First it was Rapunzel, now it’s Tangled. Disney’s newest princess movie had its name and marketing style changed earlier this year to diminish the “girly” quotient.
Disney hopes this change will make the movie more appealing to boys as well as girls after Princess and the Frog didn’t perform as well as expected at the box office in 2009.
But don’t be fooled — while Disney is focusing on male lead Flynn Rider in trailers, posters, and other promotional material in preparation for the Nov. 24 theatrical release, Tangled is still very much about Rapunzel, and Disney is taking full advantage of marketing the girl with the long golden locks in other respects.
First, the Magic Kingdom says goodbye to Belle and hello to Rapunzel and Flynn Rider as they take over the former “Storytime with Belle” area near Cinderella’s Castle for an interactive meet-and-greet.
Then, there’s Halloween. While Princess and the Frog may not have had a stellar box office performance, it certainly did well during Halloween 2009. Princess Tiana costumes were reported as being sold out in the Atlanta area, and certainly Disney is hoping for the same with this year’s Rapunzel costume debut.
And every little girl has a favorite color. So it’s notable that Disney has added another “color” of princess to their spectrum – purple is Rapunzel’s dominant costume color, complementing Tiana’s green, Cinderella’s blue, Belle’s yellow, Sleeping Beauty’s pink, and so on. And certainly little girls will be attracted to the pretty Rapunzel headpiece with ribbons and glitter flowers.
