When might we hear of a Zootopia m&g?

[karly05]

I know there's no answer for this, but I'm totally obsessing and just wanted to say something...

I'm getting really pumped for Zootopia on March 4 and am loving what I've seen of Judy and Nick, the lead characters. I would love it if there was a M&G with either or both of them during my trip in April.

How far in advance of a new movie release does Disney usually announce and/or start a new m&g? I am still bummed that they have yet to give us a regular m&g with Joy and Sadness from Inside Out. It seems to me that when they have started m&gs with the leads from the newest movies, we've known about it at least a little in advance of the release.

I know, I need to just prepare myself for disappointment when March 4 gets here and nothing happens, but they've already broken my heart by taking away Phineas & Ferb. Please, Disney, please, let us meet the bunny & the fox!

(And even if there is no answer to my question, someone tell me I'm not the only one looking forward to the movie.)

 

[CAS239]

I highly doubt there will be a meet and greet for it. And if there is, I would assume it would be quite a while after the movie comes out. Disney needs to see if the movie does good in the theater first I would imagine. I can't see them putting a m&g up and just hoping people recognize the character and movie before the movie comes out

 

[_auroraborealis_]

I agree. They're usually better about movies than about shows, but they're usually about 18 months behind (or more) for Disney Junior characters. There's a lot of teeth-gnashing amongst parents of Miles from Tomorrowland fans about this.

You can use the lack of regular M&G for Inside Out as a guide to keep your expectations low.

 

[siskaren]

I highly doubt there will be a meet and greet for it. And if there is, I would assume it would be quite a while after the movie comes out. Disney needs to see if the movie does good in the theater first I would imagine. I can't see them putting a m&g up and just hoping people recognize the character and movie before the movie comes out

They've done it before. In fact, they had Lotso before Toy Story 3 came out, which was interesting, because of course, no one knew before the movie came out that he was a bad guy. And I could be wrong, but I think they had Baymax and Anna and Elsa before Big Hero 6 and Frozen came out.

 

[karly05]

IIRC, Inside Out was the first instance in years of Disney NOT putting out a meet and greet for the new/current animated theatrical release (with the occasional exception of something like Wall-E, which was just not technically feasible). And siskaren is right about Lotso being out ahead of the release of TS3, because his presence as a meet and greet character had me convinced he was going to get redeemed in the movie (brilliant fake-out, Disney). Just think back over the last several years: Hiro and Baymax, Anna and Elsa, Ralph and Vanellope, Rapunzel and Flynn, Merida, Tiana and Naveen, Carl and Dug and Russell. Winnie the Pooh got the M&G spot at DHS when his movie opened even though he already had multiple meet and greets around the World. Mike and Sully got a "Monsters University" makeover to their existing set when that movie opened. For the last several years at least, it has been the norm for the major animated theatrical features to get m&gs either concurrent with the movie opening or even slightly before (in addition to Lotso, I clearly remember a story on the DIS of a family being the first to meet Merida in her training days at Epcot). And with trailers and promos out in advance of the movies, interested fans know who the characters are before they see the movie.

Yes, TV Series are a different thing. How many years did people on here ask why aren't Phineas and Ferb around before they finally showed up? How long had Doc and Sofia been running before they made it to Hollywood and Vine? (And I agree, I'm still surprised Miles hasn't replaced mi old amigo Manny there yet.) I get the desire by Disney not to invest in TV characters until they know it's worthwhile.

If Disney's going to decide that movie-tie-in meet and greets are something they don't want to bother with anymore, that's one thing. But for years they have been an expected and regular means of Promoting the New Movie.

 

[AngiTN]

No matter what they've done in past years I think the fact they did nothing with inside out tells me they'll do nothing with zootopia. For those that want something I hope I'm wrong

 

[butterfly71076]

I think they did nothing with Inside Out because they were so focused on doing everything for Frozen. It had such a huge following, they couldn't get things out fast enough. Now that some of that has cooled down (yes, pun intended!) there may be a chance something else, be it Inside Out or Zootopia, becomes more visible.

 

[UmmYeahOk]

It's sad. My 3yo daughter is all about Inside Out now. All she does is wanna play Inside out and tell people to be Sadness while she'll be Joy. I found out that they were clearancing toys at Target, and was able to pick up Joy and Anger at $4.48 a piece, and Bing Bong for $7.48 (he talks). And then another store was clearancing theirs, and got Fear for $5. Disney Store had very little Inside Out merchandise. What was left was also being clearanced out as part of their Twice Upon a Year Sale. Got IO tsum tsum buttons (pins) for $1.99, which is inappropriate for a 3yo, but she's loving them.

We are going to WDW end of this month, and I managed to find two IO shirts for her at Walmart. But it seems as though with all the stuff on clearance, and the movie not even a year old yet, she's missed out. I saw it in theaters, but chose not to take my daughter. She was 2 then, and even at 3, I don't think she could handle movie theatre. It's not fair to her, and it's not fair to the other patrons. I won't be taking her to see Zootopia. I will, because I've been dying to since I first heard about it. But she will hafta wait until we can watch it at home. ...Easter Bunny might still leave her a Judy Hopps plush.

 

[karly05]

I think they did nothing with Inside Out because they were so focused on doing everything for Frozen. It had such a huge following, they couldn't get things out fast enough. Now that some of that has cooled down (yes, pun intended!) there may be a chance something else, be it Inside Out or Zootopia, becomes more visible.

I've wondered after the fact if they didn't do Inside Out because either A - They knew they would be closing the Animation Building before long (where similar m&gs usually went), or B - They just weren't sure it would be popular enough. As Disney/Pixar movies go, it is pretty unusual: no "villain," no romance, high concept that is kind of over the heads of young kids... If they weren't sure how well Frozen would do because it wasn't the traditional fairy-tale (angsty misunderstood anti-heroine, sisterly devotion instead of romance), they were probably really baffled over how to promote IO - or how much good it would do.

 

[TideWDW]

It's sad. My 3yo daughter is all about Inside Out now. All she does is wanna play Inside out and tell people to be Sadness while she'll be Joy. I found out that they were clearancing toys at Target, and was able to pick up Joy and Anger at $4.48 a piece, and Bing Bong for $7.48 (he talks). And then another store was clearancing theirs, and got Fear for $5. Disney Store had very little Inside Out merchandise. What was left was also being clearanced out as part of their Twice Upon a Year Sale. Got IO tsum tsum buttons (pins) for $1.99, which is inappropriate for a 3yo, but she's loving them.

We are going to WDW end of this month, and I managed to find two IO shirts for her at Walmart. But it seems as though with all the stuff on clearance, and the movie not even a year old yet, she's missed out. I saw it in theaters, but chose not to take my daughter. She was 2 then, and even at 3, I don't think she could handle movie theatre. It's not fair to her, and it's not fair to the other patrons. I won't be taking her to see Zootopia. I will, because I've been dying to since I first heard about it. But she will hafta wait until we can watch it at home. ...Easter Bunny might still leave her a Judy Hopps plush.

I was just at Disney this past week and so disappointed in no Inside Out themes. My almost 5 year old loves the movie. I too think it is one of their best animated movies in a long time, much better than Frozen. IMHO. Very little toys out there also. I was happy to find a blanket/stuff animal combo of Bing Bong at Walmart for him. He loves the Bing Bong stuff animal, sleeps with it every night and brought it to WDW for the hotel room.

 

[Disney Khaleesi]

Inside Out was probably their biggest hit of the year, and there's been nothing for that. I wouldn't have high expectations for anything from Zootopia, though it does look good!

It could be the difficulty of making the costumes for the characters and the lack of willingness to do so, or the fact that they probably did not expect Inside Out to do as well as it did and therefore didn't expect a large demand for presence in the parks. There's lots of reasons for it.

I work at a movie theater so I get the joy of staring at the standees and posters all day, so there's always that option!

 

[asbyrneva]

Well it's not a M&G but they started rolling out the merch online

 

[tlmadden73]

Disney has too many properties now to do a M&G for every movie that comes out. (Where would they put them, who would the remove to make room)
2 Disney Animation movies this year and 2 Pixar Animation movies last year .. plus Star Wars (and imagine if WDW could do Marvel characters).
Add in the Disney shows (like Miles from Tomorrowland) .. and there is just too much to cram in the parks.

Did they do anything with Good Dinosaur (that would seem to fit perfectly in AK's Dino Land USA)? (That movie seemed pretty short lived in the theates thanks to Star Wars and the other December releasees booting it out.
Considering Zootopia is a March release (aka - a down time for movies) as opposed to a Christmas or Summer release .. I don't think they expect anything big out of it. Add in the fact that it looks like just another "animals as people" animated kid movie .. I doubt the draw will be that big (Don't get me wrong, the previews make it look hilarious from an adult perspective).

Still find it odd that Miles hasn't made it to DHS yet (especially since the "Tomorrowland" theme makes it a no-brainer fit-in) .. but it has only been a year since the show started.

I am sure it takes time to make and develop costumes as well (especially for non-human characters).

In the end . it is all about demand, and I don't see it for the Zootopia characters. I didn't see it for the Inside Out characters either. Neither seem like characters that would have high demand to get your pictures taken with .... at least like sister princesses or a big huggable nurse robot.

 

[brb1006]

I heard that Judy and Nick will make there first public appearance at the Zootopia premier at the El Capitan in Hollywood on stage. I heard rumors that both were supposed to show up sometime this spring.

 

[brb1006]

Judy and Nick are set to meet at Disneyland at DCA but can only be seen at Movie It Shake It Celebrate It at WDW as of now.

 

[sretav]

You would think Meet n Greets would be relatively inexpensive compared to building new rides and a decent way of spreading some of the crowds out so I haven't a clue why it takes so long for Disney to introduce new characters.

Inside Out opened at $90M and went on to do $356M in the US & Canada plus $500M more internationally so there's no denying it was a success and the characters are perfect Meet n Greet fodder. Our 4 kids would love meeting a peppy Joy and a self deprecating Sadness. Seems like a no brainer so who knows the rationale for why a year has passed without them.

Zootopia is looking like it may be a hit. Opening this weekend to a likely but unexpected $72M to $73M. They've already developed the Character design since they'll be in the Dance party and did a movie premiere Meet n Greet last week.

Has anyone seen "character" Joy & Sadnesses anywhere? How much can it cost to develop and create the costumes?

As to space, Epcot is rolling in it and meeting Joy, Sadness and the 2 main Zootopia characters would give families another reason to spend the day there instead of the already overcrowded MK. Heck, I'd make Epcot Meet n Greet central instead of taking characters out. It already struggles to get families with small kids. Meet n Greet your favourite classic and new Disney characters around the World .... Almost literally.

 

[laura3773]

We saw Zootopia yesterday in a FULL theater. First showing of the day and people were waiting outside for the doors to open. My daughter asked to see it again before leaving the theater. I suspect every kid in that theater would want to meet Judy and Nick - I sure would.

 

[hiroMYhero]

Has anyone seen "character" Joy & Sadnesses anywhere? How much can it cost to develop and create the costumes?

Joy and Sadness were at the Parks Blog movie preview of Inside Out and also in the Disney Parks Christmas Day telecast.

Costume development and production of one costume is in the $30,000 range. Multiple costumes are needed to run a meet and greet. Only one set of costumes for Judy and Nick are needed for Move It, Shake It.

 

[Jfsag123]

Has anyone seen "character" Joy & Sadnesses anywhere? How much can it cost to develop and create the costumes?

As mentioned above, they are already developed. Here's Sadness. I would love to have these in a M&G as well!

 

[AngiTN]

Plus, I read somewhere that there are different budget pools for characters based on the studio division that distributed the movie, or something like that. I don't remember the particulars or where I read it but it may be the division that did Inside Out doesn't have the budget to fund their M&G. And evidently making money in the theaters doesn't mean the money is there for a M&G since it's from different pools