The Miscellaneous Thought Thread

[Distorian]

So while in an Uber ride the other day, I heard a radio commercial for Disneyland, featuring a kid clearly 10 or so years old. And I swear, the first thing he brings up besides that they were celebrating Disneyland’s 70th Anniversary about what he thought was such an exciting/wow thing to see… “Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Live”… I kid you not.. not simply meeting Mickey in ToonTown mind you, not Mickey’s Runaway Railway even, not Fantasmic! Or anything like Pirates of the Caribbean, Space Mountain or the Haunted Mansion… not even the Walt Disney show.. but ‘Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Live”..
my jaw dropped. Then proceeds to seeing more characters like “Bluey” and then that their parents got to see Joy & Sadness from Inside Out. Their marketing people ‘cannot’ be serious.. and if they they are.. boy.. ummm.. did they forget Mickey and Disneyland had plenty other things & versions of characters for ‘all ages’, rather than literal ‘Preschool’ stuff. Like, OMG

I think you’re underestimating the power of Bluey’s name.

 

[FigmentsBrightIdeas]

I think you’re underestimating the power of Bluey’s name.

Trust me, I’m not. I get the appeal of Bluey, despite it being aimed at preschoolers. Kind of a Bear in the Big Blue House kind of deal. Mickey Mouse Clubhouse though, nah? And the fact hardly anything else of substance was mentioned.. was just like.. What the?

 

[FigmentsBrightIdeas]

And I again, wanna make the point, this was clearly scripted/acted. It wasn’t one of those things where it was a personalized recording from a 10 year old kid talking about what they loved. Ya know, kudos to them if that’s their thing. If it had been that way, my reaction would’ve been completely different. But as it was, blatantly acted & scripted, yeah, baffled

 

[FigmentsBrightIdeas]

And also, I get it’s a commercial. I’m not “outraged” by it whatsoever. It was just one those things, completely by chance I heard it on the radio and I’m hearing this thing.. like “Omg, this can’t be real”, and just think to myself, “yeah, that sure as heck didn’t convince me nor do I expect it to convince any other 10 year old kid to pack their bags and go”, and felt the need to share it with a group who’d be as intrigued by it’s bad/wild-ness as I was.

 

[Disney Irish]

So while in an Uber ride the other day, I heard a radio commercial for Disneyland, featuring a kid clearly 10 or so years old. And I swear, the first thing he brings up besides that they were celebrating Disneyland’s 70th Anniversary about what he thought was such an exciting/wow thing to see… “Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Live”… I kid you not.. not simply meeting Mickey in ToonTown mind you, not Mickey’s Runaway Railway even, not Fantasmic! Or anything like Galaxy’s Edge, Indiana Jones, Pirates of the Caribbean, Space Mountain or the Haunted Mansion… not even the Walt Disney show.. but ‘Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Live”..
my jaw dropped. Then proceeds to seeing more characters like “Bluey” and then that their parents got to see Joy & Sadness from Inside Out. Their marketing people ‘cannot’ be serious.. and if they they are.. boy.. ummm.. did they forget Mickey and Disneyland had plenty other things & versions of characters for ‘all ages’, rather than literal ‘Preschool’ stuff. Like, OMG

Clearly you're not in the target audience for this commercial. Its for the ages of the shows being referenced and their parents.

Disneyland has plenty of commercials, some targeted for general audiences like you're wanting and expecting, and some targeted for specific audiences like this commercial is intending. This is how Disneyland has been marketed for years now.

 

[FigmentsBrightIdeas]

Clearly you're not in the target audience for this commercial. Its for the ages of the shows being referenced and their parents.

Disneyland has plenty of commercials, some targeted for general audiences like you're wanting and expecting, and some targeted for specific audiences like this commercial is intending. This is how Disneyland has been marketed for years now.

Re-read my post more carefully, A 10 year old.. talking about preschool stuff aimed at 5-below age range.… all scripted/acted, not a personal recording used, just wanna make that clear.

If that was the target demo, I feel they’ve failed. I’d argue most above the age of 5/6 don’t wanna be seeing Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and preschool stuff, know who would, those below that range and their parents… so why wouldn’t they have been used for that commercial instead, if that was the goal? Questions that should be considered/asked.

 

[mickEblu]

Clearly you're not in the target audience for this commercial. Its for the ages of the shows being referenced and their parents.

Disneyland has plenty of commercials, some targeted for general audiences like you're wanting and expecting, and some targeted for specific audiences like this commercial is intending. This is how Disneyland has been marketed for years now.

That might be true but I cannot recall in my life a Disneyland commercial centered around something like a little kiddie show. So it does stand out. I get that they want to advertise Bluey so throwing in Mickey Mouse clubhouse was just thrown in to beef up the perceived offerings for children and fill out the run time for the commercial. Without Bluey I doubt they’d make a commercial just for Mickey Mouse clubhouse. This is all about Bluey. And maybe something to do with it being a sort of off year between the 70th and new rides being built.

I think it’s interesting they re not offering the $50 ticket this winter for kids but offering it in summertime instead. Clearly they are forecasting a slow summer between this and the new Explore pass but I also wonder if they think Bluey’s arrival negates the need for the $50 kid ticket this winter. And maybe they’ve also decided to move the bulk of refurb season back to winter. It all sort of shifted when they blocked everyone out for GE and just kept it that way for a while and sort of organically starting doing more refurbs in the summer. Makes you wonder if some people within the organization forgot the slower summers were from their own doing.

 

[FigmentsBrightIdeas]

That might be true but I cannot recall in my life a Disneyland commercial centered around something like a little kiddie show. So it does stand out. I get that they want to advertise Bluey so throwing in Mickey Mouse clubhouse was just thrown in to beef up the perceived offerings for children and fill out the run time for the commercial. Without Bluey I doubt they’d make a commercial just for Mickey Mouse clubhouse. This is all about Bluey. And maybe something to do with it being a sort of off year between the 70th and new rides being built. In fact, I think it’s interesting they re not offering the $50 summer ticket this winter for kids but offering in summer instead. Clearly they are forecasting a slow summer between this and the new Explore pass but I also wonder if they think Bluey’s arrival negates the need for the $50 kid ticket this winter.

And again, the voice of what clearly sounds like a 9-10 year old kid. Totally acted/scripted, not a personal recording of a 9-10 year old with a unique interest in specifically preschool aimed shows.
Not a word from a parent with their young preschool age kid, or the kid in agreement with their parent’s words

 

[FigmentsBrightIdeas]

If I ever find it myself again or hear it again and hit the record button, I’ll share it here. It was wild lol

 

[mickEblu]

And again, the voice of what clearly sounds like a 9-10 year old kid. Totally acted/scripted, not a personal recording of a 9-10 year old with a unique interest in specifically preschool aimed shows.
Not a word from a parent with their young preschool age kid, or the kid in agreement with their parent’s words

Just the voice though? That might be just a more practical way of getting the commercial out. Find the nearest 9 year old that can read this lol. I will say my 10 year old still watches Bluey but that’s mostly because of his sister. I don’t think he’d be choosing it for himself. He’s really into the Simpsons right now. It’s an interesting age where they start liking more mature content but are also still innocent enough to go the other way.

 

[Disney Irish]

Re-read my post more carefully, A 10 year old.. talking about preschool stuff aimed at 5-below age range.… all scripted/acted, not a personal recording used, just wanna make that clear.

If that was the target demo, I feel they’ve failed. I’d argue most above the age of 5/6 don’t wanna be seeing Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and preschool stuff, know who would, those below that range and their parents… so why wouldn’t they have been used for that commercial instead, if that was the goal? Questions that should be considered/asked.

Except that is an assumption on your part about the age of the actor. Since it was audio only we don't know the actual age of the actor, or even the intended age of the child in the commercial. As they are talking about Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Bluey the assumed age of the child in the commercial should be in the 5-7 range since that is within the age range of those properties, even if they don't sound like that age to YOU.

 

[FigmentsBrightIdeas]

should be in the 5-7 range since that is within the age range of those properties

my point exactly and boy, did that actor/child not sound like that range, whatsoever. Anyway, if I come across it again, will be happy to share it with you folks to hear for yourselves

 

[Disney Irish]

That might be true but I cannot recall in my life a Disneyland commercial centered around something like a little kiddie show. So it does stand out. I get that they want to advertise Bluey so throwing in Mickey Mouse clubhouse was just thrown in to beef up the perceived offerings for children and fill out the run time for the commercial. Without Bluey I doubt they’d make a commercial just for Mickey Mouse clubhouse. This is all about Bluey. And maybe something to do with it being a sort of off year between the 70th and new rides being built.

I agree its all about Bluey.

 

[Disney Irish]

my point exactly and boy, did that actor/child not sound like that range, whatsoever. Anyway, if I come across it again, will be happy to share it with you folks to hear for yourselves

This might just be like @mickEblu mentioned, they found a child actor that could read the lines and they just happen to sound older but was intending to be playing a child in the 5-7 age range.

 

[FigmentsBrightIdeas]

This might just be like @mickEblu mentioned, they found a child actor that could read the lines and they just happen to sound older but was intending to be playing a child in the 5-7 age range.

Right. Again, it’s not too much a big deal. just found it humorous is all.

 

[Gusey]

What it's interesting is that Disney Parks have also been trying to remove the Disney Jr. name from their parks. Both WDW's and DCA's Disney Jr. show have been renamed to Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Live. DLP had Disney Juinor Dream Factory and are purposely renaming it to Minnie's Dream Factory as less people were attending the show because of the Disney Jr. name, even though it was a full-fledge stage show. Not sure if this new commercial is designed to promote the new show as part of the 70th as it is 1 of 2 new offerings for the celebration (other being Walt Disney animatronic) or it's to get people to attend the new show that's no longer just a dance party

 

[FigmentsBrightIdeas]

What it's interesting is that Disney Parks have also been trying to remove the Disney Jr. name from their parks. Both WDW's and DCA's Disney Jr. show have been renamed to Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Live. DLP had Disney Juinor Dream Factory and are purposely renaming it to Minnie's Dream Factory as less people were attending the show because of the Disney Jr. name, even though it was a full-fledge stage show. Not sure if this new commercial is designed to promote the new show as part of the 70th as it is 1 of 2 new offerings for the celebration (other being Walt Disney animatronic) or it's to get people to attend the new show that's no longer just a dance party

lol! Well.. a simple name change like that certainly won’t be doing much more for attendance of a larger age range if that’s the case. More than enough know that Mickey Mouse Clubhouse is a strictly for preschoolers show. It’s literally just Dora with a dash of Blue’s Clues with the Mickey characters slapped on it, retaining little of their distinct personalities, actions, traits, or humor that made them famous. Minnie’s Dream Factory.. prob not so much. Can’t recall a Minnie’s Dream Factory show in recent memory. But still, if the strictly for preschoolers shows aren’t getting as much attendance as the others.. I dunno, perhaps they should be getting the hint that generally people would rather do things they can truly do altogether as a family rather than the opposite. Perhaps something like the new It’s a Small World additions should’ve been mentioned in the ad I heard instead, if that’s what they were trying to do. Or things like meeting their favorite princesses and other characters by name in general or a certain parade or fireworks show. Just sayin’..

 

[FigmentsBrightIdeas]

Speaking of changed names.. that’s not the only time that’s happening with a Disney Junior-based Mickey project sadly. They’ve done this numerous times with the new stop-motion Mickey & Friends socials/projects on Disney +. It’s the most annoying/depressing thing as the animation, models, and set design is gorgeous.. and yet it has that distinctive Clubhouse/modern day Disney Jr. show style writing. The genuine Rankin-Bass specials and Mickey Christmas Specials of yore (like Christmas Carol & Once Upon a Christmas), they are sadly not.
An issue I wish would be corrected sooner than later. If they wanna distance themselves so much from the Disney Jr. versions of these characters cause not enough wide age range folks wanna see them, then just do the genuine all-age appealing Mickey & Friends. Otherwise, stick to the genuine Disney Jr. naming & branding. Then nobody would be having any issues. Only time we have an issue is when they’re trying to pass something off as being for everyone/in the same lane as the classics and it just straight up isn’t, if you actually compare projects back to back. That or constantly, we’re asking them to make more & more classic or classic style content available, and they for whatever reason, refuse, despite the clear clamoring & merch sales/otherwise showing the clear demand.