Make mine...Disney?

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Maskim Posted: 08-31-2009 7:24 PM

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http://www.seattlepi.com/movies/409726_film29951477.html

So, much as DC was acquired by WB before, Marvel Comics have been purchased for $4 Billion by Disney.

Think of all the Wolverine/Rescue Rangers, or Hulk/Duck Tales cross overs that can come of this.

Ironman vs. Gizmo Duck is a near guarantee.

Press Releases of Note
The biggest news of the day is clearly Disney buying Marvel for four billion dollars. That's a whole mess of intellectual property that now falls under the mouse house shingle! Iron Man, Captain America, Spider-Man, The Avengers... the list goes on and on, Marvel boasts a library of 5,000 characters (though of course you'd be hard pressed to name 50). The other complication is Marvel's distribution deal with Paramount. Will that go away after Thor and Iron Man 2?

My guess is they'll allow Marvel to operate much like Pixar (purchased for $7.4b in 2006) - largely free to do their own thing with film development. However, I can't see Disney betting that kind of money on the comic book industry too - that's a slow growth vehicle at best in this economy. Neil Miller has more in-depth take on the entire situation over at FilmSchoolRejects.

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Mechazawa005 replied on 08-31-2009 7:59 PM

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I read that earlier and it blew my mind a little.  Thinking about it, Marvel is set to rake in a truckload of cash from movies alone in the next 2-3 years.  Let alone with merchandising, etc, etc.

I hope Disney stays "hand off" with creative decisions and doesn't try to tone things down to a more family friendly level.  I'm not sure if something like Marvel Zombies would have seen the light of day under Disney's watch.

This does make for some interesting speculation about future Kingdom Hearts games though...

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mhatter106 replied on 08-31-2009 8:03 PM

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I wonder if this means were going to seem some forced Disney property cameos in upcoming marvel movies. like jonas brothers playing a party in iron man 2 or something.

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mafafu replied on 08-31-2009 8:21 PM

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Kingdom Hearts 3 is going to freaking ROCK!

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Blackcoyote replied on 08-31-2009 8:30 PM

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such a huge part of their businesses is licensing their characters....think of all the toys, lunch boxes, underoos with mickey mouse, incredibles and spidey.  They both make movies and books.  Maybe Disney just wanted a piece of Orlando's Universal Studios.

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Maskim replied on 08-31-2009 10:32 PM

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If they stay hands off, I don't see a problem.  I recall an interview with Glen Danzig, though, where he was talking about why he made his own record label.  He said that he had signed with Disney, for albums 2-5, on a handshake and the word of Michael Eisner, that he could write and release anything he wanted.  That they knew what kind of artist he was, and that they would not interfere.  Then when he finished his first album for them, they vetoed 70% of the songs, because they weren't family friendly enough for their image, and forced him to tone everything down.  If you're a fan of Danzig, you might recall that albums 2-5 were pretty garbage.

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TenTonHammer23 replied on 08-31-2009 11:11 PM

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Does this mean they will be selling marvel stuff in the Disney stores?

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larpi replied on 09-01-2009 6:31 AM

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I dont think they will do much to change the comics themselves but they may hopefully add more money to the movies being made and not make them cheap or less violent to sell the general public because there is alot of cash there.As long as they keep doin what Marvel was originally doing they should be fine and I think they will probably not mess with a good thing especially since comics have been taking off again. Look at all the people who watch the new X-Men , Spider Man, and Iron Man cartoons they are now always playing on Disney 2. They are excellent shows and are generating a huge fanbase-myself included. Who knows maybe they will make an Incredible Hulk ride at Disneyland haha

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Hexpane replied on 09-01-2009 12:32 PM

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This is awful, the Danzig story is just one of THOUSANDS of artists and properties Disney has crushed, crippled or dumbed down.

They discarded the highly regarding "Gargoyles" franchise, and refused to release Vol 2 of season 2.

They used their radical right wing lobby groups to basically ignore copyright and patent laws which *should* have allowed much of the older Disney stuff to go public domain.  This is anti-american and demonstrates that the powers of Disney are so rich and influential, the law does not apply to them.

They can and do dictate content from the top, that is instead of the artists deciding what the content is, the business end decides.

Take one look at the TV shows they are putting out, it's mindless "family friendly" corporate poison.  Hannah Montanna, Justin Timberlake.

It's the largest media conglomerate in the world, and the USA just allowed it to get larger by absorbing Marvel.  Magically the Sirius XM merger took 2 full years to review because of lobbyists pretending there is a monopoly concern.  Yet the largest media conglomerate in the world can buy the largest comics publisher in the world and there is no concern?  This should have been illegal, in fact Disney should be legally forced to divest into smaller companies.   Sadly the government ignores anti-trust laws for corporations with the right lobby powers and right wing interests.

Just look at how awful ESPN and Sportscenter have become in the last 10 years.  They are a laughing stock of biased non-news reporting that now rivals Fox News in terms of special interests determining what news runs and what doesnt. 

They are also known for horrible working conditions for both their animal and human employees, the string of "unrelated deaths" by their performers is well known.

Have you ever watched 10 minutes of "That's so Raven"?  It eats brain cells.

The glory days of disney animated shorts are long gone. The characters or Goofy, Donald, Mickey barely get any quality treatment, in fact many would say the best use of those 3 from the past 20 years was in Kingdom Hearts.   This is just one of the many examples of why their bypass of "public domain" laws is such a problem.  They sit on these properties that by law are required to be public domain and do nothing with them.  

The point of allowing property into the public domain is to enrich citizens, culture and advance society. Allowing monopolies to control their patents/copyrights indefinitely is anti american, against the law, and hurts society in the both the short and long term.

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kevlar51 replied on 09-01-2009 12:38 PM

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ME SMASH!

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taintedzodiac replied on 09-01-2009 12:40 PM

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I choose to reserve judgement until they actually do or do not do.... well, anything.

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Black Fox Zulu replied on 09-01-2009 1:04 PM

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I think all the marvel heros and villians now have to take a trip to disneyland together.

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mafafu replied on 09-01-2009 1:47 PM

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Hexpane:

This is awful, the Danzig story is just one of THOUSANDS of artists and properties Disney has crushed, crippled or dumbed down.

They discarded the highly regarding "Gargoyles" franchise, and refused to release Vol 2 of season 2.

They used their radical right wing lobby groups to basically ignore copyright and patent laws which *should* have allowed much of the older Disney stuff to go public domain.  This is anti-american and demonstrates that the powers of Disney are so rich and influential, the law does not apply to them.

They can and do dictate content from the top, that is instead of the artists deciding what the content is, the business end decides.

Take one look at the TV shows they are putting out, it's mindless "family friendly" corporate poison.  Hannah Montanna, Justin Timberlake.

It's the largest media conglomerate in the world, and the USA just allowed it to get larger by absorbing Marvel.  Magically the Sirius XM merger took 2 full years to review because of lobbyists pretending there is a monopoly concern.  Yet the largest media conglomerate in the world can buy the largest comics publisher in the world and there is no concern?  This should have been illegal, in fact Disney should be legally forced to divest into smaller companies.   Sadly the government ignores anti-trust laws for corporations with the right lobby powers and right wing interests.

Just look at how awful ESPN and Sportscenter have become in the last 10 years.  They are a laughing stock of biased non-news reporting that now rivals Fox News in terms of special interests determining what news runs and what doesnt. 

They are also known for horrible working conditions for both their animal and human employees, the string of "unrelated deaths" by their performers is well known.

Have you ever watched 10 minutes of "That's so Raven"?  It eats brain cells.

The glory days of disney animated shorts are long gone. The characters or Goofy, Donald, Mickey barely get any quality treatment, in fact many would say the best use of those 3 from the past 20 years was in Kingdom Hearts.   This is just one of the many examples of why their bypass of "public domain" laws is such a problem.  They sit on these properties that by law are required to be public domain and do nothing with them.  

The point of allowing property into the public domain is to enrich citizens, culture and advance society. Allowing monopolies to control their patents/copyrights indefinitely is anti american, against the law, and hurts society in the both the short and long term.

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taintedzodiac replied on 09-01-2009 1:49 PM

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mafafu:

Xanax 2? Must be another Disney straight-to-DVD sequel.

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mafafu replied on 09-01-2009 1:50 PM

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taintedzodiac:

mafafu:

Xanax 2? Must be another Disney straight-to-DVD sequel.

The Heath Ledger Story?