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Disclaimer#2: The views expressed here are solely the views of the webmaster and no one else's. The webmaster has no intentions to change anyone's minds about a particular subject and respects the views of the viewers. Comments about this and other editorial can be E-Mail at gweagle@eastlink.ca or signing the Cloudkicker guestbook.
Disney's Fox & Family Devalued Part Deux
Encores are only worthy to the one who have earned it. (2015 Gregory Weagle Says: Not really. An encore is only worthy when the audience wants it. I assure you no one wanted an encore of this editorial 2000 Me!) Now; do you remember that beef I had with Disney buying Fox Family and programming? Guess what? I STILL HAVE IT!! (Of course you do; it was a very bad decision on Disney's part; but you already wrote about it a few months ago.) I thought that things couldn't get any lower for Michael Eisner, his board of directors and the "house of the mouse" (pun intended!) (Not anymore, since there is a DTVA show called House of Mouse and it featured the dreaded Quackstreet Boys. Just remember, be thankful that Bob Iger took over, because if Michael Eisner was still in charge, we would have the Quackas Brothers for sure, so bad that it would make the Jonas Brothers look like the Beatles in comparison.) ; however, the predictable company has come through once again in its most disgusted form. Remember the quote that I stated in the first editorial that I almost thought that Digimon and Power Rangers: Wild Force would actually be on the ABC television network itself instead of cable. Well; thanks to a source which happens to be Disney own PR itself; they have confirmed that the fourth season of Digimon (no re-runs of seasons one, two and three) and Power Rangers: Wild Force will now be on the ABC television network in addition to Fox Family. I've been also told that these two shows are expected to appear in late Novemeber. I have only one thing to say about this: UUUUUGGGGGHHHHHHH!!! (That's troubling 2000 Me! Neither show is awful or anything, and Digimon Frontier was the most accurate dub up to this point. And Disney owns ABC; so why would this be a bad idea? Other than having bad ratings?)
It was bad enough to find out that aquiring Fox Family was evidence that Disney Television was running out of ideas and was showing sign of laziness to boot. However; now that I know that ABC is going to run basically two anime shows (For you information pleasure: Power Rangers was created in Japan first (which is based on footage from Sentai live-action shows under much different names and plot lines.) on free network television no less; smacks the logic that Disney is lazy even further than I could imagine. This prove that the Disney Company is in big trouble. While it is ture that Disney-made movies like Lilo and Stich and their Disney Theme Parks have been able to keep Disney afloat (the latter is showing sign of trouble because of 9/11 and a bad ecomonic situation. (Ah; so this was written around 2002, meaning the previous editorial was written in 2002 as well. I'm sorry for making such a mistake.)) it has been Walt Disney Television Animation and Disney Home Video that have suffered being reduced to shambles; mostly due to the release of sequel to classic films that shouldn't have been made in the case of video and the fact that Disney TV's talent pool has shrunk since losing Jymn Magon to free-lance writing. Kim Possible is the only production that is bucking the current trend; showing her ture name in the process. (Kim Possible at the time was awesome. Sadly; not so much now that everyone has figured out that Kim Possible was a social engineering project. Granted; that's fine if the ratings were very high (which they were); but even adults know when they are had.) Sadly; 1990 was a different time when DTVA was almost as strong as their films and shows like TaleSpin were able to compete againest Warner Brothers. Almost as strong. (TaleSpin beat Tiny Toons 2002 Me! They were as stronger, if not slightly stronger than Warner Brothers. The downhill part started with Darkwing Duck when that show tried to be a cross between Batman and Tiny Toons instead of blazing it's own trail; or being an alternative to Warner Brothers. It's not hard and they still blew it.)
So what created this destruction of a once almighty company? Well; the easiest target to blame is the CEO of the media company itself: Michael Eisner and it is not too hard to point out the factors over the year that have shattered the heart and soul that was known as the Walt Disney Company. (He is easy because he makes the big decision and many of those decision showed that Michael had no idea what the product was. Keep in mind that this man thought Disney owned Bugs Bunny. And he was an exec for children's programming. There's no excuse for that.) The biggest factor to some was Disney's deal with PIXAR; the 3D-CGI animation company which has produced such films as Toy Story and A Bug's Life. While I was reading feedback from the previous editorial; Foxx said that he would pin the blame on Disney decision to buy PIXAR. To him; PIXAR is the reason why Disney has basically lost its heart because Disney was depending on them. The problem with that is that it doesn't explain the fall of Disney that was taking in respect long before PIXAR and Disney were in the same room together. (Yeah; PIXAR was a lot more Disney than Disney was at the time when they were hot.) I believe in all fairness that it was PIXAR who has actually saved Disney from a much worser fall from grace than what we have been seeing. (Yes it was. The cracks were showing even before Frank Welles' death with DTVA being spread way too thin for it's own good after 1992. Then there is the sweatshop debacle and their aquiring of ABC; which was one of their better deals in the long run.) Another factor has been the surge in the popularity of anime into the American market and on top of that the decision of the FCC to recommend the networks to create educational programming (read: Shows About School; I've covered this one in an earlier editorial) for children. While both of these factors do not pin blame on Disney itself; it would be considered foolhardy to pin the blame on the FCC. This decision was long overdue and was design to curtail programming that was laced with senseless violence and rid shows of unredemming value. (If that was the plan; it failed badly. Anime even in it's most neutered state was more violent than American shows; otherwise, anime would never make it to the USA.) These shows were needed as part of a balance media diet. (Read: If only the shows were in fact better than they are now. (TESTIFY~! And the FCC is for net neturality, so they are at least making a great case for justification of their existence.) Ironically; the FCC's plan also opened the door for a swarm of Japanese animation to surface in place of the violence-laced shows that would have been done by American compaines. (You win some; you lose some FCC.) While anime is growing in popularity over the last couple of years; I still wonder if this is the reason why American compaines have faltered over that same time period. (Read: Powerpuff Girls is anime USA in my humble opinion. (So is Avatar The Last Airbender, Totally Spies! and a few other notables.)) Another problem with anime is the content; most anime is heavily edited for content that is normally NC-17 fare. (Outlaw Star is the worst offender with 20+ edits an episode. (No it's not. There are 4Kids shows and even Plunder and Lightning that put Outlaw Star to shame in the editing department.)) Plus; anime fanboys have basically created the igorance that all anime is watchable which has been proven that it is not. Most anime is not worth watching; the 90% garbage theory applies here too I'm afraid. (All you have to do to change purist's minds is show them any animation from Knack Animation, Firestorm and most hentai. That'll usually shut them up.) Anime for me is simply not my cup of tea because I demand a family story with a slighty heavier dose of maturity; that is actually mature and not some adult's preception of mature which is close to pronographic. (Okay; my standards have loosen up a lot since this editorial. And above all; has 2002 Me been watching nothing but hentai all those years. Granted; a lot of anime does contain violence, sex and language; plus I have issues with pointless beheading of female children. However; most anime is perfectly fine. I just think purists give it way too much credit.) TaleSpin was and is in my humble opinion; the only cartoon that has pulled it off. It doesn't need fan service. (Even though Baloo has done this spot at least THREE times in TaleSpin. Someone got shot on-screen. Almost every episode had bullets flying around. Kit Cloudkicker was shot at point blank range at one point. Baloo even got the Trigun treatment; and I even have a system for bullet shooting from Trigun! TaleSpin was Disney's answer to anime and no one should be surprised. Half of it was animated in Japan and the producers were huge anime fans as well as Omaha The Cat Dancer and Disney's Robin Hood.) Despite this; the biggest factor in which you can blame Eisner along with his board of directors and Roy Disney (for simply allowing this) is this they treated the creators who have all this talent to create such products in the first place and the public like dirt; garbage even. (True actually.) All those good producers are now gone. Jymn Magon is now a freelance writer; Mark Zaslove is out of animation altogether. (No he's not. If there is one great thing about globalization, it is that it allows washed up American producers find work in other countries and serves as a reminder that there is a whole new world outside of the America "dream".)Jeffrey Katzenburg (sp?) was called a midget by Eisner himself. (What a bigot Michael Eisner is?! Oh well; Jeffrey founded Dreamworks and used Shrek to get his revenge on Michael, so it's all good.) Paul Winchell was almost put to pasture because Disney believed that he couldn't do the voice of Tigger anymore and there is proably a hundred more offenses that this company has demostrated. (Sweatshops, copyright and mistreatment of workers are the three big ones. However; putting voice actors out to pasture before their time is mixed in a way. I mention this on Livejournal; but we have to realize that Bill Scott died in the middle of production of Gummi Bears (I think Roger C. Carmel is in the same boat) and Disney didn't want to go through with the slight chance that someone would sue them and win.) These insults have only made the public cynical and jaded with the belief that Disney is just trying to make money at the expense of commercializing artwork and entertainment. (Well; they are and always have been a business even when Walt was running it. Again; it's what he did, not what he said that counts in this world. People lie all the time to paint a rosey picture of themselves. If Walt painted a true picture of himself; no one would buy his products anymore.) The sad part about this is that this is not easily fixable; if it was fixable at all. (And your idea was to make them stop DTVA from doing feature animation. That was a very simple solution that actually was a good one.)
Someone has to got to tell the leader that his time has finally run out for him and his company needs to make a change for their own surivial. Michael has defied all common sense and logic as since his arrival in 1984 the company has sputtered. (It's not that simple. Disney was great between 1984-1992 because Michael's television model actually paid off handsomely. DTVA was a distruptor; not a sustainer like feature was. The cracks showed in 1992 because Disney spread themselves too thin and competitors realized that Disney had something with this television animation stuff and were craving out their place in the marketplace of television space. It was after Frank's death where Michael Eisner looked like the stupidest CEO in history.) Sure Michael's Adventures of the Gummi Bears show was his idea; but it still took four creators including Jymn Magon to make it happen. (True.) Michael has done little of anything else and none of it benefitted the company's future. (Oh I don't know. ABC is still around and kicking. ESPN has done very well for itself. And this is a case where Michael Eisner probably did some good; but his treatment of employees was a big problem.) This company is this close to joining the ranks of Enron, WorldComm and Tyco; if it hasn't already stooped to this realm of corruption. (It didn't. Disney is at least honest enough to admit when the company is in bad shape. The law requires it and the shareholders, for all their faults and whims at least have some sense in knowing when a company has done wrong.) Michael must resign and let someone else who can run the show in the spirit of Walt Disney. While Roy Disney's record leaves quite a bit to be desired; at least he actually has some ideas and talents. (Michael should have resigned because he was a terrible CEO. Who would want to be Walt Disney? Considering what Walt is as a person; who wants a spiritual successor of him? Why not just make good productions? You don't need exceptionism for that.) Alas; the chance of this happening are very slim at this point. Despite the fact that three members of Disney's board of directors are facing resginations; Michael's relationship with his board of directors has been rather cozy and smooth. This relationship is the main reason why change is very unlikely. (Sorry; but Michael Eisner did resign due to the SaveDisney.com movement; even though I felt the movement was designed to stick it to Michael Eisner rather than focus on Eisner being a crappy CEO.) I'll end my editorial with a bit of thought from the feedback from Foxx about the line "not like Nintendo:. I am one of the few gamers around here who doesn't want Nintendo to change into a "mature" developer. I want them to say a "kiddy" developer. I want innovation. I want a sure thing that their games won't be like the rest. I want fresh entertainment where I don't have to sell my soul in order to play it. If they are turely selfish as so many people have stated then they are doing something right. (TESTIFY~! There is a great reason why Nintendo has never really listened to the ones crying for Nintendo to be "adult". It's because the second they decide that they are going to focus on that, they lose everyone. The ones who supported Nintendo would turn on them because they hate M-rated video games, the gamers who love M-rated games wouldn't even bother to support Nintendo because everyone will then claim that they are now a "me too" company; and the loudest voices will never support Nintendo anyway because they are bald faced liars. What they are really saying is this: "Nintendo?! I demand that you go third party!". That has basically been their entire narrative since 1985! They hate an intergrater and they hate being a servant to the hardware maker. They are the one who scream "one console nation" all the time. They also were behind the "Nintendo should put games on smart phones" which is merely a dog whistle for "go third party". No one is fooled; let alone Nintendo. I would rather see them die as a company than go third party. Sega went third party; and now they are in much worse shape BEFORE they went third party. Sega's financial acumen is like a pencil eraser true; but you would think that before they went third party, they would learn to actually make profits first? It doesn't matter what road you take if your finances are in the toilet. You might as well file for Chapter 7 and get it over with if you are not going to learn how to make money!) They have stuck to their plans for all this time amid the changes that have taken place in this industry and it has paid off as Nintendo is stronger than it has ever been before. Nintendo turely puts a smile on my face...which will soon turn to glee once Animal Crossing is released. (And once Wii was released; everyone who doubted Nintendo went home crying like a big, fat, sucky baby...until 2011 and then they came back to mock us again.) Sadly; I cannot say the same for Disney as their plans have changed so much that they simply cannot pull anything off. (Another reason to thank Bob Iger once again. If Iger is leaving and a new CEO takes him place; I hope he has enough sense to reboot TaleSpin. I realize that this is false hope and I have no faith in this actually happening; but eh...?!)
Although I don't think this is a good idea; but copyright reform is looking good right now. But that's another story for another time. (Copyright reform is good. But the way you were using it? Bad.) That's my opinion; I welcome yours. See you next time.....
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