Monday, August 31, 2009

The mouse that caught the spider...

Ok this is fairly fresh news for me and my overall attitude about may change as time goes by... but I just had to get this out…so here goes.
This morning I awoke to the startling news that Disney has acquired Marvel Comics. To say this shot me out of bed with a troubled brow is an understatement. My first knee-jerk reaction was utter horror. I literally saw the heroes of my childhood…well some of them, let’s not leave out DC and God knows how many others…but I digress…where was I…oh yeah…I literally saw, eh…most, heh, of the heroes of my childhood being destroyed in my minds eye and remade in the Disney image.
It put me off my coffee and made me think of canceling breakfast. Then I regained my composure and dwelled upon things after posting my remnant of a brood on FaceBook. After doing so I was slightly surprised at some folk’s complete lack of reaction, some spoke of the better line of toys Marvel would have and others spoke of more all-ages comics. The first of those are easy to answer… toys come and go, hire a sculptor that has some talent…done. But the second gave me another slice of pause in this whole matter to go with the entire full plate of things I had to digest and think about. And one I will touch on another day…in another post.
Ok…first things first… Disney owning Marvel; Let’s start with the cons shall we?
Cons; Marvel may loose it’s edge... now this point could be argued by some as a thing that has already happened. In fact the whole idea of that is an article in itself, so I won’t really touch on that here. But Disney may water down what Marvel is already putting out.
Now in Disney’s defense they have said that they are not going to change Marvel one bit to fit the Disney brand. But come on… would you buy a company and never do anything in the way it’s run to fit your way of doing things? Over time businesses have to update their plan of attack on the market and Marvel is no different. In updating their plan Disney has no choice but to mold Marvel to fit their overall scope of future goals… to do otherwise is not good business. Disney has said they will honor Marvel’s agreements with the movie companies they have made but after that is done they will bring all future films “in house” and make and distribute it themselves… but then again I would if I were them… once more it’s just smart business.
The same was said of Disney acquiring ABC. Unless your completely clueless it’s obvious that they have certainly changed…don’t get me started on those tween “comedies” they churn out…but hey, someone must dig em… so yet again…digressing…
And oh my the crossovers….sigh… or better yet… animated Marvel movies with songs just thrown in there because, “Kids just love music in their movies!” ugh…
Ok, too many things to list at the moment without sounding bitter when I’m really not. I don’t want you to get the idea that my disagreeing with a few Disney methods means I hate the company…I don’t. I actually dig the whole Disney thing in certain respects.
So that brings us to…the Pros: Ok Marvel on TV for one thing. Disney is a freaking giant in multimedia and exposure is the word here. With Disney’s reach they could be in places they never could before. Word has it that upon hearing the news of the deal that everyone from Pixar to Disney proper was excited at the idea of doing things with Marvel properties. To quote them, “Sparks will fly.”
So one must ask themselves, “If all see something will it have the same soul when they see it?”
If Marvel is changed too much from it’s core then the whole world will see nothing but a name and a pair of long johns…my fingers are crossed but with age I tend to flavor my hope with a pinch of cynicism.

No comments: