He Who Dies With the Most Toys is Disney/Pixar

Nobody needs to be convinced of the merits of Toy Story. Released in 1995, the film made more than 10 times its $30 million budget worldwide (excluding its $30 million+ 3D re-release in October 2009), received four Oscar nominations – including a nod for Best Original Screenplay – and is still certified 100% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes to this day.  Nobody needs to be convinced of the merits of Toy Story 2, either.  Surpassing its predecessor with a $90 million budget, it also surpassed the worldwide gross, raking in $486 million once all the worldwide box offices tallied up, and matched the first film’s immaculate RT score.  Additionally, both films rank #156 and #247 on IMDB.com’s Top 250 respectively.  Yeah, no one needs to be convinced of the merits of Toy Story, but some people may need to be reminded.  Enter Disney/Pixar’s viral campaign for Toy Story 3.

As if the highly anticipated trailer, which premiered on February 11, wasn’t enough to entice fans, Disney/Pixar launched a campaign last month for the third installment that included cliffhanger screenings at college campuses on a 40-city tour and a viral commercial with a retro twist for the “Lots-o’-Huggin’ Bear,” a character voiced by Ned Beatty.  Internet aficionados have certainly stumbled upon the commercial at least once (or twice, or thrice) by now seeing as it was reported on here, here, here,  and here amongst other places.  The commercial, posted on YouTube under the title of “Lots-o’-Huggin’ Bear Commercial (circa 1983),” is “dressed up” with a grainy VHS look complete with tracking issues and clashing pastel children’s wear and was uploaded by a user named MyCrazycommercials, who has disguised his or her hand by populating his or her account with 17 other retro commercials for legitimate products, including Pac Man Cereal, Speak and Spell and the Glow Worm.  For those of you who have missed out, behold the commercial below in all its vintage goodness:

As you can see, in the 3 weeks since its posting, it’s garnered over 792,000 views, averaging about 264,000 views per week.  Clearly it’s a hit, but it also raises an interesting question: why does one of the largest movie studios in the world feel it needs to engage in a grassroots, viral campaign for what is undoubtedly – between theatrical, DVD/Blu-ray and merchandising sales – one of the most lucrative film franchises in history?  For the same reason that Andy, the human focal point of Woody and Buzz’s affections, is getting rid of all his old toys: growing up.

As has already been established, the first two Toy Story films were wildly successful, but it’s been more than 10 years – a full decade! – since Toy Story 2 was released.  1999 doesn’t seem that far away to some of you, so allow me to weave a tapestry of last century’s social media scene:

• Movie theater ticket prices, even in Manhattan, hadn’t even topped $10.
• Now neutered Napster was the most popular file sharing service; Pirate Bay wouldn’t be around for another 4 years.
• Mark Zuckerberg, the creator of Facebook, was a 15-year old teenager immersing himself in Latin at Phillips Exeter Academy.
• Speaking of Facebook, it wouldn’t be launched for another 5 years, 1 year after its primary social networking competitor, MySpace.
• The HD disc wars, in which Blu-ray would make HD DVD irrelevant, wouldn’t even begin to be waged for another 3 years.

Many social networking and media tools, which are staples in the lives of teenagers and college students today, were barely even twinkles in their creators’ eyes in 1999.  The youth demographics who can’t seem to tear themselves away from any of the previously mentioned social and technological advancements were all 10 years younger.  The 8 – 10-year olds who howled in delight as Woody declared, “There’s a snake in my boots!” are now knee deep in college lectures and post-graduation plans.  Similarly, the 8 – 10-year olds who loved Finding Nemo or WALL-E either weren’t born yet, or were too young to remember what “To infinity – and beyond!” even means.  Times have changed.  The audience has changed.  In response, Disney/Pixar’s outreach has changed.

The Walt Disney company has recently gone through some growing pains.  Some of you may remember that last September, Disney fired chairman Dick Cook, which shocked many people due to his 38-year history with the company and dedication to building fan bases.  This past March, they announced that their future production plans would shy away from one-off films and focus instead on “films that are essentially brands – like a planned Muppets movie – that can be exploited across its network of theme parks, videogames and commercial products.”  And why wouldn’t they?  Branded films, upon which franchises and merchandising can be built, are gold mines.  Take a look at the top grossing films as of 2008 – only two films in the top 10, The Passion of the Christ and Finding Nemo, are not connected to franchises.  Purchasing Marvel Entertainment furthered this goal with Iron Man‘s $572 million global gross, Iron Man 2‘s $133 million domestic opening weekend and the forthcoming tie-ins to The Avengers.

And who has the time, dedication and money to keep coming back to these franchises between which there are years to wait for installments?  The same demographic who would recognize the style of the “Lots-o’-Huggin’ Bear” commercial from their youth; the same demographic who get caught up in viral marketing: college kids and recent college graduates.  Disney/Pixar sees this demographic as the Prodigal Son who left home years ago and whom they want to welcome back to the Toy Story franchise with open arms; even if they do so by duping them with a faux vintage commercial tie-in or screenings that end before the film does.  And according to The New York Times, the tactics seem to be working: “Chloe Viton, an 18-year-old elementary education major, said her mind had been changed about ‘Toy Story’ being just for kids. ‘I was particularly sad about some of the original characters that were missing,’ she said, ‘but other than that, I really had a lot of fun.’”  The people attending these screenings and watching this commercial are also the kind most likely to spread the word through Twitter, Facebook and other social networking tools.  No one would be going on a limb to suggest that parents will be happy to take their kids to see Toy Story 3 and that kids will ask their parents to take them, so it seems that Disney/Pixar wants to make sure they snag everyone in between as well.  So why does one of the largest movie studios in the world feel it needs to engage in a grassroots, viral campaign?  It’s simple – they want everyone with the toys to spread the word about the Toys.