Disney's Cancellation of <i>The Little Mermaid</i> 3D Leaves the Mouse House Light on Female-targeted Movies

But that aside, Disney obviously thinks that the 3D reissue is an idea whose time came and went at record speed. And while we may champion the apparent quick death of the whole 3D reissue fad, which will likely live or die on how well Jurassic Park 3D performs in April, it does leave a pretty big hole in Disney's release schedule. A company that made its billions partially by catering to young females has now set its course for young boys almost exclusively. If you look at Disney's release schedule over the next two years, you'll see a clear pattern. Not only does pretty much every film target young audiences, they are almost exclusively geared toward boys. For 2013 and 2014, Disney has a steady slate of either hardcore boy-centric entertainments (Planes, The Lone Ranger, Need For Speed) or male-driven genre that may or may not appeal to women as well (Oz: The Great and Powerful, Iron Man 3, The Muppets 2), along with one token girl-centric entry per given calendar year (and one theoretically adult-targeted year-end prestige picture). Yes the 'token girl movie' is one of the bigger pictures in each respective calendar year, but it is still one versus many.

Other than that, it's basically boys' adventure stories from here on out, with the likes of the various Marvel movies, a big-screen version of Phineas and Ferb, and another Pirates of the Caribbean film. Of course, I've long argued that the initial three Pirates of the Caribbean films triumphed with both genders because they basically told the story of Elizabeth Swann with Jack Sparrow merely playing a supporting role, but On Stranger Tides did not continue that trend in any way, shape, or form. This is not to say that Phineas and Ferb isn't A) awesome and B) inherently unappealing to females or that the Marvel movies don't pull in relatively even gender demos. But the studio that basically made its name on female-centric animated features has basically continued their post-Pirates of the Caribbean/National Treasure quest to chase the boy audience even at the arguable expense of their seemingly core demographic. It's not just the movies either, as the theme parks have made efforts to appeal to the boys tagging along with their sisters at the various amusement parks. Disney's California Adventure now has Cars Land while Disney World has just opened a flurry of new attractions while they emphasize the boy-friendly nature of portions such as Gaston's Castle.

I wrote about this amusing trend back in early 2012 when discussing John Carter, and it appears that Disney is still dead-set on appealing to the boys. Say what you will about female geeks/nerds, but Disney didn't buy Marvel or Lucasfilm in order to ensnare female Avengers fans or Star Wars junkies. Brand expansion is normal and arguably healthy. Disney knows it has the market cornered in female toys and female franchise characters, so it's attempting to strengthen its hold on boys as well. The issue at hand is whether or not they are pushing away the female demographic and doubling-down on boys rather than merely make products to serve both genders with relative equality in all of their media platforms.