Disney-Marvel buyout

[rugman1969]

Anyone have any info on the buyout? I can't find too much on it. Is Disney going start offering one price park tickets to Universal?

 

[Lynne M]

Disney bought Marvel, not Universal Studios. Disney has no business relationship whatsoever with Universal; Universal is Disney's competitor.

Universal has rights to use some of the Marvel characters in its rides and attactions. Any contracts that were in force for those rights at the time of the purchase will continue.

 

[Disney Dad Canada]

Still, I'd love to see Mickey Mouse as Iron Man for Halloween.

 

[rugman1969]

Still, I'd love to see Mickey Mouse as Iron Man for Halloween.

Yea, I hear ya. Can you imagine a re-make of the Iron Man song to the tune of Disney? Priceless!!!

 

[rugman1969]

Disney bought Marvel, not Universal Studios. Disney has no business relationship whatsoever with Universal; Universal is Disney's competitor.

Universal has rights to use some of the Marvel characters in its rides and attactions. Any contracts that were in force for those rights at the time of the purchase will continue.

So, any idea how that's going to work? Is Disney going to incorporate Marvel characters and attractions into their parks, or are we looking at a new park coming?

 

[Disfamoffour]

You're probably not going to see much Marvel at the parks at all except in the gift shops. Disney bought Marvel to acquire the movies that are making so much money to offset the losses of their movie studio.

 

[nunzia]

You're probably not going to see much Marvel at the parks at all except in the gift shops. Disney bought Marvel to acquire the movies that are making so much money to offset the losses of their movie studio.

well...since their own studio has 2 of the highest grossing films ever this year (Alice and TS3) they are doing pretty well on their own. I think they wanted the whole catalog and it will be interesting to see how they incorporate it. Darth Vader looks fine in Tomorrowland after all, so we'll see how they work this..

 

[Desnik]

Disney cannot use any of the Marvel characters at any Orlando park. They can't have a character meet n greet with Spiderman for example, or have any rides that incorporate those characters. Universal had an iron clad contract that prohibits it. What Disney can do is sell Marvel merchandise at their Orlando parks. Now all the other Disney owned parks, such as Paris, Tokyo, they can do what ever they want with the characters over there.

Do a search on these boards because when this was happening there were a ton of discussions about it here.

 

[Reddog1134]

Disney cannot use any of the Marvel characters at any Orlando park.

From what is being said, that's not entirely true. Apparently Disney cannot use any Marvel character that is FEATURED at Universal.

However, the details of the contract are not public information, so who really knows?

 

[Desnik]

From what is being said, that's not entirely true. Apparently Disney cannot use any Marvel character that is FEATURED at Universal.

However, the details of the contract are not public information, so who really knows?

Hmmmm, very interesting!

 

[nunzia]

Well, surely when the contracts run out Disney can do whatever they want.

 

[crisi]

Well, surely when the contracts run out Disney can do whatever they want.

Bingo. But they may decide that what they want to do is get a cut of every tourist dollar coming into Orlando and charge Universal a much heftier licensing fee for the Marvel properties rather than incorporating them into any of their parks. Universal would need to spend a LOT of money to retheme, Disney can name a price much higher - although Universal might balk on principal and retheme.

 

[Disfamoffour]

well...since their own studio has 2 of the highest grossing films ever this year (Alice and TS3) they are doing pretty well on their own. I think they wanted the whole catalog and it will be interesting to see how they incorporate it. Darth Vader looks fine in Tomorrowland after all, so we'll see how they work this..

The success of Alice and Toy Story 3 is icing on the cake for Disney, the negotiations of the buyout started in June of 2009 way before either of these movies debuted.

 

[keishashadow]

It's my understanding that Universal's pre-disney licensing agreements (and they are masters @ acquiring them i.e. harry potter) allow them to continue using the Marvel trademarks for as long as they desire for their current Marvel-branded attractions...perhaps one of those 99 year deals...don't think the actual term has been made public.

It also ensures that no other theme park east of the Mississippi River, including Walt Disney World, can develop attractions based on the same characters.

Those licensing agreements include one giving Universal and its corporate parents exclusive use of Spider-Man, the Incredible Hulk, X-Men and the Fantastic Four in theme parks on the U.S. East Coast and Spider-Man for parks in Japan as well as the movie rights to Spider-Man (held by Sony) and the Fantastic Four and X-Men (held by Twentieth Century Fox).

Disney executives have said they intend to honor Marvel's existing licensing agreements (probably because the letter of the law demands it), but there has been speculation that Disney may attempt to buy out certain contracts...wonder which superhero the Mouse wants lol?

 

[nytimez]

It's my understanding that Universal's pre-disney licensing agreements (and they are masters @ acquiring them i.e. harry potter) allow them to continue using the Marvel trademarks for as long as they desire for their current Marvel-branded attractions...perhaps one of those 99 year deals...don't think the actual term has been made public.

It also ensures that no other theme park east of the Mississippi River, including Walt Disney World, can develop attractions based on the same characters.

Those licensing agreements include one giving Universal and its corporate parents exclusive use of Spider-Man, the Incredible Hulk, X-Men and the Fantastic Four in theme parks on the U.S. East Coast and Spider-Man for parks in Japan as well as the movie rights to Spider-Man (held by Sony) and the Fantastic Four and X-Men (held by Twentieth Century Fox).

Disney executives have said they intend to honor Marvel's existing licensing agreements (probably because the letter of the law demands it), but there has been speculation that Disney may attempt to buy out certain contracts...wonder which superhero the Mouse wants lol?

This is all accurate.

To answer another question on this thread, Marvel characters WILL soon be appearing in Disney parks. Bob Iger said this publicly. Obviously, the Universal characters can't appear at the WDW parks... but they can appear in DL... and the non-Universal characters can appear anywhere.

Marvel characters hitting the big screen soon include Captain America, Thor and The Avengers, so those might be the ones you're likely to see first.

However, I don't know if Universal retains any Captain America rights -- while there isn't a Captain America attraction there, the diner has a Captain America theme and he does do greetings/performances there.

 

[JimC]

I'm going to move this to the Disney News forum.

 

[fannatic]

Disney can use the characters that Universal isn't using in their parks. There is a rumor at WDW Magic that a Marvel attraction may be coming to Disney's Hollywood Studios. I also wouldn't be surprised to see Marvel characters incorporated into WDW's Fifth park. Also, with a recent survey at Universal asking guests about different movie franchises, it seems as if they may be thinking about ending their (Universal's) relationship with Marvel.

 

[mousermerf]

Just to note - they're selling tons of Spiderman stuff at Epcot in Mousegear right now.

 

[nytimez]

Disney can use the characters that Universal isn't using in their parks. There is a rumor at WDW Magic that a Marvel attraction may be coming to Disney's Hollywood Studios. I also wouldn't be surprised to see Marvel characters incorporated into WDW's Fifth park. Also, with a recent survey at Universal asking guests about different movie franchises, it seems as if they may be thinking about ending their (Universal's) relationship with Marvel.

Huh? How does a survey asking about movie franchises suggest they're thinking of ending their relationship with Marvel? It's not like they have to pick one or the other... and they're in the driver's seat here, not Disney. They own it. And they only way they'll give it up is if Disney ponies up big money.

 

[fannatic]

Do you really think that it is in Universal's best interest to be paying Disney royalties for Disney IP? Do you think they want Disney looking at their books? Universal cannot add any new Marvel attractions without Disney's approval. This means that sooner of later their attractions will become outdated and less popular. Disney itself has to update even its most classic attractions. Also, if Universal in any way neglects the Marvel attractions quality, Disney has an out of the contract. Disney is holding all the cards with Universal's Marvel deal. Therefore, it makes since that Universal would explore other options or replacements for the Marvel franchise. The survey mentioned Star Trek, Avatar, and of course Lord of the Rings which they mentioned may be a new area or a new theme park. Although, I doubt Universal has land enough for a new theme park.