Faith, Trust and Pixie Dust: 'Tinker Bell' DVD Exceeds Sales Expectations

[disneytim]

The New York Times reports that despite a weak economy, sales of Disney's 'Tinker Bell' DVD have been higher than expected. But can the Fairies franchise buoy a Walt Disney Company struggling in the wake of reduced consumer spending?

Disney Hoping ‘Tinker Bell’ Spreads Fairy Dust on Sales
by BROOKS BARNES

LOS ANGELES — Apparently Tinker Bell is not a discretionary expense — at least not yet.

As the Walt Disney Company prepares to report earnings, and with analysts increasingly worried that a collapse in consumer spending will hammer the entertainment behemoth, executives are focusing attention on what they say could be a valuable new franchise.

The company is trying to turn its fledgling Disney Fairies business into a franchise on the scale of Princesses, a line built around Snow White and Cinderella that generates $4 billion a year in sales across Disney’s corporate divisions. Disney Fairies, centered on Tinker Bell, is still tiny in comparison with about $800 million in sales estimated for 2008.

But “Tinker Bell,” the first of four direct-to-DVD movies set for release over the next four years, managed higher-than-expected sales in its debut in stores on Monday. Consumers in North America bought 668,000 copies of the computer-animated film on its first day of release, about 22 percent above projections, according to the company. Sales at many Target stores were double the forecast and the movie easily moved one million copies by Wednesday.

Fairies merchandise is outselling products tied to the hit movie “High School Musical 3: Senior Year” nearly three to one, according to Disney research.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/31/bu...ss&oref=slogin

[ALIASd]

'Tinker Bell' tops 'Journey'

Direct-to-DVD prequel sales beat theatrical feature

By Thomas K. Arnold
The Hollywood Reporter
Nov 5, 2008, 10:23 PM ET

Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment has made a habit of taking out high-profile theatricals with its direct-to-video spinoffs of animated classics.

Last week, the studio did it again.

"Tinker Bell," a "Peter Pan" prequel that premiered on DVD, handily outsold Warner's "Journey to the Center of the Earth," with a boxoffice pedigree of $101.3 million. "Journey" sold just 65% as many copies as "Tinker Bell," an animated feature about the early years of the pixie dust-dispensing fairy.

The two new releases debuted at No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, on the Nielsen VideoScan First Alert sales chart for the week ending Nov. 2. The previous week's top seller, Universal Studios' "The Incredible Hulk," slipped to No. 3.

On the next-generation disc front, "Journey" was the No. 1 Blu-ray Disc seller for the week, bumping "Hulk" from the top spot. "Tinker Bell" debuted at No. 3.

'Tinker Bell' tops 'Journey'