C., L., and I were at Target yesterday wasting time during M.’s kickball practice. The girls were looking through the toy aisles and came to a large, empty section that should have held all the toys related to Frozen. There were a couple Baby Anna dolls, but the rest of the area was barren. C. asked why it was so empty and I said I guessed the Frozen toys were still really popular.
Little did I know. A couple hours later I read this article and learned that there is, in fact, a huge shortage of Frozen toys, and a rather brisk secondary market has developed to fill the demand.
If you’re a parent, you know that each time a new Disney/Pixar film comes out the toy departments are flooded with tie-in merchandise, Radio Disney begins spinning songs from the movie in high rotation, and you can’t escape commercials from the movie in advance of its theatrical or DVD release. They have this down to a science.
That makes it surprising that Disney didn’t realize that Frozen would turn into such a phenomenon. We can’t spend more than 30 minutes in the car without hearing “Let It Go,” whether it is Idina Menzel’s original version or Demi Lovato’s radio version.1 L. will watch the movie three times a week. Even my nephew watched it every day when he was visiting. There’s some kind of special kid crack in this one. Hell, I even like it. Normally I use Disney Princess movie time as an excuse to nap. I’ll actually watch Frozen for a bit before drifting off.
One other quick Disney related note. We heard Katy Perry’s latest single “Birthday” this morning. Usually Radio Disney has kid-friendly versions of mainstream songs that remove inappropriate language and reduce the overt innuendo. So the chorus kind of surprised me:
Boy, when you’re with me
I’ll give you a taste
Make it like your birthday everyday
I know you like it sweet
So you can have your cake
Give you something good to celebrate
OK, a little risqué but not anything grade schoolers will understand.
Then there’s this section:
Pop your confetti
Pop your Pérignon
So hot and heavy
’Til dawn
Ummmm. Maybe I’m a dirty old man but I think Katy may be talking about something else popping.
So let me get you in your birthday suit
It’s time to bring out the big balloons
Wow. When M. and C. pick up on the birthday suit line, they’re going to laugh. I’m guessing some boys in M.’s class won’t have any trouble assigning meaning to the big balloons line. They’ve seen Katy.
It doesn’t take a lot of imagination to turn even the most innocent of love songs into far more suggestive ditties. This one seems just a little advanced for the kid and tween-centric Radio Disney. We’ll see if I get any questions about what Perry is singing about. The girls don’t usually put much thought into lyrics, but at some point it’s bound to happen.
I don’t think you can discount the impact of the songs in the movie’s success. Before and immediately after the movie’s release, Disney pushed the radio-friendly Lovato version hard, including little interviews with the singer talking about how she was so proud and honored to be singing the song for a Disney princess film. About a month later, they dumped Menzel’s version on the radio. Talk about a 1-2 punch. Menzel’s rendition is, arguably, the best song ever from a Disney film. Throw in a version by a pop star the kids are crazy for, and there was no resisting it. I find myself walking around humming it to myself. Six months after the movie came out. And I’m not sick of it. Yikes. ↩