Now I can see where some people may get nervous about this news. But as the resident Disney Expert here at Bagged and Bored, I say to you in the immortal words of Douglas Adams: DON'T PANIC.
When looking at this news you have to remember that Disney is an entertainment company, and they want to diversify their assests as much as possible, which is something Disney has been working on for a while.
Disney has long been targeting the 8-14 year old male demographic with some struggling success. I'm not going to turn this into an article about gender roles and identity but it boils down to the fact that if you're a little girl you like the Disney Princess lines and if you're a boy you like the Pirates franchise.
Disney has worked on exploiting these franchises as much as possible, hence the popular Pirate and Princess Party that Disney has been running annually.
This after hours event (for the price of a special event ticket) welcomes families into a party that spans Disney's Magic Kingdom Park that features (in addition to pirates and princess all across the park): a special night-time parade, a party exclusive fireworks show, as well as a special stage show in front of the Cinderella Castle.
And if you REALLY want to be prepared for the party (or just to make you special day even more special) you could take your little girl to the Bibbidi Bobbiddi Boutique in Downtown Disney, where for a price between $48 and $280 she can be made up to look like a princess.
When looking at this news you have to remember that Disney is an entertainment company, and they want to diversify their assests as much as possible, which is something Disney has been working on for a while.
Disney has long been targeting the 8-14 year old male demographic with some struggling success. I'm not going to turn this into an article about gender roles and identity but it boils down to the fact that if you're a little girl you like the Disney Princess lines and if you're a boy you like the Pirates franchise.
Disney has worked on exploiting these franchises as much as possible, hence the popular Pirate and Princess Party that Disney has been running annually.
This after hours event (for the price of a special event ticket) welcomes families into a party that spans Disney's Magic Kingdom Park that features (in addition to pirates and princess all across the park): a special night-time parade, a party exclusive fireworks show, as well as a special stage show in front of the Cinderella Castle.
And if you REALLY want to be prepared for the party (or just to make you special day even more special) you could take your little girl to the Bibbidi Bobbiddi Boutique in Downtown Disney, where for a price between $48 and $280 she can be made up to look like a princess.
After capitalizing on this, Disney began offering a similar experience near the Pirates of the Caribbean in the Magic Kingdom for boys (for the rate of $49-$125).
While buzz is building for Disney's newest action-adventure franchise, Prince of Persia, it's more recent ventures into the pre-teen male market have been lackluster (see: Race to Witch Mountain). And with no Pirates of the Carribean picture in the works right now Disney is in a tight spot. Cue the recent changing of the Toon Disney channel to Disney XD, a more action-adventure based network and you have further proof of Disney trying to capture that younger male market. Which brings us back to the Marvel deal...
Due to Marvel's runaway success at the box office, it's proven that it's franchises are viable in the market that they're looking at.
When looking at the sale of Marvel to Disney, it's relevant to bring up the 2006 deal in which the Mouse-house bought Pixar Studios. Since Disney aquired Pixar (which it bought outright for $7 Billion), Pixar has opperated as a seperate unit, that doesn't have to answer to Disney, but both benefit from the deal that's been set up. As Disney gets to release highly successful cgi films under their banner and Pixar get's a more distribution and marketing than they would on their own.
So fans worried that characters such as the Punisher may be shevled coming out of this have nothing to worry about. Bear in mind that in addition to ABC and ESPN, Disney owns studios such as Touchstone, Hollywood Pictures and Miramax. Some notable movies from those houses?
The Sixth Sense, Reservoir Dogs, Clerks, Pulp Fiction, Trainspotting, Dogma, and Kill Bill.
All far from what most would consider "Disney-fare". Disney won't care about the publishing side of the business and Marvel Comics will be left to flourish on it's own. Let's not forget that Marvel was once bought out by ANOTHER company when it was snatched up by Toy Biz in the 90's, and it did quite well for it's self after that. But Disney knows that Marvel will be a cash cow when it comes to it's feature presentations and licensing, which is where the real money is made.
Unfortunately Disney may have to wait on some of the licensing deals Marvel has in place right now to capitalize on what it wants. Right now Marvel has a deal in place with Universal Studios, letting their characters appear at the Islands of Adventure Park, meaning it might be a while before Spider-Man and crew show up at Disney World. Also all the Pixar, Muppets and the Mickey Mouse family of characters are licensed to comic publisher BOOM! Studios, so it may be a while before we see some comics featuring Disney characters come out under their Marvel imprint.
That was weird to say. But I see this being beneficial to both Disney and Marvel, much like the Pixar deal was. And with someone like John Lasseter, who cares about not only the company but more-so characters and story, working behind the scenes at Disney if he teams up with people at Marvel I think we're going to see a renaissance.
Due to Marvel's runaway success at the box office, it's proven that it's franchises are viable in the market that they're looking at.
When looking at the sale of Marvel to Disney, it's relevant to bring up the 2006 deal in which the Mouse-house bought Pixar Studios. Since Disney aquired Pixar (which it bought outright for $7 Billion), Pixar has opperated as a seperate unit, that doesn't have to answer to Disney, but both benefit from the deal that's been set up. As Disney gets to release highly successful cgi films under their banner and Pixar get's a more distribution and marketing than they would on their own.
So fans worried that characters such as the Punisher may be shevled coming out of this have nothing to worry about. Bear in mind that in addition to ABC and ESPN, Disney owns studios such as Touchstone, Hollywood Pictures and Miramax. Some notable movies from those houses?
The Sixth Sense, Reservoir Dogs, Clerks, Pulp Fiction, Trainspotting, Dogma, and Kill Bill.
All far from what most would consider "Disney-fare". Disney won't care about the publishing side of the business and Marvel Comics will be left to flourish on it's own. Let's not forget that Marvel was once bought out by ANOTHER company when it was snatched up by Toy Biz in the 90's, and it did quite well for it's self after that. But Disney knows that Marvel will be a cash cow when it comes to it's feature presentations and licensing, which is where the real money is made.
Unfortunately Disney may have to wait on some of the licensing deals Marvel has in place right now to capitalize on what it wants. Right now Marvel has a deal in place with Universal Studios, letting their characters appear at the Islands of Adventure Park, meaning it might be a while before Spider-Man and crew show up at Disney World. Also all the Pixar, Muppets and the Mickey Mouse family of characters are licensed to comic publisher BOOM! Studios, so it may be a while before we see some comics featuring Disney characters come out under their Marvel imprint.
That was weird to say. But I see this being beneficial to both Disney and Marvel, much like the Pixar deal was. And with someone like John Lasseter, who cares about not only the company but more-so characters and story, working behind the scenes at Disney if he teams up with people at Marvel I think we're going to see a renaissance.
