Disney’s Ultimate Plan: The road to Muppet Babies on DVD and Blu-ray
About a year ago, Disney made the ultimate purchase. One that made my dreams of seeing more Star Wars films on the big screen possible. They bought Lucasfilm. It was this purchase that has actually completed a project that I am now convinced was the plan from the time they bought the Jim Henson Company back in 2004 for an undisclosed amount somewhere around $200 million. It was actually a much longer journey as Disney had originally purchased distribution rights to all of the Jim Henson Company productions way back in 1991. It took until September of 2008 before Disney finally rebranded the Muppets Holding Company as Muppet Studios, and placed it under new leadership.
With phase one complete, it was time to begin work on phase two: the acquisition of Marvel Entertainment. This was a massive purchase costing $4.24 billion. Disney needed to get control of Marvel Productions, and this was one way that they could do so. They didn’t want to have any red-tape, even though they very likely had all of the rights they needed thanks to the acquisition of the Muppets.
Lastly, they needed the final piece of the equation. They needed the footage that was used from both Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises. And the best way to do that? Spend $4.06 billion on the purchase of Lucasfilm. That brought in both franchises.
With the total cost being about $8.5 billion, Disney is very close to being able to achieve their ultimate goal: the release of Jim Henson’s Muppet Babies on DVD and Blu-ray. I had been thinking about the overall purchases that Disney was making, and one day it dawned on me that all of these things were connected. And with a little bit of research, I found that I wasn’t the only one to think of this.
From what I can gather, the only thing left standing in their way is a simple licensing of some footage from Ghostbusters from Sony Pictures. Unless they plan on purchasing the rights to the Ghostbusters franchise (which I’d have no problem with, as they seem to just do everything right with the franchises they acquire). There are also bits from Star Trek: The Next Generation, which belong to Paramount, among a few other things. It seems to me that we’re as close as ever, and so is Disney.
That’s a pretty large investment so far, though, and I hope that the eventual release of this classic masterpiece of animation works out for them, and they make back the billions they’ve spent in gathering the exclusive rights to the series.
The Muppets to appear on Good Luck Charlie Season 4 Premiere
As readers of this blog may already know, I’m a pretty big fan of The Muppets. I thought the last film, 2011′s The Muppets was a return to form, and the first that I’ve thoroughly enjoyed since 1999′s Muppets from Space. With the sequel The Muppets…Again! in production now, they’ve been making more appearances. It’s a great way to keep them near front of mind when the trailers for the new movie start to appear.
On April 28, 2013, at 7:30 PM ET/PT, The Muppets are going to make one of those appearances: stopping by the Duncan family’s home on Disney Channel’s Good Luck Charlie.
Please Release Ed on DVD and Blu-ray – #2
Ed is another one of those shows that is being held up because of the music that they used in the show. Over the years there have been some rumors about work being done on the DVD, but lately those rumors have become increasingly pessimistic toward any sort of release at all.
While everyone seems to want The Wonder Years, that is at least available on Netflix streaming. The same, unfortunately, cannot be said of Ed, which is one of the best TV shows ever made. It deserves a release onto home video.
Produced by Worldwide Pants, this show features Tom Cavanagh as Ed Stevens, a contracts lawyer at a high-profile New York City firm. Around the same time he splits with his wife (she slept with a mailman), he makes a single error in punctuation when going over a contract; and because of the resulting financial loss to the firm, he’s fired. Despondent, he heads back to his (small) hometown of Stuckeyville — ‘Anytown’, USA. There he realizes he’s been missed by a lot of friends whom he’s missed; and he sees Carol (Julie Bowen), the girl he’d adored in high school. Swept up in roiling emotions, Ed buys the local bowling alley on a whim, moves to Stuckeyville, and determines to win Carol’s heart. His horizons broaden as he settles once more in Stuckeyville, and the series itself settles into a charming, funny, often serious slice-of-life series focused not solely on Ed but on the lovable ensemble cast of people who live and work with him in Stuckeyville.
On the Etiquette of Movie Spoilers
I just read a blog on Cape Town Community called Please Don’t Spoil My Movies! which I found to be something that I agreed with wholly. When it comes to movies that I want to see, I don’t want to know what is going to happen. If I see a trailer, that’s fine, but knowing anything beyond what the studio wants to show is a rarity for me.
It’s also for this reason that I don’t read reviews. I think most critics are ridiculous, and I have yet to find a single one that I agree with all the time (based on looking at scores after I’ve seen a movie). As I haven’t found a critic whose reviews match my own point of view 100% of the time, or even 50% of the time, how can I trust any critic to really get how I’ll feel about any movie. They might hate a movie that I’ll love, or love a movie that I’ll hate. Critics hold no sway over my perspective, for this reason, and I’ve found that I love some movies that even the critical mass has hated. If I had listened to them, I wouldn’t have found the movie.
Ghostbusters Comic going Monthly, More Animated Series Thoughts
A little more than a year ago, I wrote about how I felt that a new Ghostbusters animated series was possible with the upcoming motion picture event that is Ghostbusters 3. I’m hoping that Bill Murray actually reads the script and says he’ll do the film. Not only will it satisfy my want for another film in the series, but it’ll also give a lot of people work this year.
I read something else that made me excited today, though, and that is the announcement of the monthly publication of a Ghostbusters comic book. This is something that I have been hoping for, and the reason that I bought all of the Ghostbusters comics that have been released within the last few years. IDW has finally decided to make it a monthly series, though, and it seems that fan favorite artist Dapper Dan is going to have a hand in it, if not be the series’ artist for a few issues. I really like his style. It evokes thoughts of what an animated series would look like if it were based on his artistic style. I have a feeling that it would be just different enough from The Real Ghostbusters to make it a new, and not derivative, series that is distinct and original.
Wonder Woman’s New Look – More Changes
Time for another geeky entry. A few months ago, I wrote about Wonder Woman’s new look, and how I liked the modesty that it brought to the character. I also had a feeling that it was created to help with the look of the character in future movie projects. Well, DC just recently announced that they are going to be doing a Justice League movie for release in 2013. They also announced a feature film version of Wonder Woman and The Flash. It’s still too early to see how the upcoming Wonder Woman tv series (that hasn’t been picked up just yet) could have an effect on the film version.
When it comes to the costume of the character, however, there has been a lot of discussion in the last few weeks. The image that I posted at the top of this story is cover art from an upcoming issue of the Wonder Woman comic, #609, which is releasing in June 2011. Apparently the new costume with the pants, shirt and jacket wasn’t meant to last very long. In fact, it seems as though it might have been in an alternate universe. This is a shame, to me, as you can see that she’s now back to her immodest look.
This change wasn’t based on the backlash toward the costume that Adrianne Palicki was initially wearing as Wonder Woman (Diana) for the new tv series’ pilot. It was just part of the storyline. However, the new costume did effect the TV series in a way that I was both happy and upset with. I was happy that it inspired the pants that Diana needs to wear, but upset with the color of them, and the lack of a jacket of any kind.
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