WTF? Disney buys Marvel!

[opcoded]

Wow... um.

I'm not sure exactly what I think of this, but it's definitely a huge announcement.

Disney to acquire Marvel Entertainment for $4 Billion dollars.

Comments

[strex.livejournal.com]

Pretty awesome deal for both sides, if you ask me.

Disney brings a strong cash sheet with the ability to invest in Marvel to grow its audience. In addition, Disney provides the opportunity to leverage an in-house talent stream from Pixar and its animation studios. It also has a network of wholly-owned subsidiary studios such as Buena Vista, Spyglass, Bad Robot, etc that can easily partner with Marvel for large scale projects. Lastly, Disney will now be able to put Marvel merchandising in its theme parks, allowing exposure to a new genre for some people.

Disney, in turn, receives a highly profitable and growing company that is focused on growing its entertainment value and another tool in the arsenal for when a snag occurs in one of their business segments.

Keep in mind... this isn't Disney under Eisner. This is Disney under Iger... and he's been acutely aware of the bottom line ever since taking over.

[etherpunk.livejournal.com]

Yep, exactly. And Iger's been with Disney a long time, if I remember right.

[photosexual.livejournal.com]

I do not like the way this feels like it will turn out. Dear Marvel: R.I.P.

[etherpunk.livejournal.com]

If you are basing this on the old Disney business model then I would say you wouldn't be far off.

However, Disney under Bob Iger, especially after the Pixar merger back in 2005 (which has been a very profitable win for both companies, especially with John Lassiter heading Disney's animation department), has been especially well-run. Marvel only stands to gain from this because now they have an in-house distribution for their animated features, and access to Disney's animation department without having to spend the money to contract out to other companies.

This also gives them network exposure if Marvel Studios wants to develop something for Disney's various media properties like ABC or ABC Family, the Disney Channel or Disney XD.

It also gives Disney access to a male-centric demographic, which since their products tend to skew towards a female viewership, is a good thing.

[snuffleupagoth.livejournal.com]

Marc says just wait for the first Marvel Pixar film..
we're discussing which stories and characters would work best.

[bekkypk.livejournal.com]

This concerns me, but despite liking a good few pre-pixar films I really do not like disney, so I shall have to see...
xx