Sunday, February 14, 2010

Male Tales...


With Disney Animation's attempt to bring in the male side of the audience with the change in "Rapunzel's" name I thought we might look at how to bring in more box office in future releases of old classics...

Here are some suggestions that might make boys give these titles a second look:

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs - The Tale of the Seven

Pinocchio - The Wood Liar

Dumbo - Flying Circus Freak

Bambi - Deer Hunt

Cinderella - One Night at the Ball

Alice in Wonderland - Down the Hole

Lady and the Tramp - Tramp

Sleeping Beauty - The Curse

The Aristocats - Fat Cats

The Little Mermaid - Under the Sea

Beauty and the Beast - Lair of the Beast

Aladdin - Three Wishes

Pocahontas - Pioneer: The John Smith Story

Mulan - Battle for China

The Princess and the Frog - Spellbound

And I'm sure the list could go on and on and on...

31 comments:

paultje said...

LOL

thx for making me understand why the name change for Rapunzel was essential!!

with those names I really think they would have had much more succes

robster16 said...

I started a petition online to try and convince Disney execs to not change the title. There are plenty of reasons we could all think of not to call it "Tangled" or anything other then "Rapunzel" for that matter.

PLEASE read the petition, sign it (it's free and doesn't take much time) and spread the word! We have the option to do or say nothing, or speak up and at try to get some attention and maybe make some changes and talk some sense into the Disney execs and marketing people.

http://www.petitiononline.com/16GKRap/petition.html

Anonymous said...

PATF = The Voodoo Hex
Cinderella = The Midnight Hour

Anonymous said...

I think all the press about this being a "black" film hurt the film far more than it being thought of as a "girls" film. There are plenty of little girls and their parents who could have made the film a success without their brother's or father's help, but many of these parents could easily have been turned off to a film that seemed to have an ethnic bias. I don't believe the film did have an ethnic bias, but the press certainly could have been interpreted that way.

Anonymous said...

LOL, good list. I especially like "Tramp."

But why would they need to change "Aladdin?"

(Sadly - Spellbound might have worked?)

Anonymous said...

Jeez, you've really got a hang-up about this don't you? ;)

Just kidding.

Anonymous said...

..BTW, is it just me, or has Ariel been hitting the steroids?

Anonymous said...

This is pretty amazing list you have here.

I love how Lady and the Tramp becomes simply "TRAMP"

Rapunzel in the Hidden Tower said...

Yep this is a common theme. I'm considering printing out the various blog\forum posts, comments and replies to their facebook pages; highlight the negative reactions and mickey taking and sending it to Disney.
Well I'd consider it if it was worth it.

To be honest, as far as I'm concerned I'm already losing interest (though I'm sure it'll be as good no matter the title).

But what I would like from Disney is a truthful explanation of choosing this name. Why does it fit the context of the movie, etc..
I'll forgive them if the decision was made more out of respect to the story than marketing.

For example the story is legitimately different to the Rapunzel fable for it not to be Rapunzel. I can understand that.

Even then, they didn't change Aladdin to 'The Genie' or as Honor suggests 'Three Wishes' even though that is wildly different to the original Aladdin.

Arrgh I'm so confused!!!

Oh and.. Fantasia = "Attack of the Broomsticks"

Rondell said...

Ugh! What's wrong w/ you? What if one of the chilrens seed this?! They'd be all upset and Rondell having to dry they eyes.

Anonymous said...

All of these "girl" movies would've done much better, if only they were titled better.

Hannah Montanna: Country Girl gone Wild

Princess Diaries: Shuuut Up!

Lizzie McGuire movie: When in Rome

Maybe this is part of Disney's new strategy. Instead of actually making movies with a good story line, they'll just make them with clever titles to lure people to come see them. While they're at it, they can go back and rename the classics that are in the vault, then just re-release them as new titles. This strategy might even work to get Song of the South out of the vault.

Ugh! This is almost as bad as when Eisner killed traditional animation because it just wasn't appealing to people any more...

PirateGuy 815 said...

Well, actually, most of the titles that are listed (Dumbo, Alice in Wonderland, The Aristocats, Aladdin) aren't geared to any specific gender. Nowadays, boys don't want to see Princess films. It's not Disney's fault, it's society's.

To combat this, Disney marketing needs to go through an overhaul to be able to market Disney creations better and to not put the films against bigger films. Who knows? Maybe then the names to attract genders won't matter that much.

I think you might be jumping the gun a little here.I don't like the name Tangled, but hey, at least they're releasing it. Unfortunately, it'll be crushed by Harry Potter, if I have my dates correct.

Nuffy Noe said...

lol actually I loved all of these titles. "Lair of the Beast." That's money right there lol.

Anonymous said...

Let's talk about Snow Queen then. It got shelved because Rapunzel couldnt get their stuff together so now you have PATF with Rapunzel next in line so John L. and Ed got scared that a third movie that sounded like a girl film better not get made. All they need to do is come up with a better title for it. This topic came up long ago when PATF first went into production that they had too many girl sounding films bunched too closely together. So now there is no more Snow Queen so after Winnie the Pooh there is no more movie for the 2d crew to go onto. Doesnt sound like they are trying very hard to bring 2d back but yet they keep pushing their 3d even though it doesnt make a dime. The 2d crew at this point all feel like a steaming pile of crap because we keep getting crapped on.

Anonymous said...

I would go see the tramp!

Anonymous said...

If changing the name gets more people into the theatres and leads them to make more movies like it, then by all means, change the name.

I have no loyalty to the name Rapunzel.

Funny stuff though. Very funny!

Anonymous said...

Regardless of title and/or story, this will be SLAUGHTERED by Harry Potter.

Anonymous said...

Great list!

To Disney: you gain nothing from changing classic names. "The Frog Prince" should have stayed "The Frog Prince." "Rapunzel" should stay "Rapunzel."

- Tasman

C33 said...

These are the same kinds of jokes people made when they retitled "Basil of Baker Street" "The Great Mouse Detective".

Frankly I don't think it's that big of a deal. Would not a rose by any other name smell as sweet? While a title is an important part of the film it's more of a marketing thing than a part of the film itself. What matters is that the film is good, not the title. And if a title change brings more people to see the film than that's good. If not, then no harm done.

Unknown said...

That image of Ariel... -shiver-

untangled said...

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 opens November 19th.

Rapunzel Unbraided, now retitled Tangled, opens November 24th.

Shooting themselves in the foot again, just like Bolt vs Twilight, and Frog Princess vs Avatar. Not even a close race...they are setting themselves up to lose big, one more time. Completely unnecessary, just like this title change.

Tom said...

The Brothers Grimm saw fit to publish this story as "Rapunzel" in 1812. If I were Disney, I would respect that. Fairy tales, those of Hans Christian Anderson and the Brothers Grimm, are Disney's cannon. It's akin to blasphemy to alter so liberally.
This reminds me of "The Prince of Egypt". Why make the story of Moses and then hedge your bets by calling it something other than "Moses"? You might gain some ticket sales initially. However, a film with a compromised title will end up, well, compromised.
Bravo to you, Honor, for not letting this go. Disney should know their faithful audience (those who did see The Princess and the Frog) are put off by this.

J said...

And they'll blame it all on the fact that it was a movie only girls would want to see.

This is how out of touch they are folks. stupid.

Anonymous said...

Honor, please come back fast and remind all these pessimists that 2D animated features are not dead and that plenty of them WILL get made after the new Pooh film.

After all, Lassetter and Catmull said that 2D is back to stay and we need to reinforce the fact that they mean it!

And Robster, drop your petition at once! You're being way too petty for your own good and will get NOWHERE!

Cory Gross said...

This reminds me of "The Prince of Egypt". Why make the story of Moses and then hedge your bets by calling it something other than "Moses"?

Yeah, like Moses starring Charlton Heston! All movies should be titled after the main protagonist(s). It's a basic cinematic rule.

Anonymous said...

Cinderella - Foot Fetish
Beauty and the Beast - Antlers: The Story of Gaston
Pinocchio - How to be a Jackass

Zane said...

Hilarious --- and so so true!

Anonymous said...

...I'd like to add something to my steroids comments from earlier;

I know that Ariel probably wants to look good for her DCA appearance next year, but I think she's taking things too far! ;)

Anyway, I agree with the phrase that someone else said here;
"A rose by any other name would smell as sweet"

In all honestly, I'm sure that the general public is not going to think that the title is too bad.

On one level, it could even be interpreted that Disney renaming the film to reinforce the fact that they are making it their own story. After all, the movie is clearly not going to be the same as the original Brothers Grimm tale.

And I agree with something else that's been said here; 2D animation is NOT dead.
Regardless of what anyone may think, Lasseter and Catmull are good guys.

And I know that there has been a lot of drama about this news in the comments and all, but I think its just because emotions are running high at the moment. Not to mention, a lot of people may just be having knee-jerk reactions.

Gobbers said...

You forgot The Many Adventures of Winnie The Pooh: The Acid Trip for Honey

Anonymous said...

The real issue with this is:

1) Changing the name does nothing for gaining male viewership, merely deterring female viewership. And adult viewership, for that matter.
2) There aren't hardly any female-oriented Disney flicks amidst stuff like Cars 2, Prince of Persia, Sorcerer's Apprentice, etc. It seems like Disney's just abandoning it's young female viewership altogether. Needlessly, seeing as Marvel just won them major bucks in the young boys demographic.
3) Disney always takes liberties with fairy tales, but they usually keep a lot of original elements. Sure, people complain that "it's too different," but at the end of the day it's still a recognizable adaptation. The fact that even Disney thinks that they've changed the story enough to no longer call it "Rapunzel" suggests that the story could very likely no longer be reminiscent of the original. This fact alone will deter many families who wanted to see Disney's version of "Rapunzel," not some stupid comedy that happens to have a girl with long hair in a tower.

Woodrow said...

With my respect for Disney marketeers declining, I find it a great irony that "Tangled" sounds a whole lot more like a chick flick than "Rapunzel." The title has me expecting Darrel Hannah playing a sequel in which she has traded in her fins for a ton of unruly hair. I don't think I'd go to that, nor would I encourage children to go.