Walt Disney Animation Studios has released the trailer for Ralph Breaks the Internet: Wreck-It Ralph 2.
And if it’s anything to go by the sunny world of Disney seems to be leading the entertainment industry into a dark place.
The trailer shows Ralph and Vanellope exploring the internet and their Oh My Disney website. What it features is feminist bait and more obvious advertising than The Emoji Movie‘s trailers.
The two-and-a-half minute trailer features brands such as Cisco, Amazon, Twitter, Snapchat, Facebook, Youtube, Myspace, Carvana, iMDB, LADbible, Gran Turismo, Google, National Geographic, Oh My Disney, The Muppets, The Disney Princess Line-up, Star Wars, Marvel and Pixar Animation Studios. That’s one brand every eight seconds.
One might say this is just Disney’s way of making their story setting feel alive, which is important to a good story. However, if the setting of your story relies on flashing brands in people’s faces each scene, either it is not a good setting for your story or you haven’t thought hard enough about making your world feel authentic.
The trailer also features a ham-fisted line about everyone assuming all of the princess’s problems were solved “because a big strong man showed up”. The problem is that most princesses did have their issues solved by men, due to bad writing and them only serving as a damsel in distress. This line comes off as insincere and condescending, painting Disney’s intent as money-grubbing rather than contributing to any cause.
In late December last year, Disney announced its plan to buy 21st Century Fox. This move was criticised heavily due to Disney’s and Fox’s assets having a 39 per cent theatrical market share.
Disney has also been criticised for forcing strict conditions on theatre owners for their films. For Star Wars: The Last Jedi Disney imposed a 65 per cent cut of ticket sales instead of the usual 55-60 per cent cut. At this point, it seems like the Disney machine has taken a liking to showing us how much it owns.
With the film scheduled to release in late November, the first preview has painted it as Disney’s attempt to make a film like The Emoji Movie actually work. While this is only a preview, it looks like this movie will follow suit with its commercialisation and insincere, lazy feminism. I only hope to be proven wrong.
Photo By: Playstation Europe