November 18, 2011, will see the release of “Happy Feet Two” in theaters across the world. As someone who follows the movie industry closely, there are a few concerns I have about the release. “Happy Feet Two” is not only the second movie in the series, but also the culmination of a series of bad choices.
Merchandise
The first movie in the series was a blockbuster success at over $197 million domestic. When looking at animated movies that made more, one of the things you might notice is that most of the names are among some of the top merchandise movies of all time. “Shrek,” “Toy Story,” “Finding Nemo,” “The Lion King,” and “Monsters, Inc.” are all movies that became legendary through merchandise. Even years after their release, many of these movies still have toys on shelves or their characters’ faces on bed sheets.
“Happy Feet” never had the merchandise the other movies listed had. Granted, most were backed by large corporations that have lasted due to merchandising, but excuses don’t make money. Even with “Happy Feet Two” coming out in a matter of a few short months, I have yet to see shelves of merchandise appear. The sooner merchandise can get on the shelves, the sooner people can get excited about your movie.
Advertising
I remember seeing teaser trailers for “The Lion King” over six months before the movie came out. These were shown during the previews before just about every movie that came out during that time. I have been to the theater over a dozen times in the last month and have yet to see the trailer for “Happy Feet Two.” Again, this is a missed opportunity for those who have spent time and money to put the movie together.
What Weekend?
“Happy Feet Two” will be coming out on the same day as “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1.” If you have a movie that you want to be as successful as possible, you do not release it during the weekend of one of the most anticipated movies of the year. If movie theaters are going to add screens to one of these two movies, they are most likely going to give more to “Breaking Dawn” due to the excitement that has been mounting over the movie since the last entry in the series came out.
I do believe “Happy Feet Two” will make money but will not live up to the potential it could have. The franchise could have the potential to be placed right alongside the animated movie franchises that I mentioned earlier, but the creators have a few lessons to learn before then. On the plus side, some parents will be forced to take their kids to see a movie with dancing penguins that weekend, since most of the babysitters in America will be at the other movie.
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