Disney, Hasbro summon Cruella’s kid to defend fairy-tale toy business

LOS ANGELES – Walt Disney Co. has a long history of minting money on fairy-tale princesses like Snow White and Cinderella. Now it’s trying cuddly villains.
Disney’s latest TV musical, “Descendants,” stars the children of some of its legendary lowlifes like Cruella de Vil. The movie debuts on the company’s namesake cable channel Friday. As with so many projects at the Burbank, Calif.-based company, toys, dolls, a soundtrack album and Halloween costumes will be ready on store shelves after the movie begins its run on the small screen.
With “Descendants,” the world’s largest entertainment company is creating a universe of new characters from the ones kids and parents already know – in this case, the offspring of famous villains from animated classics. Fairy tales and princesses generate $2.89 billion in annual merchandise revenue for Disney and partners like Hasbro Inc., according to the Licensing Letter. It’s a business that’s attracting competition from Mattel Inc., Warner Bros. and Universal Pictures.
“This allows Disney to protect its turf,” said Sean McGowan, a toy industry analyst at Oppenheimer & Co. in New York. “They’re all about fairy tales. They’re all about princesses.”
“Descendants” is a nearly two-hour, live-action movie starring four teenagers: the children of de Vil, from “One Hundred and One Dalmatians,” Maleficent from “Sleeping Beauty,” the Evil Queen from “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” and Jafar from “Aladdin.”
Forced to live in exile on the Isle of the Lost with their villainous parents, Mal, Evie, Carlos and Jay are invited by Prince Ben (the son of Belle and Beast from “Beauty and the Beast”) to attend a prep school with the teen children of Fairy Godmother, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and Mulan.

Think tank

It’s not unusual these days for movies and TV shows to spawn toys and vice versa. Hasbro’s Transformers were the basis for one of the films of 2014, “Transformers: Age of Extinction,” from Paramount Pictures.
The idea for “Descendants” came from a global creative think tank convened by Disney’s consumer products division. The publishing arm released “The Isle of the Lost: A Descendants Novel” in May. Kenny Ortega, who directed and co-choreographed the Disney Channel’s “High School Musical” trilogy, returns to those roles with “Descendants.” Radio Disney is airing its take, too.
Mattel took a similar approach with Ever After High, a line of dolls based on the children of fairy-tale characters that it introduced two years ago. The project includes a series of books from kids’ author Shannon Hale and an animated series that has been running on Netflix Inc.

Mattel switch

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Last September, Mattel’s deal for Disney princesses was awarded to Hasbro, which is making the “Descendants” dolls.
Disney has a lot at stake with princesses. The category’s 2013 sales were second only to the company’s Mickey Mouse and friends characters, according to Licensing Letter, a trade publication. And it’s facing more competition.
On Oct. 9, Time Warner Inc.’s Warner Bros. will release “Pan,” a live-action adaptation of J.M. Barrie’s story featuring Hugh Jackman. Universal, part of Comcast Corp., is putting out “The Huntsman,” a sequel to its 2012 hit “Snow White and the Huntsman,” next April.
Not all Disney movies turn into merchandise bonanzas.
“Descendants” toys will be appearing on shelves alongside products built around Disney’s May theatrical release “Tomorrowland.” That film, starring George Clooney, flopped at the box office and may lose as much $131 million, according to an SNL Kagan estimate.
“Everything they touch doesn’t always work,” Glenn Demby, editor of the letter, said of Disney’s licensing. Defending princesses with “Descendants” though is “probably a very shrewd move.”

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