Marketing Observation | The centenarian enterprise Disney is adapting to a new Chinese market.

Text｜Wang Yuchan

Editor｜Qiao Qian

On November 20, The Walt Disney Company announced in Singapore the content that will be released in theaters and on streaming platforms in the Asia-Pacific region in 2025 and beyond, including "Captain America 4", "Moana 2", "TRON: Ares", "Toy Story 5", "The Lion King: Mufasa's Legacy", "Avatar: Fire and Ashes", "Star Wars: Visions" Season 3, and many others.

Disney Executive Vice President Cai Zhihang said in an interview with media including 36Kr: "In a nutshell, our film slate is very rich, and we believe there is always one that suits you."

In fact, most of the posters and short trailers shown at this conference have already been released at the "D23 Expo" in Los Angeles, USA in August this year. 36Kr also reported on it at that time. However, at this conference for the Asia-Pacific region, in addition to showcasing these global blockbusters, Disney also brought more new works created for Asian audiences.

Unfortunately, it is mainly Japan and South Korea. In the past few years, Disney's streaming platform Disney + has launched many TV series in the Japanese and South Korean markets starring local A-list actors and targeting local audiences, such as the Korean drama "Extraordinary Attorney Woo" and the Japanese dramas "The Files of Young Kindaichi", "The Children of the Game", "The Shogun" and so on. Now, Disney has confirmed that it will bring the second season of the Korean drama "Extraordinary Attorney Woo" and more Japanese anime series, etc.

Poster of the Korean drama "Extraordinary Attorney Woo"

At the conference, there were many Korean and Japanese stars, but there was no voice from China. Because Disney + cannot operate in mainland China, it currently has no plan to launch Chinese-language TV series.

In the past few years, many important Disney movies have failed to be successfully released in China, and fans have been "disconnected" for a while. But this year, the situation has improved.

In August, the R-rated movie "Alien: Fatal Ship" was released in mainland China and surpassed the local box office in North America, becoming the world's largest box office. Disney movies that also sold well in mainland China include "Deadpool", "Inside Out" and so on - behind this is the result of the continuous local work of Disney's Chinese employees like ants moving a mountain.

The Chinese market shows a complexity to Disney, that is, a combination of high value and high difficulty. Whether in terms of movie box office or in the theme park and consumer goods business, Chinese consumers have shown undoubted purchasing power; but at the same time, the content preferences of Chinese people are changing, the local content available for Chinese people to consume is increasing, and the values of the East and the West are cracking - this is reflected in the divided reputation of some recent works.

Now, this century-old enterprise is re-adapting to the Chinese market. It has to maintain an emotional connection with Chinese fans without launching Chinese-language TV series, which is much more difficult than in the Japanese and South Korean markets.

Ms. Cai Zhihang, Vice President of Marketing for Disney in the Asia-Pacific region, told 36Kr that Disney is cooperating with social media where Chinese fans gather, such as Xiaohongshu, Weibo, Bilibili, Douyin, etc., trying to get closer to the fans.

Localization is an endless task, especially in today's "united for a long time but eventually divided"

As mentioned earlier, the content preferences and values of audiences in the East and the West are cracking, which has been repeatedly confirmed. Many films that are well-received and commercially successful abroad often fail to achieve the expected results in China.

The second part of "Moana", which will be released in mainland China on November 29, is the top priority of Disney's recent publicity and distribution. When the first part of "Moana" was released in China, it did not replicate the box office miracle it achieved in North America, but was instead outperformed by "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" and "I Am Not Madame Bovary" released at the same time.

In 2016, the Chinese media attributed this upset to Disney's insufficient publicity and distribution efforts, and that Chinese audiences were not ready to accept a female lead who "neither pursues love nor possesses beauty".

Eight years have passed, and Chinese audiences' expectations for female images on the big screen have undergone earth-shaking changes. So has Disney's localization team.

This time, Disney is no longer laid-back but has invited two gold medalists of the Chinese national swimming team, Zhang Yufei and Wang Shun, to promote the second part of "Moana". "Moana is an adventurer and a person with a sense of mission. We believe this spirit is in line with that of Olympic athletes," Cai Zhihang said. Disney believes that this cooperation has sparked some discussions on domestic social media and has had the effect of stimulating Chinese audiences to go to the cinema.

Zhang Yufei and Wang Shun promoting the second part of "Moana"

In July this year, during the hottest days of the summer vacation, the two male leads of "Deadpool and Wolverine", Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman, also came to Shanghai as the first stop of their global film publicity and distribution. At that time, it had been many years since the last Hollywood star came to China. This fan meeting had an ice-breaking significance and also sparked a discussion on social media. Cai Zhihang said that Disney has been considering bringing movie stars back to China.

In addition, in terms of publicity and distribution channels, Disney also pays more attention to its performance on Chinese social media than before. Cai Zhihang said that in order to promote new movies on Douyin, her team would repeatedly explain to the US headquarters the importance of this channel for mobilizing Chinese audiences and apply for more materials and clips to be uploaded to Douyin; on Xiaohongshu, they would cooperate with some mother and baby and family education bloggers to make family-friendly animated works reach young mothers on Xiaohongshu.

It can be said that localization is an endless task that can always be "done more meticulously". Cai Zhihang said that Disney has gained a lot of experience and lessons in these years, which not only affects their local publicity and distribution, but even affects the production of content - for example, they found that Japanese audiences like foreign works dubbed by Japanese voice actors very much, but Chinese audiences do not like to watch foreign films dubbed in Chinese. So they gradually stopped using Chinese dubbing.

Also, they have also heard Chinese audiences' teasing of several recent Marvel movies, such as "When in doubt, quantum mechanics", and endless "multiple universes", space narratives, and so on. "We have conveyed the feedback from Chinese audiences to the US headquarters," Cai Zhihang said. "You can rest assured that the next two or three Marvel stories will all take place on Earth! Even if there are aliens, they will come to Earth."

Laughter erupted in the interview room.

Can we expect Disney to bring something new?

Cai Zhihang admitted that the success of "Alien: Fatal Ship" in China was beyond Disney's expectations. This R-rated movie is the first Alien series movie released by Disney after taking over 20th Century Fox. Logically speaking, the Alien series has a relatively niche fan base in China, and this result proves the differentiation of audience tastes and the potential of vertical content.

When Disney acquired 20th Century Fox, the outside world once joked that Fox might lose its R-rated content and become a children's paradise with princesses and princes singing and dancing. But now it seems that Disney has successfully transplanted this very different business into the giant's body without changing its essence.

Now, people no longer worry about Fox, and they start to be curious about Disney. Since it can produce "Alien", why does it keep repeating children's stories and remake familiar characters like Snow White and The Little Mermaid into live-action movies?

"We must firmly adhere to the core values of the Disney brand, that is, to ensure that consumers know that when you come to watch a Disney movie, you will definitely gain a happy, harmonious, and upward spirit. This is very important," Cai Zhihang said. "We must keep repeating this. Even if the audience knows before the movie starts that it will definitely have a happy ending, we are confident that in this process, we can touch their hearts and move them."

At present, Chinese consumers do really like comedy films. In 2024, the top five movies at the Chinese box office are "Hot and Spicy", "Pegasus 2", "Catch the Doll", "Article 20" and "Boonie Bears", and all these five movies contain comedy elements.

In fact, Disney is also trying to develop the villain characters in classic IPs, such as Cruella de Vil, Scar the Lion, and so on. But as Cai Zhihang said, even if it is shooting the story of the villains, it is shot in a family-friendly way, and it must also have a happy ending. "If you take your children to watch a Disney movie, you never have to worry about there being content that is not suitable for children," Cai Zhihang said.

It is not difficult to follow the trend. What is difficult is to do one thing for a hundred years. Disney will only make a little change to adapt to the times on the premise of adhering to the principles, that is, to transform the character images and storylines to be more in line with the mainstream values. For example, Snow White is not just a kind girl waiting to be rescued by the prince, but also a brave and strong woman; in "Toy Story 5", the toys have to compete with the little master's electronic devices for the little master's attention, reflecting the thinking about teenagers' addiction to electronic devices, and so on.

"We just want to do what we promised, that is, 'tell a good story' so that consumers can resonate with Disney at every stage of their life," Cai Zhihang said.