Disney Headlines for May 25th, 2022
What have you missed in Disney Headlines this week? Short answer: a lot!
A guest suffered credit card fraud for the ages, Disney contemplated the purchase of a video game titan, and someone broke the code at Cosmic Rewind.
Photo: Disney
We’ve got some great stuff in the latest batch of Disney Headlines!
Never Get Out of the Moving Vehicle, But…
The Orlando Sentinel recently covered a remarkable story of guest misfortune.
According to this reporter and some other sites like 9to5mac, an Apple Watch user experienced a comical run of bad luck.
Well, I hope she’s able to laugh about it now because it’s also maddening.
Photo: Disney
While riding The Seas with Nemo & Friends, this woman fiddled with her watch at exactly the wrong moment.
When the ride lurched a bit, the jolt displaced her watch from her wrist. It tumbled out of the clamshell cart and into a spot on the ride tracks.
Photo: Disney
Her husband dutifully hopped out of the cart to retrieve it. However, as you know, that’s a massive no-no at Disney.
Frankly, the couple is lucky that cast members didn’t eject them from the parks for doing that.
Photo: Disney
Instead, the employees informed the couple that they’d find the watch and return it to her later.
The Lost & Found part of Disney attractions represents one of the most fascinating parts of the job.
But unfortunately, this story took a different turn. Disney did not, in fact, return the watch to the woman.
Photo: Disney
Instead, she started receiving fraud alerts from American Express the following day.
I giggled a bit when I heard this, as I know how vigilant AmEx is on this front. Over the weekend, I bought some furniture.
Photo: American Express
AmEx denied the first transaction as fraudulent and messaged me that my card had been compromised. I had to notify them that it was me buying stuff.
Alas, this woman didn’t share a similar situation. Instead, some would-be thief tried to rack up $40,000 (!) in charges on the woman’s Apple Watch.
Photo: apple
Obviously, she’s ticked at Disney and wants to press charges as soon as the police track down the illicit shopaholic.
Is Disney in the Game?
One of the subjects that comes up repeatedly on my media cost is potential mergers.
The metaverse is coming, and corporations view this Web3.0 as the new gold rush.
So, companies are positioning themselves to maximize intellectual property as much as possible.
Photo: CNBC
To his credit, former Disney CEO Bob Iger anticipated this trend and snagged Fox’s assets for a reasonable price.
In fact, Disney’s initial purchase offer proved too low by $17 billion. Competitors bid Disney up to prevent it from getting too good a deal.
Recently, another hot rumor suggested that Comcast wanted to dump one of its primary assets, NBCUniversal.
Such a move will have a profound impact on the theme park industry, as NBCUniversal owns and operates the various Universal Studios locations.
Realistically, I view this breakup as inevitable due to Comcast’s staggering $100 billion in debt. It needs to cut corners, and its executives know this.
For this reason, Comcast proposed a fascinating merger between NBCUniversal and a video game company.
Photo Credit: Getty Images
The deal fell through due to Comcast’s hilariously imbalanced proposal, but news of it has swept across Hollywood and Silicon Valley.
Electronic Arts (EA) is reportedly on the market and looking for a merger partner or buyer.
Photo: Apple
The leader in the clubhouse for this transaction is Apple, which would be a fitting turn of events.
Trip Hawkins, the founder of EA, had worked for Apple before going off to start the powerful videogame company.
Photo: Electronic Arts
However, you shouldn’t rule out Disney’s candidacy. A marriage of Disney with one of the foremost video game publishers makes sense.
Such an acquisition would pair Disney’s potent IP with EA’s metaverse development potential.
I expect Apple or Amazon to snag EA, but I’d rank Disney third as a potential buyer. Could Mickey Mouse become a playable character in Madden 25?
Speaking of Disney’s Future Plans…
Okay, Disney probably won’t purchase a video game publisher since it just got out of the video game business.
Photo: mentalfloss.com
If anything, Disney would look for the BAMTech equivalent of the metaverse, a company that strengthens infrastructure.
That’s not the company’s focus in the short term, though. Disney is currently building out the framework of its streaming empire.
Photo: Front office sports
Front Office Sports has reached the same logical conclusion that I have. According to this headline, Disney’s streaming plan should appear familiar.
The author says this – and I have as well – because it looks a lot like Disney’s old linear television approach.
Photo: simplemost.com
Disney established a pecking order for its content and used various channels to distribute these programs. Then, it would rake in the advertising revenue.
At the moment, executives have found themselves stuck in a transitional phase. Disney is ready for streaming to turn into customers’ status quo.
However, the company earns so much money from linear television ad revenue that it cannot dump that medium yet.
Such a move would prove wildly detrimental to Disney’s bottom line. So, corporate strategists are currently walking a tricky tightrope between the two.
Photo: ESPN+
How can Disney shake up the status quo? It can offer an ad-supported tier on Disney+ and ESPN+, both of which will happen within the year.
At that point, consumers will pay less for their subscriptions. In exchange, they’ll watch commercials during the programs.
Image Credit: ESPN
When that happens, Disney will have recreated its former linear television revenue model for a new generation of consumers. It’s brilliant!
Other Headlines
Here are a handful of other quick stories if you’re interested. An intrepid writer and puzzle-solver at CinemaBlend has cracked the code.
This individual has deciphered the Xandarian language on display at the Wonders of Xandar pavilion. They even know the hidden message at the end of Cosmic Rewind!
Honestly, I’m not surprised. The same thing happened with the alien language in Futurama.
Photo: futurama.fandom.com
Producers thought viewers wouldn’t figure out the code for years. I think they’d cracked the entire language by episode three.
Another story I haven’t had a chance to vet yet circles back to Disney’s treatment of Scarlett Johansson.
Photo Credit: Amy Sussman/Getty Images
Depending on how much meat there is to this story, I may circle back in next week’s headlines.
Also, in news that I vaguely understand, Disney has entered the esports fashion world. Frankly, this one seems like a bigger get for FaZe Clan than Disney, though.
Image: Lucasfilm
Finally, here’s Disney’s suggested prep list for the upcoming Obi-Wan Kenobi series on Disney+.
Just know that if you do rewatch all these things, I’ll think less of you. (That’s mainly directed at my wife.)
