Is modern day Disney only successful, because they are leeching off of the success of Marvel?

I love how folks regard “success” only as what they, personally, like. The recent Star Wars films have grossed a few billion on budgets that, combines, make up less than 1 billion. Like ‘em or not, that’s success.

Also your post disregards the fact that without Disney then all these MCU movies never would have been possible in the first place, and Marvel would have continued selling its biggest characters to other studios into perpetuity.

The MCU is certainly part of it, but their other areas do plenty well on their own. Similar to PIXAR (when Steve Jobs owned it), Marvel Studios was doing fine without Disney (making it all the way to the first Avengers movie without them.

Opinions aside, Star Wars has made plenty of money and gained new young fans under Disney. The live action Disney Classic remakes have been hot and cold.

Not to mention what they make in merchandise, television, and theme parks.

And, I predict that the Disney+ Streaming Service will be a monster hit and might even be trouble for Netflix.

If you’ve ever been to Disney World or looked at Disney forums on TripAdvisor, or Disney discussions on FB, Disney fans are rabid for all things Disney. In addition, Disney has multiple ingenious ways to suck money out of people (photos, meal plans, etc.).

Disney is so much more than just movies.

I live near the parks in Florida, and the majority of the Universal park rides are all the same relying on a lot of movie affects, and jerking you around in your seat. Disney has some of that too, but it’s such a different experience. More rides are a delight rather than a high speed shake your brain adventure.

American kids grow up with a love of Disney that I don’t think compares to Universal, because Disney gets the children at a younger age. Although, it’s impossible to ignore some of the great movies Universal has done, and the Harry Potter sections at Universal are gorgeous and fantastic.

Also, at the parks, the Disney shopping and restaurants area (Disney Springs) that is open to everyone has free parking and is pleasant and huge and Universal is only free after 6:00 and often has very loud music and the whole place feels in your face and not relaxing. It feels much more geared for ages 15–25, but there are some key things at Universal I really enjoy.

Disney has multiple restaurants and shopping outside of the pay to get in parks areas. Universal has some of that too, but not to the scale Disney does. Moreover, Universal charges $45 to park at a hotel in most cases unless you eat at a designated restaurant and get a voucher. Most Disney resort hotels have free parking, although I’ve heard that is changing, I’m not sure.

I was never a big Star Wars fan (much prefer Star Trek) nor a fantasy fan, I never got into Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings or any of that. I’m surprised I was able to get into Game of Thrones on TV.

Regarding Spider-Man did Disney fuck up, or did Sony get greedy? I’m not clear. How exactly do you see the details of that situation?

Edit: if you are staying at a Universal hotel it’s $14—$25 a day to park your car, but if you are just parking at the hotel to visit a friend it’s $45 unless you eat at an approved restaurant while there, then you get a free voucher. At Disney the parking is free. Universal feels like a constant gouge in many ways. Much more than Disney. Not just parking. The fast pass is free at Disney, you pay for one at Universal. The list goes on.

@JLeslie
The deal they had until now, was that Sony would fund the movie, and get 95% of what the movies made, while Disney had the rights to all the merchandise and the TV rights.
Now Disney wanted a 50/50 split, while still retaining all the other rights.
There is no way that Sony, or anyone, would possibly agree to that.

@ragingloli Was there any negotiating to come to a better compromise? Or, Sony gave a flat no and that was it?

I hear that that 50/50 offer was the final one that Disney came up with.
Which means they (Disney) were even more greedy in the beginning.

Interesting.

Someone told me recently that Disney is going to have its own subscription TV service that’s going to include ESPN. It will have all the Disney shows and movies and ESPN plus something else which I forgot.

For under 15 dollars a month.

And I think that Disney has a much more sinister plan doing this.
They must have known that Sony could not agree to this, so the most obvious plan is having Sony fuck up the Spiderman franchise on their own, so that Disney will be in a better position to outright buy the rights from Sony.

@jca2 My girlfriend signed up for the new Disney service. Rebecca who does the Fork Off support group and podcast. She mentioned it in the last podcast I listened to, which I’m not sure if it was the most recent one she put out there.

I have to check what the other part of it is. I’m not watching a lot of Disney movies and not ESPN but maybe I’d like the other part of the subscription and it might be worth it.

@jca2 Becky got some sort of 3 year subscription deal. She worked for Disney (for ABC) for years and is very entrenched in the Disney love.

Some people are totally nuts for anything Disney. On Facebook and TripAdvisor, any merchandise including limited edition expensive handbags, they have to get it.

I have friends who go to Disney almost every week. It’s just over an hour away.

To me, once a week of anything seems excessive but I guess they must love it. When I go, I find it exhausting but then again, since I don’t get there often, I naturally try to cram as much as possible into the day. Your friend may go for a few hours and leave.

You’re too heavily vested in the issue loli. You’ve got religion about the phillistines trifling with your gods. If you think Marvel alone underpins a juggernaut like Disney, you’re welcome to that opinion, but as a practical reality, it no longer matters if the mouse’s output is trite or mediocre. They have the money to buy up and ruin anything you care about. Get used to it. And take heart in the fact that for all the ruin, random chance must dictate occasional gems in our future.

I would agree with the OP. Disney is riding on Feige and Marvel’s creative acumen. On its own it sucks creatively especially with the SW franchise. They should just KILL this franchise after they get their investment back. Let it die a merciful death. Lol

I keep saying since several years ago WB and DC should have pirated or borrowed Feige from Disney to handle its superhero characters like Batman and Superman. Save them from inside that Snyder toilet bowl of puke and excrement.

@jca2 Once a week is way too much for me too. They do go for just 3–5 hours. Maybe a meal and walk around. Sometimes some rides. When we go we usually couple it with a Trader Joe trip, because there isn’t one by my house.

Sometimes they buy an annual pass and then don’t the next year (I do this) so the year they/we have the pass we “cram” more trips in, but I go maybe 6 times a year even with the pass. Nothing close to every week.

Well, most of the Star Wars movies suck, and they sucked before Disney got them. VI, I, II, and III were a waste of screen space. So I don’t think that it’s Disney that suckified them.

But I liked Rogue One quite a bit, and I even liked Solo—especially since it was an original story. But I am biased. The animation director of Rogue One and Mandalorian is a good friend of mine. I had lunch with him a few days ago and he told me that he’s excited about the Mandolorian story.

First, let me say I love Disney.
I am going to the park next week for five days, and bringing my 13 year old grandson.
Disney is wildly successful. They have a legacy of children’s movies, and are continually expanding their library.
Their young teen programming is very popular.
They built the successful Pirates Of The Caribbean rides, based on a popular park ride.
They have aquired Marvel, Avatar, and Star Wars, and incorporated rides in their parks to support and compliment the films.
Their early support of Pixar, and eventual acquisition, has boosted their child film portfolio. The Pixar films had a remarkable string of successes.
Disney’s expansion has definitely had some bumps. They really should consider building other parks, rather than cramming the existing parks with franchise rides. For example, Avatar and Star Wars could have a stand alone.
The new streaming service will be must-have in homes with kids.
I haven’t even started on their acquisition of X-Men.
I haven’t cared for the recent Star Wars movies, but I appreciate the work. The firing of Gunn and Lassiter were unfortunate, and I am glad to see Gunn back. With 4 Avatar movies being made, it’s hard to suggest they will not be successful.
I will report back after next week’s trip.