Disney Gives Up On Being Creative

There's nothing more American than making money on other people's talent. The New York Yankees have done it for over one hundred years and have won one out of every four World Series ever played; Clive Davis, who couldn't keep beat with a metronome, owns the recording industry because collects singers like Bobble heads; and, even Bill Gates would admit, under large doses of Sodium Pentathol, that he lifted everything from Steve Jobs.

Yet pundits in every field get carpal tunnel over the hand wringing that goes on over this exact kind of free market manipulation. Well I say get over it. The free market is designed for this exact thing.

Disney bought Marvel Entertainment and now I am supposed to be indignant about Corporate America running amok. But do you want to know something? I'm all for it. After proving its dominance in the Tween Girls market, by making stars out of churlish shriekers Demi Lovato, Selena Gomez and Miley Cyrus, Disney obviously wanted to tap into...well, ANY other market. Disney thought it had created its own niche in the Amusement-Park-Ride-into-Franchise-Business with the release of Pirates of the Caribbean, but soon realized the cupboard was pretty bare when it Eddie Murphied Haunted Mansion.

Over the last two decades Disney has proven that it can't compete creatively anymore, as evidenced by their failures in, of all things, Animated Feature Films. Think about that for a second, Disney had the third best Animation Studio before they bought Pixar. For years Disney appeared to have its head in the Cryogenic Chamber while Dreamworks and Pixar dove head first into the 3-D world. Under the watchful eye of Michael Eisner, Disney lost millions of dollars making such instant classics as the Mulan and the Emperor's New Groove. No, creativity is in cold storage next to Walt's head and all of the copies of Donald Duck dressed as a Nazi in Der Fuehrer's Face. So they bought Pixar for almost 8 Billion Dollars and overnight they became relevant again.

The Entertainment du Jour are Superheroes. The idea of media outlets covering a Comic Book Convention ten years ago would have been laughable. But today you are guaranteed to find Billy Bush there doing a live remote. [editor's note- the fact that Billy Bush hasn't been punched in the face amazes me] The Comic-Con is a conduit to the most loyal fanbase in entertainment and Disney has been no where to be found. So Mickey and boys needed to get into the Superhero business. Unfortunately the track record with superheroes at the Mouse House has been less then stellar. In fact the last time Disney created a superhero Kurt Russell Wore Tennis Shoes. It's hard to believe that their Michael Jackson-centric superhero, Captain Eo, didn't take off. Hard to imagine people having difficulty believing that guy was a superhero, Eee Heee.

Disney was looking to pull another Pixar Gambit and Marvel was ripe for the picking on many levels. First, Marvel Studios is positioned for long-term success in all things entertainment. Cartoons, Television, DVD, Animated Features, Movie Franchises and, at the top of the food chain, Video Gaming. Second, they have an endless supply of characters and storylines this eliminates the whole lack of creativity thing. And, finally, lets face it we are talking about a bunch of guys, in Marvel, that write comics and likely have never been picked for anything. From the playground to Junior Prom these guys have been breathing heavy on the glass of the puppy store for decades and finally someone shows some interest. Talk about shooting fish in a barrel. I mean these guys could have held out for Pixar money but were probably falling all over each other to accept the Disney love. Talk about losers. It's sad really.

Anyway, the most important thing to consider in all of this is obvious. Are they still planning to go forward with the Ryan Reynolds Deadpool spin-off of the X-Men? Or, wait are we still going to get The Avengers to the big screen by 2011? And who is going to play Captain America? Will there be an Iron Man ride at Disney World- Wait, wait does this mean we will finally get to see a proper depiction of the Dark Phoenix Saga in its original animated form. Or a reboot for The Fantastic Four? Ooohh boy, I can just see it know 3-D Spider-Man starring Joe Gordon-Levitt? Talk about a GEEKgasm.