Hello all. I've introduced myself a few times, but for those who don't know, I write animated feature scripts. My most recent creation has a working title of 'A Pirate and a Princess'. Now, again for those who don't know, some time ago, Disney learned that their feature 'The Princess and the Frog' lost audience because they included the word 'Princess' in the title. Parents of boys would see that and think 'I'm not taking my son to see that. It's a girly movie. He'll be bored and acting out halfway through.' Now I can't testify to the truth of this but Disney believes it and that's why every princess movie since has had one word titles like 'Tangled', 'Brave', and 'Frozen'. I'm trying to choose a one word title for my movie. My current candidates are 'Corsairs', 'Freebooters', and 'Luisa' <-the princess' name. Please give me your opinions on which title you think is best and why. Also suggest titles you might think are better. Thank you.
Introduce Yourself : I need some opinions. by Mark Kelly
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Hey Mark Kelly - great backstory and question. I am a Disney trivia fanatic and even I didn't know that. Here are my thoughts on your proposed titles. My only concern with the first two is that a lot of people might not know what "Corsairs" or "Freebooters" are (as opposed to someone saying "Pirates" which we all instantly get). So from purely a marketing standpoint I wonder if it trades one challenge for another - having to define those terms. "Luisa" is a nice name and as a title could work. I also noticed that the Disney titles you mentioned all have to do with Theme too - Tangled, Brave, Frozen - are all thematically relevant to the plots. Is there a title that you could use that gives an idea of theme?
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How about "Treasured". Just came to me like "Frozen".
These are silly, but how about "The Pirate who stole my heart" or "The Love-struck Pirate" "or "The Pirate's Treasure :) or just Treasure.
Your logline "While evading bloodthirsty rivals, an Irish pirate captain with a multinational pirate crew rescue a shipwrecked maiden, only to find she's Spanish royalty with deadly political enemies" and Title "A PIRATE AND A PRINCESS" kind of doesn't match in a way. Luisa is fine, but just the logline itself doesn't say much, like Jason said, theme isn't clear or the story. Logline and Title sort of have that connection which sparks interest, and to me I feel it should be supporting one another.
IMO you shouldn't really care about what Disney or any studios believes or not. You got to be confident on what you are writing creating to make you feel more confident about your work. For instance you know one of my favorite animation movie is "The Tale of the Princess Kaguya". It's fantastic movie just like "The Spirited Away", both are far better than any Disney movie I have ever seen and I would say all adult men, even boys got to watch that to really understand how nature is.
So better see if you can work on logline if it's still under process and improve the story. Title you will get naturally when you have that grip confidence on what you have written. Disney will themselves if not interested now, will make a live action on the same later paying more, just like they did for "Mulan" and still couldn't get the essence to make it right. Nothing against Disney, but don't give too much value for "Noise" around.
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"There She Blows". Sorry, I couldn't resist. Oh! "A Pirate's Booty". Again, my apologies. Seriously, I like the "Treasure" approach that others suggested.
"Luisa" - it's personal, inclusive, yet intriguing.
El Pirata?
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Thanks for some of the humor on here. I needed that today. GW Allison, you are funny!
"Bradach's Royal Treasure" or "Bradach's Princesa Dura"
Heya Mark. Interesting post. I suppose from copywriting, news headlines and advertising etc, The title is the headline so make sure you knock it out the park. Not sure if this actually helps :D
“Swashbuckling”?
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I think your working title, um, works. 'Pirate' balances out 'Princess'. Young Alphas can always claim they only went to see the Pirate bits (and that their allergies always act up in the theater -- because they certainly weren't crying). One tweak I'd suggest is: "The Pirate and The Princess". Make it definitive. This isn't just any Pirate nor Princess...
Sadly Gregory, I had to discard that one as it was made by Bob Hope decades ago. I can't even reverse it since The Princess and the Pirate is a series of Young Adult literature. Or maybe it's the other way around, but either way, I had to discard both titles.
Mark Kelly Gregory Fodero Dynamic Laura and The Pirate... may be.. Just saying :-)
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I think the current title is neutral enough to appeal to all kids.
"Spoils"
Freebooters sounds interesting to me!
Mark Kelly I don't know that the word "princess" is any kind of negative, and I think it's unsafe to judge anything Disney says, especially relating to it's decisions on marketing. I would be very skeptical if (a) that were their real motivations and (b) if they did any kind of actual research, that it is statistically valid.... I think just title your film what you want, and if it's an issue with a distributor or rep, consider changing it then.