Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger takes the 1980s idea of synergy that was perfected by the early Eisner and Wells administration to the next level with his concept of the Franchise.

I’m not talking Kevin Garnett for you NBA fans. Nor is it like Subway where where you sell the concept to others to develop for you. It’s more about finding a tent pole that’s tall enough and strong enough you can hang a tent big enough to cover nearly every aspect of your company (I don’t think I’ve seen any Princess Tiana tie-ins for ESPN… yet) and increase their sales as well.

Based on what I’m seeing in terms of merchandise and in park tie-ins, I think Iger has identified The Princess and The Frog as the next franchise for Disney. A story in the Orlando Sentinel, (full disclosure, I was interviewed for the piece), discusses how much Disney is counting on the frog princess to make it a few bucks

Mitchelson, the Deutsche Bank analyst, said the ancillary potential of The Princess and the Frog is so large that the best measure of its success won’t be box office results — it will be consumer-product sales.

“To the extent that The Princess and the Frog is only considered modestly successful from a film point of view, that doesn’t  mean it won’t be quite successful from the perspective of broadening the princess franchise,” he said.

A good point. It’s been 12 years since the last Princess was introduced, and that’s only if you include Mulan among the princesses. I personally classify her as a hero, along with Pocahontas.

Disney’s most recent franchise consumer products producer was ‘Cars’. While not a critical box office hit, Cars made somewhere north of $4 billion in merchandise sales for the mouse house. I don’t think we’ll see quite that much with Princess Tiana merchandise alone, but when you add in increased sales of other princess merchandise, you might get close.

As evidence, at the Magic Kingdom last night I again saw little girls already wearing the Princess Tiana dress even before the movie has been released. Princesses of all colors too as is befitting a movie that really is an American story.

An article in the Boston Globe states that Mickey Mouse has gotten a little stale, boring even.

The mischievous sorcerer’s apprentice of “Fantasia’’ has become an empty vessel, devoid of any of the sharp edges that might define his character.

I have to say I don’t agree at all. Going back to Runaway Brain, attempts to reinvigorate Mickey have inevitably ended back at the original Mickey Mouse – an adventurer, a ladies man, and a funny guy. As always, a reflection of his creator. Epic Mickey is going to be more of the same.

What Mickey does need is to be relevant. He’s at his best when he’s doing some sort of commentary on society, usually with a humorous angle. His role as an entrepreneur in the House of Mouse series was a step in the right direction. While not really commentary, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse has also done a good job reacquainting a whole new generation of kids with the character.

The direction I would take Mickey in is to put him in situations we’re all dealing with. In today’s economy Mickey should be championing the little people. Give him an electric car, send him to the mall, the unemployment line, make him a doctor, send him back to school. Some of Mickey’s best moments in his early career involved spoofing celebrity. That would fit in today too.

Where would you like to see Mickey Mouse go from here?

If you’ve been looking for the next big thing to be built by the Walt Disney Company, you’ll want to point your satellite to the middle of the Pacific Ocean. There on the island of Oahu in the resort area of Ko Olina you’ll find the next Disney resort.

I haven’t been so lucky to make the trip, but Disney Dean did and he’s put up a photobucket account (see gallery below) with some great photos as well as a blog post. Let me know if you see Imagineering’s Joe Rhode in any of those pictures, he’s supposed to be there somewhere; temporarily reassigned from overseeing Disney’s Animal Kingdom.

This is the 5000th post here on The Disney Blog. That’s 18 posts a week or more than two posts a day since I launched the blog in June 2004. A fairly respectable average, if I do say so. According to Technorati there were about 3 million blogs at that time. There are over 250 million blogs today.

I’ve been on the internet in its various forms since 1991. I started writing about Disney on USENET’s Rec.Arts.Disney and Alt.Disney.Disneyland, then later on LaughingPlace.com beginning in August 1999. I also joined and learned a lot from the e-list “FutureCulture.” It was my first online community and I’m proud to say I’m still a member.

I started my personal blog in 1998 before they were called blogs. I called it “You are your URL” or iURL for short. It was obvious to me then that the internet would become the new “permanent record” that parents so often warned their kids about to keep them in line. As so many have found today, an unfortunate photo onFacebook can often mean the difference between getting that job or turning public opinion in a court case. An iURL was my attempt to control that message by putting my information out there first in the manner I wanted others to see.

In 2004 when I started writing The Disney Blog, there were no other Disney blogs. There were a dozen or so Disney travel planning websites and about 500 other Disney fan websites, each with a specific topic, but none used the now common reverse chronological post and the informal voice that comes with a blog. Sadly many of these excellent websites have been lost to the ravages of time, but some survive and even thrive.

The early weeks of The Disney Blog benefited from the three hurricanes that hit Central Florida. Although I was living in the Las Vegas area at the time, I was able to collect and synthesize news and on the ground reports of the preparations and damages for the storms, particularly as they impacted Walt Disney World. This brought a lot of traffic to a young blog and really helped developed the writing style I still use today. I aim for my writing to be about 90% news and information combined with around 10% of my unique perspective on how it all fits together.

Since I started The Disney Blog thousands of blogs have sprung up in the Disney niche and most of the big Disney travel planning websites have sprouted their own blogging platform in some fashion or another. I am overjoyed about this. I believe that a rising tide lifts all ships. I wouldn’t have learned half the fascinating stuff I have these last 5 years without all those other wonderful voices. So if you write a Disney Blog out there, thanks to you. Please keep up the great work.

Another growth area for online Disney fan activity has been Podcasts. The number of talented individuals and the amount of new and interesting material covered each week never ceases to amaze me. There’s so much good stuff out there that you could literally listen all week to just Disney podcasts and still be behind when the next week’s episodes are released.

Related to podcasting has been the explosion of fan created park DVDs. Historical videos, tributes to attractions and cast members, park guides, park tours, and so much more. That the Walt Disney Company hasn’t stomped out this cottage industry is a blessing for us all. By letting fans produce blogs, podcasts, DVDs, Disney keeps the fires stoked in the belly of its most devoted customer base and reaps the benefits of new fans as the word gets spread around by those same passionate customers.

Speaking of the Mouse House. Let’s look at the Walt Disney Company’s involvement when it comes to blogging and social media. I still don’t think the company has recovered from the disaster that was the Infoseek and Go.com purchase. Because of that, there really isn’t one unified theme from the company when it comes to social media.

The Disney parks division got started a few years ago with some video podcasts. Since then the podcast format has been dropped, but the video production quantity has risen steadily. It’s also spread into other divisions. The Cruise Line, Animation, Disney Consumer Products, Disney Channel, and ABC all use the online video format fairly extensively. If your division isn’t on this list (games, movies, archives, etc), why not?

The company has even begun testing the social media waters. Many Disney divisions now have Twitter accounts, Facebook pages, and they’re exploring other products. The one area I think Disney is lacking is content creation by subject matter experts, specifically blogs. There is a certain amount of freedom that’s been granted Disney animators (specifically Pixar animators) to blog about what they love and are experts at. I would like to see that model expanded to the rest of the company.

I believe Walt Disney would have been a tremendous user of social media, once he got over his fear of letter go of control of the discussion. He would have been all over it to talk about whatever his next big project was.

The lesson to be learned from Social Media and online Disney fandom in general is that, while Disney still controls the product they produce, the fans now own the brand.

This could not be any clearer than with D23. Billed as The Official Community for Disney Fans, D23 is Disney’s early attempt to harness some of that fan magic. Get the product in front of the fans and let them take it from there. I’ll save my views on D23 for another post some day. But let’s just say some action in this area is better than nothing.

So what does the future hold? We’re still in the youth of blogging, podcasting, social media, and other disintermediation as to what it means to be part of Disney culture. We’re also just a few short years from Augumented Reality having a large impact on our daily lives including leisure travel. The seeds of augmented reality can be seen right now withYelp’s iPhone app, FourSquare, some other iPhone apps. Disney parks are experimenting with it using RFID technology and, if the sudden proliferation of Disney parks themed iPhone apps is any indication, fan use won’t be far behind.

What else would I like to see? Closer cooperation between the Walt Disney Company and its fans. Right now so much of the relationship work is handed off to third parties or has to pass through so many layers of legal dancing that many great projects never get off the ground. There is still very much a parent child relationship between Disney and its fans, as if we’re not mature enough to handle the truth. For instance, don’t tell us you’re not building a DVC hotel when we can see the thing reaching skyward right from the monorail. It’s better to cultivate the mutual interest in the success of the product.

I would also like to see closer cooperation between Disney websites. I know the economy has played havoc with our yearly MouseFest reunion, but I hope it comes back. There should also be more online connections made and synergy found between us.

It’s about time to wrap this up. Obviously this was not the unquestionable and complete account of Disney fandom online. But I think it’s a good look across the breadth of it. Five plus years and 5,000 posts covers a lot of change and that’s the one thing I promise you we’ll see more of when it comes to Disney. Just look at the Marvel acquisition. I haven’t even begun to think about how we’ll integrate with the online Marvel fan community.

Most important, thank you for being part of The Disney Blog. Thanks for reading my look at the State of the Disney Blogosphere. I hope you’ll still look here for your dose of Disney news and information 5,000 posts from now.

A new cast of talented contributors to the Disney legend will themselves become Disney Legends in a special presentation at the D23 Expo on Thursday Sept. 10th. Oscar-winning actor Robin Williams, the actresses of The Golden Girls, the voices of Donald Duck and Goofy, and other important contributors to the Disney legacy will be honored at the 2009 Disney Legends Awards during the D23 EXPO at the Anaheim Convention Center.

The Disney Legends Awards are a 22-year tradition of The Walt Disney Company, and the four-day D23 EXPO provides a rare opportunity for the public to watch the awards presentation. The awards ceremony, hosted by ABC personality Tom Bergeron, will take place at 11 a.m. on Thursday, Sept. 10, in the Anaheim Convention Center Arena. It directly follows a special, one-hour presentation by Walt Disney Company President and CEO Bob Iger that kicks off the first day of the D23 EXPO.

“This year’s recipients have had truly indelible influence on the Disney legacy,” Iger said. “Whether on screen or behind the scenes, these 10 men and women have contributed their talents in countless ways, and we are very honored to name them as Disney Legends.”

The 2009 Disney Legends Award honorees (listed alphabetically) are:

TONY ANSELMO is a Disney animator who, since 1985, has provided the incomparable (and some would say inimitable) voice of Donald Duck in movies, cartoons, TV shows and theme-park attractions.

HARRY ARCHINAL is the former president of Buena Vista International, who helped expand Disney’s cinematic presence into regions outside of the U.S. and Canada, bringing Disney movies to audiences around the world.

BEATRICE ARTHUR brought deadpan comic timing and enormous warmth to the role of Dorothy Zbornak in The Golden Girls from 1985 to 1992, a role that brought her a second Emmy Award (in addition to an Emmy for Maude). She was also a Tony Award-winning stage actress and is in the Academy of Television Arts & Science’s Hall of Fame. Note: This award is presented posthumously.

BILL FARMER is an accomplished voice actor whose enormous body of work has included providing the voice of Goofy since 1986. Farmer has also been the voice of Pluto and Horace Horsecollar for Disney productions.

ESTELLE GETTY was, in fact, younger than Beatrice Arthur but portrayed her mother, feisty Sophia Petrillo, in The Golden Girls from 1985 to 1992. She received an Emmy Award for the role – which she reprised in Golden Palace and Empty Nest – and was nominated six additional times. Getty was one of the first recipients of the “In Memoriam” Tony Award for her Broadway stage work. Note: This award is presented posthumously.

DON IWERKS is the son of Walt Disney’s longtime friend and animator Ub Iwerks. Don Iwerks worked at Disney from 1951 to 1986, and created revolutionary film systems that were used in movies like Mary Poppins (sodium traveling matte process) and in such Disney theme park attractions as “CircleVision 360” and “Star Tours.”

RUE McCLANAHAN was honored with an Emmy Award for her hilariously lusty, warm-hearted role as Blanche Devereaux on The Golden Girls, which she also repeated on Golden Palace. From 1972 to 1978, McClanahan played opposite Beatrice Arthur as Vivian on Maude, and also co-starred in Mama’s Family. In addition to her renowned work on TV, on stage and in films, McClanahan is active in animal-rights, cancer and AIDS organizations.

LEOTA TOOMBS THOMAS was working at Walt Disney Imagineering (then WED Enterprises) when she served as a model for a new attraction called the Haunted Mansion. She soon became world-famous as the Mansion’s disembodied Madame Leota. Note: This award is presented posthumously.

BETTY WHITE has become a television icon, especially for her role as slightly befuddled, always charming Rose Nylund in The Golden Girls – for which she received one of her six Emmy Awards. White has also been a key cast member in such hit TV shows as The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Golden Palace, The Practice and her own series, The Betty White Show. She has been seen in 19 films and has long supported many animal-rights organizations.

ROBIN WILLIAMS is the recipient of six Golden Globes, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, three Grammy Awards and the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor (1997). His unforgettable film work for Disney has included providing the voice of Genie in Aladdin and starring in Good Morning, Vietnam, and Dead Poets Society. He also appeared in the short film Back to Neverland at Disney theme parks. This fall, Williams stars with John Travolta in Old Dogs from Walt Disney Pictures.

Each honoree receives a two-foot-tall bronze Disney Legends sculpture that signifies the imagination, creativity and magic they have brought to the Company. Disney Legends Award recipients also participate in a hand-print ceremony, and their bronzed prints will be displayed in the Disney Legends Plaza at the Company’s Burbank headquarters.

The first Disney Legend, actor Fred MacMurray (The Shaggy Dog, The Absent-Minded Professor, The Happiest Millionaire), was named in 1987. Including this year’s honorees, a total of 237 Disney Legends have been named. Past Disney Legends include Tim Allen, Julie Andrews, Howard Ashman, Annette Funicello, Peter Jennings, Angela Lansbury, Steve Martin, Alan Menken, Hayley Mills, Fess Parker, Sir Tim Rice, Dick Van Dyke and Barbara Walters.

The Wall Street Journal checks in on the village of Zhaohang outside of Shanghai, China. This is the location that the Walt Disney Company and Chinese officials have selected for a new theme park from the Mouse. Many of the village’s 4000 residents are getting relocation packages, but that has led to some strife among citizens.

Fearing they would be left out of an opportunity for compensation, more than 100 villagers launched two days of protests that culminated with the death on Aug. 5, apparently by a stroke, of a woman who had led them.

At the same time hopes of an economic payoff come with a big project on your backdoor.

One of them, Zhao Jingfang said, “We can’t welcome it more.” Nearby, an elderly woman wearing a yellow Minnie Mouse T-shirt beamed as neighbors cleaning beans mused about their impending payday.

That said, nothing is yet official until the project actually begins. News of the project has been very slow.

Just stumbled across a clip of Walt Disney explaining the Multiplane Camera system.

Two things strike me about this clip. First, Walt Disney Animation is completely different these days, (Okay, 1st that Mickey was way off model wasn’t he?) and yet still very much the same. The magic of the multiplane camera was all about mathematical computations to determine the precise speed and direction of each plane and the camera. These days it’s all done in a computer, but the math is still an important part. One part art, one part science.

Second, not that anyone can ever replace Walt, but that doesn’t mean the public’s desire to see how things work has changed. Where is the person at the Walt Disney Company charged with highlighting the company’s technological and entertainment advances? I’d tune in to watch the modern equivilant of this clip, perhaps explaining the Walt Disney Animation Studios return to hand-drawn animation, wouldn’t you?

Many voices in the theme park industry and across Disneyana are beginning to struggle with what should happen next at Walt Disney World. What should happen now that a life has been tragically and unnecessarily lost?

I’m not yet ready to make any suggestions as  own ideas are still developing, however, I think this opinion piece from Theme Park Insider editor Robert Niles is worth reading.

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the accident, and it appears that the federal agency will have much to criticize in its report. Not only does there appear to have been operational failures by monorail personnel, leading to the accident, but also Disney’s monorail system design was fatally flawed.

The accident appears to have happened because Monorail Pink, which was to have transferred to another monorail beam, did not make the track switch, and instead proceeded backward down the Epcot line, back into the station where it collided with Monorail Purple, killing driver Austin Wuennenberg. Apparently, the monorails’ automatic collision avoidance system was switched off during the track switch.

And that is the design flaw.

Robert goes on to suggest that as a consequence the Walt Disney Company should lose control of the Reedy Creek District. I’m not sure I’d go that far right now, but I can foresee a circumstance or two where I might get behind the idea.

I’m hoping the OSHA and NTSB reports will be very insightful as to what went wrong and what might be done to prevent this from occuring again (Disney has already implemented steps that will prevent it, at least in the short term).

There are lots of questions that are unanswered as to what went wrong. And that says something in itself. But for now we wait.