Mommas don't like to see animated action films

Filmmakers would often set out to make an animated film for a specific audience, not realizing that the audience they need to appeal to is mothers and women. The reason is that boys aren't making the decisions to see the films. The moms are making the decision, and if the mom doesn't want to see the film or she also has a daughter who doesn't want to see the film, then she'll tell her son to go watch cartoons and to wait for DVD to see the film. (This is supported with data that shows how popular action cartoons are on TV but not in the theaters.)

For example, Final Fantasy, Sinbad, Treasure Planet, Quest for Camelot, The Iron Giant, Osmosis Jones, The Road to El Dorado, and Star Wars: Clone Wars were all animated action films that failed to find success. What all those films had in common is that they didn't appeal to women.

However, Pixar has the idea right. They can do any topic they want, including toys, monsters, bugs, super heroes, rats, and robots. These topics don't sound like they'd appeal to women, but they make sure the heart of the stories do.

- TAE