Disney Headlines for November 22nd, 2023
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!
In this week’s Disney’s Headlines, we’ll quickly talk about Disney chewing out a new “collaborator,” why Frozen 4 is happening, and a weird Disney AI story.
Not Top Shots
Are you familiar with Dapper?
Let’s be realistic that if you’re over the age of 35, the answer is almost assuredly no.
Dapper qualifies as one of those accursed NFT companies, and even people in the business of NFTs don’t completely understand what those are.
These so-called non-fungible tokens provide the owner with a digital asset hosted on a blockchain.
Yes, I know I need to dumb that down even more. And you shouldn’t feel bad if you don’t get it.
I’ve literally written explanatory articles about NFTs, and I struggle with them.
Even more amusingly, there are many stories of NFT owners spending lots of money for something that isn’t the purchase they think it is.
Still, people sometimes buy them because the world doesn’t always make sense. And Disney likes making money.
Recently, Disney reportedly entered into a collaboration with Dapper Labs, one of the more recognizable NFT companies.
That’s primarily due to Dapper Labs running something called NBA Top Shot, which sells the digital equivalent of sports cards.
Here’s a look at the crown jewel of my NBA Top Shot collection.
I tried the service during its first year on a whim, as I view it as the modern version of Upper Deck.
I enjoyed it so much that this was the first time I thought about NBA Top Shot in 2023. So, yeah.
Anyway, the premise is simple. You sell the digital version of an image, which is sometimes a moving picture.
A fan buys the image, and then they feel like a sucker as the value plummets.
No, you can’t probably do that with Disney, although the original reporter isn’t quite sure. Here’s what happened.
Disney Doesn’t Do Partnerships
A reporter at a crypto site named Coin Desk, a rather reliable site as a rule, got a little sloppy with their terminology, which can happen in tech articles.
I speak from experience when I say that if you’re not completely precise, things can go very, very wrong. And that’s what happened here.
The person claimed the following: “Dapper and Disney (are) “partners” in a venture called Disney Pinnacle, which will license Disney IP and sell digital tokens modeled after collectible pins.”
Disney’s legal team sprang into action as if someone had shined the Bat Signal (Mouse Signal?) and asked for corrections.
Since Coindesk is generally reliable, many other tech sites regurgitated the story, which happens often on the internet.
I fell into the same trap last week with an Avatar/Disneyland article that Disney has since refuted or at least walked back some. It happens.
In this case, the reporter was the source, and they missed some key components of the story.
Specifically, Disney never enters into partnerships. Instead, it collaborates or “teams up with” other businesses.
That sounds like a nitpick, but it’s actually a business philosophy wherein Disney assumes negotiating power in most transactions.
People covet Disney intellectual property, which the company doles out in licensing agreements.
In this case, Disney had planned to work with Dapper on Disney Pinnacle, which would have turned pins into NFTs.
That’s a solid business model for Dapper and Disney since it’s almost literally making money out of thin air.
There’s a reason why corporations really want NFTs to be a thing. They’re dirt cheap to manage.
Alas, after Dapper said too much, Disney released the lawyers, and that may have killed the collaboration.
NBA Top Shot had sales of $1.54 million last month. So, Disney may yet reconsider.
Speaking of Tech
Disney’s consideration of NFTs makes perfect sense. I mean, the company has even tried them in the past.
Still, not all technology is their friend. In fact, Disney is sweating the rise of AI just as much as SAG-AFTRA and the Writers Guild of America.
After Disney spent the past six months reassuring writers and actors that they shouldn’t fear AI in Hollywood, some hypocrisy occurred.
Disney reportedly went to Microsoft and asked the company to adjust the technology on its AI image generator.
Specifically, TikTok and Instagram users started turning pictures of their pets into Disney movie posters and other iconic images.
What’s the problem with that? The answer depends on who you ask. It might be a copyright/trademark violation.
Nobody is quite sure since the architects of copyright and trademark law never could have anticipated an online digital image generator.
For a time, the Microsoft Bing Image Creator would spit out shockingly realistic images of pets as stars of Pixar movies.
Later, Microsoft edited the software so that guests couldn’t enter the term Disney. After that, it changed back to allow for Disney as an option.
However, guests discovered blurred images and other imperfections that ruined the effect.
The Financial Times quoted an attorney at an IP law firm who said:
“Reproduction of the Disney logo is clear trademark infringement. I would imagine that is why the AI might be jumbling the logo.”
That’s almost assuredly what happened.
The lawyer added, “In this instance, it is likely more for fun than trying to pass the images off for their own film or animation, but that would be a huge issue.”
I suspect Disney will discover this keeps happening until someone in Congress pressures tech companies to plug these holes in their systems.
Did I Miss Frozen 3?
Disney CEO Bob Iger spent the past week in China, where he introduced Hong Kong Disneyland’s newest themed land, World of Frozen.
During a live interview on Good Morning America, Iger dropped the bombshell that Frozen 4 “might be in the works.”
That’s either a bombshell or an obvious statement, depending on your perspective.
After all, Frozen 3 is still years away from release. Still, we all know that the stories of Anna and Elsa won’t stop at three.
Disney has already made far too much money from Frozen during the past decade to stop now.
While the timing of the announcement isn’t the least bit strange – it’s a perfect capper for the World of Frozen debut – I do wonder about the implication.
Is Disney lining up Frozen 3 to lead directly into Frozen 4 a la Avengers: Infinity War/Avengers: Endgame?
I’m curious because Frozen 3 probably comes out two years from this week, assuming no additional delays.
That’s one of Disney’s currently animated placeholders, and it saves Thanksgiving for its heavyweights.
If Frozen 4 isn’t connected, Iger is probably talking about a movie coming out in 2028 or 2029, which seems…premature.
Should the two films tie together, we could feasibly witness a Frozen 4 release in 2027 or possibly even 2026, though.
A lot would depend on the current state of the animation, but you should keep an eye on this one, just in case.
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Feature Photo: Disney