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In 2016, the studio set a world-wide box office record for an-nual gross with $7.6 billion.With five new releases in 2019so far, Disney has alreadyearned $5.7 billion and with

‘The Lion King’, ‘Maleficent: Mistressof Evil’, ‘Frozen II’ and ‘Star Wars:The Rise of Skywalker’ still to come,there’s little doubt it will shatter itsown record. In 2019 alone, the pro-duction company has released mas-sive hits – ‘Captain Marvel,’ ‘Avengers:Endgame,’ ‘Toy Story 4’ and ‘Aladdin,’with ‘Dumbo’ as its only misfire.‘Avengers: Endgame’ became the top-grossing movie of all time at the world-wide box office, collecting nearly $2.8billion. According to critics, at leasttwo more virtually guaranteed block-busters are on the way, namely, ‘Frozen2’ (tentatively to be released in No-vember) and ‘Star Wars: The Rise ofSkywalker’ (December).

What makes it tick? “Cleverstrategising, striking at the right mo-ment and making some very smartmarket decisions,” says film trade an-alyst Kriti Adarsh. “From their ac-quisitions to their re-inventing dif-ferent ways to entertain, Disney hasgot things working for them. As for themovies, they run into guaranteed prof-its because they live on in pop culture”she adds.

Buy buy competitionIn March 20, 2019, the production com-pany officially acquired all the media

assets of 21st Century Fox for $71.3 bil-lion, making it the largest media gi-ant. Pixar, Marvel, and the Star Warsempire were already a part of Disney’sempire, but it is this acquisition thatbrings Marvel Entertainment into Dis-ney’s banner along with the ‘X-Men’,‘Fantastic Four’, and ‘Deadpool’ fran-chises. The deal also brings FX Net-works and National Geographic, in ad-dition to the streaming platform Huluunder Disney (with a controlling shareof 60 per cent).

The production company has beentoying with the idea of launching its

own streaming service togive competition to Net-flix, which has licencedseveral movies of theDisney librarysuch as ‘Cap-tain Mar-

vel’. This will give Disneya holistic edge over allthings entertainment.Disney+ is an over-the-top subscription videoon-demand serviceowned and operatedby the Walt DisneyDirect-to-Consumer &International divisionof the company. It is setto launch in November2019. This, analysts believe,is another idea that works. “Agood lesson in strategising indeed,”said TN Sriram, a TV analyst fromChennai. The other factor that worksas an advantage to the company is itswill to be innovative.

Innovations galoreAfter the success of 2010’s ‘Al-ice in Wonderland’, Disney hasdiscovered a winning strate-gy for its live action division

– remaking the compa-ny’s library of classic

animated featuressuch as ‘The JungleBook’, ‘Beauty andthe Beast’, ‘Al-addin’. Since 2010,that effort hasgrossed $6.2 billion

worldwide.

Think global, act local

Most of the films under the bannerwere global stories, with universal val-ues. This is why they appealed to alarger section of the audience. “Youmay attribute the trend to rising aware-ness of global stories through the in-ternet, and higher disposable incomesin developing countries which allowedgreater inclination, especiallyamong younger audiences, to trydifferent stories,” added Sri-

ram. Disney’s first attempt in a locallanguage was with ‘The Jungle Book’(2016). In the last three years, the foot-print of audiences that Disney reachedout to — with its Hollywood produc-tions — has increased ten-fold. Withbig names like Shah Rukh Khanand Aryan backing the Hindi lan-guage ‘The Lion King’, it lookslike Disney has a win-win situa-tion at hand. Yet again.

So, what makes regional lan-guage dubbing a game changer?“Most people can relate to the charac-ters better if they understand the lan-guage they speak. To be honest, most ofthe emotions are lost when you are look-ing at the subtitles. Regional dubbingmakes sure that your protagonistreaches his audience without thehelp of any third party. I am ex-cited to be a part of this huge uni-verse (‘The Lion King’),” said ac-

tor Shah Rukh Khan at an event.

Avengers: Endgame — $2.78 bn

Avengers: Infinity War — $2.05 bn

Star Wars: The Last Jedi — $1.33 bn

Captain America: Civil War — $1.15 bn

Star Wars: The Force Awakens — $2.07 bn

Disney movies have been Top Worldwidegrosser for last five years

SOURCE: BOX OFFICE MOJO

MOOLAH RULES

‘The Lion King’ became Walt Disney Co.’s fifth blockbusterwith the digital remake grossing $185 million at the box office.The movie is poised to become the most successful Disney

remake ever. We find out how this company continues tomaintain its stranglehold on thebox office with each new offering

Disney is number 1 in non-Indian films’ box office collections as well

THE JOURNEY...

* NON DISNEY FILMS SOURCE: BOLLYWOOD HUNGAMA

1 Avengers: Endgame `373.22 crore

2 Avengers: Infinity War `227.43 crore

3 The Jungle Book `188 crore

4 Fast & Furious 7* `108 crore

5 Jurassic World* `101 crore

6 Fast And Furious 8* `86.23 crore

7 Captain Marvel `84.36 crore

8 Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom* `82.60 crore

9 Mission: Impossible – Fallout* `80.20 crore

10 Avengers: Age Of Ultron `80 crore

OUT OF TOP 10 HOLLYWOOD FILMS IN INDIA, 5 ARE FROM DISNEY

➤ Disney has been in India for 26years, starting with a JV with ModiEnterprises in August 1993

➤ Wholly owned India subsidiary wasformed in July 2004

➤ Disney suffered losses from some ofits Hindi movies produced locally. Itrestructured its operations in 2016

➤ It opted for wider releases of itsHollywood movies — many of themaimed at children — and dubbing themin regional languages like Tamil andTelugu, apart from Hindi

➤ Disney used big Indian stars likeShah Rukh Khan (and his son Aryan)for ‘Incredibles’ and ‘The Lion King’;Kajol for ‘Incredibles 2’; VarunDhawan for ‘Captain America’; RanaDaggubati for the Telugu dubbed ver-sion of Thanos

➤ Under Disney’s umbrella are titlesfrom Marvel’s Cinematic Universe,remakes of classics like ‘The JungleBook’, ‘Beauty and the Beast’ and thelatest release, ‘The Lion King’. It alsoowns Pixar’s Toy Story franchise, andLucas Films’ Star Wars franchise

➤ Disney has succeeded due togreat marketing and smart localisa-tion of Hollywood hit content

➤ By virtue of the acquisition of 21st Century Fox assets by The Walt Disney Company, Disney’sIndia unit has taken over a much bigger Star India

➤ Disney India is now the country’slargest diversified entertainment company with interests in film entertainment, TV broadcast, digital(video streaming) and sports

According to critics, at leasttwo more guaranteedblockbusters are on the

way — ‘Frozen 2’ (inNovember) and ‘Star

Wars: The Rise ofSkywalker’ (December)

DOES LOCALISED DUBBING

MAKE MOVIES GLOBAL

Dubbing has helped movies that wereoriginally nation-specific; but they havebecome much more appealing to a globalaudience at this juncture. Viewers canunderstand what is being said and relateto the story as the dialogues are spokenin their own language.— AYUSH BASU SENGUPTA, Class XI, DPSRuby Park, Kolkata

Movies that revolve around acertain country or cultureattract people who want to learn

about them. What was stoppingthem was the language barrier and

subtitles. Dubbing helps this audienceand attracts more global attention. — PIUSHI AJWANI, class IX, JNS, Mumbai

Movies that are nation/culturespecific become global becausethey are being produced locally.

Local languages touch our emo-tions deeper than other languages

that we know, no matter how good weare at them. — SUDHIKSHA I, class X, Carmel School -Padmanabha Nagar, Bengaluru

Dubbed movies are becomingmore popular in India as theyhelp people who are not famil-

iar with the language to watchand understand these movies. I

am excited because I can watch theseclassics with my grandparents— DHARANIPRIYAA S, class XII, SSVM Sr. Sec.School, Coimbatore

Localised dubbing of films and theirlive action remakes by stars makesfor wider exposure. SRK and Aryan

Khan lending their voice to the char-acters makes the audience connect to

the movie through previous association, aswell as a personal connection to the story. —UDISHA TIWARI, IX, CMS Gomti Nagar

Local dubbing is a logical andgood approach for animationmovies. By getting A-list people

to do the dubbing is like theicing on cake. Also, lhere is a con-

nect that people have with their locallingo.— PRACHI BALANI, class X, Rachana School ,Ahmedabad

‘Bahubali’ is a good example ofhow localised production worksfor the company and the film. As

it was dubbed in different lan-guages, it appealed to more people

than it would have otherwise. China is agood market for localised movies too. — SHARANYA PATNAIK, Class IX, Mother’sInternational School, Delhi

What is an importantquality in an actor?

1 It is the urge to learn and growwith every performance. Anactor should never be satisfied. I

personally am never satisfied. Learningfrom your experience with every filmand improving upon it is an essentialquality that every actor must possess.The day an actor or an actress thinksthey have achieved everything, theybecome stagnant.

Your inspiration?

2 My favourite actor Tom Hanks. He is the epitome of tal-ent, brains and a sense of

humour — all in a good mix. I havelearnt to never take my profession forgranted. He inspires me to give mybest.

Is it difficult for a newcomer to make it bigin Bollywood?

3 These days, luckily, things arechanging. People are encourag-ing and welcoming newcomers. A

lot of directors and producers are

launching new faces. There are manyopportunities now compared to the sit-uation earlier. If you really deserve it,you just need to be patient and whenthe time is right, you will get it.

Do you think a god-father is impor-tant?

4 I don’t think it is soimportant. I thinksomewhere it might just

make your first step a littleeasier for you. Your first oppor-tunity might come to you easily,but ultimately, talent is whatreally matters. If you are tal-ented, you will be noticed. Ifnot, you might just get a fewopportunities initially but in theend you have to stand up foryourself.

What do you lookfor in a script?

5 Language doesn’t make a dif-ference but ultimately a goodscript and a strong role is

what I would want as an actor.

WITH SIDHARTHActor Sidharth Malhotra opens up about his journey in Bollywood

MUST SEE

■ THE BAKER SISTERS, FYI TV18, 3.00PM: Rachel Smith and Jean Parker vis-it restaurants that serve the mostscrumptious desserts and later meetan expert baker who demonstrates de-licious recipes.

■ 100 DAYS 100 TALES, ANIMAL PLANET,5.00 PM: The host observes variousspecies of wild animals to understandtheir behaviour and how they survivein their natural habitat.

■ SHIFTING GEARS WITH AARON KAUF-MAN, DISCOVERY TURBO, 7.00 PM: AaronKaufman along with his exceptionalteam build custom cars and test theirperformances by taking them out onthe road.

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■ SAVAGE KINGDOM, NAT GEO WILD, 9.00PM: Clans of lions, hyenas, leopardsand wild dogs clash against one an-other over limited resources and ter-ritorial authority in the African con-tinent.

1775: A postal system was estab-lished by the 2nd ContinentalCongress of the United States. Thefirst postmaster general wasBenjamin Franklin.

1856: Irish dramatist GeorgeBernard Shaw was born in Dublin,Ireland.

1874: Revolutionary freedom fighterand social reformer Rajarshi ShahuChhatrapati was born.

1907: The Chester was launched. Itwas the first turbine-propelled ship.

1908: U.S. Attorney General CharlesJ. Bonaparte issued an order thatcreated an investigative agency thatwas a forerunner of the FBI.

1993: Mars Observer took first photoof Mars, from 5 billion km.

1999: Kargil War ended.

2005: Space Shuttle program: STS-114 Mission - Launch of Discovery,NASA's first scheduled flight missionafter the Columbia Disaster in 2003.

2018: Observation of a black hole byThe Very Large Telescope in Chileproved Albert Einstein's prediction of"gravitational redshift", published in"Journal Astronomy & Astrophysics".

THIS DAY THAT YEARTELEVISION

■ HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HAL-LOWS: PART 1, HBO, 3.04 PM: After Volde-mort takes over the Ministry of Mag-ic, Harry, Ron and Hermione are forcedinto hiding. They try to decipher theclues left to them by Dumbledore to findand destroy Voldemort's Horcruxes.

■ THE HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE,&FLIX, 3.15 PM: Katniss is advised byPresident Snow to participate in a spe-cial edition of the Hunger Games thatwill feature all its previous winners inorder to eliminate her, due to her in-fluential nature.

■ CAPTAIN UNDERPANTS: THE FIRST EPICMOVIE, STAR MOVIES, 7.10 PM: Twonaughty fourth-graders, George andHarold, hypnotise their principal Ben-jamin Krupp and convince him that heis Captain Underpants, a superhero.

■ THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE LION,THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE, MNX, 9.00PM: While playing, Lucy and her sib-lings find a wardrobe that lands themin a mystical place called Narnia. Herethey realise that it was fated and theymust now unite with Aslan to defeat anevil queen.

MOVIES ON TV

MUST DOJULY26, 2019

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