Disney Buys Marvel Comics

by Arix

Back to The Real World.

Gregori2009-09-02 10:25:29
QUOTE (Teo @ Sep 2 2009, 04:04 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
You were mentioning Miramax in a negative way though. Miramax were responsible for some really amazing movies, and their willingness to push boundaries is why. Its quite true that Disney began to stifle them, but it's hardly a black mark against Disney's name for being associated with the company. Oh no! Disney bought out the company that gave us ...Pulp Fiction... we should all boycott Disney now or maybe their movies will improve?



Yes it does reflect on Disney, the controlling holder of Miramax for what is produced, and yes, they have produced some good movies. They have also produced such things as:

QUOTE
Kids(Miramax) was described by Variety magazine as "one of the most controversial American movies ever made." According to Newsweek, "The film follows a number of barely pubescent-looking boys and girls around New York City as they smoke pot, bait gays, beat a black man and engage in graphic sex. "Under pressure Miramax formed an independent company to market and distribute the pornographic movie."


QUOTE
Priest, another Miramax release, depicts five Catholic priests as perverts and blames their perversion on Church teachings. One priest is homosexual-as-pervert; a second an adulterer; a third an alcoholic; a fourth demented; and the fifth just plain mean and vicious. This was such an alarming and sick movie that the gay newspaper The Advocate reported it under the heading "Family Alert Issues"


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Newsweek reported that in 1996, Disney considered buying Ripe, a movie about the deflowering of 14-year-old twins. Bad publicity was all that stopped the deal from being made.


While I don't fault a company for looking to grab the biggest piece of the pie. I do fault Disney for being Pro-family, Anti-drug, Pro-Children, yadd yadda yadda while supporting such things as above.

Or how about Victor Salva, convicted pedophile hired by Disney to do Powder. He also did Jeepers Creepers and Jeepers Creepers 2, all under Disney.

Then there is Danzig, satanic band that has one video out there that MTV banned due to self mutilation, masturbation and sado-masochism... Disney not only owned Danzig... they virtualy created him.

Sacred Reich, album release. Disney Hollywood Records sends marijuana bongs to all the radio stations in a publicity stunt to get the album aired.

So yes, when Disney gets involved if they feel "being edgier" is in their best interest in any of their holdings they will do so. Will they do so with Marvel Comics? Who knows, but the facts are they are well known for their "changing the direction" of their holdings.
Kiradawea2009-09-02 10:39:44
They did it so that Disney XD wouldn't be just Emperor's New School and Brandy and Mr Whiskers. Maybe.
Viravain2009-09-02 11:19:29
For some reason, I found this to be quite amusing.

The "no cuts" policy was highlighted when Miramax co-chairman Harvey Weinstein suggested editing Princess Mononoke to make it more marketable. In response, a Studio Ghibli producer sent an authentic katana with a simple message: "No cuts".
Unknown2009-09-02 12:44:06
QUOTE (Gregori @ Sep 2 2009, 08:25 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
blah etc

So yes, when Disney gets involved if they feel "being edgier" is in their best interest in any of their holdings they will do so. Will they do so with Marvel Comics? Who knows, but the facts are they are well known for their "changing the direction" of their holdings.

I have no doubt they'll ruin Marvel, just as they ruined Miramax. Not that I much care; I was never into comics anyway (eep, why am I even posting in this thread?)

You describe those films, 'Kids' and 'Priest,' as though we ought to be shocked. Films like those, ought to be aired. So they're all confronting and stuff; they portray an opinion on the seedier side of life, shedding light on taboo topics, and imo that is worthy of being aired. I don't really want to get into an art vs porn argument though (at some point, I grew out of "NOU!" arguments), so with a bit of luck you'll either not respond, or I'll have the willpower to not post back if you do.
Damadreas2009-09-02 16:31:41
Grow up, christ.

This is quite obviously more of a corporate level management or economic sort of move. Until you see Disney shoving their way through the talent and firing everybody at Marvel you're just whining for no reason. Particularly with the downturn of the economy I highly doubt the comics are unaffected(the health of the comic book industry is questionable to begin with, movies aside). With the power and money of Disney behind Marvel you no longer have to worry about any of that.

Also you seem to assume Disney is inherently cartoony goody tooshoos junk, Bambi, Aladdin, etc. You can't disregard the massive amounts of other work they've done especially if one takes into account their subsidiaries that are responsible for a huge amount of popular entertainment outside of the kid stuff.

Waah waah= This + Thread
Desitrus2009-09-02 18:18:23
Just like all pure gaming companies survive EA's influence and their "hands off approach." Which is to say, they don't.
Unknown2009-09-02 18:42:59
Honestly, until they do otherwise I'm going to trust Disney when it has been announced that they will treat Marvel similar to how they treat Pixar. Pixar has pretty much been a seperate entity. If they do something else then I'd obviously be mad, no reason for them to touch marvel. My guess is Disney mostly wants Marvel so they can distribute their currently high grossing movies.

QUOTE (Gregori @ Sep 2 2009, 06:25 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Then there is Danzig, satanic band that has one video out there that MTV banned due to self mutilation, masturbation and sado-masochism... Disney not only owned Danzig... they virtualy created him.


Not sure where you got the other stuff but your info on Danzig is fairly wrong. Glenn Danzig, the front man of Danzig, was already really well known from the Misfits, Disney didn't build any of his fame. The first four albums by Danzig were produced by Rick Rubens and put out on his label. The fifth album was picked up by Disney who then dropped Danzig not long after because of parent's groups complaining that Disney had signed a "pro-satanic" band. Only two songs I think had videos banned were "Mother" and "It's coming down" Both from albums Disney wasn't involved in. Mother had a scene of a chicken sacrifice at the end and it was cut out for MTV. It's coming down had some images of sado-masochism but I'm not sure where there was self-mutilation and masturbation. MTV had a seperate edited version to air.
Arix2009-09-02 19:24:39
As long as they don't screw up Wolverine, Deadpool, or Spiderman, I don't really care. This thread is for the people who do care to have a place to vent, so if you're going to troll, find a different place to do so
Saran2009-09-03 20:04:55
QUOTE (Viravain @ Sep 2 2009, 09:19 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
For some reason, I found this to be quite amusing.

The "no cuts" policy was highlighted when Miramax co-chairman Harvey Weinstein suggested editing Princess Mononoke to make it more marketable. In response, a Studio Ghibli producer sent an authentic katana with a simple message: "No cuts".


The no cuts clause is more on the side of Studio Ghibli though, as a result of the horror that was "Warriors of the Wind"

Though i am curious as to whether they will introduce some version of the 3 season rule.
Unknown2009-09-06 11:29:29
As a comic book fan, this has some concerns but not that much.

Right now I see it not affecting the books short term. Marvel and Disney already have had a bit of a relationship. They've been playing a lot of Marvel cartoons on the Disney owned cable channels. It's gonna take a while for the various current licenses to wind down before they are able to maximize profit.

I do think we will see an eventual change in the comic books. I can see Disney considering trimming the line of comics and focusing on the core characters. Right now comic books are the least concern for these companies. Comic book sales are pretty abysmal. Marvel's better than most, but I think half the line has such few sales you end of having a lot of titles get canceled every year. I could see them trimming the line to 20 titles a month or something like that. And I think they should stop with the crossovers (which was discouraged earlier in the decade but has ramped up again).

(I do think we will see the end of the monthly comic book within the next 10-15 years. People are interested in comics, but it's been moving towards Manga and Graphic Novels and WebComics, and the super-hero has fans but it's way too dominant, while the comic strips in newspapers are likely to disappear as well.)

There is a little bit of self-indulgence lately too. While I was not a fan of the comics code, I do think the key audience is 10-16 year olds, and a few things should be toned down. I can see the MAX line dying. Core Marvel Comics should stick to PG-PG13 IMO. Too many writers today "grow with the characters" and forget that. X-Men and Spider-Man all thrived while dealing with the code restrictions.

Disney is very successful because they understand this. Look at their competition. Warner Bros. used to keep Looney Tunes characters active, but after the "Back in Action" movie didn't do well, they removed most of the reruns from all their cable channels. Worse, Hanna-Barbara has been treated with complete disrespect--other than Scooby Doo. You can't tell me you can't do anything with the characters. While some are dated concepts (I can't see people thinking of the Jetsons are cutting edge), if the only thing you can do with Johnny Quest is make him and other characters the butt of jokes on Adult Swim, it shows how stupid you are. You don't parody your best characters by using them directly! It just cheapens them!

Of course, Disney isn't perfect either. They haven't been able to do much with the Muppets, for instance. Hopefully Marvel won't suffer the same fate. Like Hanna-Barbara, some executives have a "not invented here" mindset.

QUOTE
Just like all pure gaming companies survive EA's influence and their "hands off approach." Which is to say, they don't.


Honestly, I don't understand the EA hate. The only thing I get mad about is their exploitation of workers, because I see that as bad. (But I think that's lost on the greedy and self-entitled people who use it as an excuse to pirate--I don't see a lot of people looking at it from that angle. The fact that Valve, id, and others have joined speak to the owners believe that they can do a good job without interfering too much.)
Unknown2009-09-06 17:17:21
You guys realise that they won't touch the comics at all right? They're the least profitable part of Marvel, and would be even less valuable if they were bowlderised. Disney's a money making company, not a company set out to make everything rainbows and sunshine.

Unknown2009-09-06 19:03:58
QUOTE (Archer2 @ Sep 6 2009, 01:17 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
You guys realise that they won't touch the comics at all right? They're the least profitable part of Marvel, and would be even less valuable if they were bowlderised. Disney's a money making company, not a company set out to make everything rainbows and sunshine.

Your optimism is misplaced.
Xavius2009-09-06 19:27:18
QUOTE (Kialkarkea @ Sep 6 2009, 02:03 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Your optimism is misplaced.

Not really.

See, Gregori has it all wrong. Miramax put out the infamous Sex, Lies, and Videotape before Disney bought it. Nothing they do now is more sensational than that was at the time (although they have no trouble with being equally sensational). Disney doesn't care. They bought Miramax for what it was and encourage them to continue to do what they do well, because by doing so, Disney ensures a profit. Disney would sure never put any of that out under the Disney brand, but that doesn't mean the parent company disapproves. Similarly with ABC. ABC is what ABC was. You can't claim that it's entirely hands-off, but they didn't reform or rebrand ABC in a heavy-handed fashion.