Word: disneyized
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African-American filmmakers and critics contend that white audiences would cross color lines if Hollywood had enough faith to spend more money on quality black films. Quality is a subjective term, of course, but in the case of The Preacher's Wife, many industry insiders believe Disney has demonstrated that faith. Yet even those who have seen it and liked it are concerned about the film's commercial prospects. "It's a beautiful picture," says John Krier of Exhibitor Relations, a firm that tracks box-office results. Nonetheless, he says, several theater operators are worried. "How can they convince white...
Another problem for the film is that it opens this weekend opposite Jerry Maguire, a Tom Cruise vehicle. One encouraging sign for Disney is that the studio's research shows women expressing more interest in seeing Denzel and Whitney than Tom. But an executive at a rival studio argues that the research on The Preacher's Wife is skewed because the sampling was done in major cities; a closer look, he says, shows that the picture is evoking a powerful response from African Americans but far weaker interest among whites. He predicts that The Preacher's Wife will gross from...
These attacks are offered in the name of protecting the breed from the crushing popularity that is expected to accompany the release of Walt Disney's 101 Dalmatians. The Disney corporation is envisioned as a character in one of its own animated films--an ostensibly friendly giant galumphing around in the garden of American culture and crushing everything it picks up in its lumpy, mass-market fingers...
Apparently, bad-mouthing the breed is considered the only way to blunt a Disney-fueled demand that could cause thousands of ill-conceived Dalmatians to be dumped on the market by puppy mills and thousands more dumped in the street by bored children who didn't really bank on that cuddly little puppy's growing up. Given the disaster-movie tone of the reports, it wouldn't surprise me to see citizens running in panic from their homes, shouting, "Help! Help! Dalmatian meltdown...
...suppose it's possible that Disney and the Dalmatian industry are cooperating in a piggyback promotion scheme designed to have both of their products discussed incessantly. Still, it is a little odd that people being interviewed with beautiful Dalmatians at their feet are so insistent that the average person is not up to coping with a Dalmatian...