from the NY Times

[heidi]

Just catching up on yesterday's. They wrote that WB's investors and consultants have recommended that they, in light of comcast's bid for Disney, consider buying Disney themselves.

:WANTS:

such a thing would mean HP sections/rides at Disney, and that would be much with the good.

It would consolidate all the great media properties in one place. Sigh, wishful thinking...

Comments

[vlamidala.livejournal.com]

I'd seen a rumor somewhere online about a HP ride being slated to open at Epcot in 2006. No idea how true that is, especially given their glowing treatment of us over the summer. :p

So yeah, I'm with you. *wants!*

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[heidi8.livejournal.com]

I think that rumor was more wishful thinking, iirc the comment by the head of Universal earlier this year, or late last.

And by glowing do you mean the lovely sunshine or the way faces looked after a few firewhiskeys?

Re:

[vlamidala.livejournal.com]

I certainly wasn't around for any firewhiskey consumption during Nimbus, not I. Must've been referring to the sunshine. ;)

[kiwiria.livejournal.com]

I LOVE your icon!!! I want to steal it and make it mine, and it shall be my stolen icon ;-)

[malsperanza.livejournal.com]

WB's investors and consultants have recommended that they, in light of comcast's bid for Disney, consider buying Disney themselves.

:WANTS:


For a minute I thought you meant that you too were thinking of buying Disney yourself. I feel that this would be the ideal solution, far better than either Comcast or WB.

Consider the advantages: e.g., Johnny Depp in pink in sequel to POTC.

[annearchy.livejournal.com]

HP RIDES??!?!?!?!?! *covets* Imagine the possibilities... the Ford Anglia... the Whomping Willow... tons o' stuff in the Forbidden Forest (centaur rides, anyone??). Chamber of Secrets... the trick stair...the changing staircases... etc. etc. SQUEEEE!

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[jiggery-pokery.livejournal.com]

Someone has already produced an imaginary HP-themed, er, theme park. It's very silly, but in an entirely good way - sort of a HP / rollercoaster fandom crossover fic!

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[annearchy.livejournal.com]

Wow! That's fantastic. Thanks much for the link. I will have to explore this more. We have so many clever people in this fandom, don't we?? :)

[anemonerose.livejournal.com]

Heidi, sticking with the HP-theme of this post, have you seen this? It has lots of Jason-Issacs-as-Lucius!pics. You've probably seen them all, but it's Valentine's Day and I thought I'd share the loff. :D

[sinisteral.livejournal.com]

Disney is great! And to have the WB combination and HP included would be like a dream come true.

[powersh20works.livejournal.com]

Man, you are the first person on my flist to talk about the Disney news. I actually am cooking up a huge history-of-Eisner-kerfuffle post because I find the whole business fascinating.

I'd sure prefer WB as overlord to Comcast (with the exception of the possibility that former DIS golden boy Steve Burke might be slated as CEO should Comcast succeed) but I'd hope they keep the Warner-based Looney Tunes separate from the Disney collection. For some reason, I don't mind mixing Muppets and Nemos and Clarabelle Cows, but when it comes to Daffy and Donald, I'd really rather they remain separate. Roger Rabbit notwisthstanding.

I, too, had the immediate glee about possible Potter/Disney colabs. But only, and ONLY if the parks are treated with the care and funding they deserve.

I'm also interested in the rumor that this is sort of a colab between Roy Disney-and-Stan Gold/Comcast/Pixar... they're all using surprisingly similar language, and they muckety-mucks involved are all business friends.

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[casira.livejournal.com]

snerk. Well, I've been talking about it on mine in rather broad terms, but it's screened, as I had a few personally-relevant reasons for commenting about the whole Disney issue (draw your own conclusions :) .

But anyway.

Yes, I'd vastly prefer the WB to Comcast -- for the simple reason that it's a company that actually produces and understands creative content, as opposed to Comcast, who spent the entire conference call I listened to talking about financial opportunities.

Besides, I'm sick of getting screwed out of increasing amounts of money by these people for crappy service. ;)

But I agree about the WB characters staying distinct from the Disney stable. It would get very odd otherwise....

Looking forward to your Eisner-kerfuffle post.

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[casira.livejournal.com]

And of course, I'd be much happier if NO ONE BOUGHT DISNEY AT ALL, since I'm so tired of megacorporations, and Disney's enough of one by itself....

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[here-be-dragons.livejournal.com]

My sentiments exactly.

[hedwig-snowy.livejournal.com]

Yes, I was thinking yesterday how cool it would be if Disney could go back to it's core business and expand in the field that it excels in: Family Entertainment. Not a proponent of the anti-Disney forces (those who protest in front of Disney World every June), but think it would be cool if Disney sold off ABC/Miramax/etc... just keeping Buena Vista, the theme parks, and the corresponding hotels, etc... Then expanding by purchasing/merging with other 'family' oriented businesses, WB/Universal/Six Flags theme parks and all their characters. Not likely to happen because of the business theory of diversification for continued growth, but such a group could virtually 'monopolize' the $5 billion a year family entertainment industry. Not in favor of incorporating all 'media' entities into one unit. Already have too much of that as it is so that we get pretty much the same view on every news channel and entertainment TV channel out there. Could you imagine what would happen if the 'Global Media Network Corporation' ran every TV station/Movie Studio/Radio Station/Music Company and was owned by Rupert Murdoch Inc.??? I know that sounds contradictory, but Disney could never completely control ALL family entertainment. But a return to a time, when it was the core of their business, and people would know that going to one of their movies, theme parks, etc... meant quality family entertainment........

[sageofgodalming.livejournal.com]

You wha...?

Disney have the Midas touch: everything they touch turns to Disney. It wouldn't be HP anymore, it would be just another Disney ride.

Of course, being bought by WB might change that - but WB already own HP so it's hard to see what a chastened and subservient Disney would bring to the equation.

I'm not sure why consolidation is a good thing generally: as Adam Smith said, when two tradesmen get together, the conversation turns to restraint of trade. You wouldn't want them to get even *more* restrictive about what you can do at conferences, would you?

[madlori.livejournal.com]

I'm thinking that would be much with the BAD. The less additional commercialization of HP, the better.

[here-be-dragons.livejournal.com]

Icon Love! :-)

[davinator.livejournal.com]

I'm surprised, given the unsolicited nature of the bid, that there haven't been more theories on ulterior motive. Knowing that those associated w/ Disney want out, like Pixar, you safely predict Pixar stock would boost when Disney would lose control (as actually happened), so as evil Comcast Lord, you simply make some circuitous investments in Pixar, etc., then submit the bid, skim the margin, and the talks magically fall out. Just a guess, of course. :-)

[la-minette.livejournal.com]

would you like a pickle?