By Josh Spiegel/Dec. 18, 2017 2:00 pm EST
Pushing the Press Around
Becoming the Bad Guy?
The TV/Hulu Question
From “Disney’s Folly” to Disney’s Dominance
It is hard to reconcile the Walt Disney Company of the early days with the one that exists now. Even when Disney unveiled Disneyland Park to the world in the summer of 1955, it was seen as a high-priced gamble, one whose flaws were broadcast on national television on its opening day. Disney passed away five years before Walt Disney World opened in 1971; before his passing, he was pitching the 43 square miles of Orlando land he’d purchased as a way to create a utopian community that would also house one theme park to satisfy investors. That dream never came true (and might well have pushed the company even closer to BNL than it’s at now), but it continued to position the studio as an underdog that aimed high, as opposed to a Goliath-like force that dominated everything its shadow touched.
Listen, you can save yourself the trouble of writing this in the comments. I know that Deadpool could be in an Avengers movie! But there’s a lot more to this story than just a possibly cool crossover or two. The downsides are almost certainly going to overwhelm the upsides, possibly for years to come.
