Disney goes beyond Mickey to appeal to older boys

By Gina Keating

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Walt Disney Co is turning up the speed and power to balance its tiaras and flowers, as boys who have grown beyond Mickey Mouse are seeking fun and adventure outside the entertainment studio's kingdom.

Disney, whose two strongest franchises until 2001 were the gender-neutral Winnie the Pooh and Mickey Mouse, has seen product sales skew toward girls since Disney Princesses, launched that year, has turned into a $4 billion phenomenon among 3- to 6-year-old wannabes.

To boost its appeal to boys, the Burbank, California-based studio is adding testosterone to its toys, films, video games and TV shows due for release in 2009 and beyond.

"The entire company is focused on broadening Disney's appeal to the older boy," Disney Consumer Products spokesman Gary Foster said. "That's where the company -- from an overall entertainment perspective and from a boys perspective -- that's where we want to expand into."

While "Cars" and "Mickey's Clubhouse" has bolstered Disney's appeal to preschool boys, the company has had a harder time reaching their older brothers.

Meanwhile, the slant toward girls has deepened with the runaway success of Disney Channel juggernauts "Hannah Montana" and "High School Musical" among tweens.

Brand and toy analysts said Disney's challenge is in finding narratives to lure boys aged 8 to 12 away from entrenched properties like Transformers, Spider-Man and Star Wars.

But boys may be a tough catch, spending only about half the $16 billion that girls pay for character-based merchandise each year in the United States. The products include dolls, sing-along videos, games, apparel, stationery and even band-aids, whose sales are supported by Disney's movies, TV channels and theme parks.