http://www.imdb.com/news/sb/2006-04-06/

Toy Companies Not Wild About "The Wild"

Upon watching a rough-cut version of Disney's latest computer-animated feature The Wild, due to be released over the Easter holiday weekend, some of the nation's largest toy manufacturers and retailers, including Target, Wal-Mart, Toys 'R' Us, Hasbro and Mattel, all declined to seek licenses to produced merchandise featuring characters from the film, concluding that it was unlikely to do well at the box office, according to Disney watcher Jim Hill. Writing on his blog, JimHillMedia.com, Hill reported that the rejection by Toys 'R' Us particularly disappointed Disney execs since the film features one scene in which a giraffe character named Bridget rides through New York's Times Square and spots Geoffrey, the Toys 'R' Us mascot, on a sign at the toy store's flagship outlet. "Well, I guess you can see why Disney Studios execs thought that they had a virtual lock on getting TRU to produce a Bridget the Giraffe plush [toy]," Hill remarked.

Mike
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Not surprised.

a) It looks like a Madagascar re-tread.

b) Madagascar merchandise, what little there was, didn't exactly do well.

c) It's just a bunch of animals...

The movie might be fun, but doesn't really call for merchandising...

It's actually nice that every Disney release doesn't flood the market with a ton of crap like they used to.

Jeff

Plus this movie was NOT done in house by Disney. I believe it was by the same company that did Valiant and Disney is just the distributor of it.

D.

So what is the story with this film? It looks like a direct ripoff of Madagascar, with virtually no marketing behind it. Did anyone here see it?

I saw the preview last night and for a while there, I thought it was Madagascar. My kids told me the exact same thing you said - it's a Madagascar rip-off. But hey, it's Disney - so I'll probably give it a chance