As if Buzz Lightyear, Spider-Man and Mickey Mouse weren’t enough, Disney is still looking to add new characters. In a recent call with investors Bob Iger, the CEO of The Walt Disney Company, said he would continue to “buy either new characters or businesses that are capable of creating great characters and great stories.” Granted, that’s been Disney’s modus operandi for decades now as many of their famous characters came from popular literature and in recent years they’ve acquired both Pixar and Marvel, but there doesn’t seem to be any stopping ahead. Read more after the jump. Read More »
Bob Iger, the president and chief executive officer of The Walt Disney Company, was interviewed by Charlie Rose earlier this week. If you’re interested in the industry, or just the future of the Disney/Pixar/Marvel brands, you’ll probably want to check out this in-depth 27-minute interview.
Iger talks about the future distribution of content in this quickly evolving high tech world, what happened when Steve Jobs first showed him the iPad, entering in with a strained relationship with Pixar created by Eisner, accepting the iPod, how he was able to make the Pixar acquisition happen, the genius of Steve Jobs, where he hopes to take the Marvel brand, “not making a lot of things, but making a few things great all the time”, facing challenges with more competition for peoples time and a changing business model, the strinking home video market, how social media is changing people’s entertainment decisions, giving viewers the flexibility to watch their shows whenever/whereever, the power of ESPN, Rune Arledge, and running the institution that is Disney.
The entire video is embedded after the jump thanks to Hulu (Mike Bastoli informs me that international readers can watch the interview on CharlieRose.com).
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Disney head Bob Iger denies previously reported rumors that Disney will be bringing the Francis Ford Coppola-directed Michael Jackson sci-fi 3D musical Captain EO back to Disney theme parks. A couple weeks ago the rumor showed up online claiming that the film would return to the Southern California theme park in January 2010, as a tribute to Michael Jackson. Here is a quote from reuters:
“There aren’t plans to bring back ‘Captain EO’ at this time,” Iger said at a news conference. “We are looking at it. It’s the kind of thing that, if we did it, would get a fair amount of attention and we’d want to make sure we do it right.”
That isn’t to say there hasn’t been talk or consideration of the idea. Iger admits that he and four Disney executives recently revisited the 17-minute film and noted that the special effects were dated. Could this mean that Disney might be considering remastering the old footage with brand new computer effects and new footage? Never say never. But for now, consider this rumor debunked.
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As you’ve probably heard by now, The Walt Disney Company is in the process of acquiring Marvel for $4 billion. But what does this mean for the future of Marvel Comics and Marvel Films? Disney CEO Bob Iger responded to questions on a conference call this morning, and here is some of the information that you need to know.
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