The Spirited Seventh Heaven ...

[AEfx]

Julia Roberts' Side got me through middle school.

ROFL. For me it was Mel Gibson's rear end walking across the room in Lethal Weapon.

Hmmmm...Julia Roberts and Mel Gibson starred in Conspiracy Theory together. That means something, I just don't know what yet...

 

[Disneyhead'71]

To answer your question, no one including Disney knew how GotG would fly with Universal. They fall into a gray area. They are associated with, but not part of the Avengers family. The fact Universal has not persued the issue is being taken by Disney as a tacit green light from Universal.

 

[Mike S]

To answer your question, no one including Disney knew how GotG would fly with Universal. They fall into a gray area. They are associated with, but not part of the Avengers family. The fact Universal has not persued the issue is being taken by Disney as a tacit green light from Universal.

 

[FigmentJedi]

Tron Legacy IS a good film.
You really missed something special not seeing it when it was originally released...in glorious IMAX 3D.
FANtastic experience in the theater and the crisp IMAX images and atmospheric dimentional effects were great.

I would also recommend checking out the spectacular Tron Uprising series, which unfortunately only had one season that ends on a big cliffhanger.

 

[Disneyhead'71]

View attachment 64791

I believe that we will see more GotG in the FL Disney parks.

 

[PeterAlt]

Here's an interesting Memo from The Archives.

Katzenberg wrote a long memo to Eisner & Wells about thoughts on the blockbuster/tentpole film.

Worth a read, it applies more today than in 91.

http://www.lettersofnote.com/2011/11/some-thoughts-on-our-business.html

Thank you for sharing! And, yes, that was quite long! As someone who has studied screen writing, I do appreciate it and tried to learn from it. Hopefully, it will inspire me to write again!

 

[PhotoDave219]

Thank you for sharing! And, yes, that was quite long! As someone who has studied screen writing, I do appreciate it and tried to learn from it. Hopefully, it will inspire me to write again!

Its more the concept of "singles and doubles".... Disney was insanely profitable doing that.

 

[Magenta Panther]

please disney, anything but captain america...

It's hard to understand why some people are so desperate to get Marvel at WDW, when Universal has Marvel attractions right down the street. Yeesh.

 

[Magenta Panther]

im a fan of marvel but not in disney parks..

Thank you! And yet some people think that's contradictory. I was reading a post at Miceage today wherein some nit said he thought Spaceship Earth ought to get turned into the Death Star. To such as he, the Disney parks are just amusement parks, period, interchangeable with any other. Unfortunately, under Iger's tenure, that just might happen...

 

[phillip sugarman]

Facts, Conjecture, and Utter Falsehoods.... My favorite flock of Disney loons....


After long absence of nearly a year, I have returned (or “re-returned” to throw up on your custom door mat). Many projects and Disney filled trips have kept me from even visiting this oasis in the wasteland of Disney mis-information, but I am here with my two unsolicited cents.


As predicted and reported by many ( thanks primarily to @WDW1974 ), the Liberty and Discovery of a Walt Disney World vacation with friends and family has become more joyless. Even with the addition of the 90 second mini coaster in the new “meet-and-greet-land”, there is still not much in the way of new offerings at what was the Mecca of all things Disney. Worse still most of the short term additions have been or are going to be overlays and plus-ups.


From my many trips to WDW in the last year, I have a cornucopia full of colors and fun names emblazoned on my magic handcuffs. With 2 more on the way for my upcoming food and wine trip, I'll be nearing my full second set. What I have found during my trips is that I spend a lot more time at Other Company's Parks and doing non-Disney things. They are not getting that 11% spending bump from me and mine.


During my absence here, Disney has finally decided to do something about what we have all been talking about here for a long time, the “Universal Problem”. Comcast is dumping enormous sums into it's Florida Property and it's reaping the benefits. I know they get at least 2 days of my time on every trip and with what's rumored, maybe more.


SIDEBAR: Someone is going to get The Lord of the Rings rights and build a whole new type of Theme Park. Does anyone here know who has the fast track now?


However, I come not to be the spit on their face but be the wind at their back. The Magic Band and associated boondoggle appear to be thinning the sycophant herd according to the namesake of this particular post and that may be good news. Even the illustrious “leader of the club” and head Mouse Man got the public memo, “ Build something worth seeing”.


If the “well under construction” Avatarland can save the day (and nights with the River of Lights and such) at AK and we get the 2 great expansions at HS, maybe it will solve the “Universal Problem”. So we have some actual new attractions on the horizon and some positives to reflect on. I often come off as cynical and less than “Capraesque” but I do see some very slow moving positives. (2017?)


Do not be fooled mortals, I still have plenty of venom left for the MM- and it's associated reduction of previous vacation freedom. I have angst over the mismanagement of DVC properties, booking procedures, and the disconnects with these higher end customers. I am incredulous at how disengaged some executives are with long range planning in a consumer driven pop culture business.


And now, a question for the OP:


Now that the man at the top says he wants to stay until WDW is fixed, will we see full realized versions of Star Wars and other proposed lands/expansions?


I missed you most of all Scarecrow.

*1023*

P.S. I now return you to your fascinating conversation about the value of data center redundancies and the theories behind them.

So your saying that Iger is probably going to be staying longer to fix WDW?

 

[TP2000]

Unless something changed again, Kathy is what WDI terms Portfolio Leader for TPFKaTD-MGMS and soon to be TPFKaDHS too. Scott Trowbridge is leading the inhouse Star Wars Design Studio, so likely working with her on those plans (he also took over DL's portfolio when Tom Fitzgerald was further marginalized by being given Epcot). I know Kathy has considerable oversight over the Disney Springs makeover project as well.

Okay, that's very good to know.

I spoke with Kathy at the D23 Expo in 2011 in the Imagineering pavilion; she was hovering around the massive Cars Land model and she walked me through what the land would offer. I was just a guy with a humble one-day ticket to D23 who wandered up and asked a question about the cool model, and she just started chatting with me and telling me about stuff. She was so natural and low-key and gracious in a sunny SoCal kind of way that I was taken aback when I asked what her name was and she said "I'm Kathy Mangum, it's nice to meet you!" Her name rung a bell, and after a Google search I confirmed who I'd been talking to.

There was no pretense with her, and no canned corporate talking points like so many Disney execs or wannabe execs try to puke up at public events. Her style was a lot like Walt Disney in a circa 1965 Wonderful World of Color episode where he walks a pretty tour guide through Imagineering labs and talks about "things" his team is working on for Disneyland. Except it was Kathy Mangum and the average Disneyland Tour Guide is much prettier than I am.

Since my chance encounter with her, and then seeing for myself how absolutely remarkable Cars Land turned out, I've always been kind of smitten by her. I'm glad to hear she's still alive and kicking and working on something cool for the future.

 

[TP2000]

Your thoughts?

My thoughts are that it's comforting to know TDA realizes the Marvel characters aren't really a good fit in Disneyland, at least with the seven themed lands Disneyland currently has. It sounds like they are gathering ammo to prove Marvel needs it's own land in DCA, or to be the impetus to build the third Anaheim park on the Strawberry Fields/employee parking lot.

The current state of Disneyland's Innoventions is just sad, in my opinion. The ground floor is that cheesy Microsoft Home of the Future circa 2010. It's already aged. And then you go upstairs for the Honda Robot Show, and a collection of Marvel meet n' gropes. And yet isn't it odd that Disneyland gets all these Marvel meet n' gropes and WDW doesn't get to play?

At least Anaheim can get good looking young kids with less than 15% bodyfat to play their Princesses and Superheroes.

http://www./wp-content/uploads/2014/02/captain-america.jpg

 

[Darth Sidious]

Oh I'd love that to be definitely answered as well... but something tells me that even legal doesn't know.

Not to delve into the topic but am I the only one who thinks throwing the preview in, hanging posters and having character appearances are them testing how far the can go? I also think they aren't sure how much they can push the matter.

 

[Mike S]

Not to delve into the topic but am I the only one who thinks throwing the preview in, hanging posters and having character appearances are them testing how far the can go? I also think they aren't sure how much they can push the matter.

That's my thinking as well. If it turns out they do have the right to put it in they would be brain dead not to jump at the chance ASAP. I think they're doing the same thing with Big Hero 6 since that M&G with Hiro and Baymax is coming.

 

[71jason]

The only time Julia Roberts has shown her bazzoms (or at least, a bazoom) on film was in a Disney picture, kids. Since that's another part of Disney's history, if Marvel and Star Wars aren't "Disney" enough, I don't know what the heck is.

Good points all, but the whole point of Touchstone is that the movies weren't "Disney." The name kept the parent brand pure. With Marvel and SW--be it Disney Infinity or SWW or other forms of cross-promotion--everything sort of falls under the big Disney umbrella.

 

[71jason]

I'm not trying to start that debate. I know what everyone has said about Marvel but it seems to me that GotG doesn't seem to be covered in the "families" clause. All I'm looking for is an answer to my suspicion that shows GotG is in the same clearly off limits boat as Spider Man, Iron Man, Hulk etc.

There is no definitive "answer" in that this has never been litigated. That said, I'm a lawyer and a recovering comic book fan, I've read the contract and the Wikipedia entries, and I've seen how GotG has been handled in DHS--and I say the Guardians themselves (excluding their villains) are not covered. Good enough?

(I can PM my CV if that will help ... the comic book stuff won't be on it tho.)

 

[71jason]

To answer your question, no one including Disney knew how GotG would fly with Universal. They fall into a gray area. They are associated with, but not part of the Avengers family.

Contract is pretty clear--member or villain. Guardians are neither.

The fact Universal has not persued the issue is being taken by Disney as a tacit green light from Universal.

Exactly. They pitched a fit over the monorail. Preview and meet-and-greets certainly would not fly if they thought they had the rights.

ONLY argument I see is re: proposed "The Marvel Universe" stores/restaurants. But (1) it's not clear to me TMU encompasses any characters beyond those at IoA (that is the really tough interpretive question). And (2) DHS is clearly a theme park, but by definition, TMU is not a theme park.

 

[Lee]

He's a sellout then.. his team was the Titans!

To be fair, I think his teams are: Titans, Patriots, Seahawks, Team of the Moment.

Oh, I am certainly a Titans guy, no doubt. Diehard.

But, my fallback team does have some spiffy cleats. They go well with the best uniforms in all of sports.

Patriots...eh....they have fallen from favor.

They exist. I am almost positive they are currently in FL. And WDW would get rid of all its AAs tomorrow if it could. You think they want to add any?

Exactly, that would be crazy. As crazy as having a working Hatbox Ghost ready to install....and then...not.

 

[baymenxpac]

@WDWFigment i respect your opinion and admire your work. we just happen to disagree on the food issue. i don't want to belabor it too much, since the convo has moved on since yesterday. just wanted to respond to say that: 1) i don't think -- or at least, i don't perceive -- gourmet or upscale mac-and-cheese as being en vogue anymore. i remember my cousin ordering bacon mac-and-cheese at the acela club when citi field opened in 2009, and it seemed a little tired then. i'm sure you're more than a foodie than me (said with sincerity), but just giving you my perspective. 2) of course you can have something unhealthy from time to time and still be in good (at least on the outside) physical shape. i just happen to subscribe to the theory that yes, there are some things that are unhealthy enough that they just shouldn't be eaten. and 3) i still think it's crummy for the disney brand. the outside perception of disney and its fans (even before spirit's walmarted claim became popular here) is that we're crazy and limited on both taste and world experience (you are a very good example of that not being the case). i don't particularly think stuff that ranges from this cone o' grease to everyone's beloved turkey legs helps matters.

to each his own, of course. you can have crazy food offerings like this and still have a dignified product (as other commenters have shown by showing the photo from the land in the '80s), but this is just my humble $.02.

 

[doctornick]

I'm not trying to start that debate. I know what everyone has said about Marvel but it seems to me that GotG doesn't seem to be covered in the "families" clause. All I'm looking for is an answer to my suspicion that shows GotG is in the same clearly off limits boat as Spider Man, Iron Man, Hulk etc.

Absolutely. It appears that GOTG (as configured in this summer's movie) should be free game for Disney use in WDW. And based on the point that we are getting characters from Big Hero 6 at DHS, I think they will be available as well.

Not to say that that anything will come of that availability but it's certainly a new wrinkle to the Marvel/Uni contract discussion. Personally, I think a stand alone GOTG ride for Tommorrowland would be a nice addition.