Turner Bags a Griffin
Wall Street Journal, May 1st, 1986
(Image source “closinglogos.com”)
Atlanta – Last week Turner-CBS acquired Merv Griffin Enterprises for $250m in a cash & stock buy[1]. The acquisition brings with it several lucrative properties including
The Merv Griffin Show,
Wheel of Fortune, and
Jeopardy, along with other game shows and programming. With this acquisition Turner is expected to move the popular shows out of syndication and exclusively on to his CBS network. The acquisition marks the latest round of expansion for the aggressive Turner who has, since his hostile takeover of CBS in 1985, become a leading mogul of television on both network and cable.
* * *
National Amusements acquires Viacom
Wall Street Journal, May 9th, 1986
(Image source “businesswire.com”)
Boston – National Amusements Chairman Sumner Redstone announced the acquisition of a controlling interest in the Viacom media company. The deal brings with it several broadcast television stations and cable stations to include the Showtime premium channel[2]. The move marks a broad expansion of the Boston based company, which owns numerous movie theaters and other entertainment ventures.
* * *
BAM! POW! Marvel sold to Disney
Wall Street Journal, May 14th, 1986
(image sources “community.cbr.com” and “bcdb.com”)
New York – Yesterday Walt Disney Entertainment and Cadence Industries announced that Disney will be purchasing the Marvel Entertainment Group for $46 million, one of many small deals being made as part of the breakup of Cadence[3]. The acquisition includes Marvel Publishing, primarily a maker of comic books including the Disney Comics lines, and Marvel Productions, a small television and animation production company. It also brings with it IP for their portfolio of characters and animated projects popular superhero lines such as
Spiderman and
The Incredible Hulk as well as well as production contracts for many of the Hasbro line up in partnership with Sunbow Entertainment (
GI Joe,
Transformers,
Jem, etc.).
Marvel will remain a functionally independent subsidiary within the larger Disney Studios division. Marvel Chairman Stan Lee will retain his position as Chairman of the Marvel subsidiary and become an Associate Director for the overarching Walt Disney Entertainment board. Star Publishing Vice President and Chief Editor Jim Shooter will become President and CEO of Marvel Entertainment, passing on Editor in Chief duties to Tom De Falco, while Marvel Productions President and CEO Margaret Loesch will leave behind the Marvel brand to become Vice President of Production for Children’s TV Programming under Disney Studios. All three will report to Disney Studios Chairman and President Jim Henson, and will join the Disney Studios board of directors[4].
The acquisition brings with it the opportunity for future Disney productions featuring Marvel characters in addition to the existing relationship in the comics world[5]. Marvel Chairman Stan Lee told WSJ “This is a good thing. We’ve had an excellent working relationship with Disney already through Star. We now get the chance to work together on television or even movies too!” Recently promoted Marvel Publishing President[6] Jim Shooter echoed the sentiments: “It’s always great to work with Jim [Henson] and Frank [Wells]. I’ve learned a lot from both of them.” Disney CCO Jim Henson said, “this gives [Disney] the opportunity to expand into new realms of the imagination and offer fans some positive role models and life’s lessons. The Marvel superhero lines have all the action of a war cartoon, but without the inherent aggression[7].”
Some in the industry are questioning the wisdom and timing of the purchase, however. The acquisition comes as profit margins for TV animation continue to shrink and comics struggle to expand their audience. Target audiences for the Sunbow lines in particular, the studio’s most popular, are reaching adolescence without new younger audience taking their place, and the costs associated with Asian-made animation continue to increase due to rising wages and the increasing strength of the Yen vs. the dollar[8]. Furthermore, the recent flop of
Supergirl bodes poorly for superhero-based films with some suggesting that audiences are losing interest in the genre[9]. Others, however, cite the growing market share for comic books with adults and the explosion of individual lines following the loosening of restrictions by the Comics Code Authority and see opportunity for some of the more mature Marvel titles and storylines to be leveraged as replacement series for the audience. Whatever the business case, the fans, including many in the WSJ staff remain hopeful that exciting things are to come.
* * *
Superman Flies to Warner
Wall Street Journal, May 19th, 1986
(Image source "rogerebert.com")
Los Angeles – Warner Brothers and Alexander and Ilya Salkind announced the sale of the Superman film rights to Warner, repatriating the superhero franchise with the rest of the DC Comics universe, which is a subsidiary of Warner. The Salkinds produced the three recent blockbuster Superman films as well as the flop
Supergirl. The purchase puts an end to production on
Superman IV, which Warner executives made clear that they would not be producing. The sale also leaves the future of the Superman film franchise in doubt, as Warner has shown little progress in moving the proposed
Batman film out of Production Hell. WSJ analysists cite the recent purchase of Marvel Entertainment by Walt Disney Studios as a possible motive for the buy, positioning Warner to compete against any Disney films based upon the rival comics brand with the flagship Caped Crusader in their corner.
* * *
Dungeons, Dragons, and…Donald Duck?
Wall Street Journal, June 14th, 1986
Burbank – After acquiring Marvel Publishing last month, The Walt Disney Entertainment Company has acquired Tactical Studies Rules, Inc., or TSR, through its Marvel subsidiary in a merging of stock. TSR is best known for its Dungeons & Dragons line of games, game products, and animated TV series along with other games and gaming paraphernalia. Through a deal negotiated by Gary Gygax, Jim Shooter, and Ron Miller, TSR joint owners Kevin and Brian Blume and Gary Gygax have all agreed to exchange their controlling interest in TSR in exchange for a monetarily equivalent amount of newly issued Marvel stock plus Disney’s assumption of $1.5 million in debt from the financially strained games publishing company, the fiscal hardship a product of alleged financial mismanagement by the Blume brothers. Kevin and Brian Blume will retire from the company while Gary Gygax and his sister Lorraine Williams will take positions on the Marvel board of directors, where Gygax will manage the creative efforts of the TSR label while Williams will handle the financial interests[10].
The acquisition brings with it the profitable Dungeons & Dragons line and subsidiary trademarks, including the popular Dragonlance series of books and games, along with the gaming rights to numerous popular franchises including Indiana Jones and Conan. Williams has also agreed to license her family’s rights to the Buck Rogers franchise to Marvel and Disney. “I’m very pleased to team up with TSR,” said Disney CCO Jim Henson. “While I’ve never played D&D myself, I’m very impressed with its ability to teach practical mathematics and to stimulate the imagination.” The move was viewed positively by Wall Street, who saw a 1.4% increase in the value of outstanding Marvel stock.
* * *
Excerpt from Disney Magazine, July, 1986
Are you Ready for the X-Men?
(Image source "wearescifibloggers.com")
Professor Xavier and his “Mutants” are coming to your house! Yes, the uncanny “X-Men”, powerful but oppressed superheroes, will be starring in their own new Marvel Productions TV series as they battle the machinations of the extremist “Brotherhood of Mutants” while simultaneously trying to protect and serve the average citizens who despise and fear them.
X-Men offers adventurous children or teens the chance to follow the X-Men on their exciting missions while learning and growing with the important lessons of tolerance, understanding, and working together despite differences in opinion or attitude. Coming this fall to the PFN afterschool lineup, the X-Men are the show you won’t want to miss!
Adventures into the Imagination with Mickey!
(Image source "cbarks.dk")
Did you ever want to be Mickey? Or Donald? Or Kermit? Well, now you can, and the only limit is your imagination, with
Mickeyquest, a new roleplaying game for the young or young at heart created by the clever folks at TSR! You can play as one of the many premade characters, like the gallant Sir Mickey or glamorous Princess Piggy, or create your own custom Disney character using simple, step-by-step character generation rules.
Mickeyquest will teach young kids the principles of math, probability, and imagination while allowing them to live out fantastic adventures in limitless worlds of their own creation. Available now at The Disney Store and other fine retailers!
* * *
Finally, a Star Wars RPG!
Dragon Magazine, November, 1986
Not this, I’m afraid…
Rejoice, gamers and geeks, for we finally have a tabletop roleplaying game based upon the
Star Wars galaxy! After years of having to settle for blatant rip-off game lines, Lucasfilm has finally approved the creation of a true
Star Wars RPG. TSR Games, now a subsidiary of Marvel Entertainment (and therefore Disney), has announced a licensing deal with Lucasfilm for the beloved science fiction franchise, expanding upon their existing partnership, which spawned the
Indiana Jones RPG. Players can now jump into the
Star Wars galaxy, playing an X-Wing pilot, a smuggler, a Wookie, a Jedi, or even a princess, with rules for melee combat, space combat at the fighter or capital ship scale, and using the Force. Ready in time for Christmas of ’86, its sure to be a best seller.
The Star Wars Role Playing Game joins the venerable
Dungeons & Dragons (Basic and Advanced),
Indiana Jones,
Marvel Heroes,
Conan, and
Ghostbusters RPGs, among others[11]. And to fans of
Star Frontiers – and yes, we know you are out there – you will be relieved to learn that TSR plans to maintain the characters, races, and worlds of
Star Frontiers as a “neighboring galaxy” to the Galaxy Far, Far Away.
* * *
“Marvel and TSR together under one roof? I’m excited. And all signs point to Mickey and Donald giving Stan and Gary the creative space they need to work. The truth is that TSR was on the verge of bankruptcy. I might have bought them myself if I could. Am I worried about the competition? Not really. There’s an advantage to being the plucky outsider, after all.” – Steve Jackson, 1986
“How soon before the inevitable Mickey Mouse appearance at Xavier’s School?” – from a snarky Letter to the Editor, Marvel Magazine, 1986
“
Dungeons and Dragons has entered into the House of Walt, did you hear that, brothers and sisters? This nefarious gateway to gambling and Satan is now being peddled alongside Mickey Mouse and Cinderella. For shame, Disney, for shame!” – Rev. Jerry Falwell, 1986
[1] In our timeline Griffin was bought by Columbia Pictures, then part of Coca-Cola, for $250 million, one of dozens of such “small” acquisitions they made at this time. Here, losing
Ghostbusters to Disney in 1984 means that Columbia is about $300 million poorer at this point (Box Office + VHS + merch) than in our timeline. As huge as $300 million sounds to us, to Coca-Cola in 1986 this is simply “spending cash” (the “New Coke” fiasco was far costlier), so losing
Ghostbusters isn’t the game-changing butterfly one might think it would be. Generally speaking, it takes a monumental bomb to truly damage a studio. A $15-20 million flop isn’t an issue even in the ‘80s. It’s when a $40-50 million film like
Ishtar or
Heaven’s Gate flops that it can drag a studio to hell with it.
[2] Notably does not include MTV and Nickelodeon, which were retained by Warner in this timeline. Viacom was acquired by Redstone in our timeline at about the same time.
[3] Purchased by New World Entertainment in our timeline, who in turn sold it to MacAndrews and Forbes Holdings in 1987. Disney in this timeline has made about $700 million in net profits from Jan 1984 to May 1986 (see earlier 5-Year Financial Data). Compare this to our timeline’s just over $500 million in net profits from Jan 1984-Dec 1986, where Eisner needed a few years to rebuild the failing studios (most profits came from the parks). Here, the profits from
Ghostbusters,
Back to the Future, and other successful Disney films from this timeline add to that “base”. This has allowed Disney to pay down the roughly $500 million in debt (plus interest) incurred in the hostile takeover attempt with a hundred and fifty million in cash to spare, making a $46 million acquisition well within reach. Oh, and Hat Tip to
@Ogrebear for bringing the Marvel buy from our timeline to my attention.
[4] Recall that Disney Studios is one “finger” in the “Mickey Glove” that is the Walt Disney Entertainment Company.
[5] Recall that Marvel’s Star Comics label handles all of Disney’s domestic comics.
[6] Promoted for his great work in turning around the Marvel line as well as launching the Star line and integrating the Gold Key and Harvey teams. Stan Lee was happy to stay as Chairman and be the “face” of the company while Shooter handles the day-to-day operations. As a part of Disney Lee will continue to be the “face” of the brand, mainly through interviews, appearances, and gratuitous cameos, while Shooter will be the main driver of operations. Loesch will become a major producer for Disney.
[7] Henson likes in particular how Peter Parker can solve things through his wits rather than through just blowing things up. He loves the mature themes and important lessons about tolerance and “great responsibility” as well. He will complete whatever contractually obligated projects remain with Sunbow (e.g. the
Transformers and
GI Joe movies) but will not continue further with them.
[8] By 1986/7 there’d been a major “lock out” in these franchises for new audiences as the old audience (e.g. me) moved on to more “teenage” concerns, but the story and toy lines had grown far too big and complex for new audiences to become invested. Toy sales plummeted while costs increased. By 1988 Japanese wages averaged 70% of US wages and there had been a 40% increase in the value of the Yen vs. the dollar between ’85 and ’88 [
Source]. In our timeline Disney had predicted this latter aspect and bought up a bunch of Yen ahead of time, but in this timeline a majority of Disney animation production never left the US and other methods (e.g. CG framing and backgrounds and reuse of stock poses) were used to reduce costs. Other studios in our timeline and this one moved to Taiwanese or Korean studios with less experience, resulting in falling quality.
[9] I don’t see anything that’s likely to save
Supergirl shy of a major shakeup in management. The Salkinds really were running the franchise into the ground by that point through constant micromanagement of directors and an inability to get their heads out of the long-dead Silver Age. Let’s say that Christopher Reeves makes a cameo in this timeline. Still not enough to save it.
[10] In our timeline Gygax, outraged by the mismanagement and debt, pressured the board to drive out the Blume brothers, who in turn sold their stock to Williams, whom Gygax had brought on board earlier. Gygax tried to block the sale, but failed, and effectively rage-quit TSR, selling his stock to Williams. Williams managed to get TSR’s finances in order, but reportedly felt superior to gamers and gained a bad reputation with the employees and fandom alike, leading to small acts of rebellion. In this timeline, the sale of Marvel to Disney combined with Marvel’s existing two-way licensing relationship with TSR offered a more elegant solution to the impasse. Eventually in the early 1990s in this timeline, Williams, due to a combination of conflict with the Marvel/TSR employees and personal ambition, will transfer to the Disney finance department where she will become the Vice President for Finance in Disney Publishing division.
[11] Alas, poor West End Games! Not only did
Ghostbusters go to TSR, but so has
Star Wars! I hated to butterfly good ol’ “Star Wars D6”, but that’s the way the little bastards flew. Now that Lucas is a part owner of Disney and Disney owns TSR, it’s pretty much the inevitable outcome. At least we’ll always have
Paranoia. And you
are happy with this, aren’t you, citizen?
)
