How Is Disney's Pixar Working At the Rat?

This morning is seeing a few of articles (here and here) about the marketing challenges that Disney and Pixar have been facing with their animated Ratatouille--a potentially unappetizing story about a rat who works in the kitchen of a fancy restaurant-- which opens today. "This is the toughest movie we've ever had to market," Ed Catmull, president of Pixar and Disney Animation Studios, told the LA Times. "It's difficult to convey such an odd premise--rats and cooking...We're in unknown territory."

Unknown territory is a tough place to be, especially when all of Wall Street is watching you closely. Ratatouille, directed by Brad Bird (The Incredibles) is the first film released since Disney acquired Pixar last year for $7.4 billion. It's Pixar's 8th film, and so far they've gone seven-for-seven in producing hits. But the quirky title and subject matter have industry observers wondering if Ratatouille can perform as well as past Pixar hits including Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Cars, Toy Story 2, all of which made more than $450 million worldwide.

Jim Hill Media has been suggesting that Disney has been trying to manage box office expectations about Ratatouille. But the good news for Disney is that critics are loving the movie and this suggests the film could have legs, even in a crowded marketplace. And even if the film doesn't make as much as other Pixar pics (Deadline Hollywood Daily initially predicted that the movie would open at around $60 million, on par with Cars), analysts still believe that the decision to acquire the Emeryville-based company was a smart one because it's allowed Disney to reclaim its title as the best brand in the animation business. "It's an important movie," media analyst Jessica Reif Cohen at Merrill Lynch & Co told the LA Times. "But even if it underperforms the other Pixar films, the acquisition won't be judged by this movie alone."

Another hurdle for Ratatouille has been its merchandise. Cars, for example, generated retail sales of more than $2 billion in its first year, and it forecast to make at least another $2 billion for Disney's 2007 fiscal year, ending in September. Ratatouille has the usual plush toys, action figures, books, video games, etc. and even cooking ware and its own branded French chardonnay wine ($12.99 per bottle), marking the first time Disney is promoting an alcoholic beverage (aimed at the parents/adults, of course), but Disney concedes that the program is limited and will not see the same kind of success as past pics.

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