Both of my sons called me within minutes of each other; the Walt Disney Company had just announced
the acquisition of Lucasfilm, the owner of StarWars. They were blown away; I was too.
Here’s why; the Walt
Disney now owns the crown jewels of intellectual property and entertainment. They own ABC television, Disney Channel,
ESPN, Walt Disney Studios, Pixar, Disney Animation, Marvel Entertainment, Jim
Henson, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts and now…(drumroll please)… Lucasfilm.
That means they control the licensing rights to:
Spiderman
Iron Man
Thor
Hulk
Mickey Mouse
Disney Princesses
Disney Fairies
Cars
StarWars
Indiana
Jones
Toy Story
Wall-E
Which is not
to say that there are no other licenses; there’s Transformers, Hello Kitty,
Barbie, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Power Rangers and more. They are not, however, part of one big stable
of
properties controlled by one company.
Only Disney has the potential, should they choose to exercise it, to
unilaterally increase royalty fees and / or guarantees.
Kudos to the
Walt Disney Company for another brilliant acquisition. Just, like Luke Skywalker was admonished,
however, use your power wisely. And if you do, may
the “Force Be with you.”
I am personally and anxiously looking forward to seeing what they do with the Star Wars sequels (episodes VII, VIII, IX). I’m glad to hear that the next is set for 2015, although I hope they opt for the darker side of “The Black Hole” rather than lighter side of “Toy Story”. I love John Lasseter, but we do NOT need another JarJar Binks. Regardless, Disney can do no worse than Lucas did for the prequels.