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I'm a fan of foreign movies. I'm not a movie snob that says foreign films are better. I just happen to like a lot of movie from Asia. I have a smattering of stuff from other countries. Of my 300 DVDs 100 of them are foreign films (including the UK). I bought a multi-region DVD player many years back so I could buy movies directly from Korea as nobody tends to bring their movies over here in their original form (seriously, why hasn't Arahan been released yet?). Around that same time Miramax started releasing a number of Asian martial arts movies here in the US (mostly from China). While the movies were adjusted and tweaked in a variety of forms for better consumption in the US they were treated better than such films were treated by Dimension Film. Miramax wasn't perfect, but they did decent work. Then they were bought by Disney, or to be more appropriate then the impact of Disney was felt (depending on where you look in the timeline). Movies from Asia were delayed, reworked multiple times, or even in some cases the theatrical releases were abandoned as even the actual "fans" of the movies despised the reworking of the movies they saw at screenings. In my mind Disney killed Miramax's potential to tap the Asian movie market. Needless to say, I was less than thrilled when I read that Disney was going to be buying Marvel.
Now, please keep in mind that I do see the positive in this. Marvel has gone from a company in bankruptcy to a company that is turning enough of a profit to grow and have a company like Disney interested in purchasing them. Let's be honest, with that kind of money behind them Marvel as a company should be set quite nicely for a while. That's all good, and I see it as such. My concern comes in the mindset of my bias of how Disney screwed up Miramax. Obviously the companies were "separate" to the degree that they were allowed to continue releasing films (probably debatable to Kevin Smith) but it was as though Disney's influence was always there, and unlike Rupert Murdoch, Disney doesn't seem to like playing both sides against the other.
My question, or rather my concern, is wondering what this new Disney-owned Marvel could morph into. Will there be any change? I don't know, but I'm worried. This isn't like Warner Bros. buying DC back when that happened. In my mind that was a company that focuses on entertainment in general buying up a niche/specific kind of entertainment. Disney is much more than entertainment, it's a mindset for many. It's a mindset that some love and some hate. I have a friend that I made recently who doesn't even like to call me by my name because of her distaste for Disney (Wall-E), she tends to stick by my gamertag (No, I'm not making this up, I wish I was).
Yet, if you look this appears to have been a process in the making for some time. Disney's "Jetix" label has been using cartoons of Marvel characters for a while. Now, rather than being someone who just displays that property in that format they own it. That's pretty good business, perhaps.
I wonder if there are people out there who will now turn away from Marvel in a "preemptive" move to distance themselves from characters they care about before they are somehow changed or altered. I don't think that will ever be the case, but I do see there being some general guidelines possibly being put in place as this is something that will be right in the face of those who are all aware of what happens in our world. Let's face it, it may not be something that affects the world on large, but this is something that will affect the world of individuals, and many of us can't see past that world very well.
Still, there are many interesting possibilities out there. Unlockable Disney characters in a future Marvel Ultimate Alliance game would be hilarious and an adventure game that uses both Disney and Marvel characters in a Kingdom Hearts type of team-up would be one of the MOST likely ways to get a non-gamer girl to sit down and play a game with her guy. Plus, if you add to that the likely jokes that will be coming down the Deadpool ladder soon, it could be very good. Of course how much will the Deadpool movie push the boundaries…that's something I'm a bit more concerned over. Time will tell though.
When I was a child I went on "It's a Small World" and enjoyed it very much. I can still see it in my mind's eye. As I've gotten older I've found that the world does continue to feel smaller and smaller with technology bringing all of us to a point of near-instantaneous communication despite distance and language barriers. It appears that Disney has decided that as far as entertainment goes "It's a Small World" may not just be a societal wish, it may be a business model.
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