Where's Pooh?

[Ezra]

Pooh placed on too few screens

Finding Winnie the Pooh on a the big screen near you may prove to be a daunting task this weekend. The new animated feature from Disney is having difficulty finding sufficient placement with exhibitors this week. In a summer season crowded with tent-pole features, most notably the final Harry Potter film, on screen sightings of the silly ol' bear are few and far between.

Here in Portland, OR, for example, there are 16 movie houses listed on Fandango, a majority of them multiplexes. To my dismay, when I search for a Saturday showing, I find Winnie the Pooh on only one screen. Even worse, it's screening only three show-times, implying that's it's sharing it's sole screen with another film. There are more options if I were to choose to take a commuter train out to the 'burbs. It's not that Portland is a small market: Even movies that are in very limited release play here.

I assume, based upon the reviews I've read, that Winnie the Pooh is a gentle, quiet little film. A review in yesterday's Willamette Week calls it's simple, unassuming and "a bit of an anachronism" (A bear of very little impact).

Given that point, I question the decision to release it in the summer, where it can barely find a foothold wedged as it is amid big blockbusters. A quaint, old-fashioned hand-drawn film like this seems better suited to the winter holiday season than midsummer. I especially question Sean Bailey's choice of July 15th, the same day the final installment of the Harry Potter Juggernaut arrives. Bailey couldn't have expected adequate placement for Pooh this weekend.

It hardly seems possible that this opening could be merely a poor choice; it's more like a planned obsolescence. I wonder if Rich Ross and Sean Bailey want to intentionally "drive another nail into the coffin" of traditional hand-drawn animation. Meager box office numbers in Winnie the Pooh's domestic opening weekend could do just that — and with very little real financial risk: This film will make a fortune in DVD sales, and spark a healthy up-tick in Pooh-related merchandise.

Worst of all, there's little a Disney fans can do to show support for the traditional art of hand-drawn animation — because, quite frankly, how much money could three Saturday screenings take in, even if they sell out? Not much by Hollywood standards. It's a sad situation. Very sad.

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[DaddyB]

Disney released it overseas 3 months ago! Why they waited until this weekend in the states is beyond me.

[ShrunkenNed]

I think (as my article on the matter suggested) that too many people (Disney Studios included) consider this "little kids stuff." Disney probably saw this weekend as a great opportunity to pull in a few dollars from the set of kids too young for HP. I'm sure there will be families going to the movies where one parent takes the older kid to HP, and the others go off for something more harmless, such as Pooh. There is a possibility for Pooh to pull in somewhat decent numbers this weekend.

As for the lack of screenings, I do generally see it playing on one screen per multiplex on the theaters in my neighborhood. Being a short movie, a new one starts every two hours, so there does seem to be plenty of time to see it - one theater even has showings listed until 10:30 PM! As far as those in Portland, that shows poor judgment on the part of theater operators, no question about it. One hopes that word of mouth helps this movie become "the little film that could" for 2011. While not making the numbers of a Harry Potter, or even say, a Cars 2, I will be interested in seeing the per screen capita on this one - that may be a true gauge of success.

I will say also, I have been impressed with the number of TV spots and generally good reviews: 90% on Rotten Tomatoes, second in positive reviews only behind... you guessed it, Harry Potter. Word of mouth, people!

[Disneyland_DHI]

It's definitely poor judgement on theater operators. Down in my California city, there are a decent amount of places with the Silly Ol' Bear. I did the research shortly after reading the article, and there are six showings for 3D and 2D in all the theaters around me, plus an IMAX showing all for Part 2. If I'm not mistaken, that should equal to thirteen. Pooh Bear is on a slightly smaller number: 10. Not that bad, in my opinion. Here, he and his friends seem fine. Yes, they will probably come in second to the Boy Who Lived and his friends worldwide, but I'd still predict a good number by the end of this weekend.

[kairamoon]

I'll let you guys know how it's doing probably tomorrow since I'm in box office tonight but it might get a pretty decent show since all the Potter's will probably be sold out parents will probably just take their kids to this instead. True though that this was a really bad weekend to bring this out. Had to have been intentional but we'll see. Nice poster by the way Ezra lol

[Wedbliss]

Winnie The Pooh is showing at 2 theaters in my immediate area. One theater has 5 showings and the other, which has it's earliest showing at 9:30 am, has 6. I guess it must vary by region.

[Ezra]

I didn't think to mention it but in Portland there is no showing downtown! On the weekends, people take their kids to Waterfront Park to watch the pleasure boats; or to Saturday Market to see the street performers, look at hand-made chotchkes and eat elephant ears. A "Kiddie flick" to take the kids to when everyone is hot and tired would have been nice... but, no such luck. It's crazy!

I'm glad to hear that Pooh is more available elsewhere. Maybe AMC is handling this better than Regal Cinemas is. I should complain, because this is very unusual. Three screenings per day in the entire city is abysmal. It's what movies get after they've been around for three or four weeks: not the first weekend.

It is the fault of the exhibitors. Still, they are running a business; so naturally I expect them to choose the big cash cow. So, I'm back to blaming Disney for mishandling this opening. There were plenty of deadly dull weekends this film could have opened on. There was absolutely no reason Winnie the Pooh should go head-to-head with Harry Potter. If I see any press about the suits at Disney being "disappointed" by this and "re-thinking" their position on hand-drawn animation, I'll be the first to say "I Told You So!"

[kairamoon]

We have it in one of our 24 theaters which has about seven showings and out of those they most of them sold out

[Ezra]

Here are some numbers:

Cars 2 is playing in 3,249 theaters.
Winnie the Pooh is playing in 2,405 theaters.
Cars 2 is in it's fourth week, and it's on 844 more screens than Winnie the Pooh, which opened yesterday. Worse news, that's the number of theaters, not the number of showings. The theater in Portland is only showing it three times per day.

I'm back to report that Winnie the Pooh is NOT sharing the screen with another movie in Portland: For some reason, Regal has chosen to screen the film only three times, when there's enough in their schedule for five or six showings. I don't understand this at all. Leaving a room empty for half the day can't save them much of anything in overhead or labor costs: Aparently, Pooh is not the only one in the theater of very little brain.

[lpetiti]

It was very stupid to open the same day as the finale of the biggest fantasy film series of at least my lifetime. The suits at Disney do not know what they're doing. They don't understand that these films are not just shelled out of a machine, but people make them. It's Jefferey Katzenburg all over again-"I'm not interested in Academy Awards, I'm interested in the Bank of America awards". Think about it, what animated film company has made the most money in the last ten years? Pixar. I think the suits feel like they have to shell out a traditional Disney animated movie to get the old Disney fans off their back, but they are gonna make darn well sure that those films do not do well at the box office so that they can say "see look, these films aren't wanted anymore".

[Wedbliss]

Disney is trying a counter-programming strategy by releasing Winnie The Pooh on the same day as Harry Potter. Potter, while wildly popular, is a bit dark and Pooh gives families a lighter option for the little ones. Maybe it's a bit of a gamble, but I think it's a smart one. Even though it may seem like it, not everyone wants to take their young children to go see Harry Potter. Winnie The Pooh gives them another option.

Also, Pooh is about more than box office. This is also an attempt by Disney to give Winnie the Pooh merchandise a shot in the arm by returning to the character's roots. Since the production budget came in at $30 million, extremely low for an animated feature, I think that Winnie the Pooh will turn a nice profit for Disney over the long run. I admire the strategy here. Disney Animation has turned out a fine product at a reasonable cost which is going to make money. That's good news for hand drawn animation.