Why do you think the Princess and the Frog underperformed?

[Eeyore'sthebest]

I didn't read all the posts but we saw it in the theaters and bought it the first day out. We loved it!!! Race did not play into our decision to see it. We saw it because it was a Disney movie and we love the princesses! That being said, I think it was one of the better movies to come from them in a long time.

 

[LiLIrishChick63]

HUH?

"Cinderella is a well-known classic folk tale embodying a myth-element of unjust oppression/triumphant reward. Thousands of variants are known throughout the world.[1

The Cinderella theme may well have originated in classical antiquity; The Greek historian Strabo (Geographica Book 17, 1.33) recorded in the 1st century BC the tale of the Greco-Egyptian girl Rhodopis, which is considered the oldest known version of the story.


Another version of the story, Ye Xian, appeared in Miscellaneous Morsels from Youyang by Tuan Ch'eng-Shih around A.D. 860.


Several different variants of the story appear in the medieval One Thousand and One Nights, also known as the Arabian Nights, including "The Second Shaykh's Story", "The Eldest Lady's Tale" and "Abdallah ibn Fadil and His Brothers", all dealing with the theme of a younger sibling harassed by two jealous elders.


The earliest European tale is "La Gatta Cenerentola" or "The Hearth Cat" which appears in the book "Il Pentamerone" by the Italian fairy-tale collector Giambattista Basile in 1635. This version formed the basis of later versions published by the French author Charles Perrault and the German Brothers Grimm.

One of the most popular versions of Cinderella was written by Charles Perrault in 1697. The popularity of his tale was due to his additions to the story including the pumpkin, the fairy-godmother and the introduction of glass slippers.

So the version Disney adapted has been around since 1697. All the other Disney princesses are borrowed from old folk or fairy tales or were based on real people (though of course PC'ed and Disnified). Princess Tiana was not, she is a PC construct created from whole cloth with the embarrassing mangling of the European folk story The Frog and the Princess used as the plot device.

It may be entertaining in a Pop culture sort of way but it is a travesty in regards to classical folk tales. But that's nothing new for Disney, look what they did to The Little Mermaid.

pretty sure it was meant to say that Cinderella didn't start out as a princess, as quite a few of the other princesses did(Snow White, Aurora, Jasmine, Ariel, etc) not that no one knew who she was.

 

[WaltD4Me]

I took my 9 year niece to Princess and the Frog, we both liked it, but I probably won't be buying the DVD. I might rent it to try it again though. I was thinking about it and I think mostly it was the music/songs that just didn't do it for me. I could listen to songs from Little Mermaid, Lion King and Beauty and the Beast all day long, but the music in PTF was just okay for me. I thought "Almost There" was kinda generic and I can't even remember any of the other songs. My niece loved Tiana and the firefly, but she said she really didn't like Prince Naveen, she wanted Tiana to dump him!

I also think the "boy" thing hurt PTF. I tried to bring my 7 year old nephew when we went and he said "no way" he begged me to take him to Alvin and the Chimpunks though. And when my niece and I saw PTF the theatre was 1/2 full and it was all little girls, mostly 4 to 6 I'd say and I don't remember seeing even one little boy.

 

[taylor3297]

We took are dd (7) and ds (3) to see Princess and the Frog. It was our ds first movie in a theater and we all loved it! We even pre-orderd the dvd and I had to have it home the day it came out for when my dd got home from school. As soon as she got home we watched it and enjoyed it all over again. My ds though calls the movie the alligator and frog movie.

 

[karly05]

I saw PatF in the theatre and liked it, but have really grown to love it after spending a few days with the Blu-Ray. I'm a big believer that putting "Princess" in the title scared off a lot of kids who might have liked it - somewhere in another thread I just read, someone's young DD was told by another little girl that "Princesses are for Babies," and I think that attitude is taking hold at younger and younger ages - and forget getting a young boy to admit that he went to a "Princess" movie! Peer Pressure At Work.

I'm so glad they did it in 2D, but I think Pixar-style CGI has become more "acceptable" and appealing for teens/adults. I love the PatF songs, but I'm an old musical theatre fan who isn't into modern popular stuff the kids dig. I can't believe - or hate to believe - that race had anything to do with it; I grew up in Brady Bunch suburbia, and I think Tiana is a wonderful character. (To the PP who was curious, no spoilers, but the Princess thing factors into the plot and makes perfect sense.) Not every movie is for everyone (heck, I still can't believe there are people who didn't like "Up"! ), but I think anyone who enjoys classic Disney animation should at least give PatF a shot.

 

[Aisling]

I liked it a lot. My only issue is that there aren't any really catchy songs! But it still gets an A from me.

As to why it wasn't a blockbuster, who knows.

 

[Binnie]

We saw it in the theater no less than 5 times, and bought the DVD on the day of availability. And after watching it, I decided we needed to see it in Blu Ray, so we bought the Blu Ray, too!

DD is 4, so she's PERFECTLY aged for a princess movie and will remember seeing it over and over and over, even if it is with mortification. And frankly, I'm a sucker for a princess movie, so I would've gone even without her.

I was surprised to see how little marketing there was for it when it first came out, and how relatively little marketing there was for the DVD/Blu Ray.

 

[monarchsfan16]

Something that hasn't been mentioned: It came out around Christmas. Summer is the time for movies to really make money, traditionally. Christmas is a tough time to make it big.

I'll be honest, I wanted to see the movie in the theater, but didn't get there. I just didn't have time. The ONLY reason I wanted to see it? Hand drawn animation. I love the classics, but have not been thrilled by the Pixar stuff. I was thrilled that a hand drawn movie came out, though I was less than impressed by MORE princesses, or really, any aspect of the marketing. I actually think the marketing AFTER it was in the theater was better. I pre-ordered it on amazon (best deal), and got it Tuesday afternoon. Watched it Tuesday night and LOVED it. Whoever marketed it for the theaters needs a total career change. Great movie, great message, and gorgeous animation.

 

[DeluxePrincess]

My suddenly "too cool for princesses" DD did not want to see it in the theatres. She opted for Avatar instead. We just got through watching it on DVD and enjoyed it. I loved the message it conveyed about working hard and knowing what things you need in life. Not sure why it didn't become a hit in theatres.

 

[MickeyMomOfThree]

I don't even remember any of the songs so I'd have to agree with it lacking in that department.

 

[teacups]

Hmmm... good question.
We loved it, but I must say I didnt hear a "hit song" like you usally do.

Great movie!

 

[LukenDC]

My partner and I saw it and we both liked it. I was especially happy because the animation was hand drawn. I love the computer animated films, but I find the hand drawn films to be a bit more charming.

 

[Experiment_626]

we were in DW and I was really surprised that I couldn't find more Princess Tiana merchandise for sale. I don't think Disney was feeling the "love" for this movie at all.

In truth, that was the curious thing about the movie -- the reason you didn't see much Tiana merchandise for sale in the parks wasn't because Disney wasn't trying to sell it. In reality, they did sell it -- much faster than anticipated. They sold out of much of the first batches of Tiana merchandise before the movie was released, and couldn't keep lots of items on the shelves because they would sell out very quickly. They underestimated demand considerably.

 

[Hoodie]

Advertising.

I think I saw maybe one ad for it - and that was when it was still coming. To this day I don't know when it opened or even how long it was around. I just noticed it on On Demand. I honestly didn't even know it came out yet.

 

[Sparx]

Advertising.

I think I saw maybe one ad for it - and that was when it was still coming. To this day I don't know when it opened or even how long it was around. I just noticed it on On Demand. I honestly didn't even know it came out yet.

Do you frequent a theatre? My theatre (carmike cinemas) had a giant display, posters, and all the front windows had advertisements for it.

 

[PigletsMommy]

I was really excited to see it mainly for the return of hand drawn Disney movies. Beauty and the Beast has always been my fav Disney movie and I have to say this one comes close for me. I loved the music in it and found myself singing along and dancing to it. We saw it in the theatre and I bought it last Tuesday. We've now watched it 5 times.

I also babysit for a few children and the oldest (4 year old boy) asked to watch it again today. He had no interest in it until I put it on last week and today it was chosen over Cars & Wall-E. Those have been staples for "quiet time". I've tried introducing all the other "princess" movies and none have been chosen like this.

Personally, I think if they wanted to be gender neutral they should have advertised the frog scenes more to interest the boys. I thought it was a great movie and we will probably be watching it at least once a day for the next few weeks!

 

[PollyannaMom]

The Orlando Sentinel's website today has a blog about why the movie underperformed. They speculate that it was too 'retro' for blacks and too 'black' for white audiences. I HOPE people aren't so racially motivated?!?!

They also wondered if it was the marketing, and I have to say, that's my vote. We finally got around to watching it this weekend and I don't think the marketing was nearly as charming as the film.

I think they cut their target audience at least in half by marketing it as a "princess" movie. - Thats turns off so many of the boys and even a lot of the older girls.

I just have a DS9, so we didn't see it in the theater either, but I love Disney movies, so I'll probably still watch it myself when it comes on cable.

 

[NHdisneylover]

I don't know why--but i hate that it didn't.

DS11 and DD13 both saw it in the theatre (and we only see 3-4 movies a year). The yreally liked the look of it (hand drawn animation) and music in the trailers. They both loved the film and DD has been looking for the soundtrack ever since.

It is not out on DVD here yet, but I will buy it as soon as it comes out--I relaly wanted to see it too and was bummed that I could not go when the kids went originally.

 

[Goofyzgurl]

DD 16 went to see it with her boyfriend and came home raving about how much she liked and that she was going to buy the movie as soon as it came out. We took the youngest dd 6 to see it, and the oldest wanted to go with us to see it again. As soon as we left the theater we went to buy the soundtrack. As soon as the movie came out, we bought the bluray. We loved the movie. This and Beauty and the Beast are my favs!

 

[Hoodie]

Do you frequent a theatre? My theatre (carmike cinemas) had a giant display, posters, and all the front windows had advertisements for it.

Not really - I only go when there's something I want to see.

Compared to other Disney releases (like Bolt which was every where and on every channel) I didn't see anything for the Princess and the Frog. Heard no songs. Can't even tell you a line from it (and usually Disney so saturates the ariwaves that you know half the movie before you go).

I've already seen 2 ads for Toy Story 3. It just seems like Disney swept this one under the rug. I heard a couple of news stories about Disney's first black princess, but no ads.