As a mega-corporation, the Walt Disney Company has had considerable growth over the years. A lot of that came from buying out other companies to get assets that helped them continue to excite and expand. Over the past few years the Disney acquisition news has been particularly exciting, with the purchase of Marvel (home of Spider-Man, Iron Man, X-Men and many more) and Lucasfilm (owner of Star Wars, Indiana Jones, etc.). Those purchases are definitely going to affect the Disney theme parks in a big way. In fact, they’ve already started to. Here’s a look at all the acquisitions that made differences in the future of Disney parks.
1. The Jack Wrather Estate
Image: Disney
When Walt Disney spent every last dime he could get a hold of to fund his “risky” Disneyland project, he needed to turn to a friend when it came time to build a hotel for guests of the theme park. Jack Wrather agreed to pay for the Disneyland Hotel through his company Wrather-Alvarez, and benefited from that decision in a big way almost immediately. Because of the financial rewards of the Disneyland Hotel, he refused to sell the Disneyland Hotel and the rights for Disney hotels in California. Only his death would wrest the rights away from Wrather’s company. The CEO of the Walt Disney Company in the 1980s, Michael Eisner, bought the Jack Wrather Corporation mainly to gain the right to build Disney hotels in California and pave the way for a full Disneyland Resort. The Estate was also the owner the film property Zorro, but that hasn’t been utilized much at the Disney theme parks as of yet.
2. ABC
ABC a.k.a. the American Broadcasting Company was a major purchase by the Walt Disney Company in 1996, costing the Mouse a staggering $19 billion. ABC and Disney had a long relationship prior to that, though. In exchange for financing for Disneyland Park, Walt Disney agreed to host his anthology series that went by a variety of names including Walt Disney Presents (1958–1961), Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color (1961–1969), The Wonderful World of Disney (1969-1979, 1994-2009) and of course its original title, Disneyland, on the network.
To long-time surveyors of Disney’s history the acquisition seemed very fitting, and it’s certainly done a lot for the company. The theme parks weren’t a priority when the acquisition was being considered, but they’ve certainly been affected in some small ways by Disney’s ownership of one of the main broadcast networks.For instance, the ABC Commissary at Disney’s Hollywood Studios features signed scripts and props from ABC shows like The Middle, Revenge and Once Upon a Time. Though we haven’t seen a full-fledged attraction yet based on an ABC property, many have been pushing for something from the universe of Lost to appear at one of Disney’s parks.
3. ESPN
Image: Disney
ESPN was acquired by ABC Studios in 1984 and was therefore was part of the package when Disney purchased ABC Studios back in 1996. The ownership of ESPN led to Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex being rebranded to the ESPN Wide World of Sports in early 2010, after first announcing the change in May 2008. While not necessarily a theme park, the Wide World of Sports Complex is a significant element of the Walt Disney World Resort and certainly a draw for people visiting Orlando.
4. Pixar
The deal that made Steve Jobs a big stakeholder in the Walt Disney Company has made some serious waves in Disney’s theme park business over the past couple of decades. Obviously, a number of attractions are inspired by Pixar movies such as Toy Story, Finding Nemo, Monsters, Inc. and more. Perhaps more interesting, however, is the number of specific areas devoted to Pixar properties, both in the United States and abroad. There are:
- A Bug’s Land at California Adventure
- Cars Land at California Adventure
- Toy Story Playland at Walt Disney Studios Park and Hong Kong Disneyland (and soon to appear at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, if recent rumors are to be believed…)
Having three distinct themed areas when Pixar has only released ten original properties is extremely impressive. What all those lands have in common is their mass appeal for children. Children are the ones who can become the most entrenched in the Disney theme park magic, and Pixar has made that happen.
5. Marvel
This is the first of two Disney acquisitions that we don’t quite know yet what kind of impact it will have on the theme parks. Only time really will tell. We can look at what we DO know, though.
With the rights in Orlando firmly in the hands of Universal Studios, the Marvel characters have thus far been limited to appearing at Disneyland’s Innoventions in the US (which has recently closed). Internationally, Spider-Man has a meet and greet at Walt Disney Studios Park at Disneyland Paris, and The Iron Man Experience at Hong Kong Disneyland is expected to open sometime next year. Even though I personally wonder if Marvel properties are the best choice for the Disney parks, it’s clear that these properties will have an increasing presence at Disney parks, even if Walt Disney World is excluded for now.
6. Lucasfilm
Star Wars is a seminal film series for a number of generations, and the fact that Disney now owns the rights has huge implications. We know that Star Wars Land is on its way to Hollywood Studios, and a truncated version is heavily rumored to be on its way to Disneyland as well. Though we don’t have any specifics to report at this time (an announcement isn’t expected until later this year), we’re willing to bet that a beefed up Star Wars presence at either park will draw serious crowds.
