Chalk up another success for Disney-Pixar — this time on the small screen. The studio’s first TV special, “Toy Story of Terror!,” scared up 10.3 million viewers Wednesday at 8 p.m. on ABC — the night’s third-most-watched show behind ABC’s “Modern Family” and CBS’ “Criminals Minds.”
With the strong performance of Wednesday’s “Terror,” Pixar titles would seem ripe for more TV treatment. But a regular series is unlikely — the 22-minute film took 150 people two-and-a-half years to complete, according to one report.
“Based on the success of this special I would assume they would continue to do it,” says Bill Carroll, VP and director of programming at Katz Television Group.
“There’s no reason not to. If you can establish another franchise that’s an opportunity that you don’t walk away from. In the end it’s a question of maintaining the integrity of the characters but at the same time being able to exploit [them] at the right cost.”
“Terror” also scored a 3.0 rating in the advertiser-preferred adults 18-49 demo, making it the highest-rated animated special on TV since “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” in November 2011 (CBS) and on ABC since “Disney’s Prep & Landing” in December 2009.
“Terror!” is an homage to horror movies where the toys, voiced by the original “Toy Story” cast including Tom Hanks (Woody) and Tim Allen (Buzz), get stranded at a creepy motel on a road trip and start disappearing one by one.
Not only was viewership impressive, but “Terror!” was also the night’s biggest entertainment broadcast in the social media universe, generating an impressive 25,571 tweets.
The half-hour movie is set to air later this month on sister networks ABC Family and Disney XD.
ABC has been keen on adapting the film franchises of parent company Disney into TV series. Fairy-tale drama “Once Upon a Time” is now in its third season and, this fall, spawned the “Alice in Wonderland”- themed spinoff “Once Upon a Time in Wonderland” — though that premiered to a modest 5.8 million viewers on Oct. 10.
The action drama “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” is ABC’s best new show, averaging 8.7 million viewers. Network entertainment chief Paul Lee has hinted at more Marvel projects in development and said the network has started conversations with Lucasfilm about potential “Star Wars” TV adaptations.
“The relationship with . . . other Disney IP [intellectual property] across the company is something that we’re ambitious to build,” Lee told reporters in LA last August.
Seems the limit for Disney spinoffs is “To infinity — and beyond!”