商业报道:“迪士尼”营运法则

'Ratatouille' a diifferent Disney movie

Forget the toys and normal tie-ins. The animated¹ movie about a rat who longs to be a chef will be promoted with merchandise targeting adults. 'On the Money's' Julia Boorstin reports.

That’s Ratatouille, he is a rat, he cooks, he wants to be a chef. But what really matters is what Disney wants from Ratatouille? The answer is your money. So they are doing a different kind of marketing². Forget about kids' toys, they are going after you. Julia Boorstin is 'On The Money' live in Los Angeles. Julia?

Melissa, Disney is opening its big Pixar film of the year Ratatouille on 3,500 screens tomorrow. The story of a rat cooking in a fancy French restaurant actually makes more sense than you'd think.

Ratatouille’s original story sticks out in a summer crowded with sequels.

I can’t cook, can I? But you, you can.

And pixar's animation³ continues to amaze.

It’s incredibly high quality, great storytelling. It's made for kids and for families. The hope is it's part of family entertainment which is the whole market of Disney's brands.

Disney’s and Pixar's brands from Pirates to Toy Story are known for huge consumer product potential. But Ratatouille’s Remy, the rat chef, may be at a disadvantage in that department. There is tough competition this summer from a crowd of other kid-friendly movies, Transformers, Harry⁴ Potter, Shrek and others. And rat dolls may not have the appeal of Pixar’s Toy Story fair.

Some of our consumer product people are nervous that it’s easy to sell cars to American kids, maybe harder to, for, you know to imagine children at night cutting up with our French rat. So Disney is taking a different approach, targeting adults. With kitchen and cooking ware⁵ both at mass retailers⁶ and luxury kitchenware chain Sur La Table. Taking its consumer products in a new direction, for the first time, it is selling fine wine and cheese at Costco. Ratatouille shard⁷ named Burgundy, a pet project of Pixar chief, John Lasseter, who owns a nap of vineyard.

It’s a very logical extension, and I think maybe in our growth of the fact it is very crowded at the Toy Isle⁸. And maybe we had to come up some creative ways to lavish⁹ franchise¹⁰.

And what of the movie’s performance? Some analysts¹¹ say they expect it to underperform Cars by 10 to 15 percent. And if it does?

Even if Ratatouille underperforms Cars, and let’s say it does, and I think the estimates we have are in the 200-million-dollar range at the box office domestically, and maybe another 200 overseas. You are still gonna make, you know, maybe 250 million dollars, or 300 million dollars in ultimate profit.

Because the expectations are so low for products, like this Ratatouille wine and cheese, there is some room for some upside surprise in how well they perform. Melissa, I think these are actually pretty cute, don’t you think?

Absolutely, I know you are gonna tell us how that wine is as well. Thanks a lot, Julia.

The cheese is good.

Notes:

Pixar: Pixar Animation Studios is an American computer animation studio based in Emeryville, California (USA) notable for its seven Academy Awards. It is best known for its CGI animated feature films—such as Toy Story, Finding Nemo, and Cars.

1 animated   

adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的

参考例句：

• His observations gave rise to an animated and lively discussion.他的言论引起了一场气氛热烈而活跃的讨论。
• We had an animated discussion over current events last evening.昨天晚上我们热烈地讨论时事。

2 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

3 animation   

n.活泼，兴奋，卡通片／动画片的制作

参考例句：

• They are full of animation as they talked about their childhood.当他们谈及童年的往事时都非常兴奋。
• The animation of China made a great progress.中国的卡通片制作取得很大发展。

4 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

5 ware   

n.(常用复数)商品，货物

参考例句：

• The shop sells a great variety of porcelain ware.这家店铺出售品种繁多的瓷器。
• Good ware will never want a chapman.好货不须叫卖。

6 retailers   

零售商，零售店( retailer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• High street retailers reported a marked increase in sales before Christmas. 商业街的零售商报告说圣诞节前销售量显著提高。
• Retailers have a statutory duty to provide goods suitable for their purpose. 零售商有为他们提供符合要求的货品的法定义务。

7 shard   

n.（陶瓷器、瓦等的）破片，碎片

参考例句：

• Eyewitnesses spoke of rocks and shards of glass flying in the air.目击者称空中石块和玻璃碎片四溅。
• That's the same stuff we found in the shard.那与我们发现的碎片在材质上一样。

8 isle   

n.小岛，岛

参考例句：

• He is from the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea.他来自爱尔兰海的马恩岛。
• The boat left for the paradise isle of Bali.小船驶向天堂一般的巴厘岛。

9 lavish   

adj.无节制的；浪费的；vt.慷慨地给予，挥霍

参考例句：

• He despised people who were lavish with their praises.他看不起那些阿谀奉承的人。
• The sets and costumes are lavish.布景和服装极尽奢华。

10 franchise   

n.特许，特权，专营权，特许权

参考例句：

• Catering in the schools is run on a franchise basis.学校餐饮服务以特许权经营。
• The United States granted the franchise to women in 1920.美国于1920年给妇女以参政权。

11 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。