Or: Where have all my childhood heroes gone?
"Nobody tells me what to do, bub. You can take your $4 billion and…" (Photo: flickr.com)
The Walt Disney Company lost its way a long time ago when it came to quality family entertainment. Of this there is little doubt. I wonder what the cast of timeless characters like Mickey, Goofy and Donald would think about the direction the company went in the post Walt Disney era. For every success like “Aladdin,” “The Lion King” or “The Little Mermaid,” there are dozens of brain numbing (or otherwise openly offensive) pieces of tripe that the company tries to shovel into kids’ brains. Even their efforts with Mickey and the gang in recent years have managed to suck much of the life out of those early creations. It’s a kind of spiritual bankruptcy anymore, and longtime fans are hoping for some hard money loans to stop the bleeding.
And now Disney buys Marvel Entertainment
At one time, Spider-Man was the world to me. What will happen to him now? Will the powers that be at Disney foil the friendly neighborhood hero in a way Green Goblin or Doctor Octopus never could? Will the Iron Man film franchise take a U-turn as he stares down the forces of Marvin the Martian? Will the Hulk star in the remake of “Beauty and the Beast?” Are Wolverine and the X-Men headed toward their greatest challenge yet: a showdown with the Mighty Ducks? At all sounds so stupid, but these are the fears rattling around in my cranium right now. “Business is business” does not make the destruction of childhood icons easier to fathom.
Disney, Marvel and a boatload of money
According to Marketwatch, the Walt Disney Company will fork over $4 billion for the rights to Marvel Entertainment. Disney CEO Bob Iger may be taking quite a gamble here, as media stock has fallen a great deal. Will Disney be able to squeeze exciting content out of Marvel and keep it relevant and interesting? Or will Spider-Man, Iron Man, Captain America, the Fantastic Four, the Silver Surfer and so many more report to Mickey Mouse for their walking papers as the Marvel Entertainment arm of Disney slides into the abyss?
Is Marvel Entertainment Disney enough?
Or will the Disney Company have to kill the spark that made so many of Marvel’s heroes and villains so entertaining and relevant? I can’t imagine that concepts like Marvel’s recent “Civil War” cataclysm would fit into the Disney brand of storytelling. What about Wolverine for younger children? It is simply doesn’t work, despite when Fischer Price has done with the young Spider-Man and friends toy line. Wolverine is a man-beast, a Jekyll-Hyde amalgamation who is “the best” at what he does: killing fast and silent with razor-sharp adamantium claws. Evisceration and Mickey Mouse are strange bedfellows.
Can Bob Iger be everyone on this boat happy?
Like a true-to-life Captain Merrill Stubing, can the Marvel CEO keep everyone on this Love Boat happy? He’s managed to get the investors to start paying attention to Disney again, but this Disney Marvel venture could have everyone singing a different tune if a synergy cannot be found. Iger has seen that taking risks can pay big dividends on Wall Street, and using Marvel to inject Disney with new life could cement his legacy. If the characters can co-exist, it would greatly expand a Disney Company that had become somewhat narrow in its appeal, compared with new titans like Pixar.
Watch where the money goes
If new marketing ventures successfully merge the identities of both companies into an exciting synthesis, Disney Marvel could be on top of the world. Or if Marvel characters sink into the mire, the $4 billion deal could be a titanic dud for Mickey and crew. Hard money loans couldn’t cut through that mess any better than Wolverine’s claws.
Apply Now!
But in your case, click the button to apply. You can get by with less than $4 billion, as you aren’t Disney Marvel.
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