Uh Oh...What's Disney Thinking?

[beaker]

A lot of us have begun to forgive Disney for their massive blunders and faux paus(like destroying their 2d department, the very thing that made them Disney) due to what theyve been doing with the Muppets, and creating amazing new genre films like Tron Legacy.

Meanwhile, Disneyland itself seems to be continuing this decline into belt tightening insanity. A lot of you remember the news a few years ago when Disneyland let go a large amount of employees(some of whom had been working there since the 1950's)

Now, it seems Disneyland has done away with it's walkaround characters. For kids, isn't some of the fun randomly running into Mary Poppins, or some more obscure character out of the blue?

http://www.mouseplanet.com/9510/Collared
http://www.aintitcool.com/node/48167

I'm excited to go there and calif adv for D23 this august, but I can see why families and kids would be upset, especially as another sign of how corporate and greedy companies are.

 

[frogboy4]

Instant gratification culture. Kids want to see a particular character...and right now...or they'll switch on their ipod or PSP and jack back into the matrix.

I'm with you. Random is much more fun. Why can't they do both?

 

[D'Snowth]

This is the recession,
I forgot to mention,
That we're all poor here,
OYYYYY!

They're takin' our 'ouse now,
And our pension,

I... forget the rest of the words.

 

[CensoredAlso]

Disney has always been very creative and pioneering. But it's also always been quite cut throat. It's not the first time this has happened.

But it's ridiculous. There's no money to be saved by firing people in those kinds of jobs. And they're losing a lot of charm for the theme park.

 

[Drtooth]

Meanwhile, Disneyland itself seems to be continuing this decline into belt tightening insanity. A lot of you remember the news a few years ago when Disneyland let go a large amount of employees(some of whom had been working there since the 1950's)

After reading this, it doesn't even seem JUST like a belt tightening move... this one caught my eye...

PhotoPass's primary concern is profit via the photo packages sold online and on Main Street. All they want characters to do is stay in one place, sign autograph books, and have photos taken by the PhotoPass cast members.

Sounds like politicking to me so they can sell more overpriced garbage. That's low, and that's probably due to some crappy management at Disneyland. They're gonna give everyone the "theme park attendance is low" crap , and we all know that's bull. They just want to make things even more expensive and recessive, and this is going to LOSE customers, not gain them.

And yes, lowering prices are OUT of the question. I actually have an older cousin that works at Disneyworld... thankfully NOT a walkabout. And apparently he can't even get connections to get the GOOD theme park merchandise (I wanted him to set me up with the Muppet Star Wars set).

All and all, this is more of the same. Cutting every corner to try to save money and losing twice as much, not letting us get that corner back. Food companies do it, toy companies do it, everybody does it. We're in a recession BECAUSE of these guys, and their all too eagerness to pad their profits with tax cuts... now they're hurting and we have to feel sorry for them? I hope some grassroots movement gets the Paymoneyspecialperkpass management fired, but it won't.

That said, yeah... like I can afford to go to DisneyWolrd or land. I had to go with a church group through my parents to go to Massachusetts Six Flags those 2 times and that's the best I'm gonna get. But the Batman stunt show was WELL worth it.

 

[CensoredAlso]

We're in a recession BECAUSE of these guys, and their all too eagerness to pad their profits with tax cuts... now they're hurting and we have to feel sorry for them?

Speak the truth.

 

[Puckrox]

This is awful. My best childhood memories of Disneyland were bumping into characters and getting my picture taken with them. Now you have to stand in lines to see any of them? I mean, I can understand the more highbrow characters (Mickey, Minnie, Pooh, the princesses, etc.). But, seriously, confining the rest of the characters is BS.

I'm most likely going to Disneyland this spring break. This is going to make the trip a little less magical.

 

[Drtooth]

Speak the truth.

That said, I still think this is the "Oh yeah! Cost cutting, nudge nudge, know what I mean, say no more" backdoor type deal. You know, the kind that wears the rubber suit of belt tightening, when they're really just looking for an excuse to raise prices they were going to raise anyway.

I agree that Disney's come a long way (and I'm sure that the park management is separate from the rest of the biz)... but there are things that still bug me.

1) I'm SOOOO glad that they realize how profitable and relevant that TV cartoons can be, via Phineas and Ferb. But the only other one they have is Fish Hooks, and I don't think I'm going to enjoy it. I know it's baby steps and all, but Disney needs to get its act together with TV animation. Remember the boom to the animation industry Disney Afternoon shows created? We wouldn't have Warner Bros. taking the risk with Tiny Toons and the like if Disney didn't have such a massive hit with TDA. And now, there's just nothing but P&F and Fish Hooks. They need to get themselves a NON-TV/EI action series. POTC4 is a good way to take advantage of the franchise and make an animated series like they SHOULD have done.

2) Stop the PR crap and loosen up fast food toy licenses again. There was such a BLOWN opportunity that TS3 could have been a huge cross/promotion... and quite possibly have made BETTER toys than Mattel's overpriced line. I think Pixar's management may have had something to do with that too... toys could have even propped Princess and the Frog and Tangled up too.

3) I really wish they would have let Marvel cartoons that were in production at the time alone, even save them from cancellation. Wolverine and the X-Men was brilliant, ditto Spectacular Spider-Man. They REALLYshould have saved the last one, especially because its cancellation was ALL the CW's fault for selling off their Saturday morning line up to 4Kids, which CLEARLY hadn't the money to keep it on.

4) I wish they weren't playing fast and loose with the license for Pixar and Muppet comics... I do NOT want to see them published by Marvel. No how, no way. Pages and pages of adds would hurt the comics.

 

[beaker]

That said, I still think this is the "Oh yeah! Cost cutting, nudge nudge, know what I mean, say no more" backdoor type deal. You know, the kind that wears the rubber suit of belt tightening, when they're really just looking for an excuse to raise prices they were going to raise anyway.

I agree that Disney's come a long way (and I'm sure that the park management is separate from the rest of the biz)... but there are things that still bug me.

1) I'm SOOOO glad that they realize how profitable and relevant that TV cartoons can be, via Phineas and Ferb. But the only other one they have is Fish Hooks, and I don't think I'm going to enjoy it. I know it's baby steps and all, but Disney needs to get its act together with TV animation. Remember the boom to the animation industry Disney Afternoon shows created? We wouldn't have Warner Bros. taking the risk with Tiny Toons and the like if Disney didn't have such a massive hit with TDA. And now, there's just nothing but P&F and Fish Hooks. They need to get themselves a NON-TV/EI action series. POTC4 is a good way to take advantage of the franchise and make an animated series like they SHOULD have done.

2) Stop the PR crap and loosen up fast food toy licenses again. There was such a BLOWN opportunity that TS3 could have been a huge cross/promotion... and quite possibly have made BETTER toys than Mattel's overpriced line. I think Pixar's management may have had something to do with that too... toys could have even propped Princess and the Frog and Tangled up too.

3) I really wish they would have let Marvel cartoons that were in production at the time alone, even save them from cancellation. Wolverine and the X-Men was brilliant, ditto Spectacular Spider-Man. They REALLYshould have saved the last one, especially because its cancellation was ALL the CW's fault for selling off their Saturday morning line up to 4Kids, which CLEARLY hadn't the money to keep it on.

4) I wish they weren't playing fast and loose with the license for Pixar and Muppet comics... I do NOT want to see them published by Marvel. No how, no way. Pages and pages of adds would hurt the comics.

I think late 90's Cartoon Network ruined animation. Whereas animation USED to be hand drawn, now virtually every cartoon has a cheapy cheap flash look trying to ape a minimalist Hanna Barberra. So many Nick, Disney, Cartoon Network/Adult Swim, etc shows have this terrible look to it. People laugh at some 80's and 90's animation, but least it was hand drawn. I wont name names, but man...the days of good quality animation are over. And in came the post Spongebob/Powder Puff ADHD stuff.

And I hate to say it, but I'll take Marvel Kids Muppets comics over nothing.

Why did Disney/Pixar sever ties with fast food promotion again? I don't understand it. Every single Fox and DWA crappy cartoon gets a darn happy meal. Was Wolvie and the Xmen good? Never saw it. Tho Spec Spidey was really good. To me nothing beats the French animation of Fantastic Four 2006

 

[Drtooth]

I think late 90's Cartoon Network ruined animation. Whereas animation USED to be hand drawn, now virtually every cartoon has a cheapy cheap flash look trying to ape a minimalist Hanna Barberra. So many Nick, Disney, Cartoon Network/Adult Swim, etc shows have this terrible look to it. People laugh at some 80's and 90's animation, but least it was hand drawn. I wont name names, but man...the days of good quality animation are over. And in came the post Spongebob/Powder Puff ADHD stuff.

Actually, CN's originals, as much as they were trying to do the same thing with Nicktoons as they were, were also quite welcome. The flash stuff didn't come about until 2003 with Mucha Lucha, which actually managed to look GOOD with flahs animation (second favorite wrestling cartoon.. DISTANT second favorite wrestling cartoon). The only CN original show to utilize it that I know of is Fosters, and they didn't use it as an excuse to motion tween everything, leading to some quite beautiful full animation of some characters. What I hate is stuff that looks like 1997 web cartoons like The Cat in the Hat knows a Lot About That. Shows that use stock libraries of characters in only one pose. But it seems to be the only ones really using it are preschool shows and (how's this for a gap) cheaply produced adult swim shows. Though you have to give CN credit for their creator driven line up in the 90's.

What ruined animation today, and I say this a quintillion times... FCC regulations that were made so single companies could buy up as many media outlets as they wanted. If that wasn't bad enough, the lefties threw in annoying guidelines for kid's programming that made everything eventually unprofitable. Add to the fact parental groups still have power and want to destroy cartoons (as they have since the 80's), and those TERRIBLE live action tween coms, and you have to admit, there's no room for this stuff to thrive.

Which gets me back to the CW, the worst network out there... the one with programs only for vapid 17 year olds. I'm still growling over their disdane for Reaper.... but what really got me angry was their decision to sell their profitable (always came in #1) SatAm line up to 4Kids (I love Sonic X and all, but give it a rest! I mean, 3 times in a single Saturday?)... they clearly hadn't the money to keep Spectacular Spidey on, and Sony was all too quick to want to end it after the second season, which was shown in BULGARIA before we actually saw it. To be fair that was a little politicking from Toon Disney, but there was no where to air it for over a year since completion. I feel Disney had the prime opportunity to save the show, even if they had to pull a Doug, and just get everyone they could back to continue the series. The writer planned 5 seasons, which frankly is hubris now, since lasting a full season of 13-26 episodes is a feat in and of itself. They own these characters, and could just as easily make their own continuations of the shows.

Now, Wolverine and the X-Men, I've only seen 2 or 3 episodes of. They stuck that thing on Nicktoons... who even HAS Nicktoons? All I can say is I really liked what I saw... possibly much more than the 90's Saban series, and definitely a billion times more than the movies. I've said this about myself a lot, but I'm the strange kind that buys comics based off cartoons, and watches cartoons based off of comics.

Overall, Disney NEEDS another Ducktales. A big, fictional cartoon series that involves high adventure and comedy. Again, I can't express love for P&F enough (especially the Agent P stuff), but they really should do something with all those characters they have besides making lame preschool fare with it. I'm dying to see a Duck Avenger project, be it a TV show or DTV movie.