TO:       Animation Department          DATE:   February 13, 1986    FROM: Peter Schneider EXT: 2630  SUBJECT:                              
|
For so many reasons, back in the 80s, WDFA was in a dire situation, as Michael Eisner (Disney CEO) wanted to shut it down for good. They even were kicked out of Disney studio lot, for crying out loud!!
WDFA received an ultimatum before The Great Mouse Detective hit cinemas: If it bombed, that was it. No more feature animated movies from Disney (if any, those would be outsourced).
The movie did fairly well, enough to keep WDFA running.
So, we can thank The Great Mouse Detective for The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, Mulan, Tangled, Frozen, Moana and, basically, every Disney feature animated movie from the 90s onwards.
Sure, the movie is really, really good... good enough to do well whatever its name would have been. However, a dumbed-down name in dire circumstances proved to be quite helpful, too!
As for whether the title helped in the film's relative success, there's no way to know without checking the alternate reality where the original title was used, but it may well have done.
You're right, the box office was nothing compared to what they would soon be pulling in or what they had before, but at least it made money for the new producers after The Black Cauldron's big loss put the department in threat of being shut down.
But yeah, the "Disney Renaissance" starts with The Little Mermaid.
So basically, if TGMD had failed, Disney animation never would have had the chance to reach the blockbuster successes it had starting with The Little Mermaid.
Also loved the bluntness of the Aristocats' clue lol, it's pretty hard to dumb it down even further, and the pun is pretty great anyways (as is the movie, absolutely loved it as a kid and I still do)
no