Who was Disney's target demographic with Into the Woods?

[Islander_fan]

Posted: 12/27/14 at 1:25am

This afternoon I had a great time seeing Into the Woods. I really loved it and thought that it was a great stage to film adaptation. The ones that saw it with me and didn't enjoy it were the young children that were there as well. After hearing some of them say to their parents (a little too loudly if you ask me, but I don't think that they were intending to be as loud as they were) that they couldn't follow what was going on and that they didn't like the music.

Now, if I were a parent of a small child, and I knew nothing of the show, I'd think that a Disney movie with popular fairy tale characters would be a great movie to take my child to. However, that appeared, at lest to me, to not be the case. So, I was wondering what the target demographic is for this film. Does anyone know or have a thought? The only people that I know who wanted to see it were those who were already interested in theatre. And, those that I know who aren't didn't really express any interest in wanting to see it. That's what got me wondering who this film's target audience was. If it was for children it may not have worked out well as they thought. But, I could be wrong on that one. After all, many complaints from the kids in the screening I was at were that they couldn't follow the plot and had even a harder time following the music. Sondheim, as great as he is, is far from your typical Disney song. So, does anyone know who the targeted demographic was/is for this movie?

[15minutecall]

Posted: 12/27/14 at 3:03am

The film will have made almost 50 million dollars by the end of the weekend. That's a wide demographic, more than people who are already interested in theatre. Disney I imagine is aiming for a predominantly female demo of pre-teens on up and it seems they've gotten to them. With a B Cinemascore of first audience response, it seems on its way to profitability but may need lots of Oscar noms to give it a second wind towards major hit status.

Updated On: 12/27/14 at 03:03 AM

[Robbie2]

Posted: 12/27/14 at 3:28am

Pre-teens11-12 on up it's not a kids movie for the under 10

Updated On: 12/27/14 at 03:28 AM

[gypsy101]

Posted: 12/27/14 at 4:13am

The demographic I would think would be attracted a Stephen Sondheim musical should be educated adults.
Of course, we know that in today's day and age most people going to the movies are the antithesis of the well-educated adult who likes to ponder the meaning of life. God knows that parents can't just google what this Into the Woods is and find out for themselves if they think the subject matter is appropriate.

[delongpre]

Posted: 12/27/14 at 5:03am

The theater I was in for the show today was packed with little kids....under tens. Halfway through the show they started getting restless. The 6 year old next to me was asking questions throughout and her dad was answering. Bored and lost in the plot, she started talking to the screen. Parents should know how much there is in this movie that makes it NOT kid-friendly. Target audience has to be older teens and adults. After the word gets around, I think the audience will become a more selective theater-going, Sondheim-familiar crowd.

[gypsy101]

Posted: 12/27/14 at 5:21am

I just remembered i overheard quite a few ads on the Disney channel a few weeks ago when visiting a friend with kids, so that explains that.

[promisespromises2]

Posted: 12/27/14 at 6:15am

They advertised it brilliantly because everyone around me in the theatre all generally said, "the commercials looked really cool" and it was quite obvious where I was that a lot of people didn't know the music beforehand. It could be where I live, though.

[best12bars]

Posted: 12/27/14 at 6:59am

Disney isn't marketing this film for children, but the Disney brand attracts children (and their parents) regardless.

But since Walt formed the company, they have never been about children's entertainment, but FAMILY entertainment, meaning it's for everyone, both young and old.

I think they've done a great job of letting people know exactly what this film is.

But some parents are too stupid to read.

Careful the things you say, parents won't listen.

By the way, I had a child sitting behind me who absolutely loved the film. She was about six or seven. She laughed at the funny parts, cried when the Baker's wife died and everyone was sad, and when the Witch was heckling the Baker and his Wife and then left, and the Baker said, "I don't like that woman," the little girl said (rather loudly) at the screen, "Neither do I!"

It got a huge laugh from our audience.

Updated On: 12/27/14 at 06:59 AM

[decast]

Posted: 12/27/14 at 8:04am

Maybe it's just me, but do people really go and see a film without knowing what it's about? Any film? I don't think I've ever done that. But on Twitter and elsewhere I've read people being surprised it's dark and even that it's a musical, I mean, you couldn't just google it before you went? I haven't seen any marketing of this that's led me to believe it's particularly small child friendly, the cast have been everywhere and I'm fairly sure every interview has addressed the much darker tone of the film. Just to look at the trailer, it's clearly aimed at a slightly older demographic. That said, my 7yo niece was desperate to see thisand sat transfixed and unfazed by any deaths, scary bits etc. She left the movie in love with Chris Pine and singing to herself. But she has been brought up on musicals tho, not Sondheim, but she's seen Cats and others.
As for parents being outraged, are people forgetting that Disney has always had dark moments, even in the very early cartoons. They're not exactly sweetness and light

[disneybroadwayfan22]

Posted: 12/27/14 at 8:10am

Plus, if they think that this is your average Disney movie, they would guess it'd be a musical (like Enchanted)

[ArtMan]

Posted: 12/27/14 at 8:20am

I went to an advanced screening and the theatre was full of small children including the ones surrounded by me. Fortunately, they were quiet for the most part, the parents are another story. When I got into a conversation with two women beside me, who brought five small kids, they were suprised when I stated this really isn't a children's movie. They were shocked and stated well it's Disney and fairy tales. They had done no research on what the movie was about. When I mentioned that it was a musical, one mother stated "my child won't like that". I agree on 11 and up, unless a younger child is mature and familiar with musicals.

[Islander_fan]

Posted: 12/27/14 at 8:43am

I agree with Best12 and am glad to know that I wasn't the only one who experienced being around children who were way to young to see this in the theatre.

I think that, like others have said, that parents didn't do their research or know what they were taking their kids to see. It's true that Disney has been about family entertainment since the beginning. But, at the same time, I honestly think that there are way too many parents out there who saw Disney and fairy tail characters and thought that it was a good fit for their young ones.

[After Eight]

Posted: 12/27/14 at 9:05am

I think the question should more pertinently be "Who was Mssrs. Sondheim and Lapine's target demographic?"

1. Duped parents.

2. Their duped children.

3. Those who derive pleasure from seeing 1 & 2 duped.

[BroadwayBenny]

Posted: 12/27/14 at 9:06am

Thank God for those kids who love sophisticated storytelling, that their parents trying to "shield them from the world", are too dumb to research the origins of this great piece. They might not have seen and enjoyed it otherwise. It sounds like more parents and adults are upset FOR these children than the children actually are. These guardians REALLY need to take lesson from the witch.



Updated On: 12/27/14 at 09:06 AM

[phantom8019]

Posted: 12/27/14 at 9:33am

It's interesting that no one is really talking about the solid box office performance of Annie thus far, which is even more remarkable considering the horrendous reviews.
It made me wonder... when is the last time movie audiences could choose from 2 big-budget (ie, 50 million+) movie musicals?

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 12/27/14 at 10:00am

It would be difficult for anyone, whether Disney or not, to market any musical about fairy tales - whether a feel-good or a feel-everything musical - and not attract families with young kids expecting something they are not going to get.

On top of which, Disney, I'm sure is happy to target that audience, because - whether that audience likes the movie or not - they pay to see it.

[sueb1863]

Posted: 12/27/14 at 10:08am

I think parents saw the commercials and thought, "Oh, it's about mixed-up fairy tales, like 'Shrek'. My kids love 'Shrek' - they'll love this too!"

There was actually a baby at the screening I went to on Christmas night at 7:00. It started crying as soon as the movie started, fortunately the mother took it outside the theater pretty quicklu.

[best12bars]

Posted: 12/27/14 at 10:19am

I think it's great that kids are seeing this even if the parents are slightly puzzled and pissed that it isn't all cotton candy and sunshine.

Disney also had the women's suffragette movement, including references to throwing rotten eggs at the prime minister and "Mrs. Pankhurst" (Google her) being clapped in irons again, and a rousing patriotic political number ... (think that was for the kids?) ... and a number about the importance of tuppence in a bank account with a bunch of doddery old men pontificating ...

They also had a huntsman sent into the woods to bring back a young girls heart in a box.

You know ... for the kids.

Updated On: 12/27/14 at 10:19 AM

[NOB88]

Posted: 12/27/14 at 10:20am

In the weeks before the premiere I saw two different entertainment gossip shows promote it as a children's movie. Made me shake my head.

[best12bars]

Posted: 12/27/14 at 10:22am

That's the fault of the clueless gossip show hosts and writers who can't even read the promo material sent to them by Disney.

[Marianne2]

Posted: 12/27/14 at 10:24am

Aren't the Harry Potter movies really dark? I know of parents who took kids ages 6 & under to one of the early ones and sort of questioned it. It's very interesting to me on what some parents will let their kids see, but complain about things that are not as bad or equal. Granted, I've never seen Harry Potter, but to me those look like they would be for older kids like Into The Woods seems to be for.

[best12bars]

Posted: 12/27/14 at 10:25am

I'm guessing it really isn't the darkness that puzzles them but rather the sophisticated way in which the story is presented. Many complex scenarios with weighty ideas presented.

That freaks parents out.

[jemjeb2]

Posted: 12/27/14 at 10:26am

Since the average moviegoer pays no attention to Broadway, I thought it was rather disingenuous of the Disney marketers to completely avoid in its advertising revealing that this is a musical. Not a "Bibbidy Bobbidi Boo" Disney movie with a few songs, but a sophisticated (sorry, After Eight) SONDHEIM musical with wall to wall songs intended to appeal to adults. I think OP is correct in wondering who the intended audience is? Seemingly, aside from those who know the material, it seems marketed towards those who can be duped into believing it is a big screen variation of the current "Grimm" or "Once Upon a Time" type tv shows or as suggested by someone earlier a contemporary "Shrek" kind of take on the genre.

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 12/27/14 at 11:05am

"Target demographics" are the enemy to all art.

[sctrojan65]

Posted: 12/27/14 at 11:07am

Disney is strictly corporate now. If you can put a butt in the seat, that means money. And money is the bottom line for Disney now. That's how it has been for a long time.
This is not to say Walt didn't like making money, but he had a slightly different approach. It was one that we Cast Members could still see into the 70s and early 80s.
After that we could see the paradigm shift and that corporate writing on the wall.
True. many will say that the "company" was saved in the 80s from a takeover that could have changed the face of Disney. And in some cases that is true.
But many faces of Disney did change anyway; something that Cast Members began to see immediately.
And money was at the root of it. An impersonality set in that hadn't been there before.
Thirty years later it continues to be full steam ahead toward the corporate dollar.
So I would say the demographic will include anyone they can appeal to to get them in the seats.
I didn't pay much attention to the advertising for this. It seems some are saying the company was disingenuous; others are saying they were upfront in the press about the themes of the story. If it was the latter, then kudos to Disney. If it was the former, then it doesn't surprise me. What little I did see seemed to appeal to both: fairy tale characters (kids) and darkness (adults).
I still love Disney, and I still believe that they provide a nice outlet for families and children.
But the feel has changed. It's not quite what it used to be. At the root of it is money because it's now a corporation, not a magical entity that had a unique sense of warmth, closeness and family connectivity to it.
But again, that couldn't have lasted forever anyway. We're 50 years beyond Walt's direct influence on Walt Disney Productions (and his unique, personal, impassioned, magical, inspirational genius). We're about 30-35 years past the influence of his family and direct cohorts. Since then it's about the Walt Disney Company (and its corporate genius). It was bound to change. Now you have corporate mindsets, and that means money. Which is understandable.

Updated On: 12/27/14 at 11:07 AM