MickeyBlog News for August 25, 2019
The most shocking Disney news this week is that Andrew Luck unexpectedly retired from the Indianapolis Colts. Okay, probably not, but that was a huge surprise, right?
Most Disney news comes from D-23, which is holding the Parks & Resorts event as I type this. MickeyBlog will cover it exhaustively over the coming days and weeks. For now, let’s get you caught up on everything that happened before D-23 this week.
Galaxy’s Edge Is Almost Here
Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge officially opens at Disney’s Hollywood Studios this week. Starting on August 29th, guests may travel to Batuu anytime they visit the park.
Just before Walt Disney World introduces their version of Star Wars Land, Disneyland received a prestigious honor. TIME Magazine named Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge one of the World’s Greatest Places. They select 100 destinations each year, which confirms that Batuu is a place you must visit as soon as possible.
Speaking of Galaxy’s Edge, the Disney Parks Blog revealed the costume rules at Hollywood Studios. They’re similar to the ones that we previously discussed for Disneyland.
One Day at Disney
A few weeks ago, a respected reporter grabbed attention. He noticed that D-23’s official schedule listed something new, a “secret project” that would be announced on August 22nd. Since the official D-23 event didn’t start until August 23rd, everyone grew excited. Many people, myself included, felt that it must be a shocking announcement since Disney would spend an hour discussing it on August 24th.
Okay, we got our hopes up way too high. The secret project, at least according to company executives, is One Day at Disney. It’s a 52-episode series that will air on Disney+ starting on December 3rd, 2019. And a book will accompany the show.
I don’t want to undersell this project, as it highlights the vital work of many Disney Imagineers and other cast members. It just didn’t seem like something that should have been shrouded in mystery with a title like “secret project.” And social media gave Disney something of a drubbing over this miscalculation.
Disney+ Updates
Now that D-23’s hosted the Disney+ event, we have a much better idea about the fledgling streaming service. I plan to write an extended preview in a few days, but let’s be honest that the most important topic is the price point.
Last week, I mentioned the $12.99 bundle package of Hulu, ESPN+, and Disney+. Clearly, that’s the cost for American customers who want all of Disney’s streaming services packaged together. The company revealed a bit more information this week.
Disney+ will provide 4k streams for the base price of $6.99 (or $12.99 for the bundle). This feature coming standard beats Netflix, which charges $3 more for the highest quality picture.
Also, users may stream on up to four devices at once while linking 10 devices to an account. All of these options are better than Netflix, which is also the point. However, one caveat is that ESPN+ limits to two streams, while Hulu only allows one.
Internationally, other prices and release dates are now published. They are:
- Canada – November 12th — $8.99 Canadian Dollars monthly or $89.99 annually
- The Netherlands – November 12th — €6.99 per month or €69.99 annually
- Australia – November 19th — $8.99 Australian Dollars monthly or $89.99 annually
- New Zealand – November 19th — $9.99 New Zealand Dollars monthly or $99.99 annually
Disgruntled Ex-Employee Gets Headlines
I’m generally inclined to give the benefit of the doubt when whistleblowers come forward and indicate that corporations have misled investors. However, The Walt Disney Company just had a situation that’s…well, it’s hard not to laugh.
Sandra Kuba, an 18-year accountant for the company, met with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Her purpose was to reveal untoward accounting practices at Disney. Some of her claims were totally credible.
The accountant indicated that the company would claim $500 of credit on gift cards sold at a discounted rate of $395. She also pointed out instances where Disney would claim gift card revenue when the item sold and then again when a customer used it. Again, mistakes like that are totally plausible in the corporate.
Kuba’s Pinocchio moment is that amount of exaggerated revenue that she claimed. According to an accomplished accountant, Disney overstated its 2008-2009 income by as much as $6 billion.
Folks, the entire Parks & Resorts division reported earnings of $10.6 billion during fiscal 2009. Nobody could lie by that amount…or even one-tenth of it. The entire situation is a cautionary tale about lying. When you’re going to lie, you must make your story believable.
Disney absolutely squashed the employee with its press release:
“The claims presented to us by this former employee — who was terminated for cause in 2017 — have been thoroughly reviewed by the company and found to be utterly without merit; in fact, in 2018 she withdrew the claim she had filed challenging her termination. We’re not going to dignify her unsubstantiated assertions with further comment.”
Yes, they’re mad. Some smart people at Seeking Alpha performed regression analysis. They found absolutely no basis for Kuba’s claim for the timeframe of 2008-2009.
Spider Mess
The weirdest Disney story of the week came from Deadline. The movie site revealed that Sony’s cutting ties with the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). From now on, Spider-Man will have no connection to The Avengers, a total shock given the events of Avengers: Endgame and Spider-Man: Far From Home.
Sony had previously agreed to pay for the upfront costs on the two most recent Spider-Man films while allowing Disney to incorporate them into the MCU. Marvel’s team understandably felt that a renegotiation was in line on the heels of the latest Spider-Man movie becoming Sony’s most successful title ever.
Sony not only refused but went public in an attempt to shame Disney. This move backfired in comical fashion. Spider-Man actor Tom Holland unfollowed Sony on social media. And the director of those movies, Jon Watts, countered with the news that he’s not under contract with Sony for additional Spider-Man films and may stay with the MCU.
Yes, in a span of 72 hours, Sony somehow alienated the star and director of its biggest blockbuster ever. Meanwhile, Marvel’s Kevin Feige politely said good-bye to Tom Holland at D-23 and then presumably went home to count all his MCU money.
The only real losers in all of this are movies fans. And Sony.