I'm oblivious to this entire argument. I just don't understand it. How is Captain America or Iron Man any different than Davy Crockett or Tom Sawyer? As long as they fit in thematically (which the Marvel film characters certainly do in DHS), what is the big deal? Muppets, Aerosmith, Twilight Zone, Indiana Jones, Star Wars - all non-Disney properties that work fine in DHS.
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Interesting rumors about marvel in dl & wdw
- Thread starter zachrupertdsn
- Start date
I'm oblivious to this entire argument. I just don't understand it. How is Captain America or Iron Man any different than Davy Crockett or Tom Sawyer? As long as they fit in thematically (which the Marvel film characters certainly do in DHS), what is the big deal? Muppets, Aerosmith, Twilight Zone, Indiana Jones, Star Wars - all non-Disney properties that work fine in DHS.
jt04
Well-Known Member
People used to make the same argument about Pixar in the parks. But to anyone under a certain age Pixar is as Disney as the fab five if not even more.
It will be the same for Marvel in a few short years. Marvel product is practically taking over one of the Disney cable channels.
disney fan 13
Well-Known Member
i agree
lebeau
Well-Known Member
If that ever happens, Marvel will loose a lot of the "cool factor" that made it appealing to Disney in the first place. The second little boys smell Disney on Wolverine, he stops being cool.
jt04
Well-Known Member
Not buying this. For people who grew up as Marvel fans this is likely true but Disney/Marvel is on the verge of creating an entirely new generation of fans and characters. It could even be this new generation will see wolverine as "old fashioned" and "lame" in just a few short years. And older fans will complain that "they just don't make comic book characters like they did when I was growing up".
Let's also not forget Peter Pan, Tinker Bell, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Cinderella, Pinocchio and Winnie the Pooh, none of which are original Disney creations.
disney fan 13
Well-Known Member
may you inform me which of the marvel shows on whatever disney channel ( don't watch itanymore) does not have the X-men or the avengers?
( just asking since i don't know)
Magenta Panther
Well-Known Member
Which is pretty much what I said. As long as non-Disney-generated creations are limited to DHS, I've no problem them being in the parks FWIW. (Although I hated it at first, but I've made peace with it. I now regard all of those non-Disney entities as guest stars in a Disney Hollywood production, which is pretty much the theme of DHS anyway).
If you're inquiring about my comment about Disney once being an innovator rather than a purchaser, you'd have to review Disney history to get my meaning, I suppose. Walt once said "We don't follow trends, we make them." Disney used to buy the rights to a book or some other property and then make its own version of it - not just buy a property and insert it in its original form into its pantheon whether it really fit there or not. There's nothing creative about that; there's nothing Disney about that. Walt's company didn't create Davy Crockett of course, but it created its own TV version of his legend, which became a huge success and probably kept Crockett in the public consciousness more than any history book ever did. It's the Disney version of any given property that belongs in the Disney parks IMO. Characters that have no connection with the Disney magic will always seem foreign to me. I'd rather see them at parks like Universal or Six Flags.
If you still don't get my meaning, try to imagine Disney buying, say, Alvin and the Chipmunks and then putting *them* in the parks. Singing and everything. (My worst nightmare!) :lookaroun
TP2000
Well-Known Member
You can also add Mary Poppins to that list.
Walt had to work for over two decades to get the rights to the popular Poppins books and character from P.L. Travers, and he finally succeeded in 1961.
AlishaMisha
Member
lebeau
Well-Known Member
As it stands right now, you could give boys of a certain age the coolest thing in the world. But if it had the Disney name on it, they would toss it. The primary reason Disney bought Marvel is that it is NOT Disney and therefore is appealing to this demographic. Tying Marvel in to the Disney brand closely enough that the association was obvious to this demographic would defeat the biggest reason Marvel was valuable to Disney in the first place.
For what you are saying to happen, Disney would need to find away to overcome their image problem. And they have been trying to do that for decades. Maybe slowly integrating Marvel would be a part of that rehabilitation. But they risk devaluing Marvel in the process.
lebeau
Well-Known Member
Oh and by the way, as upset as some Disney fans were about Disney buying Marvel, they didn't have anything on the Marvel fans. Marvel fans were horrified. Most (outside of places like this) want nothing to do with the Mouse. Just check out the Marvel forums from the time. Marvel fans went crazy.
Crazy is putting it mildly. I honestly think that wrists were actually slit over that deal.
SleepingMonk
Well-Known Member
They had cause for concern.
Star Wars isn't exactly the coolest thing in the world and seeing Mickey in a jedi outfit makes it even less cool.
The thought of Iron Man wearing mouse ears?
Ouch.
ETA: The hoopla thing with Vader break dancing is the most cringe-worthy thing I've ever seen. Imagine your favorite super evil bad guy, or ultra-cool kick a** hero up on stage at house of the mouse doing the moonwalk! Just wrong on so many levels.
Star Wars isn't exactly the coolest thing in the world and seeing Mickey in a jedi outfit makes it even less cool.
The thought of Iron Man wearing mouse ears?
Ouch.
ETA: The hoopla thing with Vader break dancing is the most cringe-worthy thing I've ever seen. Imagine your favorite super evil bad guy, or ultra-cool kick a** hero up on stage at house of the mouse doing the moonwalk! Just wrong on so many levels.
NowInc
Well-Known Member
This thread always cracks me up.
Lets examine some different scenarios here:
Lets say the offer was made and universal bit. This does not seem at all unlikely. IoA has pretty much become "Potterland" (Some will argue, but you can't deny the fact that the majority of people who go to IoA are doing so for that one purpose). Marvel island went from being "the place" to go there, to being a land of walk-on rides and no-wait meet n' greets. Universal knows this, and are trying to shift some minor focus to the rides there and updating them (in the least interesting way possible). Anyone else remember how bad the paint on hulk got while they were completely fixated on Hogwarts? They know where their bread is buttered and it shows. An easy out of Marvel would be beneficial to them so they could work on something new with a clean slate and take some of the pressure off of world-o-potter (crowd management there is atrocious and if they want to do an extension to that area they would likely prefer the guests being sidetracked by something new and awesome). This would be the time to work on such an endevour since like I said previously, people are still magnetically drawn to the other end of the park.
On the Disney side of it, They already have been sliding Marvel into anything they can (TV, Disney Stores, etc). If Disney knows anything, they know how to market. I wouldn't be surprised to hear of any plans they already have in motion to find out a way to bring those licenses into the parks. Marvel fans may be all up-in-arms about the whole deal, but in the end, the majority of people (not just Marvel fans mind you) would gladly empty their pockets to get that superhero experience...especially those with kids. Even if the buyout price was high, it could be worth it to them in the long run.
Now lets look at it from the other scenario:
Universal holds the licence and Disney just keeps cashing in on the merchandise regardless. In my opinion..Disney wins in both situations. I think Universal really has nothing to lose by selling off the park rights and working on something more original and epic for that faltering section of the park. To their credit they took a relatively small parcel of land and turned it into a theme park phenomenon (like it or hate it..you can't deny the popularity of potterland), and I have no doubts they could figure something out to replace marvel (and no...not DC).
Eh..im rambling. sorry.
Lets examine some different scenarios here:
Lets say the offer was made and universal bit. This does not seem at all unlikely. IoA has pretty much become "Potterland" (Some will argue, but you can't deny the fact that the majority of people who go to IoA are doing so for that one purpose). Marvel island went from being "the place" to go there, to being a land of walk-on rides and no-wait meet n' greets. Universal knows this, and are trying to shift some minor focus to the rides there and updating them (in the least interesting way possible). Anyone else remember how bad the paint on hulk got while they were completely fixated on Hogwarts? They know where their bread is buttered and it shows. An easy out of Marvel would be beneficial to them so they could work on something new with a clean slate and take some of the pressure off of world-o-potter (crowd management there is atrocious and if they want to do an extension to that area they would likely prefer the guests being sidetracked by something new and awesome). This would be the time to work on such an endevour since like I said previously, people are still magnetically drawn to the other end of the park.
On the Disney side of it, They already have been sliding Marvel into anything they can (TV, Disney Stores, etc). If Disney knows anything, they know how to market. I wouldn't be surprised to hear of any plans they already have in motion to find out a way to bring those licenses into the parks. Marvel fans may be all up-in-arms about the whole deal, but in the end, the majority of people (not just Marvel fans mind you) would gladly empty their pockets to get that superhero experience...especially those with kids. Even if the buyout price was high, it could be worth it to them in the long run.
Now lets look at it from the other scenario:
Universal holds the licence and Disney just keeps cashing in on the merchandise regardless. In my opinion..Disney wins in both situations. I think Universal really has nothing to lose by selling off the park rights and working on something more original and epic for that faltering section of the park. To their credit they took a relatively small parcel of land and turned it into a theme park phenomenon (like it or hate it..you can't deny the popularity of potterland), and I have no doubts they could figure something out to replace marvel (and no...not DC).
Eh..im rambling. sorry.
jt04
Well-Known Member
I can't say I am that informed since I have never been a comic book fan. But the blog 'Blue Sky Disney' regularly does updates on all the new Marvel shows that will soon be on one of Disney's cable channels.
So you wish they'd get rid of the Tower of Terror and Star Wars?
The last three times I was at IOA, Spiderman had about an hour wait. So while Potter may be the major reason Universal is seeing significant increases in attendance, it is not reducing the wait times of the other attractions. The only attraction that never seems to have a wait is Dragon Challenge.
Actually, rollercoasters are extremely difficult to paint after they've been installed, and Universal didn't want to take it out of service. That aside, the Hulk's paint job had been deteriorating long before they considered building Harry Potter, so let's not pretend IOA is negelcting the rest of the park to focus solely on Potter.
There's nothing Universal can build at the moment that would take the attention away from Potter. And contrary to popular opinion, the Potter area is actually quite large. It's in high demand, that's all. The butterbeer carts are actually the biggest problem for guest flow (I think they should have placed them elsewhere...like in the owlery instead and remove those benches.
Well if Disney loses the Marvel fans, who pretty much support Marvel's existence, then what would be the point. The characters would be rendered useless, and the excitement of meeting them would diminish since there is no fanbase to keep them in the zeitgeist.
Disney actually loses. They only get a small percentage. For Universal, it's business as usual. The only difference is that Marvel has a corporate parent, but for Universal nothing has really changed.
Actually, Universal has a lot to lose by getting rid of Marvel. They make money off the merchandise sales too. They benefit from the release of movies and tv shows of Marvel characters.
Not to denegrate what they've done, but let's face reality: Potter sells itself. To Universal's credit, they designed it extremely well and included a top-notch thrill ride not seen anywhere else.
NowInc
Well-Known Member
I myself go frequently and each time the only ride in the park (other than harry potter) to have more than a 15 minute wait was the sky ride in suess landing. I remember this because I found it strange the first time, and each recurring trip afterwards it was the same. Not saying you are wrong, but my observations have yielded different results.
That was just one example. The "water vortex" effect was out of commission for a VERY long time until potter was open. I mean, no one (park) is perfect, things break...but its for how long they remain unfixed that I was referring to.
I'm not saying to take all the attention away from potter, but something to take the load off so they can actively start working on a much needed expansion to the area. The Area itself it large, however the shops...are not. Even on "dead days" (yes..it happens even at hogwarts) each shop is packed with as few as 15 people in them.
Yes and No. Marvel fans aren't going to abandon their franchises regardless of who owns them. If they were, they would have done so already. But thats besides the point. There is a LOT more money to come from non-die hards out there. You think an 11 year old boy cares about who owns the rights to Iron Man? The "Casual" Marvel fan/consumer far outweighs the hardcore ones.
They lose on the Merch from IoA...yes. But thats not the big picture. They sell Marvel Merch at all disney stores now as well...plus its free marketing for them.
Of course they lose, but they could also recoup and do something else.
Yes, Potter sells itself to get people to the park. Universal, however, helped make the profitability of the land a reality. Between butterbeer, various other merchandise, and food sales, that is where the money is. The ride keeps them coming back...to buy more merchandise.