So it's not that G movies aren't profitable - it's that you haveThat may be, but NB Medved is talking about not just cartoon G-rated movies but G's and PG's (and the latter outnumber the former). A quick look at the Internet Movie Database reveals that of 1999's 444 films released in the U.S.:
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303 were rated R
90 were rated PG-13
25 were rated PG
26 were rated G.
This includes TV movies and movies made straight to video. Of the G's, only 7 were Disney, and only 3 were big-market cartoons (Toy Story 2, Fantasia 2000, Tarzan). Of the PG's and PG-13's, only two(!) were Disney. And both of Disney's PG efforts were flops, compared to the huge successes of the second Austin Powers movie and the record-breaking Sixth Sense.
So, based on an admittedly small sample, I am unconvinced by the argument that Disney is crowding other studios out of the market for non-R movies. I should note, though, that this year's two biggest box office hits are both rated R (Gladiator and Mission: Impossible 2), although this has been a decent year for movies and the next two biggest hits are PGs (X-Men and The Perfect Storm). Therefore I think we need another explanation.
Ananda
