Spiderman and Hulk move into Fantasyland (Disney to buy Marvel for $4 Billion)

[Queentitania19]

As for who they might pick-up next, Dreamworks is for sale but doesn't really have anything that Disney wants or needs (other than to make them go away), Lucasfilm is not for sale (that we know of) but is full of things that Disney wants. Badly. George is getting older and wants his franchise taken care of. A Disney-Lucas deal would not surprise me at all within the next 5-8 years.

But I've been wrong before.

Disney already bought Dreamworks. They cut a deal for 100 mil and some movies with a distribution deal like the one they used to have with Pixar.

[CrystalJ.Squirrel]

I am a huge fan of Marvel Comics and am currently on staff on a comic book forum. Many Marvel fans are worried that the characters are going to be kidified. It is legit worry because Marvel Comics deals with serious themes. For example, mutants are an allegory for racism. But I think this will be similar to DC's relationship to Warner.

And I think a Howard the Duck/Donald Duck miniseries would be awesome!

[knittingknerd]

^^^Or incredibly scary! Howard the Duck scared the tar out of me as a kid!

[Mr Wiggins]

I am a huge fan of Marvel Comics and am currently on staff on a comic book forum. Many Marvel fans are worried that the characters are going to be kidified. It is legit worry because Marvel Comics deals with serious themes.

My worry is that the kidification will happen gradually, over years, as Marvel executives and artists leave and are replaced by others. Look at the morphing of Winnie the Pooh from a charming family theatrical short in the mid-60's to mindless toddler-fodder today -- and most of that devolution took place in the last 7 years, pushed by the same branding executives who are drooling over the Marvel acquisition today.

Consider the dumbing down by degrees of Disneyland attractions in the last 10 years. The company that used to give you Pirates of the Caribbean and Haunted Mansion now spends big bucks on kiddie fare like Pooh, Nemo and (God help us) the New Tinker Bell.

It's not that someone at Disney will give the order to kidify a Marvel character. It will happen over a period of time as the Marvel management midset inexorably changes to match Disney's mindset.

Want to see where the creative vision and spirit of Marvel is headed over the long haul? Look at Disney itself in the last 25 years.

[CrystalJ.Squirrel]

I am torn on this issue. So I am looking on this site and Marvel's forums before posting an opinion on the site I work on. The main sign of hope is Warner's relationship to DC. Warner pretty much allows DC to what they want in the comics.

Though I think it is ironic that this is all happening during Marvel's Dark Reign event! The bad guys have won in the Marvel Universe, and now this Universe is the property of Disney! Though Norman Osborn is bound to get kicked out of power soon. My vote is for Dr. Doom to rule the Marvel Universe. Latveria is about the size of Disneyland.

[disneyfann121]

I think that's the thing though... Marvel isn't a rival. Maybe they can be seen as one in the theme park business, but comics and superheroes is a market that other studios were making a lot of money off of and Disney.... well... they weren't.

DC is owned by Warner Bros. Marvel isn't, but they shop around to Universal, Fox, Paramount, Lionsgate... basically everyone was eating a piece of the pie except for Disney. You can say that Disney just wasn't playing that game at the time. But after the popularity of their Pirates of the Caribbean and the fizzle of Chronicles of Narnia, they wanted something else that is bankable.


If you really look at the output that Disney as a studio does, they really don't put out a lot compared to their rivals. So you can almost say that Disney is doing this to STAY in the game. They're securing themselves a considerable stake in the market in the future.

This is smart business.

Paying too much for an asset that may well have peaked already is hardly "smart business." Super hero movies are a trend, and who knows how long trends last? One thing we do know for sure is that trends are hot for a while, then they peak, and cool off. Sometimes they die off completely.

An example of smart business would have been if Disney had scooped up Marvel when it was a penny stock, and then developed the Marvel characters themselves. Another example would be if they created another hot new franchise or trend themselves. They certainly have the money and resources to speculate, take some low risk/high reward chances, and see what catches on with the public. This is Disney; they're supposed to be a market leader, not a follower. They're supposed to blaze some trails; their founder certainly did, and he did it after starting from scratch.

Instead, what are they doing? They are coming in late to the game (again), and paying a ridiculous sum to buy into a mature market. That is NOT smart business. That is chasing a hot trend; that is not leading and creating. Any moron with a deep pocket or big credit line can do that (until he runs out of money, of course). It's analagous to the amateur stock picker who jumps on the bandwagon of a hot stock, buying high then selling low when it deflates.

You say Disney is doing this to stay in the game. You are talking as if super heroes were the only thing going. Sure, super hero movies are hot right now, but it's not as if they are the whole ball game. There are plenty of other kinds of movies that do very well at the box office, and some super hero movies have tanked (the first Hulk movie, Daredevil, Elektra).

And what happens when the next big trend comes along, pioneered by someone else who had a lot more vision than Disney's short sighted management? Disney will roll out yet another belated multi-billion dollar acquisition? How long can they keep this up before sinking the entire ship in an ocean of debt?

[Baloo]

Agreed, Marvel to me just isnt up the Disney road for me. Disney is so family orientated, based on magic and imagination, with good clean fun.

i don't think adding them to the Disney line-up is good for the Disney image.
will disney make profit? YES, but im afraid the people in charge are thinking about how to make big bucks more than the quality and image of disney, i personally dont think that this is the sorta thing is what Walt would like.

Hey, i may be wrong so don't be mad at me.

That is why Disney has several divisions and studio names that distribute movies and content depending on their topic.

Miramax, Touchstones, Walt Disney studio, Disney/Pixar, Walt Disney animation and several others. They know very well where they should put the Disney label and when they should not.

[Baloo]

I am a huge fan of Marvel Comics and am currently on staff on a comic book forum. Many Marvel fans are worried that the characters are going to be kidified. It is legit worry because Marvel Comics deals with serious themes. For example, mutants are an allegory for racism. But I think this will be similar to DC's relationship to Warner.

And I think a Howard the Duck/Donald Duck miniseries would be awesome!

I am not sure why but i would love to see a remake of Howard the Duck.

[MickeyMousePal]

Exactly. I always find it funny how they somehow think what Disney did was so unique. The Lion King was the first Disney animated movie that wasn't based on an existing story.



Exactly.

Did you ever hear about Kimba, the White Lion? It was a Japanese anime back in the 1960's. The Lion King has a similar plot to Kimba, the White Lion. The only thing different is that a professional hunter Viper Snakely is used instead of Scar.

[Sleepy505]

Disney buys Marvel Entertainment for 4 Billion expect another entry hike I'm guessing $100.00 per adult $93.00 for children! I really hope they don't take it out on us. I really love Disney but I'm not sure this was a good Idea Disney already has so many characters, Marvel Comics is so different from Disney Characters it just doesn't seem seem right, am I the only one that feels this way. I know all of the new Disney empire heads did it to profit from this buy but it still doesn't seem right. I may be wrong.

[Sleepy505]

Paying too much for an asset that may well have peaked already is hardly "smart business." Super hero movies are a trend, and who knows how long trends last? One thing we do know for sure is that trends are hot for a while, then they peak, and cool off. Sometimes they die off completely.

An example of smart business would have been if Disney had scooped up Marvel when it was a penny stock, and then developed the Marvel characters themselves. Another example would be if they created another hot new franchise or trend themselves. They certainly have the money and resources to speculate, take some low risk/high reward chances, and see what catches on with the public. This is Disney; they're supposed to be a market leader, not a follower. They're supposed to blaze some trails; their founder certainly did, and he did it after starting from scratch.

Instead, what are they doing? They are coming in late to the game (again), and paying a ridiculous sum to buy into a mature market. That is NOT smart business. That is chasing a hot trend; that is not leading and creating. Any moron with a deep pocket or big credit line can do that (until he runs out of money, of course). It's analagous to the amateur stock picker who jumps on the bandwagon of a hot stock, buying high then selling low when it deflates.

You say Disney is doing this to stay in the game. You are talking as if super heroes were the only thing going. Sure, super hero movies are hot right now, but it's not as if they are the whole ball game. There are plenty of other kinds of movies that do very well at the box office, and some super hero movies have tanked (the first Hulk movie, Daredevil, Elektra).

And what happens when the next big trend comes along, pioneered by someone else who had a lot more vision than Disney's short sighted management? Disney will roll out yet another belated multi-billion dollar acquisition? How long can they keep this up before sinking the entire ship in an ocean of debt?

I'm with you, how many Superman, Spiderman, and Hulk movies that we have already seen they just seem so played out. I just can not see these characters walking around the parks.

[tasman]

Islands of Adventure could possibly replace Spiderman with the Transformers ride that's coming to Hollywood and Singapore, if they had to, since reportedly it uses the same technology. Of course Universal probably wants to keep it around for at least another 5 - 10 years, it being about a decade old now. Other rides like Hulk and Doom would be fairly easy to modify as they are mostly unthemed as they are today.

At any rate we finally know how Disney is going to combat Potterland at IOA. Instead of building rides themselves, they'll collect royalties from Universal.

[seafaring_ghost]

Reupping the contract with Stan Lee's Pow entertainment and now buying Marvel... what does it mean what does it mean.

[Mousepoop]

Disney already bought Dreamworks. They cut a deal for 100 mil and some movies with a distribution deal like the one they used to have with Pixar.

Disney doesn't own Dreamworks. They just cut a deal for 30 movies over the next five years.

[Mr.Gray]

I don't think so much worry is needed. Disney is a smart business company, whether you like management or not, they have brought Disney to a powerhouse. They're not going to do anything to butcher the Disney image.
When Disney bought ESPN, we didn't see any sort of sports attraction added to the parks. Same with Marvel, just because they are both animated characters, it doesn't mean they will intersperse them.
Here's what I expect we'll see-

1- A Marvel store added to Downtown Disney.
2- New Super Hero blockbusters being released by Miramax or Touchstone.
3- Maybe Disney character comics under Marvel's title. (i.e.- The Incredibles, and I'd hope in a retro style)
4- Maybe a future Pixar/Marvel flick.