My Disney Dilemna

In the fall of 1995, I got a frantic call from our son Matt while I was at work. Matt, age 3 ½ ish, said “Mom! We have to go get our copy of The Lion King! Its available now for a limited time!” There may have been talk of vaults being closed forever too. Does the Disney marketing team still do that? Offer movies for sale, then take them away and on and on to gin up demand?

That's one thing I don't miss about the years our kids were little. Commercials, movie tie ins, HUGE Disney stores in malls. Come to think of it I don't even know if there are Disney stores anymore.

Brian and I tried to raise Matt and Meg with moderation in most things. I played the Disney game to an extent. The movies were good and I didn't even care if Pocahontas ended up with John Smith instead of John Rolfe. Hopefully getting that wrong on an ACT or some A.P. Exam didn't ruin their future!

I bought Matt a stuffed Pongo when he was a good boy on a trip. I take full responsibility for buying him Perdy and a few of their puppies (not all 101) in the coming years.

But Disney and all their stuff they want you to buy becomes a runaway train. I think that's one of the rides in Tomorrowland, isn't it? One of the products I really resisted were the novelizations of the movies. Let the movies stand on their own. There is so much other wonderful literature for children. That's not to say I didnt get them a sticker book or two.

Sooooo my dilemna comes with the opening of the hit movie Brave. Technically Pixar, but  you get my point, Disney toys, Pixar toys......sandals, band aids, notebooks, toilet bowl brushes...

What books and what tie ins should we stock for the movie Brave? I have never ordered books about The Lion King etc. We have Winnie The Pooh, obviously, and we have miscellaneous coloring and sticker books, but not many. Please don't get me wrong. I am not passing any kind of judgement on buying these books for kids who love a movie. My problem is with how much to stock; and for how long? I don't even know if Disney still puts the hard sell on. I haven't shopped those aisles at Target since about 2002.

While writing this I googled to check the dvd release date for Lion King and came across this tidbit on Wiki:

Lion King was accompanied by tie-ins with Burger King, Payless, Kodak, Mattel and Nestle, over 186 products. Disney earned a billion dollars from The Lion King in 1994 with $214 million at Christmas alone.

What is my point? I'd love to know what you think. I can't imagine the pressure to buy has gotten worse but who knows. Supply and demand or crass commercialism or both? Any reading is better than no reading is a valid point at the store. Stop in for any books related to Brave. We'll have sticker books, activity books and books but only for a limited time. Then Brian is closing the vault!

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p.s. (can you p.s. on a blog? Guess I just did)  Does anyone remember a boy started a boycott or protest against McDonald's/Burger King/whoever when the serious Batman movies came out? He objected to them selling happy meals for movies that kids weren't allowed to see. (Batman was probably PG-13) I thought that was so cool. I think he was from Minnesota.

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p.p.s. We got a new rescue pooch, Charlie the boxer over the weekend. He's fitting in really well at home with our other dog, Bo. Yay!! Charlie will probably work some hours at the store. And I'm putting out a line of Charlie notepads, books, stuffed toys, hacky sacks, journals, window clings, duct tape.....