Would Walt have pursued H. Potter?

[Wick]

Just out of curiosity, does any one think that Walt would have pushed more stringently in pursuing H. Potter rights (either in movie production or theme park) than the current Disney higher-ups?

Based on what we know of his character and personality, I'm not too sure that the Potter series would have appealed to Walt. Also consider the power struggles over creative rights he's had in the past (ie PL Travers with Mary Poppins) and weigh that against the potential control disputes that could have arose with JK Rowling.

Another concept that comes to mind is the fact that Walt wasn't too hot on sequels (you can't top pigs with more pigs); this may have presented the Potter stories, from Walt's perspective, as dragged out and unnecessary.

As far as installing Potter into the parks alone, I think Walt would have been against this as well. I base this on the idea that the Harry Potter series has taken on a life of its own and possibly become too big to acquire; by extension, it would somehow dilute Disney's omnipotence.
To me, it just doesn't have that Disney feel to it; buying out Potter rights would have reminded me of the Disney takeover of the Power Rangers.

 

[Another Voice]

Walt would have bought up the rights while the first book was still in galleys. He was always on the look out for good stories and had a habit of collecting them - he owned the rights to all the 'Wizard of Oz' books as well as the rights to 'The Lord of the Rings' when that series was first published.

But he wasn't going to use them unless he could make a good film from them. With 'Oz' he could never figure out a way of topping the MGM musical; there simply wasn't the film technology available for 'Lord of the Rings' in the 1950's. The biggest problem with 'Mary Poppins' wasn't P.L. Travers - it took years to figure out how to make a good movie story from a collection of episodic books.

There's no doubt that if Walt had had the rights from the beginning he would have made the movies, and the theme park attractions.

But that's not the situation Disney finds themselves in today. They we very, very, very, very, very late to find 'Harry Potter'. And that is becasue Disney has gone cheap. Buying rights is an expensive business; Disney prefers to strip mine what they already have (the endless sequels and remakes) rather than pay someone for something new. It's why Disney has missed out on the entire 'superhero' movie genre and even top-rank Hollywood scripts these days. So while other studios are releasing mega-hits, Disney is working on remakes of Escape from Witch Mountain.

Walt was always looking for new movies, today's "Magical Disney" is just looking for the next toy line.

 

[Wick]

Interesting.
Do you think he would have produced all 7 movies? Or perhaps he may have consolidated them a bit. I'm not too sure if he would have gone for a 10+ year movie saga, regardless of how great the story is.

 

[Another Voice]

It's impossible to know, of course, by my guess is that Walt would have done what was best to tell the story. The comment he made about sequels was really about making the same movie again - "topping pigs with pigs" - which is what most sequels really turn out to be. It's the real reason why nothing ever came out of the 'Wizard of Oz' rights he bought, he couldn't do anything new with the stories.

But Walt also made three 'Davy Crockett' featurettes. They weren't sequels, just episodes in one longer story. I don't see why he would not have seen the same thing in the 'Harry Potter' novels.

 

[TheDogbots]

Speculating what walt would have done is counterproductive... the company is only "the company that walt built" not "walt's company." With forty years removed from their patriarch, do we even know what real Disney is? no.


The world (culture, information technology, media, and the law) was so much different, i really don't think anyone can predict what Walt would have done in today's world.

but if we are going to play this game... I don't think Walt would have got a hold of HP... JKR is not a very good author, and the stories are weak compared to many fantasy series. However, she is also a product of today, because her stories relate to today's youth - which is why she is popular. I am not saying the books are not entertaining, just that she is a poor writer in the overall scope of things. Besides HP is a little dark for Walt.... lol. He probably could have made the first one...

 

[Another Voice]

The world (culture, information technology, media, and the law) was so much different, i really don't think anyone can predict what Walt would have done in today's world.

Only the superficial things have changed - what's make a good story is the same today as it was in Walt's age, back when some guy named Shakespare was writing with a quill pen and all the way back three thousand years to when the Greeks were staging the very first versions of 300 that you've got in your DVD player right now.

The "it's so much harder know" is pure bunk.

Anyone can tell a story, but very few people are able to tell one well. It's not important to agrue about "what Walt would have done" - but it is important to figure out why he got it right so many times, the lessons that he tried to teach us so that we can "get it right" as well.

Doing it right takes talent and even more hard work. For most people it's just easier to whine about "Walt having it easier". And that's why the world is filled with Underdogs and Rio de Donald. People who make stuff like that are quickly forgotten. But the stories that last are the ones created by talented, hard working people that don't give in to excuses.

 

[DancingBear]

...JKR is not a very good author, and the stories are weak compared to many fantasy series. However, she is also a product of today, because her stories relate to today's youth - which is why she is popular.

I don't get this--how does HP relate to "today's youth" in particular? And how come all of these much better fantasy series don't do so? What's so "today's youth" about these stories that pretty much occur in some parallel world in which today's world doesn't really play much of a role but is just sort of background. For that matter, what's so "today's youth" about the angst of growing up or any of the other themes in the HP books?

 

[EUROPACL]

JKR is not a very good author, and the stories are weak compared to many fantasy series. However, she is also a product of today, because her stories relate to today's youth - which is why she is popular. I am not saying the books are not entertaining, just that she is a poor writer in the overall scope of things.

You really should take a look at just who is reading Harry Potter its not just 10-14 year olds. Bad authors don't sell millions of books worldwide in one day. Bad authors don't count other modern authors as rabid fans like JKR does. Stephen King leaps to mind.

 

[swilphil]

but if we are going to play this game... I don't think Walt would have got a hold of HP... JKR is not a very good author, and the stories are weak compared to many fantasy series....

JKR is actually a better writer than most authors in that genre. I actually can't think of one that is better. Her books, especially the early ones, were written for a younger audience, but they have broad appeal. Many people who don't read fantasy, read her books. Her books will be widely read in the future, much like Mark Twain and Charles Dickens.

 

[Another Voice]

Great stories all have one feature in common - they combine an interesting and fully realized background with deep and powerful themes about morality. Stories are how we learn to be human; the stories that teach us the most are the ones we remember.

'Harry Potter' will be around for as long as children grow into teenagers, and teenagers grow into adults.