Disney in high gear for Cars
Studio plans largest campaign to date for Nov. 7 title
By Jennifer Netherby -- Video Business, 8/4/2006
AUG. 4 | Disney/Pixar’s Cars will be street-ready Nov. 7 with the new animated short “Mater and the Ghost” and the backing of the studio’s largest promotional campaign to date.
Cars will be promoted by Valvoline and State Farm, among others.
Prebook is Sept. 12, and the DVD has a suggested retail price of $29.99. The studio didn’t announce any plans for a Blu-ray debut of the animated hit.
Directed by Oscar-winner John Lasseter, the $229 million-grossing movie is set in the world of cars and features an all-star cast led by Paul Newman and Owen Wilson.
The single-disc release is slim compared to previous Pixar DVDs from Buena Vista Worldwide Home Entertainment. The new short “Mater” takes the good-ole’ boy tow-truck on a new adventure. Academy-Award nominated short “One Man Band,” which played with the movie in theaters, also will be on the DVD. Plus there’s the behind-the-scenes featurette “Inspiration for Cars,” four deleted scenes and a preview of upcoming Disney/Pixar film Ratatouille.
The studio chose to go with the bonus features most popular with consumers, senior VP of brand marketing and product management Lori MacPherson said. MacPherson noted that Pixar shorts have been one of the most popular bonuses with disc buyers.
“I think it’s the quality of the bonus features that’s really key,” she said.
The studio will rev-up its biggest media campaign yet for the title, opening the door to first-time partners Valvoline and insurer State Farm, which also were involved in the theatrical release. Both will run nationwide TV ad campaigns promoting Cars. Promotional partners also include Energizer, Con-Agra Foods, Procter & Gamble, Air Heads Candy and Georgia Pacific.
BVWHE has chosen a favorite time period for the street: the first week of November, the same frame that helped Finding Nemo set a DVD sales record in 2003. Nemo sold through 23.5 million DVD and VHS units that year, generating $398 million in sales.
Given the time frame and the movie’s theatrical success (grossing $235 million in the U.S.), Buena Vista is optimistic about Cars’ potential, MacPherson said.
The last Pixar release, The Incredibles, was the top-performing DVD of 2005 but sold fewer units than Nemo, partly due to a changing disc market. Incredibles sold through 15 million units following its release last March, and Pixar reported heavier-than-expected returns when the home video market started showing some volatility in the summer months.
MacPherson said it was too early to comment on the studio’s shipment plans for Cars.
“Everybody in the industry has kind of looked at what’s going on with the category. We have a healthy and robust market, which is great,” MacPherson said. “Everyone is trying to solve the million-dollar question, which is what is the right number [of DVDs] to place.
"We want to have a large presence to fill demand, but we don’t want to overship—how much do you put out without it being too much?”
Cars will be the first Pixar release since Disney acquired the animation studio earlier this year. However, MacPherson said the studio didn’t alter its strategy or distribution plans for Cars based on that.
