Disney has rolled out one of its most elaborate and expensive marketing campaigns for Robert Zemeckis’ 3D CG-animated retelling of A Christmas Carol.   Writing for NY Times, Brooks Barnes says the studio is under pressure to deliver a hit film after a money-losing quarter and the high-profile release of chairman Dick Cook.  To ensure a successful premiere for the $175 million film, and gain enough of a following to make it an annual holiday event like Zemeckis Polar Express, Disney has rolled out a literal marketing train of a campaign with a no-holds barred budget.  Along with a traditional campaign and a digital effort that’s in all of the right social media places, the studio has taken a creative approach with street marketing.  Disney unleashed Christmas carolers when it screened the film at Cannes.  It’s planning fake snow for the London premiere.  Still, the most impressive effort might be the one Brooks hints cost Cook his job: a personnel-and-budget gobbling 40-city U.S. tour by a five car train exhibiting facts and artifacts from Charles Dickens classic tale.

Read more at NY Times.