[Chat] Princess & Frog, Mardi Gras, and Disneyland

[techskip]

I know in the past Disneyland had it's own "Mardi Gras Parade" which was essentially the band singing in New Orleans Square. I also remember in years past Disney would do an actual parade for a feature film... Lion King and Mulan come to mind among others. Individuals within Disney have also made it clear that Princess & Frog is a return to classic Disney animation, a return to tradition. I don't wish to spoil anything for anyone who has not seen Princess & Frog so I'll simply say that the movie contains a "Disney" version of Mardi Gras complete with nods to previous Disney films. It's a very short scene but it establishes the excitement of Mardi Gras. To some degree it reminded me of the Parade of Dreams, each float portraying a Disney film. Yet at the same time all the floats were wrapped into Mardi Gras. So why didn't Disney take a page from previous blockbusters and have an actual parade?

Then I thought about the moral downside of Mardi Gras. It's a fun celebration that happens throughout the South... some family friendly, others not so much. My concern would be that most individuals wouldn't be thinking of the family friendly version...

So the questions come up. Should Disney have an actual Mardi Gras parade based on Princess & Frog? Building new floats when necessary, retro-fitting old ones when possible to cut down on costs. Or should the return to traditional animation be confined to the Mark Twain?

[Bob Weaver]

Re: Princess & Frog, Mardi Gras, and Disneyland

That would be great fun and I hope they do it. Unfortunately won't the Rivers of America be drained when Mardi Gras 2010 happens? Maybe they could just have the parade through New Orleans Square.

[techskip]

Re: Princess & Frog, Mardi Gras, and Disneyland

That would be great fun and I hope they do it. Unfortunately won't the Rivers of America be drained when Mardi Gras 2010 happens? Maybe they could just have the parade through New Orleans Square.

There was a really good writeup in LA Times about the danger/benefit of releasing a film in the opening weeks of December. One of the additional pitfalls that Disney has is that they already have a traditional Holiday Parade... this may be the reason the Mark Twain was utilized.

As far as the Mardi Gras parade itself... I was thinking of an actual parade, down the traditional parade route from Small World to Town Square. It would essentially be a return to the tradition of having a specific parade for an animated movie. I wasn't thinking of a specific parade for the actual Mardi Gras.

So the holiday release likely killed any chance of having an actual parade, but even if it was released in Summer I question if Disneyland would willingly tackle Mardi Gras as a topic (again while there are family friendly versions the subject is generally considered by the public to be of an adult nature). The mini parade in NOS is nothing like an actaul Mardi Gras style float parade would be...

[ALIASd]

Re: Princess & Frog, Mardi Gras, and Disneyland

The Mardi Gras theme they used in the past was a really fun & entertaining parade:

Party Gras at Yesterland

[techskip]

Re: Princess & Frog, Mardi Gras, and Disneyland

The Mardi Gras theme they used in the past was a really fun & entertaining parade:

Party Gras at Yesterland

True... but that is also a parade that was done almost 20 years ago... and was really before the notoriety of bad Mardi Gras behavior being broadcast over the internet. Considering that last part I wonder if Disney even make a family friendly attempt at it again.

[MarkTwain]

Re: Princess & Frog, Mardi Gras, and Disneyland

It sounds like the New Orleans Square jazz bands can throw beads to the crowd without any incident, if you see where I'm getting at. I think a Mardi Gras parade would be a great idea!

[techskip]

Re: Princess & Frog, Mardi Gras, and Disneyland

It sounds like the New Orleans Square jazz bands can throw beads to the crowd without any incident, if you see where I'm getting at. I think a Mardi Gras parade would be a great idea!

And to some degree I agree with you, but a band playing and throwing beads is a bit different from a full blown parade (again this was done in the past but that was well before the noteriety of some Mardi Gras parades).

[techskip]

Re: Princess & Frog, Mardi Gras, and Disneyland

All that said I would love to see a Princess & Frog Mardi Gras parade.

[DisneyIPresume]

Re: Princess & Frog, Mardi Gras, and Disneyland

There's no need to worry about any of this. With opening weekend numbers of just $25 million I don't think Disney is going to spend that much more money to promote this movie.

Which is really sad because the Showboat Jubilee is the best thing to come out of Disney entertainment in a very long time.

[techskip]

Re: Princess & Frog, Mardi Gras, and Disneyland

There's no need to worry about any of this. With opening weekend numbers of just $25 million I don't think Disney is going to spend that much more money to promote this movie.

Which is really sad because the Showboat Jubilee is the best thing to come out of Disney entertainment in a very long time.

'Princess and the Frog' and 'Invictus' start relatively soft at box office -- latimes.com

The first half of December is traditionally slow at the box office. The studios behind the two new nationwide pictures started them now in hopes of generating momentum and positive word of mouth going into a holiday season packed with such highly anticipated new releases as "Avatar," "Sherlock Holmes" and "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel."

In that sense, the weekend was something of a success. "Princess and the Frog" got an average audience grade of A, according to market research firm CinemaScore, and "Invictus" got an A-minus, meaning buzz should be strong for both.

Bold mine... they went in expecting it to start off slow and it has gotten exceptional buzz. I would not be shocked if it picks up as the weeks go on.

The opening gross for "Princess and the Frog" was very close to those of the last two non-Pixar Disney animated features, "Bolt" and "Meet the Robinsons," both of which were financial disappointments. However, the weeks around Christmas, when children are out of school, are second only to summer as the most lucrative time of year for family movies. The only other family film opening in the next few weeks is "Alvin."

[ALIASd]

Re: Princess & Frog, Mardi Gras, and Disneyland

True... but that is also a parade that was done almost 20 years ago... and was really before the notoriety of bad Mardi Gras behavior being broadcast over the internet..

The excesses of Mardi Gras have been broadcast on television for decades, shown in newsreels in theatres before that and reported in print all along. The internet was just the next in line to not keep these activities secret.

It also didn't stop the company from bringing the huge world premiere activities to NOLA for 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame' in 1996 or theming terrific entertainment for the film with the 'Festival of Fools'.

Will the DLR see another Mardi Gras-esque parade for 'Frog', it wouldn't appear so. This has nothing to do with the box office receipts of course. Perhaps the home entertainment release next year will bring it back to the park in someway though.

[techskip]

Re: Princess & Frog, Mardi Gras, and Disneyland

The excesses of Mardi Gras have been broadcast on television for decades, shown in newsreels in theatres before that and reported in print all along. The internet was just the next in line to not keep these activities secret.

The differences being that #1 the internet is primarily free #2 the internet is essentially unmoderated and relies on the honor system and #3 the internet conforms to self-censorship unlike news photos which were generally censored in good taste. While various videos etc have likely been available for some time, the internet has brought a lot of the crap into the main stream.

It also didn't stop the company from bringing the huge world premiere activities to NOLA for 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame' in 1996 or theming terrific entertainment for the film with the 'Festival of Fools'.

Again you are talking about something that happened 13 years ago. Past Disney was willing to host parades. Past Disney was willing to theme attractions to lands. Modern Disney has not shown an interest in taking such risks.

[Aladdin]

Re: Princess & Frog, Mardi Gras, and Disneyland

Originally Posted by techskip
True... but that is also a parade that was done almost 20 years ago... and was really before the notoriety of bad Mardi Gras behavior being broadcast over the internet..

The excesses of Mardi Gras have been broadcast on television for decades, shown in newsreels in theatres before that and reported in print all along. The internet was just the next in line to not keep these activities secret.

It also didn't stop the company from bringing the huge world premiere activities to NOLA for 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame' in 1996 or theming terrific entertainment for the film with the 'Festival of Fools'.

Will the DLR see another Mardi Gras-esque parade for 'Frog', it wouldn't appear so. This has nothing to do with the box office receipts of course. Perhaps the home entertainment release next year will bring it back to the park in someway though.

I agree with AliasD, and call out Phoney Baloney, that the city of New Orleans adult rated mardi gras has only been known since the advent of the internet. Mardi Gras has been going on for Decades in New Orleans, all the way back to the mid 1800's, and New Orleans wild ways go back even longer.

That being said, I did witness a few surprised faces by the little trek on down to the Mark Twain by the Cast of Tiana's Showboat Jubilee. And I even captured a couple of "interesting photos" of this mini mardi gras celebration. At worst it's borderline PG, with a whole lotta shakin' n gyrating going on. But it does add a more festive spirit, than New Orleans Square in DL has seen before. I would LOVE for the Jubilee to come back next summer.

And really, I would LOVE to see DL do another Party Gras Celebration, with balloonw, and even bigger and better floats, with a variety of movies, not just one! ~ I think it could even be more successful than the original Pary Gras parade!

[techskip]

Re: Princess & Frog, Mardi Gras, and Disneyland

I agree with AliasD, and call out Phoney Baloney, that the city of New Orleans adult rated mardi gras has only been known since the advent of the internet. Mardi Gras has been going on for Decades in New Orleans, all the way back to the mid 1800's, and New Orleans wild ways go back even longer.

I never said it has only been known since the advent of the internet. My point is that it has become far more widespread since the advent of the internet. Combine that with the looser moral standards of modern society and the lack of censorship on the internet and the result is basically Girls Gone Wild videos... that was my point. It got bad enough and public enough that various Southern cities have recently been going out of their way to clean it up just to salvage their own reputation. Many have begun hosting and advertising family Mardi Gras events. Not every Mardi Gras is an adult Mardi Gras but 90% of the public would automatically equate any Mardi Gras to a Girls Gone Wild video... pre-internet most of that stuff was censored to the point that it was "wild rumors" and/or private stories etc. To some degree many may not have even heard of it. Now... now if you don't know what it is then some would question where you came from.

Even something as innocent as the show you described caused what you deemed semi-inappropriate behavior. Now what happens to the public perception when you have full blown floats down Main Street complete with people throwing beaded necklaces out. I would love to see a Mardi Gras parade inspired by Princess and the Frog but I highly doubt Disney would attempt it.