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BRAVE Pre-release

post #1 of 72
6/8/12 at 4:12pm
Thread Starter 

Please feel free to direct me to an existing thread - I couldn't find one.  If there isn't one, I am little shocked.  Did PIXAR really kill any goodwill people had towards them and/or does the movie look like a flaming pile to everyone?

 

I am an advocate for the Cars movies, even though I acknowledge how average they are, yet I personally can't get it up for Brave.  It certainly looks pretty, but dammit it looks like a friggin' Dreamworks movie with fart jokes, mooning and (what appears to be) outright anthropomorphic animals.  Additionally, not one trailer has told me what the movie is about.  In a day when trailers give away too much, PIXAR seems to be pretty mum on the matter...and it's two weeks out!

 

It is PIXAR, and other than the second half of Wall-E, they haven't really let me down; so I plan on seeing this.  Anyone else?  Thoughts? 

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post #2 of 72
6/8/12 at 5:32pm

I'm really looking forward to it, despite the fact that the trailers sort make it look like Scotland porn.

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post #3 of 72
6/8/12 at 6:36pm

It is a bit of a oddity to me. It lacks the kind of high concept appeal that stuff like Toy Story, Monsters Inc, Wall-E or Up had, but that's not a strike against it. From the trailer, it feels more like a classic Disney movie than a Pixar film to me, but who knows. The trailers haven't wowed, but I also wasn't jazzed by the trailers for Up, and it's one of my favorite movies ever. Also, the most recent trailer grabs me the instant the song in Gaelic kicks in. It may be "Scotland porn", but damn if it doesn't make my heart rise a bit.

 

Pixar hasn't let me down outside of Cars, which I'll excuse cause it made them a billion dollars, so until they disappoint me, I'll be excited for their next offering.

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post #4 of 72
6/8/12 at 6:38pm

I really think this japanese trailer makes it look real cool, alot like a Miyazaki movie with the natural mysticism and prophecy storyline. I hope this is more stressed in the film instead of the lame cartoonish scottishness of the US trailers because it comes off as a poor ripoff of How to Train Your Dragon with elements of Tangled. Lets hope it has more to it than the lame girl power that the footage has shown thus far. This makes it look much cooler and less contrived.

 

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post #5 of 72
6/8/12 at 6:51pm

Having already seen this myself-- though it still feels fucking premature as hell to start a post-release thread-- I'm blown away at how utterly godawful the marketing for the film remains to date. I don't at all feel that the trailers remotely convey what Brave is all about; they make it look more like cross between Tangled and How to Train Your Dragon, which seems like a good business move even if it's reductive and misleading. I'm wondering if the marketing will change and say more about the film as we come closer to release; right now I feel like Disney has no fucking clue how to sell this, though it should be a slam dunk. 

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post #6 of 72
6/8/12 at 7:02pm
All I've gathered from the marketing I've seen is they've become very adept at rendering hair. It's a little uncanny valley. Brave has a solid cast though, and I like seeing Kelly MacDonald as the lead in a movie that's going to make hundreds of millions of dollars.
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post #7 of 72
6/8/12 at 7:31pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by agracru View Post

Having already seen this myself-- though it still feels fucking premature as hell to start a post-release thread-- I'm blown away at how utterly godawful the marketing for the film remains to date. I don't at all feel that the trailers remotely convey what Brave is all about; they make it look more like cross between Tangled and How to Train Your Dragon, which seems like a good business move even if it's reductive and misleading. I'm wondering if the marketing will change and say more about the film as we come closer to release; right now I feel like Disney has no fucking clue how to sell this, though it should be a slam dunk. 

Interesting. Anything you can share that doesn't spoil much? Like a decent synopsis on the back of the DVD? Did you like it?

Also I have several friends with girls in the 3-7 age range and they all love the main girl and her hair. This is going to play like gangbusters to that crowd at first. I a curious how further marketing and word of mouth pushes the film. I am guessing ratatouille-ish. That movie did ok but didn't seem to blow people away. It was my favorite of theirs however I know several people that hold it in the same regard as a bug's life. I guess the next couple of weeks will be quite telling.
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post #8 of 72
6/8/12 at 9:01pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Arturo RJ View Post

I really think this japanese trailer makes it look real cool, alot like a Miyazaki movie with the natural mysticism and prophecy storyline. I hope this is more stressed in the film instead of the lame cartoonish scottishness of the US trailers because it comes off as a poor ripoff of How to Train Your Dragon with elements of Tangled. Lets hope it has more to it than the lame girl power that the footage has shown thus far. This makes it look much cooler and less contrived.
Fucking hell does that look better. I was hopeful for this (mainly I want it to be good, because the last thing we need is for them to fall back on more Cars bullshit,) now I'm actually more openly optimistic.

What the fuck is wrong with Disney's marketing this year?
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post #9 of 72
6/8/12 at 10:53pm

Seeing this on Sunday.  I'm always looking forward to Pixar films, even though this one hasn't excited me with its marketing yet (with the exception of that mother vs daughter scene).

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post #10 of 72
6/8/12 at 10:55pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mcnooj82 View Post

this one hasn't excited me with its marketing yet (with the exception of that mother vs daughter scene).

 

Perv.

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post #11 of 72
6/8/12 at 11:16pm

Say hi to yer mutha for me.

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post #12 of 72
6/9/12 at 6:06am
Quote:
Originally Posted by wd40 View Post


Interesting. Anything you can share that doesn't spoil much? Like a decent synopsis on the back of the DVD? Did you like it?
Also I have several friends with girls in the 3-7 age range and they all love the main girl and her hair. This is going to play like gangbusters to that crowd at first. I a curious how further marketing and word of mouth pushes the film. I am guessing ratatouille-ish. That movie did ok but didn't seem to blow people away. It was my favorite of theirs however I know several people that hold it in the same regard as a bug's life. I guess the next couple of weeks will be quite telling.

 

That's the thing. I'm not sure how much I want to give away, or how much I should give away. Days later I'm STILL having difficulty gauging what's kosher (hell, I just edited this post down to be even more vague). I don't even know how I would write a synopsis for it-- "a young princess, sick of being forced into the royal mold of her birthright, comes up with a plan to alter the course of her life but ends up screwing the pooch big time". But that's still really barebones. (And if anyone cries spoiler on me, they haven't been watching those TV spots/trailers.)

 

If the marketing changes direction and starts being honest about where the film goes, I'll be less tight-lipped. Suffice to say I really, really liked it.

 

Maybe a spoiler to some, but I don't really care-- that Japanese trailer? Yeah, it's full of shit.

 

Quote:
Originally Posted by mcnooj82 View Post

Seeing this on Sunday.  I'm always looking forward to Pixar films, even though this one hasn't excited me with its marketing yet (with the exception of that mother vs daughter scene).

 

Awesome. I'm looking forward to what you think of it-- though that mother-daughter scene won't get your blood up like you think, you sick, sick man!

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post #13 of 72
6/9/12 at 9:16am

Aw...

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post #14 of 72
6/9/12 at 11:10am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by agracru View Post

That's the thing. I'm not sure how much I want to give away, or how much I should give away. Days later I'm STILL having difficulty gauging what's kosher (hell, I just edited this post down to be even more vague). I don't even know how I would write a synopsis for it-- "a young princess, sick of being forced into the royal mold of her birthright, comes up with a plan to alter the course of her life but ends up screwing the pooch big time". But that's still really barebones. (And if anyone cries spoiler on me, they haven't been watching those TV spots/trailers.)

If the marketing changes direction and starts being honest about where the film goes, I'll be less tight-lipped. Suffice to say I really, really liked it.

Maybe a spoiler to some, but I don't really care-- that Japanese trailer? Yeah, it's full of shit.


Awesome. I'm looking forward to what you think of it-- though that mother-daughter scene won't get your blood up like you think, you sick, sick man!

Cool thanks! It still sounds a little disney-esque but I understand and appreciate your hesitation and caution. I am just so curious what else there is beyond "stubborn princess rebels and fucks shit up". I will find out in a couple of weeks.
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post #15 of 72
6/9/12 at 11:21am

They still look Pixar-esque enough, but aside from Merida some of the designs in this look a bit ugly, especially the three suitors, the father, etc.

 

Not fond of what we've seen of the humor either, but I hope it's not as frequent or as unfunny in context.

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post #16 of 72
6/9/12 at 8:54pm

Yes, I've heard a few people say that the trailers are really weird and have little to do with what the movie's actually about. As commodorejohn says, Disney's marketing division seems to have jumped the shark off a cliff lately. Though Pixar has frequently had trailers that don't really do justice to their movies.

 

Good to hear you liked it, Agracru, I was starting to get a little worried.
 

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post #17 of 72
6/10/12 at 6:58am

Well, I just hope I'm not the only one. Because at this point I'm much more excited to talk about Brave than I am to talk about Prometheus any further. 

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post #18 of 72
6/10/12 at 7:17am

I'm glad that I'm not the only one who finds the lack of attention on Brave sort of weird.  It's coming out relatively soon and it seems like no one is really talking about it.  

 

Though, it will probably still do well since, you know--kids film.

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post #19 of 72
6/10/12 at 8:40am
Yeah they're not selling this movie very well at all. It's OK not to give much of the story away as long as you're showing some really arresting or intriguing imagery, but there's none of that either. As far as I can tell this is a movie about a red haired girl running around a forest. I don't know why I should be excited about that.
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post #20 of 72
6/10/12 at 8:43am

It is kind of strange. Usually Pixar movies are met with much more anticipation. I wonder if maybe it's that Brave feels much more boilerplate/standard than what Pixar usually gets up to, but I think what they do with the princess story is pretty compelling and really mature. 

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post #21 of 72
6/10/12 at 8:46am

1.  People were burned by CARS 2

2.  The other animation studios have raised their games, releasing stuff that is on par with some of the PIXAR films

 

Having the PIXAR name attached to your product isn't going to automatically sell as many tickets as it once did, especially when the marketing looks apathetic (like it does for BRAVE).  This almost feels like a dump by PIXAR.

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post #22 of 72
6/10/12 at 9:03am

Yeah, having trouble getting excited about this too. I think WALL-E was the last Pixar movie to really do something for me. Cars really poisoned the well.

With this I'm confused why they don't try to make the most out of the fantasy material. All of the commercials and previews make this seem like a Scottish/Irish medieval sitcom.

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post #23 of 72
6/10/12 at 9:17am

I'm actually quite happy about the fact that I have so little idea of what the film is about. 

 

9 hours to go.

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post #24 of 72
6/10/12 at 9:36am
Quote:
Originally Posted by mcnooj82 View Post

I'm actually quite happy about the fact that I have so little idea of what the film is about. 

 

9 hours to go.

Im discovering more and more each day how much this is helping me enjoy movies better.

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post #25 of 72
6/10/12 at 10:37am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Judas Booth View Post

1.  People were burned by CARS 2
2.  The other animation studios have raised their games, releasing stuff that is on par with some of the PIXAR films

Having the PIXAR name attached to your product isn't going to automatically sell as many tickets as it once did, especially when the marketing looks apathetic (like it does for BRAVE).  This almost feels like a dump by PIXAR.

With maybe the exception of How to Train Your Dragon and Rango, the other studios are still well behind Pixar. And Cars 2 being their only misfire I would say the Pixar name still sells more tickets on original material than any other animated studio.
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post #26 of 72
6/10/12 at 11:41am
Thread Starter 
Pixar does not sell more tickets on namethe alone. In fact, many of their movies have relatively underwhelmed at the box office. They are practically synonmous with quality to geeks but kids and redneck america aren't as concerned. Look at shrek.
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post #27 of 72
6/10/12 at 12:11pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by wd40 View Post

Pixar does not sell more tickets on namethe alone. In fact, many of their movies have relatively underwhelmed at the box office. They are practically synonmous with quality to geeks but kids and redneck america aren't as concerned. Look at shrek.

But then look at Toy Story 3, a film that, while I certainly don't agree that it's the "bees knees" (in fact, I'll even use my most despised word, "overrated," to describe it), did absolutely gangbusters for them.  And I'm pretty sure Cars 2 did pretty good as well.

 

Granted, both films were based on pre-existing franchise, and Brave is relying entirely on brand loyalty to get people into theaters.  I don't think it'll do horribly, but I wouldn't be surprised if it doesn't do as well as Pixar's last two movies.

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post #28 of 72
6/10/12 at 12:25pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by wd40 View Post

Pixar does not sell more tickets on namethe alone. In fact, many of their movies have relatively underwhelmed at the box office. They are practically synonmous with quality to geeks but kids and redneck america aren't as concerned. Look at shrek.

Um, yes they do. Every one of their films in the past decade have grossed more than 200 M domestically (with the exception of Cars 2) and have outgrossed their Dreamworks competition every single year (baring Shrek of course but we're not counting sequels here).
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post #29 of 72
6/10/12 at 12:31pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by wd40 View Post

Pixar does not sell more tickets on namethe alone. In fact, many of their movies have relatively underwhelmed at the box office. They are practically synonmous with quality to geeks but kids and redneck america aren't as concerned. Look at shrek.

 

Pixar has released 12 films which domestically have grossed $3,031,274,537.  That's an average of $252,606,211 per film.

 

DreamWorks Animation has released 24 films domestically which have grossed $3,811,519,248.  That's an average of $158,813,302 per film.

 

You were saying?

   
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post #30 of 72
6/10/12 at 12:44pm

I guess the geek press isn't wild about Brave (yet), but I don't see any difference between the buildup to this and, say, Up. I think it's going to absolutely kill. Especially once more people start seeing it.

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post #31 of 72
6/10/12 at 12:53pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ska Oreo View Post

Granted, both films were based on pre-existing franchise, and Brave is relying entirely on brand loyalty to get people into theaters. I don't think it'll do horribly, but I wouldn't be surprised if it doesn't do as well as Pixar's last two movies.
I don't think their non-sequels do too badly, do they? I mean, WALL-E grossed $223 million domestically, and not only wasn't it part of a franchise, it was a movie where the first third or so is a love story between two appliances that don't even speak in full sentences.

Then again, WALL-E had a fantastic trailer and all-around good marketing.
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post #32 of 72
6/10/12 at 1:02pm

The newest trailer is far better. I don't know what tone they were trying for in the earlier teasers - but it was a poor choice.

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post #33 of 72
6/10/12 at 1:09pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by The Dark Shape View Post

Pixar has released 12 films which domestically have grossed $3,031,274,537.  That's an average of $252,606,211 per film.

DreamWorks Animation has released 24 films domestically which have grossed $3,811,519,248.  That's an average of $158,813,302 per film.

You were saying?
   


100% correct. I do work for Dreamworks and this fact is paid attention too. I've seen what's in the pipeline for the next 4 years and I can say that efforts are being made to change the image of the studio. It started with How to Train your Dragon and it'll continue with Rise of the Guardians this November and so fourth.
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post #34 of 72
6/10/12 at 1:14pm
Thread Starter 
My point was that the top ten grossing animated films have 3 pixar movies and 4 dreamworks movies. Pixar sells well sure but I believe it's more because the films are animated, not especially because they are pixar. I believe Brave will be the same as some previous pixar in that it will sell well but isn't going anywhere near records. If pixar equaled higher ticket sales then the top ten should be closer to 80% rather than 30%.
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post #35 of 72
6/10/12 at 1:21pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by commodorejohn View Post


I don't think their non-sequels do too badly, do they? I mean, WALL-E grossed $223 million domestically, and not only wasn't it part of a franchise, it was a movie where the first third or so is a love story between two appliances that don't even speak in full sentences.
Then again, WALL-E had a fantastic trailer and all-around good marketing.

But that's the thing though--there was excitement for that film that I'm not seeing for Brave.  Perhaps there is some truth to the claim that the Pixar name isn't as strong as it once was, because I don't believe that bad marketing would be enough to deter people's interest from a Pixar movie.

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post #36 of 72
6/10/12 at 1:34pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by wd40 View Post

My point was that the top ten grossing animated films have 3 pixar movies and 4 dreamworks movies. Pixar sells well sure but I believe it's more because the films are animated, not especially because they are pixar. I believe Brave will be the same as some previous pixar in that it will sell well but isn't going anywhere near records. If pixar equaled higher ticket sales then the top ten should be closer to 80% rather than 30%.


The point is flawed considering 3 out of 4 of those films are Shrek sequels and the other is Kung Fu Panda 2 a sequel as well. Pixar works as a name because they can sell a slew of original material to blockbuster heights so baring Toy Story 3 from that top 10 they have 2 original films over 0 of Dreamworks. In fact, the Top 10 is only sequels EXCEPT for Lion King and Pixar.

And if we're talking domestic it's a whole other ballpark with 5 for Pixar (1 being sequels) and 3 for Dreamworks (2 being sequels). Not trying to turn this into a competition but don't count out Brave when logic says something else. It's more than likely to surpass 200M domestic at the very least.
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post #37 of 72
6/10/12 at 1:38pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by wd40 View Post

My point was that the top ten grossing animated films have 3 pixar movies and 4 dreamworks movies. Pixar sells well sure but I believe it's more because the films are animated, not especially because they are pixar. I believe Brave will be the same as some previous pixar in that it will sell well but isn't going anywhere near records. If pixar equaled higher ticket sales then the top ten should be closer to 80% rather than 30%.

 

Why do Pixar films gross make $100m more domestically than DreamWorks films on average, then?  (And if we use adjusted numbers, Pixar averages $320m a film vs. DreamWorks' $190m!)

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post #38 of 72
6/10/12 at 1:40pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nardo View Post

The newest trailer is far better. I don't know what tone they were trying for in the earlier teasers - but it was a poor choice.
Well, see, the very first teaser (the dialogue-free short clip with HOLY SHIT BEAR at the end,) that had me excited. It was the first full trailer that made it look like a damn Dreamworks movie and made me uneasily reconsider.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ska Oreo View Post

But that's the thing though--there was excitement for that film that I'm not seeing for Brave. Perhaps there is some truth to the claim that the Pixar name isn't as strong as it once was, because I don't believe that bad marketing would be enough to deter people's interest from a Pixar movie.
Well, I wouldn't discount the possibility that it's just bad marketing (they've really shit the bed on marketing in general lately;) hell, until the first full trailer, I'd forgotten Brave even was coming out this summer, and I had a preexisting interest in it. But if we want to talk about Pixar sullying their own reputation, I'm down with that, since it gives me more opportunity to bag on Cars.
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post #39 of 72
6/10/12 at 1:53pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by The Dark Shape View Post

Why do Pixar films gross make $100m more domestically than DreamWorks films on average, then?  (And if we use adjusted numbers, Pixar averages $320m a film vs. DreamWorks' $190m!)

I can't check on my phone easily. What are the numbers when only considering when dreamworks was the biggest competiton to pixar? Or do these numbers account for that? As in cgi vs. cgi only.
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post #40 of 72
6/10/12 at 1:59pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by wd40 View Post


I can't check on my phone easily. What are the numbers when only considering when dreamworks was the biggest competiton to pixar? Or do these numbers account for that? As in cgi vs. cgi only.

 

So ditching hand-drawn and stop-motion animation?  Then DreamWorks has released 17 films totaling $3,331,867,616, for an average of $195,992,212.  Pixar still wins by a considerable amount.

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post #41 of 72
6/10/12 at 2:04pm

Pixar has never produced a flop.

 

And yes, believe me, people know the Pixar brand name.

 

But on the other hand, are you superstitious? This is their 13th movie.

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post #42 of 72
6/10/12 at 2:11pm

HOOOOLY SHIT, you guys!  I thought this was the Box Office Discussion thread for a second!!!

 

I HATE YOU ALL!!!

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post #43 of 72
6/10/12 at 2:19pm
Thread Starter 
Heh. Well fair enough. I acknowledge the numbers. I still believe this will perform like a bug's life rather than toy story 3. I hope I am wrong for several reasons.
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post #44 of 72
6/10/12 at 2:25pm

A Bug's Life adjusts to $270m domestically.  I think Pixar would be just fine with that.

 

(And that's the last bit of box office I'll talk about in this thread.)

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post #45 of 72
6/10/12 at 9:58pm

agracru!!!!  Come out and talk to meeee!!!

 

Should I start a post-release for this?  It's still early, but I want to talk about the film.  It's an interesting one to talk about.  I liked it.  It's entertaining.  It's got a fantastic first act that had me fully prepared to love the whole, but where the story eventually went felt undercooked and chopped down.  But my audience ate it up, so I figure it has nothing to worry about in terms of how well it's received.

 

And yeah.  I can't say this is being marketed in a way that let's people know what they're getting, but I honestly did not mind this.  I liked being kept in the dark about where this movie would go.  I just wish it went somewhere more satisfying.

 

Still, I would recommend seeing it.  It's fun and beautiful.  McDonald is so great as Merida.  And as much as I love his work, I'm so glad Giacchino wasn't on this.  Patrick Doyle's work was lovely.

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post #46 of 72
6/10/12 at 11:17pm

The teaser for Monsters University was a lot of fun too.

 

Cool to see these characters recreated with Pixar's current technical prowess.  Aside from a design point of view, the look of Monsters Inc never looked all that polished.

 

I also got to see their La Luna short that was nominated for Best Short Animated Film this year.  Also cute.  But really more of an adorable poem than a story.  And awfully reminiscent of Mario Galaxy.  Hehehe

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post #47 of 72
6/10/12 at 11:28pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mcnooj82 View Post

The teaser for Monsters University was a lot of fun too.

 

Cool to see these characters recreated with Pixar's current technical prowess.  Aside from a design point of view, the look of Monsters Inc never looked all that polished.

 

Curious to see this. Not to digress too much but it being a prequel and all do the characters look younger as well.

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post #48 of 72
6/10/12 at 11:44pm

Yeah, they look younger.  Sulley looks thinner with less shaggy fur.

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post #49 of 72
6/11/12 at 5:31am
Quote:
Originally Posted by mcnooj82 View Post

agracru!!!!  Come out and talk to meeee!!!

 

Should I start a post-release for this?  It's still early, but I want to talk about the film.  It's an interesting one to talk about.  I liked it.  It's entertaining.  It's got a fantastic first act that had me fully prepared to love the whole, but where the story eventually went felt undercooked and chopped down.  But my audience ate it up, so I figure it has nothing to worry about in terms of how well it's received.

 

And yeah.  I can't say this is being marketed in a way that let's people know what they're getting, but I honestly did not mind this.  I liked being kept in the dark about where this movie would go.  I just wish it went somewhere more satisfying.

 

Still, I would recommend seeing it.  It's fun and beautiful.  McDonald is so great as Merida.  And as much as I love his work, I'm so glad Giacchino wasn't on this.  Patrick Doyle's work was lovely.

 

Nooj! Over here!

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post #50 of 72
6/11/12 at 2:47pm

How the hell did you bastards already see this?!

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