I had to check my calendar to make sure it wasn’t April Fools when the news of The Walt Disney Company’s latest acquisition rolled across my screen. Disney is now the proud owner of Marvel Entertainment at a cost of a cool $4 billion. That quickly adds 5000 new characters to Disney’s cast including some of the most famous and hot properties in the market today – Iron Man, Spiderman, Thor, Captain America, and the X-men.

With Stan Lee, the creator of much of Marvel’s super hero cast, working closely with Disney for about a year now. I guess he’s had plenty of time to sow Bob Iger’s ear with how valuable a product this would be for Disney. At $4 Billion it is practically a steal compared to Pixar and Pixar has turned out to be a good buy for the Mouse House. Frankly, many analysts wondered why Disney just didn’t acquire Marvel at the same time it acquired Lee’s POW entertainment. No sense making up new superheroes when those with strong existing brands are there for the taking. Plus this might put Stan Lee back in a position of power at Marvel, which is where he belongs.

News reports indicate that there are no immediate plans to have Mickey and Ms. Marvel co-habiting at any of the theme parks or other properties. But at the same time Iger admits that Disney is now in a position of power to renegotiate all the deals that its competitors, like Sony, hold in regards to Disney. There is also ‘Marvel Island’ over at Islands of Adventure Universal Orlando. Wonder when the license agreement runs out on that (Aside: Can you say fifth gate Walt Disney World fans? WDW might finally get its thrill park. Let that sink in.) It also puts Disney head to head with Warner Brothers in the comic book to movie market place.

Is this a good deal? Well time will tell. But Disney has always been about ‘Story’ and Marvel Entertainment has some great stories to tell. So, that’s a good sign if you ask me. With Spielberg’s production company, aka Dreamworks, now on board with Disney I have to think the possibilities are endless.

I’m just waiting for the first Condorman / Spiderman crossover. You?

A few fun posts and bits of news to pass along tonight.

• I actually spent today at SeaWorld and had a great time. The crowds were decidedly light for a Saturday and lines were short (walked on Atlantis and Kraken). It was my first ride on both and I can definitely recommend Kraken, the first half just sort of warms you up and then the second half really turns the dial up. A great coaster.
• Robert Niles of Theme park insider has been on a bit of a tear recently looking at how theme parks can increase guest spending. His articles on providing better food service contain some real nuggets.
• I can always count on Cindy to keep an eye on the Disneyland Food Scene. This week she reports back on her dinner at the Chef’s Bar at the Napa Rose inside the Grand Californian. Get your taste bud’s ready.
• Sticking on the topic of food, the Disney Food Blog notes that the Wishes Dessert Party has been extended through the end of October. Many people have reported pleasant experiences here. It is certainly located at one of my favorite spots to view the fireworks.
• On Cable the A&E Network has completed its acquisition of Lifetime Network Channels. The Walt Disney Company is a partial owner of A&E. Next up Travel Channel and Discovery perhaps.
• The Disney Channel movie “Wizards of Waverly Place” drew 11.4 million viewers making it the most watched show on The Disney Channel this year. Additionally that places it the second biggest premiere on TDC only behind High School Musical 2. I’m predicting more from Disney’s answer to Harry Potter.
• John Lasseter talks animation and future of it at Pixar and Disney studios with Variety.
• Also read Charles Solomon’s review of ‘Starting Point‘ an anthology of animation master Hayao Miyazaki’s thoughs on the craft.

Here, direct from Comic-Con, is the teaser trailer for Tron Legacy (aka Tron 2.0 or TR2N). Note, this is essentially the same video from last year, just much better quality.

So Flynn Lives, eh. I’m certainly looking forward to this. Look for Tron Legacy to hit theaters in 2010.

In these economic hard times, Disney is returning to their base — the fans. Outside of cyberspace, the number one place film fans congregate is Comic-Con each year in San Diego. So I’m not surprised to see Disney growing their presence at the event this year.

Alas, I’m no where near San Diego this time of year. So if you’re going I’d love to hear what you’re most looking forward to.

See below the cut for all of Disney’s offerings.

[Read more →]

Next year there will be 10 movies nominated for and Academy Award for Best Picture instead of the usual 5. Something the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences president said made me thing this change should be called the ‘Pixar rule’.

“I would not be telling you the truth if I said the words ‘Dark Knight’ did not come up.” Sidney Ganis, the academy’s president, said. The other film usually mentioned in the same breath there is “WALL-E” or whatever Pixar Film was in the theaters that year.

I think “UP’ now has a very good chance of being nominated for a Best Picture Oscar this year. And That should make The Walt Disney Company very happy.

(via the NY Times)

Making good on its promise, the Walt Disney Company has arranged with The Nature Conservancy to plant 2.7 million trees in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest, one of the planet’s most endangered rainforests. In keeping with the Disneynature EARTH’s themes of protecting the planet and its wildlife, Walt Disney Studios volunteered to plant a tree in honor of every moviegoer who saw the film during its first week of release. The motion picture grossed an impressive $16.1 million at the box office during week one and broke an opening day record as well as an opening weekend record for a nature documentary.

[Read more →]

Quite a bit of news from the world of The Walt Disney Company’s various movie studios this weekend.

• “Hannah Montana” crushed forecasts coming in #1 in the Box Office with $34 million. Good news for the next Miley Cyrus film, “The Last Song”.
• The non-animated Disney film I’m most looking forward to is the TRON sequel. Turns out it’s already filming in Vancouver, BC.
• Blue Sky Disney muses about the potential for a Pirates of the Caribbean IV. It’s likely to lose its Director and writers, but it is still an active concern for the Mouse House. Let’s just hope they stay away from Somalia.
• May 29th will bring Pixar’s next film to theaters everywhere. But some folks in the Twin Cities have already seen the finished version of “Up”. Don’t expect to see this version on BitTorrent, Security was unbelievably tight.

Ain’t It Cool News has some new details outlining the plot of the Tron sequel. It goes without saying there are spoilers aplenty, so don’t click through unless you want to be spoiled.

It sounds like they are still trying to decide on the title for the movie. It’s not likely to be TR2N or Tron 2.0. Whatever they call it, at least in online circles TR2N is shaping up to be Disney’s most anticipated future release and it doesn’t even open until 2011.

Previously: TR2N.