It’s been a few months since Ratatouille arrived and drifted lazily downstream, managing expectations while plucking dollar bills off what’s left of the money trees lining the River Pixar. Funny thing is, $203 million domestic ain’t bad by anyone’s standards, but it’s being stacked against the likes of Pixar’s 1999-2004 successes including the $339 million domestic take of Finding Nemo. Sorry.
Apparently Pixar’s sorry too, as rumor has it they blame Disney’s hack marketers for landing Ratatouille in last place on the Pixar cash-maker pile. In the mean time Disney rolls its eyes and waits to see if Pixar’s upcoming Wall-E (June, 2008) does any better under Pixar’s not-hack marketing guidance. Ah, corporate mergers. Phenomenal.
Territorial spats aside, the Wall-E marketing push is warming up, with a wistful poster that feels a lot like Short Circuit and text that feels even more like emotional manipulation, which always works for Disney/Pixar in-film, but strikes me as trying a little too hard to cross the Uncanny Valley in this poster. Still, the image is a great one and speaks for itself, but you decide.
In the mean time, Wall-E‘s new trailer arrives Monday (October 1), invariably showing off how Pixar continues to refine and innovate their animation style. Hopefully. Ratatouille’s detail and artistry left me gobsmacked and I’m kind of hoping for the same here, because robots and outer space are always cooler than carrots, soup and rats.
On Tuesday, you can view the trailer here at 7pm Eastern. All you folks with accents across the Atlantic, you’ll be looking at October 2 at 12:00 am GMT.