Timed Essay Question 2

 

The Jungle Book was already previously created in 1967 as an animation. This meant that it already has its primary target audience that then become the secondary target audience of the new one as it is not aimed at adults but more older kids (10+) but because they have seen the original, they would likely be interested to watch this one. This is because they have already seen it as a child and are likely going to want to watch it for nostalgia and escapism (uses and gratifications theory). This allows them to reach a wider target audience than the original as they already have the secondary audience established. The primary target audience however, shifted from a younger audience to a slightly older audience due to the mature scenes that wouldn’t be suitable for a younger audience. This means that the older audience is likely to appeal to this film more as they wouldn't see it as another children film that wouldn't entertain them as much (uses and gratifications theory). As this film was already very successful, Disney are able to play it safe and are not likely to lose money from this production as they already have a wider target audience which most other films won’t have.

Disney have also used social media to advertise their films to the younger target audience as they are most likely to use it. This will include things such as short trailers or posts. They’ve also had posters and trailers that would appeal to an older target audience as they are more likely to see these when they are out and about such as on the sides of busses etc. This has meant that they are trying to invest their money to make as many people aware of their new film, so they can make more money from the box office or sales. From seeing this, they may also lead to people sharing this information with friends and family (social interaction – uses and gratifications theory). Due to this they made $966 million back from only a $175 million they spent on production.

Disney, from this money is then able to make extra income from producing more films to a wide target audience to make them more money. From this, they are then able to invest this money into producing more films to make them even more profit, which has led them to be so successful in the past. They can also then distribute the film on DVDs or other streaming services such as Disney plus to make additional money from their productions to get more income. This is so successful especially with Disney plus as it is cheaper than other streaming services, so it means more people are likely to purchase it monthly.

Overall, Disney have used Jungle Book as a way for them to make more money as it is something that people are already familiar with and are likely to go and watch. They can then invest this money into more films in the future.