Image courtesy of www.cinematical.comTo follow up on my last post about the Disney-Marvel acquisition, I bring you... D23.
What, exactly, is D23, you ask? It is the launch of Disney's new annual convention for fans. The D, of course, stands for Disney (or, as many like to read it, "Gisney"), and 23 stands for 1923, the year Walt founded The Walt Disney Company.
What's interesting about D23 isn't simply that it's a convention for Mickey-freaks. (Which it probably is.) But what struck me is that D23 is a prime example of one of the biggest entertainment companies around using a fan convention as a model for marketing. Kinda genius, if you ask me. After all, San Diego's geekfest, ComiCon, has become one of the film industry's most highly anticipated advertising events of the year - something of a Hollywood SuperBowl, if you will. It's an interesting formula for success - and something to keep an eye on for the future, all you wannabe PR people out there.
Plus, Disney is finally getting around to paying back its most loyal fans by doing the one thing they've virtually stopped doing for the last decade or so - listening to them. Five years ago, Disney declared 2D animation dead after its atrocity of a film, Home on the Range. I wept bitter tears of rage to imagine that cow movie as the last Disney animated feature film in the lineup (er... exaggeration. More like, snuck into the movie without paying to show my defiant stand against authority), and I'm sure many other Disney fans felt the same way.
Now, five years later, with Pixar's John Lasseter (thank God this man was born) heading up Disney's newly restored animation department, we are getting back to Disney's roots with The Princess and The Frog. D23 attendees got to preview 30 minutes of the film - either in its final, polished form, or cleaned up roughs (which personally, I would've killed to see).
Image courtesy of Wikipedia.
You guys, I'm so excited for this movie. No joke. It's set in the Roaring Twenties, in the pre-Katrina, decadent French Quarter of New Orleans. It's got jazz, art deco, voodoo, period costumes.
I'm also very excited for Randy Newman, the new musical composer they've brought in for this film instead of their usual standby, Alan Menken (The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Pocahontas, and so on). Don't get me wrong - I love Menken, but he's hard at work on Rapunzel, Disney's 2010 animated feature film (which will combine 2D and 3D aspects - ie, render computer animation in a painterly fashion. Exciting, no??). Newman is perhaps better known for the music in Pixar movies like Toy Story, Cars, and Monsters, Inc. After all, it'll be great to see if someone else can spearhead the music behind classic Disney movies besides Menken. (But... speaking of Pixar music, can we please have another film with Michael Giacchino? Please? That guy scored for The Incredibles, Ratatouille, and Up and might just be one of my favorite film composers around today.)
All in all, I don't think it's an understatement to say that I am so so so excited for this film. And for the prospect of a new, good Disney animated feature.
Follow the jump for a more in-depth review of the sneak peek that D23 attendees got to see: Disney's D23 Exposes 'The Princess and The Frog,' Barely Mentions Marvel
What else happened at D23? Well... lots. Johnny Depp was a major player this year, as Depp once again revived his pirate persona, Capt. Jack Sparrow. He showed up in full pirate gear to announce the fourth movie in the Pirates franchise, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.
Uhm... not sure how I feel about that, to be honest. Here's hoping that Orlando Bloom and his equally unexciting character, Will what's-his-face, don't return for the fourth time. Actually, I've kinda given up on the franchise after the bizarreness of At World's End, and I'm not sure even Johnny Depp could entice me to return.
And although Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland (2010) was already promoted at ComiCon, Burton & Depp also put in face time at Disney's D23. I don't think that movie could bomb if it tried, as Burton & Depp (I might begin to merge their names in my brain soon) are pretty much the hottest thing today in the tween-and-Hot-Topic set. (Hah, okay, not entirely fair. I've had my share of Burton-love in the past, but I just need to know if he remembers how to make a good movie, not just good visual design. And, tangentially related, UCLA's Shane Acker, has jumped on to my blacklist, because his recent eye-candy/stinker of a movie, 9, just stole $10.00 from me.)
There were also lots of other strange and wondrous things announced and/or performing at D23: John Travolta, Miley Cyrus, new news going on with MJ's Captain Eo, and so on, but this blogger is far too exhausted (and underpaid?? :D) to get into detail about all that.
Follow the jump for more about why D23 matters: LA Times Online: Hero Complex - For Your Inner Fanboy: Disney's D23 Expo in Anaheim May Be the Start of Something Special
What, exactly, is D23, you ask? It is the launch of Disney's new annual convention for fans. The D, of course, stands for Disney (or, as many like to read it, "Gisney"), and 23 stands for 1923, the year Walt founded The Walt Disney Company.
What's interesting about D23 isn't simply that it's a convention for Mickey-freaks. (Which it probably is.) But what struck me is that D23 is a prime example of one of the biggest entertainment companies around using a fan convention as a model for marketing. Kinda genius, if you ask me. After all, San Diego's geekfest, ComiCon, has become one of the film industry's most highly anticipated advertising events of the year - something of a Hollywood SuperBowl, if you will. It's an interesting formula for success - and something to keep an eye on for the future, all you wannabe PR people out there.
Plus, Disney is finally getting around to paying back its most loyal fans by doing the one thing they've virtually stopped doing for the last decade or so - listening to them. Five years ago, Disney declared 2D animation dead after its atrocity of a film, Home on the Range. I wept bitter tears of rage to imagine that cow movie as the last Disney animated feature film in the lineup (er... exaggeration. More like, snuck into the movie without paying to show my defiant stand against authority), and I'm sure many other Disney fans felt the same way.
Now, five years later, with Pixar's John Lasseter (thank God this man was born) heading up Disney's newly restored animation department, we are getting back to Disney's roots with The Princess and The Frog. D23 attendees got to preview 30 minutes of the film - either in its final, polished form, or cleaned up roughs (which personally, I would've killed to see).
Image courtesy of Wikipedia.You guys, I'm so excited for this movie. No joke. It's set in the Roaring Twenties, in the pre-Katrina, decadent French Quarter of New Orleans. It's got jazz, art deco, voodoo, period costumes.
I'm also very excited for Randy Newman, the new musical composer they've brought in for this film instead of their usual standby, Alan Menken (The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Pocahontas, and so on). Don't get me wrong - I love Menken, but he's hard at work on Rapunzel, Disney's 2010 animated feature film (which will combine 2D and 3D aspects - ie, render computer animation in a painterly fashion. Exciting, no??). Newman is perhaps better known for the music in Pixar movies like Toy Story, Cars, and Monsters, Inc. After all, it'll be great to see if someone else can spearhead the music behind classic Disney movies besides Menken. (But... speaking of Pixar music, can we please have another film with Michael Giacchino? Please? That guy scored for The Incredibles, Ratatouille, and Up and might just be one of my favorite film composers around today.)
All in all, I don't think it's an understatement to say that I am so so so excited for this film. And for the prospect of a new, good Disney animated feature.
Follow the jump for a more in-depth review of the sneak peek that D23 attendees got to see: Disney's D23 Exposes 'The Princess and The Frog,' Barely Mentions Marvel
What else happened at D23? Well... lots. Johnny Depp was a major player this year, as Depp once again revived his pirate persona, Capt. Jack Sparrow. He showed up in full pirate gear to announce the fourth movie in the Pirates franchise, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.
Uhm... not sure how I feel about that, to be honest. Here's hoping that Orlando Bloom and his equally unexciting character, Will what's-his-face, don't return for the fourth time. Actually, I've kinda given up on the franchise after the bizarreness of At World's End, and I'm not sure even Johnny Depp could entice me to return.
And although Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland (2010) was already promoted at ComiCon, Burton & Depp also put in face time at Disney's D23. I don't think that movie could bomb if it tried, as Burton & Depp (I might begin to merge their names in my brain soon) are pretty much the hottest thing today in the tween-and-Hot-Topic set. (Hah, okay, not entirely fair. I've had my share of Burton-love in the past, but I just need to know if he remembers how to make a good movie, not just good visual design. And, tangentially related, UCLA's Shane Acker, has jumped on to my blacklist, because his recent eye-candy/stinker of a movie, 9, just stole $10.00 from me.)
There were also lots of other strange and wondrous things announced and/or performing at D23: John Travolta, Miley Cyrus, new news going on with MJ's Captain Eo, and so on, but this blogger is far too exhausted (and underpaid?? :D) to get into detail about all that.
Follow the jump for more about why D23 matters: LA Times Online: Hero Complex - For Your Inner Fanboy: Disney's D23 Expo in Anaheim May Be the Start of Something Special
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