Conventions of the Fantasy Genre

• Defies physical limitations
• Unbelievable situations
• Utopian society
• Protagonist goes on a journey/quest 
• Bright, colourful, fantastical scenery

My Favourite Film This Summer

My favourite film this summer was Monsters University, the prequel to the 2001 film Monsters, Inc. which has been eagerly awaited by Pixar fans like myself since the first credits rolled when we were introduced to Mike and Sulley twelve years ago. However, like many others, a prequel was not what I expected nor wanted when a sequel was officially announced in 2010.

 I had originally wanted to see a continuation of Boo’s story, and to see what happened after Sulley opened the door back into the human world at the end of Monsters, Inc.. Instead, Pixar made its first prequel, a story about how Mike and Sulley became who they were in the first film, how they met and how they fared at college. They couldn’t have picked a better plot, or a more appropriate time to release this film.

This film was made for people like me; children who had sat down twelve years ago and could believe that here were monsters in their wardrobes, who have now grown up into young people having to make life decisions and go to new schools. It was a comforting message to their original target audience that they don’t have to worry if college didn’t go to plan or if life doesn’t turn out quite the way they had hoped. It showed us that college, where a large proportion of original target audience are heading this autumn, is different for everyone, and even if it doesn’t work out, there are other ways do live your dreams.

As a person afraid of change, a film featuring two of my all-time favourite characters going through similar situations as I was about to face coming out in the summer before I started sixth form was an amazing coincidence. During the brief hour and a half it was on I already began to feel less afraid because I knew that I could do anything if I tried, thanks to Mike Wazowski.

I immediately took a liking to Mike’s character in the film. Whereas in Monsters, Inc. he was a comic relief role, and not as important to the main plot as Sulley was, in Monsters University Mike is hard-working, driven and committed to his lifelong dream of being a Scarer. He is also ridiculously optimistic, as he believes he will still become a Scarer if he works hard enough, despite being repeatedly told he is not at all scary. Despite this, he continues to try hard and becomes the best in his class. Mike’s determination is inspiring to me because even though he ultimately fails at his dream by being expelled from the college, he still perseveres and becomes one of the best Scarers there is despite no one believing in him, showing that you can do whatever you set your mind to.

Monsters University was also incredibly funny, complete with references to Monsters, Inc. and other Pixar films which Pixar nerds like me live for, and also quite moving to Sulley’s character develop from an arrogant, lazy student to the lovable character who takes care of Boo in Monsters, Inc.. This film, like most Pixar films, left me feeling happy and inspired to do my best, because if characters I have looked up to all my life can succeed no matter, then so can I.

Why 'The Lone Ranger' Was Considered a Box-Office Failure

The Lone Ranger is considered a box office failure because, even though so far it has grossed over $239 million, high production costs meant that it would’ve needed to be extremely successful in a lot of countries to make a big profit. Although $239 million would usually be classed as successful, The New York Times estimated that the film cost $375 million dollars to produce and advertise, which left the film with a $160-190 million loss. Not including marketing costs, the film has a net loss of $109 million – $134 million, which is thought to be one of the biggest losses in film history.

Secondly, the film may have been a failure as Westerns aren’t as popular as they were in the past, with recent Western films such as Wild Wild West, Jonah Hex, and Cowboys & Aliens all failing at the box office and earning significantly less than expected. This means that the film could’ve sold fewer tickets than other films of more popular genres.

Also, The Lone Ranger is the first film to feature the titular character in 32 years, and is based upon a radio show which first aired in 1933. This suggests that most of the character’s fans would have been much older than the Disney’s typical target audience of children. Many children probably hadn’t even heard of the Lone Ranger before promotional material for the film (such as toys, costumes and adverts; all of which are aimed primarily at children) began appearing, so they probably wouldn’t have shown a lot of interest in seeing the film without a former interest in cowboys. 68% of tickets were bought by people over 25, and nearly 25% of ticket buyers were over 50, which shows that Disney should’ve marketed the film towards adults more than children. If they had not excluded nearly 70% of their main viewing audience from their primary advertising, they probably could’ve sold more tickets and therefore earned more at the box office.

The Lone Ranger’s failure can also be accounted to how it was overshadowed by several other big films opening around the same time. These films provided steep competition for The Lone Ranger as most parents would’ve only taken children to see one or two films, and other films were more popular choices due to the popular characters and genres. Superman film Man of Steel also featured a previously pre-established character, but had the support of the current superhero craze to acquire viewers. Monsters University and Despicable Me 2 (which opened in the same weekend and made triple the amount that The Lone Ranger did, despite having only a third of the budget) focused on the same target audience but were marketed better and already popular with children due to them being sequels of two very successful children’s films. This put a large hype around both films, which The Lone Ranger didn’t have.

Finally, the production on the film was briefly shut down in 2011 due to budget concerns. This led to critics already having a negative view on the film, and before it was even realised they had begun to give it bad reviews. They also compared it to John Carter, Disney’s 2012 film which also had a very large budget, but was a high profile box office failure. These reviews could’ve put off many people who would’ve otherwise considered watching the film.