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LOS ANGELES – Disney Pixar Animation guru John Lasseter found himself tangled in a miniature fashion kerfuffle.
Toy maker Mattel Inc. had made a prototype doll of “The Princess and the Frog’s” newly minted princess, Tiana, wearing her bayou wedding dress. But one animator worried that the gown failed to reflect the one in the film, whose multiple layers resemble the petals of an unfolding waterlily.
Lasseter suggested a way to create the illusion of volume without driving up the doll’s $10 price – namely, printing a swirling pattern of glitter atop the diaphanous outer layer of fabric.
No detail seems too mundane for Lasseter, who after years focusing on Pixar is extending his reach to Walt Disney Co.’s merchandise juggernaut. Immersing himself in the toy-making process, he has visited a plant in Hong Kong to observe how workers applied paint to “Toy Story” Buzz Lightyear figures.
The father of five boys has spent hours in Mattel’s showrooms, studying the Disney Princess line, to better understand what little girls want.
The filmmaker is bringing his taskmaster persistence to Disney consumer products, pressing for better-quality toys in a business associated with sometimes shoddy and opportunistic merchandise.
One of the first things Lasseter did was call for an end to “label slapping,” in which a toy maker uses a popular movie title to sell generic toys that are otherwise unrelated to the film.
“If we’re going to make a movie, it’s going to be the best movie that we can make,” Lasseter said. “I take that exact philosophy when it comes to every other product that’s going to be referencing a (Disney or Pixar) character or movie – especially when it comes to toys.”
Disney’s consumer products group hopes to benefit from Lasseter’s creative spark. The group, which operates Disney Stores in North America and licenses toys, clothes, bedding and even food, accounted for 9 percent of the entertainment giant’s operating income in fiscal 2009.
But the division’s operating profit fell 22 percent from a year earlier, in part because of the recession but also because it lacked hot new properties.
Lasseter’s efforts – or the appeal of the first new Disney princess in years – appear to be paying off. Dolls, bedding and other items inspired by “The Princess and the Frog” have been selling briskly. The week of Thanksgiving, Princess Tiana items outsold the perennial favorite, “The Little Mermaid’s” Ariel, by $700,000.
Retailers are reporting that “Princess and the Frog” articles account for as much as 19 percent of sales of all Disney Princesses merchandise, which generates about $4 billion in annual retail sales.
