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The reason why Moana wasn't a massive blockbuster

posted 8 years ago by hobbes0022
47 replies | jump to latest

First let me start off by saying I absolutely loved Moana. My 5 year old daughter, and 6 year old son also loved Moana. My son was skeptical about seeing it at first based on the trailers, but he loved it. It is by far my favorite Disney movie.

So why wasn't it a massive Blockbuster? Because the majority of the movie going public in the United States is white. This is not suppose to come off as Americans being racist or anything, it's just that you need to know your market audience. If you have a very big target audience, and they cannot immediately identify with the characters, they are not going to put this movie high on their priority list. They will think along the lines of, "that's not a movie for us". It's a real shame because I'm white, and as I said, I think the movie is absolutely fantastic. But I'm certain there are lots of people that will see a trailer for Moana, and a trailer for Sing, and will think "Moana's not a movie for ME, I'll going to see Sing".

So when you consider white people make up a little over 60% of the US population, and you make a movie with no white people, you've got to figure you're going to lose a pretty significant percentage of your potential customers. And I'm not talking about racism, I mean people that just don't immediately identify with the characters, and therefore put this movie on the back burner.

[–] QueenFanUSA 8 years ago

Still...it is a little troubling that so many people saw the trailer for Sing and said "I'm going to see Sing!".

[–] seizeethat 8 years ago

It has nothing to do with race.

Instead, the reason why Moana underperformed was that in the age of rapidly declining IQ'd, moana's suddenly too smart for the audience. Sing appeals to dumb masses and the same audience that were once considered great for zootopia, now opted to see sing instead of moana.

[–] simian_ninja 8 years ago

It's worldwide box office was 500 million. I know it's considered a flop in the US and only grossed around 250 million (on a budget of 150 million), but it seems the rest of the world was into it.

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[–] QueenFanUSA 8 years ago

Domestic is 237 million, not 250.

[–] Hold_the_door 8 years ago

It's not considered a flop in the USA or worldwide.

[–] A-Rey-of-Light 8 years ago

I know it's considered a flop in the US and only grossed around 250 million (on a budget of 150 million)

Only Wallfish considers it to be a flop. Anyone with a modicum of a brain would consider it an unqualified success Stateside.

Galaxy's princess
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Unite in heaven

[–] IanDSmith 8 years ago

Flop? What? $250 million is not a flop in the US, that puts it ahead of a number of Pixar grosses and firmly in Disney's top 30 films of all time, including live action!

[–] QueenFanUSA 8 years ago

Once again...it's 237 million U.S....not 250.

[–] FantasticFearOfMisterBobo 8 years ago

First of all the first poster who mentioned 250 said 'around'

Second, Moana will likely finish close to 250

Three, ever heard of rounding?

[–] TutuAnimationPrincess 8 years ago

I disagree completely. Aladdin was a record breaking film in it's time and it had no white people. Going back even further, The Jungle Book was successful for it's time and it's recent remake did very well. Box office is a fickle thing but Moana still did quite well just the same. There doesn't need to be nonsense reasons thrown around everytime a Disney film doesn't make a billion.

"If life is getting you down and needs uplifting, then please come dance with me!"

[–] sju23 8 years ago

Theres a difference between not making a billion, and flopping

[–] A-Rey-of-Light 8 years ago

Moana did not flop despite whatever the hell you say, Wallfish.

Galaxy's princess
Her mother, singer in rain
Unite in heaven

[–] seizeethat 8 years ago

Budget probably was lowballed. This barely broke even at best.

[–] A-Rey-of-Light 8 years ago

If by "barely broke even" you mean "it'll make more than $100 million in profits", then yes, you are right.

Galaxy's princess
Her mother, singer in rain
Unite in heaven

[–] seizeethat 8 years ago

It didn't make 100 million trevoraclea.

[–] A-Rey-of-Light 8 years ago

It didn't make 100 million trevoraclea

Seriously? You're now accusing me of being TrevorAclea instead of providing compelling arguments?

Galaxy's princess
Her mother, singer in rain
Unite in heaven

[–] sju23 8 years ago

All you do is call me inbred .

[–] A-Rey-of-Light 8 years ago

#NotGonnaBother

Galaxy's princess
Her mother, singer in rain
Unite in heaven

[–] 8 years ago

[deleted]

[–] hobbes0022 8 years ago

I never said it was a Flop, but I do recognize it's probably a disappointment for Disney.

The Lion King, and The Jungle Book, were stories primarily focused on animals. Animals transcend race so they are a safe bet.

Somebody made a good point with Aladdin, but I would point out that Aladdin was fairly white-washed, he didn't exactly look like he was from the Middle East.

[–] UnvoicedApollo1 8 years ago

It has more to do with a lack of an A-list cast rather than racism.

[–] A-Rey-of-Light 8 years ago

Dwayne Johnson is more A-list than anyone in recent Disney animated films.

Galaxy's princess
Her mother, singer in rain
Unite in heaven

[–] 8 years ago

[deleted]

[–] TutuAnimationPrincess 8 years ago

People would know it was The Rock as he was top billed and advertised quite a bit in the trailers.

"If life is getting you down and needs uplifting, then please come dance with me!"

[–] A-Rey-of-Light 8 years ago

During my Doctor Strange screening, there was a Moana promo with Johnson himself in it. Plus, he even got top billing, so it's not like he was completely absent from marketing.

Galaxy's princess
Her mother, singer in rain
Unite in heaven

[–] UnvoicedApollo1 8 years ago

And then look at the cast list for Sing.

Now, who has the better box office?

[–] A-Rey-of-Light 8 years ago

Among the Sing cast members, only Scarlett Johansson has a better domestic/worldwide box office total than Dwayne Johnson.

Galaxy's princess
Her mother, singer in rain
Unite in heaven

[–] UnvoicedApollo1 8 years ago

Among the sing cast members are 3 A-listers people recognize by name. Then you have the likes of John C. Reilly and Seth MacFarlane who have found popularity in their own right (particularly the latter).

Outside of Dwayne Johnson, I couldn't tell you about the cast beyond Auli'i Cravhalo being a newcomer.

In either case, Sing has much more drawing power because of the names people recognize.

[–] A-Rey-of-Light 8 years ago

True, Sing has more recognisable actors.

Galaxy's princess
Her mother, singer in rain
Unite in heaven

[–] The_Ginger_Man 8 years ago

Frozen had a bunch of Broadway people, as well as Kristen Bell who is at best B list from TV.

Zootopia likewise had no really big stars, mostly TV talent. Idris Elba is no Dwayne Johnson as far as recognition by the common audience goes, at least in the US (UK might be different).

The gimmick of casting big name A list talent for voice roles is a Dreamworks staple, not really used by Disney. And now Illumination is following in their footsteps.

[–] Smoked_Herring 8 years ago

Zootopia also had J.K. Simmons and pop star Shakira. But yeah I agree that Disney and Pixar-- for the most part-- haven't been really relying on this kind of tactic. A lot of other major animation studios tend to resort to that sort of thing, and then would additionally use the names for promotions. Blue Sky, Sony, and.... possibly WB now have all been following suit too.

[–] ma3337 8 years ago

It cost 150M and made over 500M worldwide

[–] corazonbandido55 8 years ago

Sadly I agree. This film may have been very ethnic for some whites people. But I hope this doesn't scare Disney from making future films like this. I thoroughly enjoyed it and would've have had it any other way. And no, I'm not Pacific Islander.

[–] hobbes0022 8 years ago

I'm fairly liberal but I was pretty POed that the movie was getting negative attention due to the shape of Maui. I wonder, who are the actual people making the first complaint? So what if Maui is big, some Somoans are big.

And the entire issue with the Maui costume bothers me. I get the concern, you don't want people wearing it just to be mocking the culture, but your basicallly giving into the bigots by not promoting your own culture. Should we sell a White and a Black version of the Maui costume? That seems like a way worse solution. So I guess we just don't have one at all. And again, the first person to complain was a white women saying her daughter's (half-samoan) skin is not a costume!!! Get over it lady, other kids are allowed to like Samoan culture also.

[–] Herengone 8 years ago

but your basicallly giving into the bigots by not promoting your own culture

Most American kids don't even know where Samoa is let alone have an interest in the culture. And, since when does Maui represent Samoan culture anyway?