Marvel Contract?

[doconeill]

I don't know anything about this site. They seem to claim something that none of us have heard - anything's possible with Disney.http://www.superheroauthority.com/2012/03/disney-bringing-marvel-characters-to.html

I love how you have to follow two other articles to get to the original, each one building off of a somewhat vague statement, and it isn't even a complete transcript.

Iger basically said they are working on some concepts that would eventually allow "Marvel Superheroes" to be in the parks. That could mean anything...a merchandise shop, the Avenge-o-rail, etc.

As already discussed, they can use the characters at Disneyland all they want. They can use some subset of characters at WDW not currently in use by US or otherwise embargoed by the contract terms.

So the idea that they are thinking about it is not really anything new. But based on that vague statement, I'm waiting for Jim Hill to let us know that a 5th park is being built themed around Doctor Strange and a bunch of minor characters people haven't heard of... (crap, there I go starting a rumor again...)

Hmm....I wonder if Disney could use the comics concept of a Multiverse to get around the contract..."Oh, no, this isn't the same Spider-Man - the Universal Spider-Man is the one from Earth-616...this one is from Earth-42..."

 

[Shmily1]

A Marvel-land at one of the parks seems to fit better than an Avatar-land at AK. I would think it would attract more kids too.

 

[fannatic]

Here's my thinking, remember that big, lucrative Comcast deal in which they get to carry Disney/ABC channels? It was probably worth millions of dollars. Nobody's naive here, do we really think that Disney didn't use Marvel as a bargaining chip? What gets me is that some people think that Universal has this powerful contract that they will never alter, because they're so much more powerful than Disney, lol. Jim Hill has estimated the Marvel/U. contract at about 6 more years. Why would they want to give it up? First of all, it's a major anti-trust headache for both companies. Disney can look at their books after all. Plus, you know that Disney and Marvel must be making things "difficult" for Universal, to say the least. I'm sure that Universal has an alternate land on the drawing boards - Transformer land or D.C. perhaps. Also, from what I've heard, Harry Potter has been negatively affecting attendance at the Marvel section. Do any Universal fans know about this? Have you noticed a difference in the crowds at the Marvel section since Potter opened?

 

[tjkraz]

Problem with this is that we're making wild speculative observations about the nature of the relationship between Disney and US without any first-hand knowledge. Looking at the entire situation, my sense is that Disney is OK with things as they stand today.

Disney has had 2.5 years to put ANY Marvel presence at Disneyland. It doesn't have to be Spidey scaling the Matterhorn--they could have added a meet-and-greet or restaurant. A nicely themed shop at Downtown Disney.

Instead, all they've really done is put a few t-shirts on racks at D Street.

We can only speculate about how much money Disney earns on the deal annually. But let's say it's a relatively modest $10 million. If Disney were able to terminate the deal, they would have to gain $10 million in additional profits at WDW simply to justify the move. Where is that money coming from? Is there any reason to think that Disney is ready to invest in a huge Marvel presence at WDW to drive those profit increases?

Perhaps the right project will eventually manifest itself. And perhaps they will eventually tire of one another. But given Disney's non-use of the Marvel license elsewhere and the money US just invested in refurbishing Spider-Man, I don't see either happening in the near future.

As for Comcast, I don't see any relevance there. IIRC, that deal was simply a renewal of carriage rights for Comcast to carry the Disney cable networks (Disney Channel, ABC Family, XD, ESPN networks, etc.)

Disney has added a lot of Marvel content to Disney XD and I'm sure that was a big reason they pursued Marvel in the first place.

 

[DCTooTall]

As for Comcast, I don't see any relevance there. IIRC, that deal was simply a renewal of carriage rights for Comcast to carry the Disney cable networks (Disney Channel, ABC Family, XD, ESPN networks, etc.)

Disney has added a lot of Marvel content to Disney XD and I'm sure that was a big reason they pursued Marvel in the first place.

That's the thing. Around here most people still seem to believe that the Disney/Marvel deal was for Theme Park/Merch Rights. It wasn't. You just need to look at the timing of the deal to see that it wasn't Park's and Resorts that was driving the deal, but the Studios/Media side of the company.

1. Ironman was a HUGE Box Office Success, and there were several more Marvel movies already in the works with HUGE Expectations. By Purchasing Marvel, Disney now got a cut of all those movies even though Paramount was the one Distributing them. (Disney later bought back Distribution rights for some of the more recent Marvel Films).

2. Disney's ToonDisney channel was preparing to rebrand and relaunch as the boy-focused DisneyXD channel. The Purchase of Marvel gave them access to a large back-catalog of animated boy-focused content which they could use as programming on their new channel.



Any Theme Park desires or Park Merchandise ideas were much MUCH further down the list of considerations. It's also highly unlikely that the Theme Park side could justify the purchase price of Marvel on it's own. It'd be much less expensive to arrange a licensing arrangement with Marvel. Disney has done that in the past with the Muppets (Early 90's before they purchased them from Jim Henson Productions), The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and even the Power Rangers. (Oh.. and of course, the obvious LucasFilm deals for Star Wars and Indy)

 

[fannatic]

Respectfully, I don't believe the "Disney didn't buy Marvel for the parks" argument flies. It's true, they wanted it for many other reasons, but no one within the company has ever expressed that they had no plans to use the characters in the parks. I know that if I were a company that bought Marvel for $4 bil. I would want to promote them in the number 1 tourist destination in the world. - that's WDW not DL - sorry DL fans, we know it's great too.

 

[doconeill]

Respectfully, I don't believe the "Disney didn't buy Marvel for the parks" argument flies. It's true, they wanted it for many other reasons, but no one within the company has ever expressed that they had no plans to use the characters in the parks. I know that if I were a company that bought Marvel for $4 bil. I would want to promote them in the number 1 tourist destination in the world. - that's WDW not DL - sorry DL fans, we know it's great too.

Just because they might have plans for something in the parks, does not mean that they bought Marvel specifically for the parks either. The two statements are not mutually exclusive.

But they did get a more male-focused property to help relaunch Disney XD, that will have lots of other potential lines of business.

 

[doconeill]

It makes me wonder how Disney is decorating one of their monorails to advertise the Avengers. Does this and Iger's recent Marvel comments signify some sort of new agreement?

FYI, Disney officially announced the Avenger monorail this morning, with the artwork. Inside The Magic has an article:

Avengers to assemble on Disney monorail, first Marvel ‘attraction’ for Walt Disney World

Interesting note at the end: " I’ve been told the ‘Avengerail’ will be restricted to the Magic Kingdom and resort monorail tracks and will not roam the Epcot line as part of an agreement."

I'm guessing this is due to the fact that the Epcot beam travels within the park boundaries, and can be seen as an attraction "within the parks", which could violate Universal's exclusivity. The MK beams do not enter the park.

 

[tjkraz]

Respectfully, I don't believe the "Disney didn't buy Marvel for the parks" argument flies. It's true, they wanted it for many other reasons, but no one within the company has ever expressed that they had no plans to use the characters in the parks.

They may wish to use characters in the parks but when Disney is making a list of the top 10 reasons to spend $4 billion on an acquisition, theme park rights aren't on that list. It's a much lower priority.

I know that if I were a company that bought Marvel for $4 bil. I would want to promote them in the number 1 tourist destination in the world. - that's WDW not DL - sorry DL fans, we know it's great too.

Universal Florida may not be "the number 1 tourist destination in the world" but the interesting thing is, USF is actually PAYING DISNEY to promote its product.

Plus all of the t-shirts and Marvel merch at WDW does help promote the product.

I'm guessing this is due to the fact that the Epcot beam travels within the park boundaries, and can be seen as an attraction "within the parks", which could violate Universal's exclusivity. The MK beams do not enter the park.

Good guess. Makes sense. Amidst all this talk of Disney using loopholes to cancel the USF licensing agreement, I wonder what recourse USF would have against Disney if that monorail accidentally got onto the wrong beam.

 

[DCTooTall]

Respectfully, I don't believe the "Disney didn't buy Marvel for the parks" argument flies. It's true, they wanted it for many other reasons, but no one within the company has ever expressed that they had no plans to use the characters in the parks. I know that if I were a company that bought Marvel for $4 bil. I would want to promote them in the number 1 tourist destination in the world. - that's WDW not DL - sorry DL fans, we know it's great too.

No one is saying that Disney won't ever use any of the Marvel properties within a theme park. Disney loves it's synergy and cross-promoting it's properties across multiple mediums.

That being said, There is no way the Parks and Resorts division would've been the driving force behind the acquisition. The existing arrangements with Universal would've surely been a deal killer if that was the primary drive to make the purchase because of all the legal hurdles and issues it would bring with trying to integrate the properties in P&R's biggest location. (Especially with the $4bil price tag attached and the fact it would require massive amounts of additional money in legal costs and whatever settlement was needed to get out of the Universal deal)

And honestly, the Marvel Business would not have been a good fit into the P&R catalog due to all the Media and other aspects of the company beyond it's IP.


From a purely financial standpoint, the Studios side of Disney (The Media side) is the one who drove the deal. It's pretty obvious when you see how good a fit Marvel's businesses could fit into existing Disney Studio operations. You have several major blockbuster film franchises. You have a comics side. You have TV Animation. All things that Disney already does in some form or another.

And from a one-side of the company feeding the other standpoint, You always see the Studios side of the Company feeding the P&R side with Intellectual property to use in it's operations. (Pixar films becoming rides, Disney Animation providing characters around the parks, etc.) P&R's on the other hand provides the Studios side of the company the $$$ needed to develop and bring us all these films. While we've recently had a few very visible examples of P&R feeding ideas/stories to the Studios [Pirates, Haunted Mansion movies], historically this is an exception to the way the relationship between the 2 sides of the company work, and not the rule.



And something to keep in mind right now too about the Universal deal. Disney is getting a nice check from Universal for the use of the Marvel properties. They get a cut of all the Marvel merch that Universal sells. And They get oversight to ensure that Universal continues to spotlight the Marvel properties in a positive light and that it doesn't degrade into a "Six Flags-esque" experience for guests. And the best part about it.... Universal is the one who has to take the Financial hit in maintaining and keeping the Marvel park areas operational and in good condition. Universal is also the one who spends the marketing money advertising the attractions which helps keep the Marvel properties in the public consciousness [and helps the overall value of the franchises]. So it really works into Disney gets all the benefits of the $$$, while Universal is the one exposed to all the risks. Disney has a great situation right now that I highly doubt they are in any super-hurry to put an end too. (I believe it'd be a different story if SixFlags went with Marvel for their licensing instead of DC, But Universal does a VERY good job at providing a quality experience with Disney's IP.....And the Spiderman attraction is still considered by many to be one of the better theme park attractions available anywhere.)

 

[jujube]

There is no expiration for the Uni Orlando parks Marvel contract. They have rights in perpetuity for the Orlando park. So there would be no renegotiation. Uni has the rights to the characters they own plus any new characters added to those groups, for example, if a new character was added to the spiderman group, Uni could use it in Orlando.
Marvel sold the rights before Disney bought Marvel. Disney can use the characters in any parks West of the Miss. River in the US and at any park overseas but they cannot use them in Orlando without buying out Universal's rights.
DIsney having Marvel theme park merchandise or Marvel cartoons, shows, etc featuring Marvel characters at Uni Orlando characters is a plus for Uni. They'e getting advertising for their rides.

 

[MJMcBride]

There is no expiration for the Uni Orlando parks Marvel contract. They have rights in perpetuity for the Orlando park. So there would be no renegotiation. Uni has the rights to the characters they own plus any new characters added to those groups, for example, if a new character was added to the spiderman group, Uni could use it in Orlando.
Marvel sold the rights before Disney bought Marvel. Disney can use the characters in any parks West of the Miss. River in the US and at any park overseas but they cannot use them in Orlando without buying out Universal's rights.
DIsney having Marvel theme park merchandise or Marvel cartoons, shows, etc featuring Marvel characters at Uni Orlando characters is a plus for Uni. They'e getting advertising for their rides.

but Uni also making disney money by selling spiderman stuff in thier park

 

[jujube]

but Uni also making disney money by selling spiderman stuff in thier park

Yes, it's a win/win.

 

[fannatic]

As to the contract, if you read the Deadline Hollywood article I posted earlier, it states that Universal can only use the characters that are now in their park. They cannot add any new Marvel characters without the company's permission. The article went on to say that it was doubtful that any new characters or new attractions would ever be added to the Universal Marvel section. It also claimed that the walk around characters might not be used in the future. Also, and I'm doubtful of this claim, but I read a post from someone who works at the Marvel area at IOA. I believe they were claiming that they were told that Universal has the rights to Marvel through 2015 or 2020. It could be that Universal claims to have the rights "forever" to appease the Marvel Island fans.

 

[jujube]

As to the contract, if you read the Deadline Hollywood article I posted earlier, it states that Universal can only use the characters that are now in their park. They cannot add any new Marvel characters without the company's permission. The article went on to say that it was doubtful that any new characters or new attractions would ever be added to the Universal Marvel section. It also claimed that the walk around characters might not be used in the future. Also, and I'm doubtful of this claim, but I read a post from someone who works at the Marvel area at IOA. I believe they were claiming that they were told that Universal has the rights to Marvel through 2015 or 2020. It could be that Universal claims to have the rights "forever" to appease the Marvel Island fans.

Nope, it's in perpetuity-forever, as long as they like, a million years,etc. At the time Uni bought the rights, Marvel was not in vogue so Universal could write it's own ticket and did. The only way Disney can use the Marvel characters in Disney world is if Universal agreed and then sold Disney the rights. At this point, that won't happen.

As far as I remember, they also have the rights to any Marvel characters but on this I'm not 100%.
ETA-It may be that Disney can use those characters not in use at Uni Orlando BUT as it stands now, Uni is using all of the best known and some not so well known Marvel characters. Of course, Disney could make a movie with an obscure characters and build it up.

 

[Cogswel_Cogs]

Hey, I aslways loved Rocket Racoon , and you couldn't get any obscurer than him. Of course, Disney already has enough talking animals.

 

[jujube]

Hey, I aslways loved Rocket Racoon , and you couldn't get any obscurer than him. Of course, Disney already has enough talking animals.

Ya think?

 

[Evelyne]

I don't think we will see changes in a close future

 

[Kaewin]

Since DL and possibly other parks are getting Marvel Characters how doe the contact with Universal stand at this time?

 

[doconeill]

Since DL and possibly other parks are getting Marvel Characters how doe the contact with Universal stand at this time?

It has no impact. The contract gave them exclusive rights in the US east of the Mississippi. There was a clause that would give them the whole US is they utilized them out west, but the did not exercise that option.