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Miley, oh Miley, how Disney machine milking huge 'tween girl hunger for all things Montana
By Rich Heldenfels
Beacon Journalist columnist
Published on Friday, Feb 01, 2008
If you ever questioned whether the Disney empire is run by devil spawn intent on sucking every dollar from your wallet and every drop from your self-esteem, well, today you get the answer.
And it's yes.
Today, theaters begin showing Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert, a 74-minute movie milking the Montana phenomenon by offering a viewing opportunity to her young fans, especially those deprived of a chance to see Cyrus in her sold-out concerts.
(For those of you tuning in late: Hannah Montana is a hit series for the Disney Channel, with the title character played by Cyrus, the singer-actress daughter of Billy Ray Cyrus.)
But the opportunity being presented is far less than it might seem.
The movie will run for one week.
The number of theaters has been limited, with Cinemark Valley View one of the fortunate few.
The limited release has just fueled the frenzy for the film, and Valley View already has sold out many of its shows, including everything from today through Sunday, according to its Web site at http://www.cinemark.com/theater_showtimes.asp?theater_id=283.
As of Wednesday, you could find tickets once the weekend ended, but even those followed a pattern demonstrating Cyrus' young following. Shows at 12:45 and 2:50 p.m. — during school hours — had tickets. Ones at 9:15 p.m., when it's near bedtime and school-night curfews, could be had. But those after school but before a late hour — at, for example, 4:55 and 7 p.m. — had sold out.
And it's not only in Northeast Ohio that Montana madness has kicked in.
''The concert movie was the No. 1 seller on MovieTickets.com its first week on sale, selling more on that Friday, Saturday and Sunday than any other movies for the entire week,'' a MovieTickets.com executive told the Associated Press.
Fandango, the nation's
largest movie-ticketing service, called it the best-selling concert movie in its seven-year history, AP added.
To be sure, the Hannah phenomenon is in many ways genuine. A studio, even one as big as Disney, can't buy the enthusiasm that prompted a Texas mother to create a dead soldier in Iraq to help her daughter win an essay contest awarding Cyrus concert tickets.
But the craziness around the movie is deliberate manipulation by Disney and the people around Cyrus. And it doesn't matter to them if parents and children have to scramble for tickets — or ponder whether to skip school.
According to AP, the movie will play in more than 600 theaters this weekend. But that's a fraction of the theaters that last weekend had Meet the Spartans, Rambo, 27 Dresses, Cloverfield or The Bucket List, all in the 2,500- to 3,000-theater range.
In addition, there's that week-long run, creating a minimal chance for people to see the film.
''Disney declined to comment on why the movie is out for only a week and would not say whether the film's run would be extended or if it would be released on DVD,'' AP said.
Of course, it did. If people thought they had a later chance to see it, or could wait for a DVD, then they would not rush to screens for the limited run.
This is all about creating hunger in fans. About leaving them wanting more — even if that means leaving them out in the cold while their friends are at the movie. It's about photos of mob scenes and crowded venues, about print reporters and TV cameras recording every shriek.
And it's about milking a success while it lasts.
The Hannah business is much like High School Musical, another example of Disney marketing tuneful, young stars before age, maturity and scandal make them less Disney-esque.
With HSM, Disney has already had to contend with a seemingly restless Zac Efron, the buzz around the leaking of nude photos of Vanessa Hudgens and the chatter about Ashley Tisdale's nose job.
Cyrus got some unwanted attention recently over naughty photos, including some of her in her underwear, leaked on the Internet. At least one gossip writer wondered whether the photos' availability was not an accident, but a first step toward a more adult image.
Then there was her falling ill during a New Orleans concert last weekend. She was able to return to the stage, but reasonable people have to wonder whether Cyrus is feeling the strain of TV production and touring. And when, then, will that strain become too much?
So Disney is going for Montana gold while it can still be had. Still, it doesn't have to be this way.
The fans will turn out for this movie; if there are more showings, they will turn out for more. They want the product. They love Cyrus. They have made her phenomenal.
And that reminds me of a question I asked then-Disney boss Michael Eisner back when the company was buying what is now ABC Family. Disney already had a piece of 15 channels on cable and broadcast. So I asked whether the company finally had enough channels.
''I think it is enough, and at the same time, it's never enough,'' he said. Same thing applies to the Montana movie. The success is, in many ways, more than enough. Yet Disney looks at it and says, not enough. We can make this look even bigger.
Rich Heldenfels writes about popular culture for the Beacon Journal and in a blog at http://www.ohio.com. Contact him at 330-996-3582 or rheldenfels@thebeaconjournal.com.
If you ever questioned whether the Disney empire is run by devil spawn intent on sucking every dollar from your wallet and every drop from your self-esteem, well, today you get the answer.
Get the full article here.
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