Disney's Next Acquisition?

[Sotiris]

If Disney were to purchase another company, which one do you think would be financially (or even creatively) successful for the company?

[blackcauldron85]

I voted for The Jim Henson Company. I mean, Disney already owns the Muppets, and they've been doing a better job of them recently, IMO (the YouTube videos and the volunteering promotions, and Letters to Santa, while not great, was surely better than The Muppets' Wizard of Oz, IMO.

[estefan]

It's not listed in the poll, but how about Nintendo? Super Mario is just as recognizable as Mickey Mouse and wouldn't it be something for Disney to own both of these.

Though Nintendo seems to be doing fine without Disney, I still think it would be interesting.

[Duckburger]

Disney can't buy Nickelodeon, since it's part of an (almost) equally big media conglomerate. Same with Dreamworks - who'd want Shrek with a Disney logo anyway.

Both Amazon and Google are far too big to be acquired by any entertainment company, nor would it ever happen. The Jim Henson Company could be a possibility, but do they really have anything left that's profitable. And with the recent purchase of Marvel, I don't think they need any more comic book companies.

My choice would be something that wasn't included. Disney's been talking about being more aggresive in the video game department. So my choice would be either EA (which was already rumored) or Square Enix. EA has their own rotten way of acquiring companies (an agressive buy-out) - then firing most of the people working there and most of the times closing the whole thing. All that trouble just to remove the competition. Would be nice to see it happen to them for once.

Another great option would have been some sort of anime production company, like Toei, or something along those lines.

[yamiiguy]

It's not listed in the poll, but how about Nintendo? Super Mario is just as recognizable as Mickey Mouse and wouldn't it be something for Disney to own both of these.

Though Nintendo seems to be doing fine without Disney, I still think it would be interesting.

I think Nintendo would be a bit expensive for Disney. I think Studio Ghibli might be worth it for Disney though, they already distribute the films in the US.

[PatrickvD]

Imagine the outburst of insanity if they'd buy google?

[KubrickFan]

It's not in the list, but what about Aardman Productions? I know they have (or had) a distribution deal with DreamWorks, but money can do a lot of things. It would also be a perfect asset to the animated legacy Disney already owns.

[WDWLocal]

How about Amblin Entertainment?

That way, Disney can be a lot more able to revive Roger Rabbit.

[KennethE]

Do you know what really baffles me? (Please comment if you agree) It's the fact that Disney is not JUMPING at their chance to finally get a piece of Lord of the Rings, with the Hobbit movies in such financial turmoil.

We all know that Disney is kicking themselves for, virtually, giving away the Lord of the Rings (when Miramax turned down Peter Jackson's demand to film it as a trilogy instead of two, two-hour films.) Ever since LOTR went on to make a combined 3 billion worldwide, Disney has desperately tried to start their own "epic" franchise, such as that doomed 7-part C. S. Lewis fiasco, (the movies were good, but the box office sales were not, explaining why Disney sold Narnia to Fox).

One would assume that Disney would buy out MGM (or New Line, or whoever has the rights to the Hobbit. I'm losing track...) If they can pay 5. 25 billion dollars to buy out Marvel, they certainly have the money to own the Hobbit. It would be smart on their part, because "John Carter of Mars" is still no guarantee hit, even though I hope it will be.

[estefan]

It's not in the list, but what about Aardman Productions? I know they have (or had) a distribution deal with DreamWorks, but money can do a lot of things. It would also be a perfect asset to the animated legacy Disney already owns.

Jeffrey Katzenberg actually offered to partner up with Aardman when he was at Disney, but Nick Park and Peter Lord refused, as they were intimated by such a massive corporation like Disney owning the Wallace & Gromit characters (can't say I blame them). Then, when Katzenberg started DreamWorks with Spielberg and Geffen, he asked them again and they said sure. We all know how that turned out.

Aardman is partnered with Sony now.

[Margos]

I agree with you, yamiiguy. Ghibli would be an excellent purhcase for Disney. They're already distributing their films, but if they could have Miyazaki doing for Disney what Lasseter's been doing since the Pixar acquisition, we could be seeing some very interesting films indeed. And it could potentially bring the Ghibli films under an officially Disney banner.

[Wonderlicious]

I think that Disney will pay $5 billion to buy Liechtenstein.

[Margos]

I think that Disney will pay $5 billion to buy Liechtenstein.

Could they convert the whole country into a giant Disney theme park/resort complex, like a giant WDW? Because it would be awesome if they had a whole country to do that in, even one as small as Lichtenstein! Each park could be like a major city, with some little things inbetween!

Those things are fun to fantasize about.... But then I think of the people who live in Lichtenstein. I don't think they'd like that very much.

[drnilescrane]

I've always thought that Village Roadshow would be a great way to kick start Touchstone again - You'd have to spin off some of the non-core stuff like the radio stations and the theme parks. Too bad they are fairly intertwined with Warner Bros.

[JEANYLASER]

I voted for Mattel Inc.

[blackcauldron85]

I voted for Marvel Inc.

Do you mean Mattel, Inc.?

[SpringHeelJack]

I always thought they should buy the moon then keep two large round satellites in a static position above the moon's atmosphere so that the moon at night would look like a giant hidden Mickey. So that's what I'm voting for.

[JEANYLASER]

I voted for Marvel Inc.

Do you mean Mattel, Inc.?

oops! I spell the name wrong sorry!

[estefan]

I was thinking about it today and there's a foreign comic book company I think Disney would do a bang-up job with:

Mauricio de Sousa Productions

It's a Brazilian comic book series revolving mostly around the lives of these four children. It's kind of like a funnier, less dry version of Peanuts. However, for some reason, it has never taken off in the rest of the world. Considering Disney did such an amazing job with getting Miyazaki and the rest of the Studio Ghibli a wider, international audience, I think they should do the same here. There's even an animated series they could do some translation for.

Thoughts on this matter? I think if they gave it a wider distribution in the entire, Monica's Gang could seriously explode.

[Polizzi]

I voted for The Jim Henson Company. I mean, Disney already owns the Muppets, and they've been doing a better job of them recently, IMO (the YouTube videos and the volunteering promotions, and Letters to Santa, while not great, was surely better than The Muppets' Wizard of Oz, IMO.

Me too!