Disney Parks Blog posted last week that a new Meet & Greet will be constructed in Fantasyland for Merida, the title character of Pixar's upcoming film Brave which will hit the screens June 22. Knowing the popularity of these promotional meet & greet's there's probably 8000 kids with their parents planning to be first in line.
There have been a few TV trailers for Brave but I haven't seen enough of it to form any preconceived opinions one way or another. The only thing I am sure of is that after the absolutely abominable Cars2, there is only one way for Pixar to go. Cars 2 was so bad that I heard the Academy Awards asked John Lasseter to give one of his Oscars back as penance. Anyway, with Brave being sandwiched in between Cars 2 and Monsters Inc 2 its appreciated that Pixar is once again producing an original story for which they have set a very high bar for themselves.
But here's the question. It's not a sexist thing, but can a female lead carry a Pixar film to box office glory? The Princess label has been batted around Disney offices for a few years now. Many at Disney blamed the word Princess for causing the film Princess and the Frog to under perform at the box office. That later forced the re-titling of Rapunzel to Tangled to make it seem like less of a 'girls' movie. Here is the thinking, whether its true or not is subject to debate - its not hard to get girls to see movies about cars, toys, houses floating in the air with balloons, or cute little robots - it is hard to get little boys to go see movies about girls. Just saying, not trying to pick a fight.
So Brave is going to be an interesting case study for Pixar on many levels. I have a feeling its going to have fine success. But I also could be wrong.
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