Okay, but...

[nenena]

Since I just saw this pop up on my flist five times in a row...

Yes, people, Disney *did* just buy Marvel.

But! Disney also already owns Touchstone, Miramax, Hollywood Pictures, Hollywood Records, ESPN, Lifetime, A&E, The History Channel, Hyperion Publishing, Discover Magazine, US Weekly, and CrossGen Comics. As well about a jillion other things, too.

I wouldn't exactly start panicking about any Marvel properties being Disneyfied any time soon. And it's not like Marvel hasn't ever Disneyfied themselves before, either. Heck, they started doing that back in the 80's.

Remember: Miramax, people. Miramax. Here's a list of Miramax films, in case anybody needs it. Miramax was bought by Disney in 1993. Note that Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill, all of the Kevin Smith movies, and some of the Halloween and Hellraiser movies, were released after 1993. And it was Disney who gave a recording contract to Atreyu.

(I think that discussing the business side of the Disney/Marvel thing is very interesting, but I'm not sure why I've seen people panicking about the content of Marvel's comics or movies being influenced by Disney. Bwuh? That's not how it works!)

Edited to add: Heeeey, maybe now the Spiderman musical can actually get some funding!

Comments

[arionhunter.livejournal.com]

A kind of personal clingyness endemic to comic properties, I suspect, and Marvel especially. They liked to hang on to their "scrappy underdog independent" label long after it lost relevance. It was DC who had to kowtow to corporate masters.

Personally the business side fascinates me, as it means a real shake-up for the industry. But I despise how Disney tends to be 3 parts homogenization of culture via economic imperialism and one part localization. I'd like to stop the Disneyfication of the planet, not hasten it.

[nenena.livejournal.com]

But I despise how Disney tends to be 3 parts homogenization of culture via economic imperialism and one part localization. I'd like to stop the Disneyfication of the planet, not hasten it.

Good point. This is very, very true.

[arionhunter.livejournal.com]

OT: I love when Disneyfication leads to weird-ass reverse Western co-optification. In example: PR 2010, which will be based off a sentai whose DNA is 100% Japanese.

So the PR cast will be (at least half) white Westerners playing samurai. Who write and wear magic kanji. And pilot origami.

And one of them is a sushi chef.

[broccoman.livejournal.com]

That just sounds like a cosplayfail gone wrong.

[neocloud9.livejournal.com]

I think it's kinda funny how people are freaking out over this. REMAIN CALM, EVERYBODY.

[gibbboy.livejournal.com]

When I first heard this news, I had a mental image of having Sora, Cloud, and Spiderman in my Kingdom Hearts party. :P

[nenena.livejournal.com]

I gotta admit, that would be freakin' awesome.

[meiousei.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I don't think it's cause for alarm, at least in terms of content for Marvel. I'm not sure how they were faring in this current economic climate either, so maybe this purchase is a much-needed shot in the arm for them. And the Disney XD Channel has been airing X-Men: Evolution for at least a couple of months, so they've clearly been fostering some sort of relationship. However, ditto to the above comment about how Disney's purchase further homogenizes the entertainment industry, which raises my eyebrows more than their actual purchase does.

I'm interested more on the judicial/legal/copyright end of things, which doesn't exclusively have to do with Marvel. For example, I know that Marvel and 20th Century Fox got into it a couple of years ago regarding the Mutant-X TV series. Marvel is no wimp when it comes to filing (or defending against) litigation, but I'm curious about how the dynamics of power play out in the comics world with a juggernaut (heh) like Disney at the wheel of such a huge chunk of the comics industry.

[meiousei.livejournal.com]

Haha, plus Fox and Disney can both be utter bastards in court. I would totally see a courtroom drama movie with a Disney VS Fox set-up. I imagine X-Persons, Star Warsians, a lot of objections, and even more UST between each corporation's lawyer.

It would be produced by Time Warner (which owns DC comics, BTW).

[nenena.livejournal.com]

I would totally watch this.

Especially if somebody brought up the Chewbacca Defense.

[atelierjoh.livejournal.com]

It's similar to how people freaked out about Square-Enix merging, and S-E buying out Eidos and Taito and a bunch of other properties. The buying company isn't that stupid to go and change everything about the people they buy out :|

(Having Spider-Man in your Kingdom Hearts party would be absolutely bitching, though.)

[orthoflame.livejournal.com]

I can't see why this is a big deal. As long as Disney doesn't tamper with Marvel's operations or something, it's not a big deal.

Although... I would love to see a Spiderman musical, especially if it was in traditional 2D animation. I can see it now... Spiderman: The Musical - coming to theaters soon!

[nenena.livejournal.com]

Actually, there'a already a Spiderman musical in the works (http://spidermanonbroadway.marvel.com/), but they've run into a funding crunch.

[orthoflame.livejournal.com]

Ah, nice! Too bad about that funding crunch (maybe Disney can mend it).

But the first thing that popped up in my mind was an old-school Disney 2D animated movie featuring Spiderman and the crew. Haha, corny, I know.

[the-terrible.livejournal.com]

A lot of the people who are panicking over this don't really understand how the business world works, anyway.

The companies don't even need to be under one roof in order to mimic or parody one another's styles in the first place.

[nenena.livejournal.com]

The companies don't even need to be under one roof in order to mimic or parody one another's styles in the first place.

Yes, this. Influence happens with or without corporate involvement. And it's not like "Disney influencing other companies" is the only direction that it works, either. It's a two-way street. Darkwing Duck and Gargoyles were Disney projects that were directly influenced by DC comics and WB cartoons. W.i.t.c.h. was directly influenced by Japanese anime and German teenybopper cartoons. And I'm sure that Disney must have done stuff influenced by Marvel, but right now I can't think of any off the top of my head.

[the-terrible.livejournal.com]

Hmmm... neither can I.

[broccoman.livejournal.com]

This may actually get me to go into Marvel. I refuse to buy anything DC right now due to various factors. I just don't know what is actually something I'd like.

X-Men stuff wouldn't do it for me- as I'm watching Zettai Karen Children right now- which is like a more awesome version of that, even with the anime designs straight out of the 90s.

[lost-angelwings.livejournal.com]

I laughed at the panicky comments on the Toronto Star website on that news.. to me this is the same as if any super giant media corporation bought a smaller one... everybody seems to be sure that this means the disneyfication of Marvel or something >.>;;

[nenena.livejournal.com]

I know. Worrying about the "Disneyfication" of Marvel is fail on so many levels.

1. As if Disney acquiring a company automatically means that said company can't do counterculture, subversive, and/or adult-oriented entertainment anymore (see: Miramax),

2. As if Marvel weren't *already* marketing kid-friendly Disneyfied versions of all of their most famous characters in the first place (see: any Saturday morning cartoon show, Hulk lunchboxes, Spiderman Loves Mary Jane, Marvel Adventures, etc.),

3. As if characters like Spiderman and the X-Men weren't *intended* to be marketed toward kids in the first place. Then again a lot of comic book fans like to deny this. And a lot of comic book writers try to deny this, too. But the existence of Spiderman coloring books certainly doesn't change the fact that the Spiderman movies could be enjoyed by grown-ups! Neither would Spiderman's presence in Disneyland change any of that, either.