD, Chief Operating Officer and President Bob Iger told reporters. "Walk before you run," he told reporters.

Why would you want to exert a 'level of animation far below...er...beyond that required for home video' for your superstar? Crusader says risk-taking. I say profit-making.

And this:

"Eisner made one of his first financial marks on the company by bringing out classic films on home video, and executives said they were similarly mining the archives with the new Mickey push."

Crusader, didn't the words "Mickey" and "(strip)-mining" bring the frissons to your arms at all? Ei$ner's people talk about mining. Lassiter talks about story. Freudian slip?

 

[crusader]

Why would you want to exert a 'level of animation far below...er...beyond that required for home video' for your superstar?

Point taken. Yes, I do believe it is a tremendous financial risk and would require a substantial investment to move 2-D animation into the 21st century. There is a significant cost involved in developing new and innovative ways to present hand-drawn animation utilizing ground breaking technological advancement techniques with absolutely no guarantee that the consumer will be interested enough to go back to the theatre.

In the meantime, rather than shut down this business segment, they are looking for ways to remain operational while continuing to develop and advance this art. That's how I interpret the "walk before you run" comment.

In that sense, they do need to make a profit in order to finance this division. How else would you suggest they go about funding it? Borrow more money? Siphon from the parks? Use Nemo's nestegg?

Crusader, didn't the words "Mickey" and "(strip)-mining" bring the frissons to your arms at all? Ei$ner's people talk about mining. Lassiter talks about story. Freudian slip?

Yeah this is an ugly way to phrase things - they are "mining" the achives looking for retail prospects. I'm not convinced it is a direct quote but assuming it is, that's a lousy way to say you look to the classics to develop great ideas for the consumer home products division.

Lasseter doesn't have a retail segment within his company to deal with so it is very difficult to associate the two in this manner. What we should look for is the "quality" and "story" in the new mickey releases sheduled to come out next year. It they meet the caliber of standard you veterans so aptly profess, then we will certainly have something to cheer about.

Until then, we really can't do much except debate the critical aspects which have ultimately determined the fate of Brother Bear. That'll have to wait until Nov.

 

[d-r]

He also stars with Donald Duck and Goofy in a separate straight-to-video movie, "The Three Musketeers," due next summer. Although Mickey has been in feature films before, perhaps most notably "Fantasia," Disney calls the "Musketeers" his first starring role.

This is one of the stupidest things I have ever read. I really hope some idiot in Disney marketing did not actually say this, and that the reporter misconscrued something. There is no way to possibly interpret this that makes sense.

First, I think Micky had a "starring role" in all of those Mickey Mouse shorts. So, OK, you say, they aren't talking about Shorts, they are talking about feature length films.

OK, both Fantasia and Fun and Fancy Free were released theatrically as feature films, can anyone not say that Mickey starred in those?

And this is a direct to video. So where do the two "House of Mouse" direct to videos, plus the direct to video feature length "Mickey's Christmas Carol" come in? Did they not stary Mickey?

"will only make his digital debut in a computer-animated feature late next year"

This line doesn't terrify any of you, does it?