DISNEY MOVING TOWARD NATIONAL DOMINATION OF THE MEDIA

Over the past decade we have seen The Walt Disney Co. buying and taking over many different media companies.

In August 2009, it announced a deal to acquire Marvel Entertainment for $4.24 billion. It obtained the rights to Lucasfilm studios and the “Star Wars” franchise in 2012 for another $4 billion.

These were only the first of an entire campaign of Disney buying many different entities. But has this been a bad thing, and does Disney deserve the success of the franchises they obtained? 

Disney bought Marvel, giving them access to all of the Marvel heroes and the movies it made. This didn’t happen without its own struggles, however. Stan Lee’s media company and Marvel’s online marketing team tried to press a lawsuit against Disney for claiming Marvel Entertainment’s movies, but they dropped the charges in February 2011.

Two years later, Marvel Comic creator Jack Kirby pressed charges against Disney, trying to get Disney to remove its copyrights on the silver age characters of Marvel, and stop their profiting from Kirby’s creations. The judge ruled in favor of Marvel and Disney; eventually, Kirby stopped his protests in 2014.

Disney and Marvel’s partnership didn’t come without its share of hate and controversy, but they worked hard to get where they are now.

Meantime, Disney’s buyout of Lucasfilm Studios and the Star Wars franchise is made obvious now by Disney’s animated shows “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” and “Star Wars Rebels.”

After a meeting with Disney CEO Bob Iger, founder George Lucas confided that he was planning on retiring and selling his company, along with the Star Wars franchise. The purchase of the studio gave Disney the rights to “Indiana Jones,” Star Wars, and all of their related video games.

Since then, Disney put out five Star Wars movies, numerous Star Wars cartoons, and many Star Wars-related attractions in Disney parks across the globe. However the biggest topic of discussion is the movies the company has put out since the merge: “The Force Awakens” (2015), “Rogue One” (2016), “The Last Jedi” (2017), “Solo” (2018), and its most recent, “The Rise of Skywalker” (2019).

These movies are often heavily critiqued by seasoned Star Wars fans because they were nothing like the ones made by Lucasfilms. However, they are great for those who didn’t grow up with the originals and want to go back and watch them. 

Overall, Disney has gone through multiple trials from both the legal side of its expansion and from dedicated fans of the original studios. Disney worked hard to get where it is today and is dedicated to keep giving us new things from the companies we love.

Even if you’re not the biggest fan of the new Star Wars films, we need to give credit where it’s due. Disney has produced masterpieces from the Marvel side of its films. A lot of these Marvel/Disney films have become a new generation’s favorites and have introduced it to heroes that haven’t seen the spotlight for years. 

So, the question remains, is Disney’s takeover a bad thing?

To date, the future looks really bright, with Disney’s dedication to these studios.