LOS ANGELES — Walt Disney Co. has what could be its most formidable heroine ever in Rey, a main character in “Star Wars: Episode VII — The Force Awakens.” She could be a merchandising juggernaut, too.
In trailers, the protagonist, played by English actress Daisy Ridley, races a land-speeder, wields a stafflike weapon and helps pick an exhausted male ally up off the ground. Not much is known about her, because Disney’s keeping a lid on details before the movie’s Dec. 18 opening. One sure thing is that Rey is part of a push by the world’s largest entertainment company to attract more girls and women to the “Star Wars” franchise, and extract more money from them.
It’s a smart move, said Bank of America Merrill Lynch analyst Jessica Reif Cohen. “This is going to be massively financially successful. Literally everyone I know wants to see this movie, male or female.”
Disney has expanded “Star Wars” merchandise to include cosmetics, jewelry and purses, quite a change for a line historically dominated by lightsabers and spaceships. There’s demand: Social-media firestorms erupted when Internet critics decided Under Armour and Target hadn’t produced enough female-oriented items tied to the film.
There have been other bumps. Licensees including Hasbro and Lego have churned out Rey goods in large numbers, but while Rey figurines are on prominent display in Disney stores, they can be harder to locate in places such as Target or Toys “R” Us. And retailers have reported Rey products are selling out fast, disappointing parents.
It all underscores the challenges Disney faces. Most “Star Wars” products before the company bought creator Lucasfilm in 2012 were toys aimed at boys, said Paul Southern, who runs Disney’s “Star Wars” licensing business.
” ‘Star Wars,’ ” he said, “became known as the biggest boys brand in history.”
As Disney strives to change that with what Southern called “a really concerted effort,” retailers are being tested, as they figure out how to arrange displays and which fans to target. One issue is that some toy sections are segregated by gender, said Ken Nisch, chairman of JGA Inc., a retail design consultancy.
“If you have a property like ‘Star Wars’ that in theory is trying to be less gender-specific,” he said, “you have a challenge.”
Meanwhile, Disney and “The Force Awakens” director J.J. Abrams have been holding off on sending some items to stores, including those tied to another female character, Maz Kanata, played by Lupita Nyong’o. Abrams doesn’t want to give away too much of the plot, Southern said. And he said Disney isn’t pressing certain manufacturers, such as Jakks Pacific Inc., to put out Rey merchandise because it wants some new products on shelves after the film’s release.
Southern said retailers are embracing the new push, citing a Walmart Stores ad for “The Force Awakens” with a mother asking her daughter why a princess doesn’t let boys rescue her. “Because she’s a modern, empowered woman, unfettered by the antiquated gender roles of a bygone era,” the girl responds.
The ad has been viewed almost 21 million times on YouTube.
Still, some shoppers complain that merchandise for girls isn’t widely available. Los Angeles resident Emily Corbett said that when she inquired recently at a Toys “R” Us, a clerk directed her and daughter Tegan, 6, to “the boys aisle,” where she found nothing associated with Rey. “It’d be nice to have something for girls,” Corbett said, as Tegan played mischievously with a light saber.
Jessica Offerjost, a spokeswoman for Toys “R” Us, said the company doesn’t have gender-dedicated sections and that slim Rey pickings are due to popularity. “We are replenishing weekly, but the toys keep flying.”
