Friday, January 1, 2010

The Marvel Disney Dilemma

I was prompted by the lovely Scarlet Scribe for my thoughts on the Marvel/Disney merger, and this is pretty much what it boils down to:

It's tantalizing, because Disney is one of the most powerful marketing machines on the planet. If you look at PotC and Prince of Persia, and then imagine the money and technical teams behind those films being applied to something like, I don't know, THE AVENGERS or the X-Men or anyone else, it's like a wet dream. Unfortunately, Disney is known more for being creatively domineering over smaller productions or creations that aren't 'their baby', and not friendly to a lot of tropes that make comics great or darker material that has marked the transition for comics from pop and pulp to serious attempts at examining the world and telling stories. Disney is also known, fairly or not, for censorship and for caving to public and especially Christian opinion. That's troubling. Also, the degree to which Disney properties are pimped through marketing and multiple media platforms can be distasteful. It's a weird little dichotomy. As a consumer whore, I am torn between fearing the Disney Machine and wanting Marvel plushies. Monetarily, the possibilities are now seemingly endless, but creatively, a Marvel fan has to worry about the hands these properties are now in.

1 comments:

Unknown said...

You just have to hope that the gigantic synergistic marketing team that is Disney actually "gets" marvel and isn't planning on castrating superheroes!