1. The document discusses the production, distribution, and marketing of the Disney animated film Frozen. 2. Frozen had a $150 million budget and was produced by Disney-owned studios using a blend of CGI and hand-drawn animation. It was given a wide international distribution through Disney channels. 3. Disney engaged in extensive marketing campaigns including trailers, partnerships with retailers, and a saturation theater release. This led Frozen to become a massive commercial success, grossing over $1 billion globally.

1. Media
Studies
Case Studies

2. Big Picture
• Candidates should be prepared to understand and discuss the processes of
production, distribution, marketing and exchange as they relate to
contemporary media institutions, as well as the nature of audience consumption
and the relationships between audiences and institutions. In addition,
candidates should be familiar with:
• • the issues raised by media ownership in contemporary media practice;
• • the importance of cross media convergence and synergy in production,
distribution and marketing;
• • the technologies that have been introduced in recent years at the levels of
production, distribution, marketing and exchange;
• • the significance of proliferation in hardware and content for institutions and
audiences;
• • the importance of technological convergence for institutions and audiences;
• • the issues raised in the targeting of national and local audiences (specifically,
British) by international or global institutions;
• • the ways in which the candidates’ own experiences of media consumption
illustrate wider patterns and trends of audience behaviour.
•

3. Production Ownership
• Produced by:
• Warner Bros Animation Studios (animation specialist division)
• Walt Disney Pictures (film production company)
• Both of which are divisions of:
• Walt Disney Studios (the big studio with a number of
specialist divisions) – these handled Frozen’s distribution
• Which is in turn owned by:
• The Walt Disney Company (the conglomerate at the top)

4. Walt Disney Studios
• Established in 1953 as Buena Vista Distribution Company, the unit
handles distribution and marketing for films produced by the Walt
Disney Studios;[3] including Walt Disney Pictures, Touchstone
Pictures, Disneynature and, since 2012 and 2015, Marvel Studios—
which is a part of Disney's Marvel Entertainment subsidiary—and
Lucasfilm.
• Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures is noteworthy for having seven
films that have surpassed the $1-billion-mark in worldwide ticket
sales:
• Marvel's The Avengers (2012; $1,511,757,910)
• Iron Man 3 (2013; $1,215,439,994)
• Frozen (2013; $1,169,229,000)
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006; $1,066,179,725)
• Toy Story 3 (2010; $1,063,171,911)
• Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011; $1,045,713,802)
• Alice in Wonderland (2010; $1,025,467,110)

5. Walt Disney Company
• American diversified multinational mass media corporation
headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank,
California. It is the largest media conglomerate in the world in
terms of revenue
• Disney also owns and operates the ABC broadcast television
network; cable television networks such as Disney Channel,
ESPN, A+E Networks, and ABC Family; publishing,
merchandising, and theatre divisions; and owns and licenses
14 theme parks around the world. It also has a successful
music division.

6. Budget
• Frozen had a production budget of $150 million
• computer-animated feature in stereoscopic 3D
• unique artistic style by blending features of both computer-
generated imagery (CGI) and traditional hand-drawn
animation together

7. Factors Influencing Production
• Cast and Crew experience – Directors Chris Buck and Jennifer
Lee had been involved in previous animation successes
(Tarzan, Wreck-it Ralph), producer Peter Del Vecho had
produced Winnie the Pooh. Star Kristen Bell sung on The Little
Mermaid and Idina Mentzel is a famous Broadway actress
• Filmed shared technical style with Tangled
• It offers ‘more of the same’ in an attempt to replicate some of
the elements that ensured the previous films were successful
• Repetition and Difference

8. Distribution
• Distribution was handled by:
• Walt Disney Studios
• Another Disney division Disney Character Voices International,
Frozen was translated and dubbed into 41 languages
(compared with only 15 for The Lion King) – this indicates
massive worldwide distribution

9. Poster Campaign

10. Promo Campaign
• Disney’s own YouTube channel built hype by releasing a number of
trailers, from ‘first look’ to ‘TV spots’ to full trailers (each emphasising
different elements e.g. comedy, music, tension)
• Also key links with other merchandisers
• “Disney has announced it has formed a partnership with frozen food
retailer Iceland to promote the upcoming release of ‘Frozen’, set to hit
cinema screens on 6 December.
• The family-oriented campaign will give Iceland customers the chance to
pick up complementary child’s ticket with the purchase of an adult ticket
with a grocery spend of £15 or more.
• A marketing campaign, launched today, will also incorporate in-store
branding as well as TV and newspaper adverts featuring key characters
from the film.”
• Bloomberg Businessweek magazine reported in March 2014 that outside
analysts had projected the film's total cost at somewhere around $323
million to $350 million for production, marketing, and distribution

11. Exhibition: Box Office
• Frozen received a saturation blanket release
• Numerous platforms – 2D, 3D, ‘singalong version’
• The film grossed $65,310,130 in the UK
• The film earned $110.6 million worldwide in its opening
weekend
• Total worldwide gross: $1,169,229,000

12. Home Release
• Frozen continues to make profits well after cinema release
• Disney’s website has a specific Frozen page which promotes
the film across a number of platforms
• Blu Ray/DVD
• Games/Apps
• Digital downloads across a number of platforms
• As well as links to merchandise from Disney store
• The page also links in to other Disney related films

13. Synergy
• “In March 2014, Bloomberg Businessweek reported that
Disney had sold almost 500,000 Anna and Elsa dolls, with a
5,000 limited-edition run selling out online in only 45 minutes
in January. Demand only increased further after the mid-
March home video release; toy industry expert Jim Silver
explained home video enabled children to "watch it over and
over again" and "fall in love" with the film's characters”
• “meet-and-greets with Anna and Elsa at Disneyland and Epcot
had been initially sponsored by The Walt Disney Studios as
short-term temporary attractions to promote the film, but in
February 2014, Disney Parks decided to extend them
indefinitely in response to unprecedented demand”

14. Synergy
• Bob Iger, chairman and chief executive officer of The Walt
Disney Company, stated in a January 2014 interview with
Fortune that Disney Theatrical Productions is in early
development of a Broadway stage musical adaptation of
Frozen.
• Due to its status as a massive conglomerate, Disney can utilise
its various divisions in order to maximise profit. Each strand
makes profit and also advertises the other strands.
• The film is not a singular entity but merely the centralised
point for a huge volume of related merchandise