Media Context: Toy Story 4 (2019)

 Toy story 4 (2019)

Budget and profit worldwide

This 1 hour 40 minutes animated movie has an estimated budget of 200 million USD, and grossed internationally of 1.073 billion USD worldwide. A comparison of Toy Story (1995)’s budget of 30 million USD, Toy Story 2 (1999) of 90 million USD and Toy Story 3 (2010) of 200 million USD, making it one of the most expensive productions with adjustment to inflation at the time.

Profit in different markets:

US and Canada (40.4%): $434,038,008

International market (59.6%): $639,356,585

Comparison to nearby released The Incredibles 2 (2018) and Toy Story 3, which respectively makes $1.2 billion and $1.066B world wide

Global territories

How, where (box office or home VoD), when

Toy Story 4 premiered in El Capitan Theatre, Los Angeles on June 11, 2019, and was released in the United States and the majority of international markets on June 21. Streaming on Disney+ was made available on October 1, and DVD release was on October 8. 

• Theater: Available in 4,575 theaters worldwide, grossing at $120 million. 8.3 weeks average run per theater.
• DVD and Blu Ray (domestic): estimated to generate revenue at $58,522,957. Physical copies contain behind-the-scenes featurettes and deleted scenes
• Streaming: Available in DIsney+, Amazon Prime, Apple TV, Redbox and Youtube Movies. A follow-up short “Lamp life” about Bo Peep’s life occurrences was also released on Disney+ in 2020. 

Global distribution of the film

As colossal as Walt Disney is as a media conglomerate, it took up most of the distribution power through vertical integration. This result in Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures International being the ruling distributor of the majority of overseas market, with some notable exception being:

• Ukraine: B&H Film Distribution is the largest film distributor in Kyiv, Ukraine. 
• Peru: Cinecolor Films Perú is the official distributor of Disney in Peru, Colombia and Venezuela, as well as focusing in national post production of independent films. 
• Greece: Feelgood Entertainment is based in Athens, Greece and an exclusive distributor of Disney movies. It is also very active in the field of independent and Greek films' acquisition
• Hungary: Forum Hungary is the sub-distributor partner of Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures International, founded in 2005 in Budapest. Forum Hungary is a subsidiary of Cineworld.
• Philippines: Press Play Pictures Inc. is the exclusive Filipino distributor of Disney, Disney-Pixar, Marvel and Lucas Films, based in Manila.

⇒ Disney would rather control the distributing power onto itself via international establishment. Nonetheless, if there are external or subsidiary distributors of Disney movies, it is made that their relationship is exclusive and strengthened, with most of the marketing and distributing decisions favored by Disney. 

Digital Marketing and Distribution

The general consensus to the decision to continue on with Toy Story 4 online, is the question “why?”. As the third movie has done a wonderful job to close off the series and play as a deserving closure, Toy Story 4 would be regarded as obsolete. How could the marketing team flip this notion around?

By acknowledgment: The production team explicitly acknowledges the impact of its predecessors, and stating the significance of this movie relative to its previous relations. “We are creating a great story. It is not a continuation of the end of Toy Story 3. It starts as one, but it will be a love story. [...] The third film was a beautiful way to complete a trilogy. I don't think this film is part of this trilogy. It is a separate story.” - Jim Morris, Pixar Animation Studio’s President. 

By targeting nostalgia: As the original movie was released in the 90s, original, die-hard fan of the series have marked over late 20 or 30 years of age, meaning that they are craving for some dose of nostalgia, alongside with taking their children with them to the theater to connect to their youth, thus expanding the series’ potential market. The nostalgic feel of the movie, achieved through similar color and animation style, combined with similar poster design and most importantly, the same voice acting cast. This presents the old, familiarized and comforting feel for the movies, as nothing has much changed in the world of animation, although the watchers themselves have much progressed over two decades of waiting. The poster designed for the movie in April 2019, showcasing the three old main characters: Woody, Buzz, Bo Peep standing heroically, with carnival theming of the ferris wheel outside. The next official poster then follows up, revealing the entire cast with similar design. 

By slowly introducing new characters: To not warn off the audience with new, strange characters that may not be as relatable with, the marketing campaign nudges in little bits of them. First of all, they secure big personality and celebrity names to be a safeguard for curiosity and coverage, then slowly reveal the characters. For instance,  Duke Caboom (voiced by Keanu Reeves) would first appear in broadcast in May by a retro-made toy commercial, followed by a commercial introducing Forky’s backstory (voiced by Tony Hale). A stand-alone poster of Bunny (voiced by Jordan Peele) and Ducky (voiced by Keagan Micheals) was published in January. 

By mass coverage in both traditional and modern media platforms. Teasers and official trailer cuts were taking big views on Youtube (with the teaser of 18.8 million views and first full trailer of 45.5 million views), as well as promoted tweets from Google and official Disney and Pixar’s handles.  Traditional media platforms like TV were also dominant in this marketing campaign, with Bo Peep, Duke Caboom and Forky’s appearance on them, as well as in a Super Bowl commercial. 

Use of cross media promotion and synergy 

It is common to know that Disney will finance elaborate marketing campaigns for its most successful series and merchandise lines, and collaborate with big brand names. This is to further consolidate Disney’s market power over other key players, as they get to showcase their capacity and competitiveness. Moreover, it increases the coverage Disney-stamped products are in each and every passage of life, thus making it a strong household name, even if people do not necessarily watch the movies or buy the products. Some notable mention is that:

• Alaska Airlines: A Toy-Story themed aircraft, featuring the main 3 characters and Forky, with a celebration dance when the passengers boarded the plane, with a complimentary one-month Cinemark Movie Club membership.
• Mc Donald’s: The famously renowned Happy Meals includes the toys in it, as well as opportunities for families to win a trip to the Disneyland purchasing the happy Meals
•  Kellogg’s: Newly designed cereal line tailored for the movie available nation-wide. Walmart-exclusive boxes, although, included collectible decals and TV promotion merchandise. 
• Ebay: Invited a content creator, Youtube influencer in the toy reviewing community to revise the classic Buzz Lightyear toy. The profit made from this commercial is to fund a children's charity.

Legal and illegal watch in Vietnam

Disney+ is not available in Vietnam, thus making it harder to stream Toy Story 4 legally in Vietnam. Most of the legal revenue is coming from the box office, although I could not find any specific numbers for its income yet. However, with a click of a mouse in Google’s search bar, the first discovery page is filled with pirate websites for Toy Story 4, with completed subtitles. 

Related content of movie review, trailer, fan edits, etc. of this title are also not prevalent online, making it another Disney/Pixar  animated movie without much attention or impact, as theoretically the main plot and cultural presentation portrayed in this movie is not as relatable or thought provoking to the audience.