Here is a semi-contrarian view of the Disney purchase of Marvel which kind of expands on criticisms I have of Disney as well. Disney is buying entry into a market it has been dead to for about a decade. Surprisingly, I didn't make a snide joke about it in my brief post noting it, I've been telling people who would here me that Disney has hit a brick wall; the people they seem able to relate to are tween and teen girls. I would not be surprised to learn that they have a last ditch project in the Imagineering Labs to make young boys look and behave more like young girls. That would explain the Jonas Brothers.
As recently as the 90s, Disney could themselves release films that were broad, critically acclaimed hits. Today's Disney can be described as selling fairy tale princesses to girls. What is remarkable is how much its other properties (with the obvious exception of ESPN) has femmed up. ABC TV is essentially the WB Network for grown ups (h/t Jaime Weinman). The Disney Channel, which used to be home to shows like Jet Jackson, The Jersey and Even Stevens (starring a pre-Transformers Shia LeBeouf) is now almost entirely devoted to shows starring future female Disney pop stars. Miley Cyrus. Selena Gomez (summary). Again, the Jonas. And for all of the work Disney spent relaunching little watched Toon Disney into Disney XD as a male counterpart to The Disney Channel, XD is still far more popular with girls. (Curiously, it may be because they write the boys in XD shows as having doubts and insecurities, which would make them more appealing to girls than boys. Quote the article: "Amid their tomfoolery, the lead characters sometimes turn to the camera to agonize over decisions, expressing self-doubt in a way that is reassuring to girl audiences,")
For this entire decade, Disney could not pay a boy to partake in entertainment from the castle branded company. Now the House of Mouse pins its hopes on the House of Ideas, though critics will note the ideas are still 30 plus years old. They will still need good people to execute those ideas. Whether or not Marvel has those people remain to be seen,
Originally posted on sterlingnorth.vox.com
I never would have thought it'd be worth $4 billion to annoy me.
And they renewed Wizards of Waverly Place.
And since I first posted about Disney and The Princess and the Frog (formerly: The Frog Princess), they've already stumbled out of the gate. The film has been preemptively declared racist, which has sent Disney scrambling to make changes and clarify matters.
I'm glad you're trying again, and with hand-drawn animation. Ironically, the paucity of such releases will help you look fresh again. But you need to get this project right. Placing one of us, and New Orleans into such important leading roles has made it all the more imperative that you don't fail us here. And marking this as your return to classical animation means your reputation is on the line. Disney, unfortunately, I feel you lost your magic. Please prove me wrong.
Of course, we have to figure if they figured out what they need to do. "It doesn't matter what the technology is. It matters what the story is."
What's actually cool in this, is the story is going to take place in New Orleans and the lead will be a black character.
Too snarky? Yeah, it probably was. But still, it is a good reminder to know Jobs is not some white knight savior who has a passion for animation. He is a businessman just like everyone else.
That said, it is good that Lasseter is being given the position of running the Disney animation department.
The girl in the Starbucks logo is a mermaid. She's wearing a crown, with a star, or possibly a starfish in the middle. Most interesting though, is that those two things near the inner border of the circle logo with the horizontally wavy lines are her fins. Really. Think of her as a gymnast, or a contortionist.
But wait, she has two fins? They're almost like legs then. But she's naked. That would mean she's...
Yes, if it wasn't for the green circle, Lady Starbucks would only be seen in the underwater version of Hustler. She's a very sexual being, but that's the norm for mythological women. But that's actually the least interesting thing about this logo.
Grab a cup of coffee, folks. I found a long, but interesting article on the history of mermaids, using the Starbucks logo as a launching pad. Remember Disney's The Little Mermaid? In service to the classic maiden sacrifices for a prince story, the Disney storymen managed to create the perfect inversion of the ancient predecessors to the mermaiden myths. Not unlike how Christianity inverted the many myths it replaced. But you all are just wondering why Lady Starbucks is spread-eagle. Heinz Insu Fenkl has the answer.
Found via Deadprogrammer's Cafe, via Meadowflower.
So That's Why Disney is Meeting in Philadelphia. . .
However, it seems to have backfired, for now the shareholders now have a second way to push Eisner to the curb.
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