Why Can't Disney be "Cool?"

[mousepod]

I think the point that GD makes about "mainstream adult culture" is correct. However, I think that Disney has a major hand in perpetuating the "Disney=cartoons=cutesy=chidlish=instantly uncool" equation in the minds of most American people. By marketing directly to kids and kids only for years, Disney has created an image for itself that most of us adult Disney fans have come to resent to a certain degree. Look at the various trailers for Nightmare Before Christmas - the film was originally slated to be a Disney release, but was switched to Touchstone before the release date by a studio with cold feet who had no idea how to market the darn thing. For several years, all of the cool NBC toys were Japanese imports. Once Disney realized what they had on their hands, Hot Topic, New Orleans Square and even the Haunted Mansion became prime locations for Disney to exploit a very hip movie.

The merchandising/licensing arm of Disney does understand that the brand has a certain hip cache - Fred Segal in Santa Monica has been a place to buy some upscale Disney stuff for the past couple of years - but it doesn't seem able to make the leap into the mainstream. It's almost as if marketing and merchandising are working against each other.

I consider myself a Disney fan who possesses a modicum of coolness - I'd like to see an effort on Disney's part to reach out to me and not just to the kiddies and tweens. I don't expect to see the Bossa Nova CD getting the same push as the Disneymania series, I'd just like to see some more adventurous marketing (like the cool "Chanson a la Mode" CD that € mentioned or the "DJ Digs Main Street Electrical Parade" CD I picked up last week - or the cool Mickey baseball cap, or the embroidered Minnie T-shirt, or well, you get the picture).

Maybe it's too much to hope for from the company that would rather show Raven reruns on the Disney Channel than acknowledge its amazing television heritage, but maybe, one day, the hipness that draws us all to the parks will spill over into real life once again.

[€uroMeinke]

Originally Posted by mousepod

I think that Disney has a major hand in perpetuating the "Disney=cartoons=cutesy=chidlish=instantly uncool" equation in the minds of most American people.

I definately agree with this. I guess I was just amazed that this doesn't seem to be the case in Japan, there was just so much cool Disney stuff there. It seems a shame that you have to travel to other continents to get it. I suppose I should take heart in knowing that at least it's being produced somewhere.