Amidst the non-stop coverage of fires raging all over So-Cal, a news story broke on ABC morning news:
Disney, the parent company of ABC, ESPN, Touchstone Pictures, Hollywood Pictures, Miramax Films, Pixar and countless other franchises, purchased Marvel Entertainment for $4 billion dollars.  As part of the deal, Disney will take possession of all the thousands of Marvel characters.
Marvel shareholders will receive $30 per share in cash, plus 0.745 Disney shares for every Marvel share they have.
According to the article on ABC News, Robert Iger, the current Disney CEO “said the acquisition combines Marvel’s “strong global brand and world-renowned library of characters” with Disney’s “unparalleled global portfolio of entertainment properties” and ability to maximize value across multiple platforms and territories.”
That’s all very well and good but what does that mean for us?
I LOVE Disney, don’t get me wrong here, I’ve had an annual pass for the last 16 years (all except the 2 years I worked there) and the company itself is synonymous with good story telling, quality, excellence and service.  But thinking about this a little more deeply; Stan Lee’s characters such as X-Men, Fantastic 4 and Iron Man will now be held under the Disney umbrella, which at first glance, doesn’t worry me too much.  Maybe if that’d been the case 10 years ago, some of these movies wouldn’t have completely sucked as badly as they did but, I guess I’m just skeptical.  The happy ending sugary goodness of Disney animation just doesn’t seem to fit and the idea of Storm leading a parade around the Matterhorn makes me a little sick to my stomach.
Is that just my worst case scenario thinking coming in?  If so, then what can we expect to see in the future with this alliance of animated powerhouses?  Iron Man rides at Disneyland?  Stuffed Wolverine toys on Main Street, Ice-Man snow cones?  Spider-man climbing on the Tower of Terror, or Gambit look-a-likes signing autographs in New Orleans?
Maybe none of that.  Maybe all it means is Marvel now has a golden ticket to security through the financial challenges we are all facing right now.  Not such a bad thing, right?
Here’s a great, detailed article on the subject if you’d like to read more; Funny thing I noticed tho… it’s all over the news, but not on either company’s websites.  That seems odd to me.

http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS126500+31-Aug-2009+BW20090831

Anyway, that’s the scoop…what do you think?