'Frozen' heats up Japan box office in 2014

Only a matter of time before mouse ears become mandatory.

Disney’s “Big Hero 6,” which premiered at the Tokyo International Film Festival, and Toho’s “Yo-kai Watch” have so far touched about $60 million each in cumulative ticket sales

So much for the predictions by so many posters here that Big Hero 6 (aka Baymax) would be a flop in Japan.

"Imported films made up about 42% of last year’s receipts, lagging local fare for a seventh straight year and staying well below a peak of 73% in 2002."

A stunning turnaround from when I lived here the first time--young people wanted only to see western films.

I like how it's a children's film everywhere except Japan; where educated adults, both male and female, flock to see this utter tosh!

This Frozen thing is pretty popular here, huh?

What a terrible movie Frozen is.

What a terrible movie Frozen is.

It would seem that millions of people in the world entirely disagree with you.

It would seem that millions of people in the world entirely disagree with you.

Did you watch it?

Did you watch it?

If I had, would that change the fat that millions of people in the world entirely disagree with you?

Koiwa,

I watched it--hard to avoid with a little girl (and her buds) in my house. It is huge fun for them, certainly as good as the vast majority of children's films. While I prefer Pixar--because I'm part of their target audience--they sometimes don't come across as well for the under 5 set. And there are some undeniable themes in Frozen that girls respond to, like really respond to.

Nice try, onagamomo. From the businessinsider : "the movie is a four-quadrant success (it appeals to males and females over and under 25 years old), the same can be said for most Pixar and Disney studio films"

But of course it's "only in Japan" right?

If it wasn't for that godawful themesong I would've probably already watched the movie.

I like how it's a children's film everywhere except Japan; where educated adults, both male and female, flock to see this utter tosh!

Exactly. It says a lot for the Japanese mindset

Readers, there is no need to insult Japanese people because they enjoy the movie. That just reflects badly on yourselves.

Regardless of country, the true magic of a Disney franchise is that it appeals to both children as well as adults. No other studio has been capable of pulling this off to such a degree (No, not even Dreamworks / Universal). Frozen was a pretty average story by Disney standards, but the infectious soundtrack is what got them over the line. It's really a throwback to the Disney films of old.

It's a shame really I can see the movies that everyone mocks America for in Japan right away (Transformers, etc) but I have to wait like 6mos or more for quality films that people don't believe America actually makes to come to an arthouse theatre or Tsutaya.

Japanese people don't just want to see Taken 3 or Mortdecai or Transformers, give them the good stuff like Birdman, Selma, or Imitation Game. It's so annoying I have to resort to downloads to get quality.

America always gets the good foreign films and doesn't import the 100th of the year cutesy Japanese high school romance movie. Why doesn't Japan import more than just CGI boom boom-no story flicks?

As others have stated / implied, it's understandable that only 42% of 2013 receipts were for foreign films, when they are by and large way under-represented at the cinema. In my city anyway.

The mistaken idea that hollywood movies are all blockbuster material is rather shallow. So many great movies from many countries never get a chance here, mainly because of the distribution giants monoploy - Toho, Mycal.....!

My close friend is this prefectures #1 film reviewer / critic and he is appalled at the low quality of many local films getting big screen time. He once cynically renamed on his blog, the city's biggest movie complex (eigakan) to kodomokan (kids cinema) as a reflection of it's films 50+ % targeted audiences - kids. And to add insult to injury, often foreign movies deemed "kids movies" are shown only in dubbed form and 3-D movies of all genre are always dubbed and NEVER shown in their original language.

Many of my middle-aged and older film lover aquaintances, esp rue the trend to dub almost all, as they have grown up loving movies and actors and tell me they hate the ill-nuanced accents.

For the sake of short term revenue raking, the film industry here are probably failing to develop future long term audiences who love all movies. Kiddy-fying everything means they will grow out of it.

browny, I think in part it has to do with who's going to the movies. Supply and demand, at least to a point. I think a lot of younger people prefer to watch films at home or on their devices for either a fraction of the cost or for free, legally or otherwise. I mean, date night means what, 36$, just for the flick!? But parents still want to take their kids to the movies sometimes (lower ticket prices help). It reminds me of what happened to the eikaiwa industry--a once thriving business catering largely to adults now does mostly song and dance routines with toddlers. When times are tough, you cut back, except for your kids.

It's not surprising that people in Japan are enjoying the film - just the age at which they are enjoying it

I watched half the movie with my kids and got bored and wandered off. The movie didn't appeal to me. But so what - it appeals to other people, some of the Japanese adults. That's fine, it's anyone's right to like whatever movie they want. I don't understand some people's need to criticize others for the movie(s) they enjoy.

Frozen is good, very funny too if you actually watch it, which most people who slam it probably haven't.

Interesting about percentage of takings from foreign films. Says a lot about how crap and unoriginal most stuff Hollywood has produced over the last decade has been.

Haven't seen the movie. Prob never will. But that song is really annoying!! & its played nearly everyday whenever the TV is on.

Is it just me, or do Japanese love Disney more than rest of tha world?

Is it just me, or do Japanese love Disney more than rest of tha world?

I think it's just you. Frozen kicked box-office butt in the U.S. therefore Americans are fans of Disney as well. I watched Frozen on the plane while flying to Japan last October so at least I can say I've watched it. I enjoyed it and will say it's a "good" movie but certainly not the best there ever was. I guess I've also been fortunate in that I haven't been bombarded with "Let It Go" to the point where I dread hearing it. As an example of how much Frozen has entered American society, here's a school closing announcement due to snow: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjE72Q8s8wo

I'm mostly with Strangerland- I probably wouldn't have watched it on my own, but I've got two daughters so...

Of course, since the target audience is children, parents with children and couples on a date it's obvious that it won't appeal to everyone.

For me? I was pleasantly surprised. It's not a "best movie ever" but the songs are catchy and it has a good moral. Daughters loved it and sing the songs all the time...so that's a win in my book.

Frozen is a great movie for kids to enjoy.

which most people who slam it probably haven't.

Yes, I did actually. At a friend's place. Then I got sick of hearing "Let it go" everywhere I went in Tokyo