The Miscellaneous Thought Thread

Disney Irish

Disney Irish

Premium Member
NunuBelle said:
If that is the case, I'll venture to say that many of us, in these forums, are NOT Disney's target demographic anymore! 🤭😉
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Well they're not going to exactly come out and say it, but yeah.

Disney's goal is to capture the next generation early so it become part of their lifestyle. A company that doesn't replenish their fan base with the next generation dies, and Disney knows this.
 
Mac Tonight

Mac Tonight

Well-Known Member
Disney Irish said:
Well they're not going to exactly come out and say it, but yeah.

Disney's goal is to capture the next generation early so it become part of their lifestyle. A company that doesn't replenish their fan base with the next generation dies, and Disney knows this.
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Yes, but see, young kids aren't searching these forums, reading about Disneyland, or even turning on Disney Channel on their own without their parents first introducing them to it. So in a way, Disney needs to appeal to parents first to then have them say, OK, let's introduce this to our kids.

I don't have kids personally, but if I did, and I was planning to introduce them to Mickey Mouse, I sure as hell wouldn't start with this current iteration.
 
Disney Irish

Disney Irish

Premium Member
Mac Tonight said:
Yes, but see, young kids aren't searching these forums, reading about Disneyland, or even turning on Disney Channel on their own without their parents first introducing them to it. So in a way, Disney needs to appeal to parents first to then have them say, OK, let's introduce this to our kids.

I don't have kids personally, but if I did, and I was planning to introduce them to Mickey Mouse, I sure as hell wouldn't start with this current iteration.
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Well that is the thing. Most parents I imagine aren't just introducing Disney via specific characters or specific iterations of those characters, but rather the brand as a whole.

Most parents I know introduce Disney first with baby clothes, and then maybe Disney Jr, before ever getting to the current iteration of Mickey that we're talking about. And if you look at Disney Jr this is the iteration of Mickey being used, which I personally think is bad:

432x242-Q90_e864869bd824c530ec5f0a8b8ea215ca.jpg
 
Mac Tonight

Mac Tonight

Well-Known Member
Disney Irish said:
Well that is the thing. Most parents I imagine aren't just introducing Disney via specific characters or specific iterations of those characters, but rather the brand as a whole.

Most parents I know introduce Disney first with baby clothes, and then maybe Disney Jr, before ever getting to the current iteration of Mickey that we're talking about. And if you look at Disney Jr this is the iteration of Mickey being used, which I personally think is bad:

432x242-Q90_e864869bd824c530ec5f0a8b8ea215ca.jpg
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What's wrong with him? At least he looks like classic Mickey, instead of some acid-trip nightmare fuel.
The new version of the character is so disorienting, I could imagine a kid being confused when they got
to the parks and see him in character form.

mickeymouse-secondseason-a-580x333.jpg

#NotMyMickey
 
socalifornian

socalifornian

Well-Known Member
As far as I understand it the target demo is brought into a small room to watch whatever content they want to test, and every little part of the show is scrutinized. If the majority don’t laugh at a joke, it’s changed etc etc. Ratings definitely have a lot to do with it after the show airs, but going by those numbers is more of a reactive response.

A problem is that both of these represent a small sample size, especially when it comes to ratings. In the LA market, for example, only ~1300 households have Nielsen ratings boxes last I remember which is where the raw data comes from. It’s laughably outdated, especially for the area it covers. The internet has been helpful in giving more and more actuals in recent years tho
D4B96D5D-4C79-4E58-AC97-457D7E9AB7CD.gif
 
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Disney Irish

Disney Irish

Premium Member
Mac Tonight said:
What's wrong with him? At least he looks like classic Mickey, instead of some acid-trip nightmare fuel.
The new version of the character is so disorienting, I could imagine a kid being confused when they got
to the parks and see him in character form.

mickeymouse-secondseason-a-580x333.jpg

#NotMyMickey
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I'm not going to go down this rabbit hole again, this has been discussed at great length in this forum before. There have been many versions of Mickey over the years.

To me and obviously to others there is no issue with this version of Mickey:

2017-1.jpg


I've always attributed this style as a throwback to the Iwerks version of Mickey, an homage if you will, which is the first true classic Mickey.

You don't have to like it, no one is forcing you to watch it. As for kids, I don't think any are getting confused as Mickey has the same overall shape he's had since the beginning, and that is what they recognize.
 
Mac Tonight

Mac Tonight

Well-Known Member
Disney Irish said:
I'm not going to go down this rabbit hole again, this has been discussed at great length in this forum before. There have been many versions of Mickey over the years.

To me and obviously to others there is no issue with this version of Mickey:

2017-1.jpg


I've always attributed this style as a throwback to the Iwerks version of Mickey, an homage if you will, which is the first true classic Mickey.

You don't have to like it, no one is forcing you to watch it. As for kids, I don't think any are getting confused as Mickey has the same overall shape he's had since the beginning, and that is what they recognize.
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K.
 
Rich T

Rich T

Well-Known Member
Disney Irish said:
I'm not going to go down this rabbit hole again, this has been discussed at great length in this forum before. There have been many versions of Mickey over the years.

To me and obviously to others there is no issue with this version of Mickey:

2017-1.jpg


I've always attributed this style as a throwback to the Iwerks version of Mickey, an homage if you will, which is the first true classic Mickey.

You don't have to like it, no one is forcing you to watch it. As for kids, I don't think any are getting confused as Mickey has the same overall shape he's had since the beginning, and that is what they recognize.
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Not arguing, just saying this current version of Mickey sucks eggs not because it's different, but because it's lazy. It's easy and cheaper to animate. It's okay for a few experimental shorts, but as the new standard? P.U.

Everyone knows there's only one true, perfect Mickey design:
runawaybrainmickey.jpg
 
George Lucas on a Bench

George Lucas on a Bench

Well-Known Member
Boy did I mess up. I was grabbing a beverage from the 7 Eleven near Disneyland when I spotted this magical foreign Japanese Coke called Coca Cola Plus. I couldn't resist when I saw it's a zero calorie diet cola. It tasted bad, although the bottle's large plastic wrap adorned with decals contained no expiration date. I look closer at the nutritional facts and see that it contains fiber. This is Diet Coke with a laxative! What have I done?
 
Disney Irish

Disney Irish

Premium Member
Rich T said:
Not arguing, just saying this current version of Mickey sucks eggs not because it's different, but because it's lazy. It's easy and cheaper to animate. It's okay for a few experimental shorts, but as the new standard? P.U.

Everyone knows there's only one true, perfect Mickey design:
View attachment 379912
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Everyone has their own preference on which style of Mickey is "theirs". Which is why Disney is likely to keep producing all the merch using the different styles of Mickey.

I was there during the "Get Your Ears On" Birthday celebration, which used the current style of Mickey. There sure was a lot of people buying the new style Mickey merch. So its obviously its popular enough for people to buy merch with that style of Mickey on it. When MMRR opens, I hope they have lots of merch available as I would be willing to pick up a lot of it.
 
Practical Pig

Practical Pig

Well-Known Member
Rich T said:
It's easy and cheaper to animate.
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Bingo! Practically speaking, the current company is not going to invest in the much more costly hand-drawn animation of the quality of the classic mid-century shorts for this level of brand maintenance. Not a chance. It's pretty much this flash animation or CGI on the cheap.

And I agree with @Disney Irish that the style is a throw-back to Ub Iwerks and the earliest Mickey shorts (albeit through the Ren and Stimpy lens). Here's what Wiki has to say on that (and people, yes, I do understand the nature of Wikipedia):

... the series has the slapstick feel of the earliest Mickey Mouse shorts while providing a modern update with the extensive use of Toon Boom and Flash animation, and "presents Mickey in a broad range of humorous situations that showcase his pluck and rascality, along with his long-beloved charm and good heartedness"
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Art direction aside, in the handful I've watched, the character of Mickey has had something closer to his original "rascality," and felt to me like a flawed tribute to Mickey's roots.
 
T

Touchdown

Well-Known Member
I also think they are harkening back to the Iwerks designs for another reason, come 2024 Steamboat Willie and that version of Mickey is due to enter the public domain, currently using a version that is similar is going to strengthen their case to potentially keep that copyright as it is so associated with the company (I think they will win Mickey and the fab 5 but will lose the rights to the lesser known characters including Snow White when that copyright is up.)
 

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