Parks and Resorts- Fantasyland Expansion Excitement

Who's excited for the new Fantasyland? I am, but it's not without reservations. I think most of us will miss Toontown...but because of any great attractions or restaurants, but simply because of what it was. It was an engineering triumph and a creative land that defied imagination. The new Fantasyland is expected to surpass all expectations. What's so great about it?

The Little Mermaid- I think just about everybody is relieved that Little Mermaid is finally getting its due at the parks. The success of that film along with a concept that is perfect for an attraction will ensure that Little Mermaid becomes an experience rather than just a show.

The Beauty and the Beast Castle- The drawings on this look great, including a restaurant, a gift shop, and a walk around exhibit will surely make for an exciting area. Should they have built a real attraction like they did for Little Mermaid? Possibly, but I expect this area to be wildly successful.

Snow White and the Mine Train- This is what i'm most excited about and i'm glad they added it instead of the Pixie Hollow area. Adding a little thrill to Fantasyland will help the park, much like Matterhorn Mountain does to Disneyland in California.

Dumbo x 2- When I heard that they were building a second Dumbo carousel I was a bit confused. Why two Dumbo attractions, what's the point? Couldn't they use the space for better purposes? Then I looked at the attendance figures. Dumbo is one of the longest queue attractions for guests, so adding a second one will not only look better, but will decrease wait time and flow throughout Fantasyland.

The one question I have to ask now is...what about CURRENT FILMS? Why does it take 20 years for a SUCCESSFUL film to get an attraction? Disney should look to PIXAR films for the next batch of attractions. A Wall-E attraction in Tomorrowland, a Cars attraction in Adventureland, an UP attraction in Fantasyland (Imagine the house built with the balloons similar to the Toontown Style). These ideas are all plausible, but they are also current, which helps them stay relevant.

The new Fantasyland should be very exciting, not only because of the new attractions, but because of the sizable investment. If this is successful, this will likely start a new trend among WDP&R for significant renovations at Disneyland and Tokyo Disney. This is the best alternative to combat the Wizarding World of Harry Potter...and to the winner go the spoils.

Corporate- It's time to learn the Martial Arts

  Disney is very good at showing its guests a concept in a short amount of time. Think about it, where did you first learn about pirates? Probably from Pirates of the Caribbean. Now why is this significant? It's significant because Disney is a master at introducing concepts in innovative ways and and fleshing out the story out of there. Though the Pirates movies aren't great films, it furthers the lore and makes the concept exciting. This is similar to the way the Sopranos reignited the Mafia craze, Harry Potter reignited the Wizarding craze, etc. Disney is simply good at making things fun again if the concept is good. So what is the next concept? Given Disney's focus on sports (ESPN and Wide World of Sports), sports movies (Look at nearly every live action movie in the 1990's), tv shows that empower children (see current Disney channel shows), their desire to improve Disney XD's shows, and their public service messages on staying active...Disney should focus on Martial arts. Now i know Disney has a show called "Kickin It" and it stars Jason Earles (from Hannah Montana fame). This show is pretty sad and doesn't delve into the concept. Disney needs to introduce the world to the martial arts in its entirety...what does this mean? It means a real tv show with interesting characters and storylines, not a quick slapstick comedy. It means a movie, like Miracle did to hockey, that starts a craze. It means a huge demonstration or tournament takes place at Wide world of sports. This concept is ripe for a new character to inspire a craze. Imagine Karate by Disney, they can make it the fascination of every young boy and focus on the discipline needed and the abilities of the participants. Disney could educate kids about responsibility in the martial arts as well as educate kids about all different styles of martial arts. They could create a Karate academy and be the first global company to put martial arts on the mainstream.

Following Disney T and T!!!

If you like what you see, don't forget you can follow us by clicking the follow button at the bottom! You'll be notified at each new posting and any controversy that originates from it.

Corporate- The Greatest Franchises

Disney has some great franchises to rely on including Toy Story, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Disney Princesses, but lately it seems that Disney's new franchises are weak and underwhelming. Think about this term for a minute; what is a franchise? A franchise is an idea or concept that the company can bank on. A franchise is never a one hit wonder, it is an idea that starts a trend and easily spawns new ideas and ventures. A franchise should also be able to have successful movie sequels, strong consumer product lines, television shows, video games, and theme park attractions. Don't be mistaken by franchise fakers; as dear as the Haunted Mansion is, it's not a franchise. The Lion King is not a franchise. Cars is not a franchise (though I know Disney is really trying to make it one). A franchise is exciting. The best franchises do not get an attraction at the park, they get a whole park to themselves. Here is a list of the ten best franchises in entertainment

10) Marvel Universe. It's fun to follow and know how the characters interplay.

9) Indiana Jones. The act of discovery is very exciting.

8) The Simpsons. The strength of this franchise is in the large cast of characters.

7) Preacher comic book series. (Potential...why has this not been made a series of movies yet?)

6) Lord of the Rings. Imagine walking around the Shire, Rivendell, or Gondor.

5) Harry Potter series. Wizards of Waverly place was Disney's attempt to capture some of these fans, but the Potter series is so well-written and full of fun ideas and language that it is in a league all its own.

4) Star Wars. Since 1977 this franchise has been leading the charge. The Disney/Lucas cooperation projects only help Disney, but they can do more. Why not a star wars themed land or park? Why not a Soarin style attraction in the millennium falcon? Star Tours is good, but why not create a 3-D environment that actually follows the stories?

3) Batman. He's a superhero without superpowers...making him believeable (to a degree) and addictive. Look at the Christopher Nolan Batman movies, they are amazing. The adventures of Batman are never going away.

2) The Muppets. This is the strongest asset Disney has right now that they can actually work with. They can't mess with Mickey, but the Muppets are those type of characters for adults. They can use adult humor and they can experiment with these characters! I'm glad they re-vitalized the franchise again, but lets hope they made it good.

1) Jurassic Park. What a concept this is, interesting, fun, exciting, and full of imagination. The books are great, the first movie is great, and it hits the inner kid in all of us...but the best part is that IT IS A THEME PARK SO THERE WON'T BE ANY PROBLEM ADAPTING IT. It is a shame that universal has this because they do not know how to properly leverage this asset. The ride they have now is terrible, the little eatery is terrible, and they aren't using it to its full potential. Imagine what Disney could do with this idea. It would demand its own theme park and Disney would really attempt to recreate the feeling of the books/movies. Not just a "dinosaur ride", but imagine a park that had all the elements and layout of the story. That would be exciting.

Obviously, all of these franchises already exist and would cost a lot of money to acquire (if they even could). However, Disney can also grow franchises in-house. Concepts such as Ninjas, Karate, Astronauts/Space, ghosts, Mafia, etc. All these concepts are GENRES in addition to their current Pirates, Princesses, and the recent vampire craze.

Disney Studios- The Triumph of the Disney Theatrical Group

  When people think Disney musical's, most will likely conjure up the eternal movies, but Disney Theatrical Group (DTG) is giving the film studios a run for its money. DTG is a great concept because it brings to life the characters and stories from the films. Their history is short and their movement is slow, but their successes so far are solid.

 Beauty and the Beast (1994)
 The Lion King (1997)
 Aida (2000)
 Mary Poppins (2004)
 Tarzan (2006)
 The Little Mermaid (2008)

Furthermore, Disney was wise enough to really begin expanding their theatrical investment with planned shows of:
   Dumbo
   Aladdin
   The Hunchback of Notre Dame
   The Jungle Book
   Alice in Wonderland (Tim Burton version)

Though I can't say i'm excited about the Tim Burton version of Alice in Wonderland, the rest of the upcoming slate shows lots of promise. Disney has a variety of stories that they can bring to life in front of the audience. Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Lady and the Tramp, etc. would all make potential popular musicals and will help make them popular and relevant again today. Disney must also use these in-production musicals as a test beacon before they attempt a musical based on a Pixar movie. You think Lion King was good, how about Finding Nemo, or Toy Story, or Up, etc. Pixar musicals would bring immediate sensation and make DTG the premier show producer in the country. Disney must be careful to protect and ensure these musicals are produced to their fullest, but need to keep the entity of the musical alive. Their shows are too often out of service; Beauty and the Beast should be traveling around the globe, Lion King will always be popular, Mary Poppins and Little Mermaid were not out long enough to gain the momentum needed. DISNEY MUST DEBUT ON BROADWAY, BUT THEN TRAVEL THE SHOW TO GAIN SUCCESS. THEIR MAIN AUDIENCE WILL NOT BE FOUND ON BROADWAY, BUT IN LARGER CITIES ACROSS THE COUNTRY.

   Disney also has a break in the theatrical venue because the audience will not be heavily scrutinizing the characters acting. Disney's main priority must be to ensure the music and the story flow well. If the actor can sing it well then the guest will enjoy, but a good actor who is unable to sing the character's notes like they do in film will cause disappointment and anger in the guest.

DTG has a strong future and I look forward to the future in this endeavor, I just wonder what took the company so long to actually make DTG a priority and realize the potential within it.

Disney Interactive- The Plight of the Disney Video Game

I'm convinced that Disney is cursed when it comes to video games. Why has Disney not made an epic video game yet? The talent and the passion are there, but the results have not even come close. Let's look at the list

Disney has made numerous bad video games on each console ranging from Mickey's Mousecapades on NES to Toy Story 3 on Wii. These games are just plain bad...but why? The gameplay isn't there, the fun isn't there, and neither is the entertainment value. You might be saying "hey, what about Kingdom hearts...that was a great game...", ya well that wasn't a Disney game. That was a game that involved Disney characters. Disney games are typically of a significant lesser quality.

So let's ask ourselves why the quality games have not come. Disney owns multiple game companies...these are professional game designers, and yet the studio is still lacking. For most of the 1990's and early in the 2000's, Disney didn't really emphasize the role of the video game. That was a bad decision. Video game companies today have created more iconic characters and have more loyal followers then most companies can dream of having. Think of the following franchises: Halo, Legend of Zelda, Mario Bros., Donkey Kong, Call of Duty, Mega Man, Madden Football, etc. These franchises are  solid; they could have movies (done well, not like the Mario movie we've had in the past), television shows, and maybe even attractions. A video game is more interactive than a movie so a well made character should become more popular than a movie character. DISNEY NEEDS TO CREATE AN ICONIC CHARACTER FROM A VIDEO GAME. To date, I would say that Disney's best video game has been Adventures in the Magic Kingdom on NES. It was tacky and ridiculously hard on some attractions, but the CONCEPT was great. Now look at today's game, the most hyped and invested Disney game lately has been Epic Mickey on Wii. This game had some solid moments, but overall was underwhelming. It had strange gameplay moments, terrible lighting, and the story was so abstract that you just couldn't get into it. I applaud the effort, but they can do better.

     What should Disney do?

- Rely more on your professional game companies to make a quality game. Disney should interfere in the development process as minimal as possible.

- Offer up your characters for a good concept. Disney has the characters that can make a great game. A video game lets you experiment with its iconic characters that the company is unable to do in a feature length movie. You can do mickey and the gang racing, mickey and the gang fighting, etc. A game wouldn't have the backlash that a movie would have. START FROM HERE. Make a quality game with its iconic characters.

- Stay away from games based on movies. Toy Story, Aladdin, Cars, Wall-E...I could go on, but look at all the video games based on movies and what do they have in common? They're all terrible. GAMES SHOULD NOT BE BASED ON MOVIES, BUT A MOVIE COULD BE BASED ON A GAME IF ITS DONE WELL.

- Disney should continue to purchase quality game companies and let them create adult oriented games as well as child friendly games.

- Stop making games solely for Wii. Most adults purchase PS3 or XBOX 360 games; since Disney has no agreements with Nintendo, Sony, or Microsoft, they should publish games on all platforms.

- Invest more in the game companies. Realize that this is going to be a large part of the future of the company.

- Make a modern day Adventures in the Magic Kingdom game. The game had a following and there's a movie coming in the next few years...this is how you capitalize on your brand in this industry.

- With Disney's emphasis on sports and on owning the ESPN brand, Disney should control the sports video game market. They should buy Electronic Arts, which I will address in another post.

Just to compare, look at a modern high quality video game, such as Batman's Arkham Asylum or The Legend of Zelda games. Now look at Epic Mickey and Toy Story Midway Mania. See the difference? THERE SHOULDN'T BE THAT MUCH OF A DIVERGENCE.

Corporate- A Smart Purchase- The WWE

Preamble-
The Smart Purchase posts will likely be the most fun to read and write because they will ultimately be the most controversial. We all know that Disney has their hands in many different industries, and will continue to do so, but what industries will help them to grow as a single company and help the brand the most? Simply buying other companies with good sales figures will not help grow your company because it inevitably fails in the long run. The acquiring company must NEED some facet of the smaller company to further their interests or strategy that are ALREADY IN PLACE. Example, Nike should not buy Jiffy Lube even if Jiffy Lube is expected to bring in significant short term products. However, Starbucks might want to purchase Redbull because they are similar in that they both provide caffeinated beverages, but they differ in almost every other facet. The demographic between the two companies is different and such a venture could help Starbucks achieve its goals and expand its customer base.

For Disney, the mission is to entertain audiences by providing positive family content and quality products. Disney creates and innovates brands, building them up and making them profitable, before adapting those brands into different mediums. Example, Disney and Pixar created Toy Story. It was a movie, it became successful. Then came movie sequels, then came merchandise, then came commercials, then came park attractions, etc. This "franchising" is how Disney maximizes the value out of their products and properties. However, what if a product is not successful at targeting a certain demographic or not achieving its goals? Disney is one of the best companies at knowing where they are weak. They know they have trouble reaching boys, so they buy Marvel, etc. These posts present companies/businesses/properties/products representing the best opportunities for potential growth to expand their strategic mission, target a specific demographic, or re-invigorate a current franchise.

In this post I propose that Disney should

  - Buy The WWE. 
I know what you're thinking- professional wrestling has nothing to do with Disney, the brands are completely different, the demographic is all wrong, they specialize in adult content are not family oriented fare like Disney, etc. However, lets look at some reasons that it is a smart purchase.

First the facts:
FACT 1- WWE brought in $142 Million last year with assets of $400 Million, therefore Disney COULD purchase them easily. Now lets look at if Disney SHOULD purchase them. Yes, Disney is family friendly fare and yes, WWE is adult oriented themed fare, but they have more in common than most think.
FACT 2- Disney is in the entertainment business and that includes adults. Disney owns Touchstone, Disney owns Hollywood Pictures, Disney used to own Miramax, etc. What does this mean? It means movies such as Pulp Fiction, Clerks, Trainspotting, Tombstone, Nixon, Annapolis, and Arachnophobia are or were all Disney films...so get the idea that "Disney doesn't do adult content or violence, etc." out of your head. Disney is a large enough company to separate the more adult content under a different sub-business like Touchstone. Additionally, WWE is the same concept (and much of the same demographic) as Marvel.
FACT 3- WWE brings larger than life characters to life, each embodying some ability or character, as they kick butt. That is the same concept as the X-men or Hulk except that they have mutant powers and are in comic book form. The Hulk Hogan character of the 80's was the same as Captain America in the 80's; Hogan fought the Iron Sheik while Captain America fought the Red Skull, etc. In more recent times, the WWE has taken on the mantra of "Attitude", meaning edgier characters and tougher language. The campiness associated with professional wrestling is long gone under this new idea; in today's environment, characters like The Rock, Stone Cold Steve Austin, and Kane bring catchphrases, charisma, merchandising, and flash to the audiences.

FACT 4-  WWE's bread and butter are live-action events, character development, and merchandising. Disney's live-action events (outside of the parks) are weak. The Disney-on-ice events (though not directly owned by Disney) are laughable and their ability to develop live-action characters is minimal. Therefore, WWE's main strengths are some of Disney's biggest weaknesses.
FACT 5- The creation of Disney XD and the acquisition of Marvel shows a concerted effort to reach boys, but Disney has yet to make an attempt to reach adult males. WWE has a history of reaching this demographic.

FACT 6- WWE is essentially a superstar factory. They take talented individuals and make them superstars...sounds just like Disney. Instead of branding musicians and actors, by acquiring WWE, Disney could brand adults and own those characters.

I could go on, but you get the point. They are similar business CONCEPTS and should be run as such. The WWE had a strong resurgence in the late 90's, but due to a lack of competition (WWE bought its two previous competitors WCW and ECW and currently only competes against the smaller Impact wrestling) the company has gotten stale and the revenues have fallen. IN BUSINESS, YOU CANNOT COMPETE AGAINST YOURSELF AND EXPECT TO REMAIN INNOVATE AND EXCITING. They essentially run a monopoly and felt the negative effects. Disney's creative atmosphere can regain the sense of innovation in this company. Now, how would the company run? Like Marvel, Disney should let WWE run as it does, but it should have a seat at the table. Vince McMahon, Owner of WWE, is a smart man and knows his company inside and out. Vince needs Disney so that he can experiment with new concepts without betting the barn. Disney needs Vince because he reaches the male demographic better than anyone. Also, Impact wrestling has an agreement and takes place at Universal Studios...so lets not pretend that theme parks and professional wrestling don't have any connection.

Owning WWE and having them under their own umbrella is a smart move. Should they ever interact with Mickey Mouse or any child friendly Disney brand? No. WWE should be run on its own merit and as a separate entity.