EDITORIAL: The Disney/Marvel Buyout!!!!

EDITORIAL: The Disney/Marvel Buyout!!!!

With all of the news we've recently been getting about the Marvel movies in production, the topic has come up quite a bit about Disney's involvement. Most of it has been negative comments by various posters. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but I would like to have my say in the matter, and want to hear yours as well!

Editorial Opinion
By CorndogBurglar - Feb 25, 2010 07:02 PM EST
Filed Under: Other

First of all, my big gripe here is the fact that there are so many people still saying that Marvel will be ruined by Disney. I find it funny AND ironic that with all the sarcastic comments and bad talk, Disney has literally done nothing to deserve it. Thats right, I'm on Disney's side. When we first got the news, I think everyone got that "OH NO!" thought in their head. After thinking about it rationally and looking at the past actions of Disney, I don't think there is any reason to worry.

1. Disney has bought MANY companies in the past. Touchstone Pictures, Miramax Films, Hollywood Pictures, Dimension Films, just to name a few. ALL of these companies were allowed to continue operating exactly how they always did before the buy out. You know what?? Those companies also come out with Rated R movies on a regular basis. So, first and foremost, I think its important to realize that, in the past, Disney has shown NO history of "ruining" their bought out companies. I see no reason why they would start with Marvel.

2. Disney came out in the forefront of the buy out, and flat out said that they would NOT be changing ANY of Marvel's already existing properties, and had NO intentions of "Disneyfying" anything that is already out there.

3. It would be complete and utter lunacy for them to "Disneyfy" things. Sure, we might see amalgamated "versions" of Disney/Marvel characters in toys, comics, shows, and so forth. But that does NOT mean that the existing MU will be dumbed down, or made more kiddy. I say this because if Disney did that, they would LOSE more than half of their fanbase. The fans are where they make their money. Don't think adults represent over half of their market?? Go to a big convention like NY Comic Con, and just look around. The Adult to Child ratio is overwhelming. It would be VERY bad business to push away all the money that adults like you and me pump into their company. That, my friends, is Business 101. You don't buy a successful company, and then push away half the fans that made it successful. Common sense, really.

4. Marvel has been catering to children since before most of our time. Remember those "Secret Wars" action figures when you were little? The ones with the rubber arms and legs, and solid plastic torsos? I know I had a ton of them, and quite honestly, they were a HUGE factor in making me a lifelong fan. "Get them while they're young, and you have a fan for life." It was being done when we were all children, and its still happening today. Get over it. Just because there are kiddy versions of our heroes, DOES NOT mean they replace the adult versions.

5. Why is it that everytime we get some kind of "iffy" news about something, suddenly its Disney's fault?? Yet when we get a TON of awesome news for the THOR movie, no one is there to say, "GOOD JOB DISNEY?"

And I swear if I hear one more ignorant person blame Disney for Super Hero Squad, I'll send my aura through the wires of the internet, come out through your computer monitor, and eat your face. lol

So, if you've made it through all this reading, then I thank you kindly, regardless of your opinion, and I challenge ANYONE to find me ONE example of Disney buying and ruining a company, and HOW they ruined it.

I hope to see everyone's opinion about this, and hopefully we can talk about it in a respectful way. Thanks for your time.

-CDB

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OdinsBeard
OdinsBeard - 2/25/2010, 7:21 PM
CORNDOG@ yes.






that is all
OdinsBeard
OdinsBeard - 2/25/2010, 7:23 PM
oh and for anybody that watches LOST on ABC (a disney owned network) that's seriously the most violent TV show i've ever seen.

this week claire freakin Mark McGuire'd some dude in the stomach with an axe and it showed the whole thing blood and all. and that's not the first time something like that has happened.

and that is on freakin network tv!!!
DogsOfWar
DogsOfWar - 2/25/2010, 7:37 PM
Good job CDB!

Disney is one of the most profitable companies in the world. They do more than cater to kids. Have you seen them Disnify ESPN? Nope, didn't think so.

I am sure they will put out some kiddie versions of our superheroes but I guarantee it will be better than the stories on Ironboy or whatever that is called.

Oh & CDB- I fully blame Disney for Super Hero Squad, c'mon,let me see you get through my firewall! :D
Wadey09
Wadey09 - 2/25/2010, 7:49 PM
in the wise words of RandomGuy:

Wadey09
Wadey09 - 2/25/2010, 7:49 PM
'nuff said!
CorndogBurglar
CorndogBurglar - 2/25/2010, 8:00 PM
@ Dogs

i should be around your firewall by tomorrow. i didn't say i was fast, lol.
CorndogBurglar
CorndogBurglar - 2/25/2010, 8:10 PM
@ wadey

see man, thats exactly what i'm talking about, though. everyone is so terrified that Disney will ruin marvel, but the only things we've seen thats dumbed down the characters, is made by the fans themselves, lol. thats irony at its best
foxfan
foxfan - 2/26/2010, 4:14 AM
i'm actually looking forward to some disney animated marvel movies VERY much. let's face it, disney has an epic history with animation!

and movies like the original pirates of the caribbean prove they can accomplish great big budget films
CorndogBurglar
CorndogBurglar - 2/26/2010, 5:16 AM
@ foxfan

yeah man! there are a lot of heroes that work really well in a pixar (also owned by Disney) type movie. Runaways, Fantastic Four / Incredibles crossover could be cool. but really, Ant-Man should be made like that! it could be similar that old movie ANTS!
ThunderCougarFalconBird
ThunderCougarFalconBird - 2/26/2010, 8:29 AM
Nicely said sir. Without trying to sound pompous, I never even had that 'oh no' phase. Sure, I was a little shocked that such a huge deal was being made but I never saw it as a bad thing.

People are also blaming Disney for the Spiderman 90210-boot. It's Sony handling that franchise NOT marvel/disney, and we don't even know what it will shape up to be like. They are taking Parker back to his roots at high school, that's all we've heard, and depending on how it's handled it could be a very good move.
ThunderCougarFalconBird
ThunderCougarFalconBird - 2/26/2010, 8:31 AM
tea - I know man! Odeon won't show it! Guess I just have to get used to not living nextdoor to Alice.
CorndogBurglar
CorndogBurglar - 2/26/2010, 8:49 AM
@ tea

wow man, that IS messed up! i mean, it isn't weird for companies to try to get their DVD's out quick, but its almost unheard of to want to get a movie out of theatres quicker. strange.

thanks though man, its just irritating seeing people whine about disney when they have no clue what they're talking about. :)
CorndogBurglar
CorndogBurglar - 2/26/2010, 8:53 AM
@ ron

yeah, there are a lot of uneducated people around that think just because a movie is about a marvel character, that it means marvel/disney has something to do with it. those people are just ignorant.

i'll admit, my first reaction to Disney buying marvel was "OH NOES!" but after thinking about it, it just doesn't make sense for disney to screw things up.

and the spidey reboot. you know how people are. they hear reboot and immediately hate anything involved. (not necessarily wrongly, either mind you. but in this case, a lot of people have been begging for a spidey reboot, then they do it, and people hate it, lol) like you said, nothing has been said about the reboot other than the fact that Pete will be back in high school, and the budget sounds kind of low. thats not a lot of info to judge.
foxfan
foxfan - 2/26/2010, 10:27 AM
@cdb

"antman" made like the animated "ants!?!" friggin' awesome idea dude. i can TOTALLY see that lolz. very fun stuff

and does anyone remember the TMNT animated movie that was at theatres a few years back? i know that's not disney, and so a bit off topic, but i wish some animated CBMs had that style of animation. not sure what it is, but it looks like a variant on cgi or something. wouldn't a new animate hulk movie in the style of TMNT be rad?
OdinsBeard
OdinsBeard - 2/26/2010, 11:02 AM
Tea@

yeah man i read that story. i think the UK cinemas are shooting themselves in the foot on that one.

no one knows at the time the movie is released when the DVD is going to come out (besides, apparently, the theaters) so all the people that want to go see 'alice' are going to see it anyway. they arent thinking "oh i'll wait 4 months" no they want to see it in 3D on a big screen. i think they're just being stubborn and missing out on A LOT of dough.
CorndogBurglar
CorndogBurglar - 2/26/2010, 11:11 AM
@ foxfan

yeah, man! i don't mean it has to be like, ants vs. termites or anything, like that animated movie was, lol. but just the look, i can totally picture Antman controlling ants with giant blades of grass around and everything though. :)
KeithM
KeithM - 2/26/2010, 12:10 PM
Good article, good points well made. :thup:

I'm with you 100%.

If Disney are so determined to 'ruin' their purchased companies, why did they make John Lasseter (head of Pixar) their chief creative officer rather than putting their own man in charge at Pixar? Perhaps it's because they're actually really smart people who let the creatives do what they do best, while they provide a solid financial base and the best marketing and distribution network in the industry, and as a company, reap the rewards. Sounds like a good plan to me.

As CDB says, it would be stupid of them to interfere with an already successful operation and risk losing the hard-won and loyal fanbase Marvel have built up - and Disney have proven themselves to be anything but stupid.

If only all companies were run this way...

Maybe we'll see the Marvelisation of Disney characters instead and not the other way around. The Incredible Goofy, the Mighty Duck, The Ducktastic Four (McScrooge, Hughie, Dewey and Louie), The Amazing/Spectacular Mickey... And then we can have Ultimate Mickey where Pluto, having been a test subject for the Super-Dog serum, goes on a rampage, starts eating children and Mickey has to put a team together of all Disney's greatest heroes to stop him...

I'll get my coat.

@tea: I read somewhere that the dispute had been settled, but I can't find it now, so I may have dreamt it (Edit: Which you've just mentioned in the post above - so perhaps I didn't dream it after all). It's only the Odeon chain though - Vue and Cineworld will still be showing it (so unless you live in a real backwater it shouldn't be too hard to get to one).

The dispute is allegedly all about piracy during that window between when cinemas stop showing the film and the release of the DVD. Disney are saying that, on a case by case basis, the three month window, which the cinemas say they need in order to ensure their bottom line, could be shortened to lessen the impact of piracy in that 'barren' period when people might want to see it but can't, so they'll resort to downloading it (in theory).

I don't really buy that argument myself. This move sounds to me like Disney aren't all that confident of the movie's legs and expect cinemas to stop showing it fairly quickly, well before the 3 month period is up, and just want to get it on the shelves as quickly as possible to make as much of the film's marketing as they can without 'doubling up' too much between the movie's release and the DVD coming out. It IS a Tim Burton film though, so they're probably right. :)
CorndogBurglar
CorndogBurglar - 2/26/2010, 2:50 PM
@ keith

LMAO!!!! but you know, i actually wouldn't have any problem with things like that. if you go to MGM Studios in Florida, they have Star Wars action figures that are "played" by Disney characters. I got a Goofy/Darth Vader figure, lol. they also have Mickey Mouse as Luke Skywalker, Stitch (from Lilo and stitch) as Darth Maul, and some others. (can't remember all of them, lol). and its not like its just Disney/Marvel. when i was little (maybe 23 years ago or so), Hardee's toys in their kids meals were DC/WB hybrid characters for a time. they had Bugs Bunny as Superman. Taz as The Flash. Daffy Duck as Batman, and Porky Pig as Robin. and some made up female animal character as Wonder Woman. So it goes both ways.

point is, its just fun stuff. it isn't there to replace the actual continuity of Star Wars, just like Disney isn't here to disturb the continuity of the MU. and i'll be honest, i'd buy a Cap-Duck figure any day of the week. :)
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