So You Got This Guy, See, and He Takes This Gal. . .

Movie trailers aren’t the only way Hollywood uses slick visual imagery to position a new film. Call it shrewd design or call it coincidence, but we couldn’t help notice an intriguing pattern in Disney Films’ recent newspaper advertising. Most of the studio’s romantic comedies have been advertised with strikingly similar visual imagery--a man holding a woman (or a little girl) up in the air.

Both sexes exude a boisterous air of warmth, joy and--among the adult couples--the promise of romantic ardor. One impish rival studio exec has dubbed the series of ads “Love Is in Air--About Three Feet in the Air.”

Disney’s marketing chief insists the ads are happy accidents. “A long time ago Harold Pinter was asked about the complicated symbolism in one of his plays,” explained Bob Levin, president of marketing for Disney’s Buena Vista Pictures. “And he said, ‘If I’d really put all of that work into my plays, I’d be more of a genius than I really am.’

“In other words--I know it looks like there’s a premeditated concept here, but I have to tell you, we really didn’t think it out that way.”

For “The Marrying Man,” Levin wanted a feminine image that was reminiscent of a Vargas illustration. With “Pretty Woman” and “Green Card,” the studio was simply looking for poses that conveyed an image of fun and light spirits.

“Both print images simply came out of the photo sessions for the ads,” he said. “Also, with ‘Green Card,’ since we had Gerard Depardieu, we were looking for something that conveyed a beauty and the beast image--the caveman carrying off his woman.”

For “One Good Cop,” the studio wanted to depict a father taking care of his daughter, which was a major theme of the picture. “We do want our print ads to be about something,” said Levin. “But we really didn’t have any more premeditation than that.”