Rumor Hollywood insiders say there's growing tension at Disney as CEO Bob Chapek chafes at Bob Iger's 'long goodbye'

[Ponderer]

Yes, I don't think there is another firm out there large enough to buy out Disney without running afoul of antitrust regulation. Although, it's worth remembeing that Iger did write in his memoir that if Steve Jobs had lived he believes Disney and Apple would have merged. But with Apple having expanded into producing content since then, it's hard to see that merger being allowed at this point.

Yep, especially with the new skeptical eye on such mergers. I’m not even sure Amazon-MGM is a sure thing at this point. I think the age of the blockbuster merger - certainly with media companies - is dead for the foreseeable future.

 

[Heppenheimer]

Around the same time Paramount bought Taft's parks, right?

The 90s were truly the peak of themed entertainment. Not in terms of quality, but sheer quantity.

Everybody had to get into the theme park business. Every restaurant had to have a theme or gimmick. Retail was go big or go home.

It was often garish and absurd, but it was at least fun to live through and see the hype played out in real life and on TV.

Now we've swung in the opposite direction and everything is minimalist and boring.

Paramount's tenure of the Taft parks is a great example of how not to do IP insertion.

 

[VJ]

He wants to run it like it's a Walmart. Every employee is disposable. NOT GOOD.

i'd think he'd want to run it like a Target...

has that target near WDW opened yet anyway?

 

[Inspired Figment]

i'd think he'd want to run it like a Target...

has that target near WDW opened yet anyway?

I mean.. he’s certainly gotten a Bullseye at one point (both within Toy Story & his Disney product partnership with Target) as shown off & announced at the last D23 Expo.. so I mean.. possibly. But even then, I think Target runs things more efficiently than Disney atm.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

Paramount's tenure of the Taft parks is a great example of how not to do IP insertion.

When Taft built Canada's Wonderland (sister park to King's Island and King's Dominion) the idea was to do a theme park. Like Disney, but on a smaller budget.

Then Paramount bought it and did its damage.

When Cedar Fair took over they did more or less the same, without the IP branding.

But Cedar Fair found out what guests really wanted was, guess what? theming. And that's what they're adding back to the park, in some cases, brining back older concepts.

Imagine that.

 

[DVCakaCarlF]

More or less sensationalized

 

[Lilofan]

More or less sensationalized

In the #1 entertainment company in the world, anyone surprised?

 

[Cmdr_Crimson]

Paramount's tenure of the Taft parks is a great example of how not to do IP insertion.

I do get that when the movie studios were taking over the parks it was their attempt to copy the "Universal" method where you can "Ride The Movies"


But, when they leave and remove it does affect the area leaving it with unthemed areas with a cluster of generic named rides

On a side note I did like the Wayne's World area of Kings Dominon..

 

[brb1006]

When Taft built Canada's Wonderland (sister park to King's Island and King's Dominion) the idea was to do a theme park. Like Disney, but on a smaller budget.

Then Paramount bought it and did its damage.

When Cedar Fair took over they did more or less the same, without the IP branding.

But Cedar Fair found out what guests really wanted was, guess what? theming. And that's what they're adding back to the park, in some cases, brining back older concepts.

Imagine that.

I actually remember seeing some commercials for Paramount Parks that mainly highlighted the Nick and Nick Jr properties sometime in the mid 2000s (on Nickelodeon before they made Nick Jr a separate channel). Mainly this ad focusing on the "Nickelodeon Celebration Parade" circa 2004.


Here's footage of the parade from 2006 at "Canada's Wonderland".

 

[Goofyernmost]

I’m thinking it was because it was a recommended story from Google, maybe try searching the article title and going that way?

No, I'm running Google and couldn't get past the paywall.

 

[Heppenheimer]

I do get that when the movie studios were taking over the parks it was their attempt to copy the "Universal" method where you can "Ride The Movies"


But, when they leave and remove it does affect the area leaving it with unthemed areas with a cluster of generic named rides

On a side note I did like the Wayne's World area of Kings Dominon..

I thought it was OK, but even at the time, it seemed like an idea that would quickly date itself. Even when Wayne's World was popular, I doubt anyone thought that popularlity would endure for the shelf-life of a theme park attraction.

The basic problem with a theme park based on Paramount properties is that very few of them really have anything like the enduring appeal of Disney or even Warner IP (and for one of the few that did, Indiana Jones, Disney had already obtained the theme park rights). Even Star Trek is somewhat niche. The themed attractions came across less as worlds I wanted to explore and more as unwanted advertisements. And maybe it's just me, but framed and boxed movie props, presented like some kind of holy relic, just seem tacky.

 

[The Aracuan Bird]

When Taft built Canada's Wonderland (sister park to King's Island and King's Dominion) the idea was to do a theme park. Like Disney, but on a smaller budget.

Then Paramount bought it and did its damage.

When Cedar Fair took over they did more or less the same, without the IP branding.

But Cedar Fair found out what guests really wanted was, guess what? theming. And that's what they're adding back to the park, in some cases, brining back older concepts.

Imagine that.

Wonderland has just been adding basic thrill coasters to top the drop height of the last. The only “themed” attraction added in the last 10 years was a shooter that pales in comparison to the worst shooter rides at Disney.

 

[Cmdr_Crimson]

I thought it was OK, but even at the time, it seemed like an idea that would quickly date itself. Even when Wayne's World was popular, I doubt anyone thought that popularlity would endure for the shelf-life of a theme park attraction.

The basic problem with a theme park based on Paramount properties is that very few of them really have anything like the enduring appeal of Disney or even Warner IP (and for one of the few that did, Indiana Jones, Disney had already obtained the theme park rights). Even Star Trek is somewhat niche. The themed attractions came across less as worlds I wanted to explore and more as unwanted advertisements. And maybe it's just me, but framed and boxed movie props, presented like some kind of holy relic, just seem tacky.

Oh I agree strangest one was a food court at Six Flags Great Adventure called HBO Backlot Commissary..While I can relate to a WB themed area....But, HBO?

 

[Animaniac93-98]

Wonderland has just been adding basic thrill coasters to top the drop height of the last. The only “themed” attraction added in the last 10 years was a shooter that pales in comparison to the worst shooter rides at Disney.

Yukon Striker, Flying Canoes, Lumberjack and the rest of the new Frontier Canada?

They've also brought back several of the older signs/names to various attractions/buildings and will be adding more theming from now on.

 

[brb1006]

I thought it was OK, but even at the time, it seemed like an idea that would quickly date itself. Even when Wayne's World was popular, I doubt anyone thought that popularlity would endure for the shelf-life of a theme park attraction.

The basic problem with a theme park based on Paramount properties is that very few of them really have anything like the enduring appeal of Disney or even Warner IP (and for one of the few that did, Indiana Jones, Disney had already obtained the theme park rights). Even Star Trek is somewhat niche. The themed attractions came across less as worlds I wanted to explore and more as unwanted advertisements. And maybe it's just me, but framed and boxed movie props, presented like some kind of holy relic, just seem tacky.

To put that in perspective, the closest Paramount properties had to being enduring to the public was Nickelodeon and Nick Jr which was added in the early 2000s. Several Paramount owned parks even had Nickeldeon areas for children.

 

[lazyboy97o]

But, when they leave and remove it does affect the area leaving it with unthemed areas with a cluster of generic named rides

Paramount included rights to their properties for several years in the sale of their parks. Cedar Fair chose to remove all of those elements immediately.

 

[Cmdr_Crimson]

Paramount included rights to their properties for several years in the sale of their parks. Cedar Fair chose to remove all of those elements immediately.

We have that issue at my Six Flags park here in IL. At one point during the Time Warner era we had a Camp Cartoon Network area heavily themed to Scooby, Yogi, Flintstones and The Jetsons..this is what it looked in 1998..

After Time Warner left and Premier took over so did the IP's..They stayed for a good 20 years but then theming started to fall apart and a renaming removing the Network part.. Here's how it was in 2013.

And this video from 2018 shows when the theming was removed..

 

[lazyboy97o]

We have that issue at my Six Flags park here in IL. At one point during the Time Warner era we had a Camp Cartoon Network area heavily themed to Scooby, Yogi, Flintstones and The Jetsons..this is what it looked in 1998..

After Time Warner left and Premier took over so did the IP's..They stayed for a good 20 years but then theming started to fall apart and a renaming removing the Network part.. Here's how it was in 2013.

And this video from 2018 shows when the theming was removed..

I don’t remember the exact years, but in the post-bankruptcy period there were a few leadership changes. Six Flags first went all in on trying to be family friendly and that included bringing in a bunch of additional IP. Leadership then changed and decided to stop so much focus on families and dropped almost all licensing that was not Looney Tunes or DC superheroes.

 

[Cmdr_Crimson]

I don’t remember the exact years, but in the post-bankruptcy period there were a few leadership changes. Six Flags first went all in on trying to be family friendly and that included bringing in a bunch of additional IP. Leadership then changed and decided to stop so much focus on families and dropped almost all licensing that was not Looney Tunes or DC superheroes.

That was the Snyder/Red Zone era from 2005 to 2009..Let's just say..

 

[Sir_Cliff]

I am kind of interested to know how Pixar felt about Luca being released solely on Disney+. Perhaps that will mean it is seen by as many or more people than if it was released at cinemas, but for such a nicely done film it did seem unusual they didn't give it any mainstream cinema release. Seems to kind of relegate it by default to 'second tier' status when I'm not sure it deserves that.