Now why would anyone want that?
These reasons: (And this is just my opinion
)
For DreamWorks it would mean:
1.)
MUCH better exposure and marketing for theatrical films
One of the biggest reasons that some DW movies have not done as well as they could was that very few people knew about them. The films are complicated and DW has simply not found the right way to reach the public--convince them that they should take a chance on something different. Thus, they take the "safe" route and market them as something cliche, familiar, tired--when in truth it almost always isn't. Disney knows how to reach a public--THEY are the ones that have done the marketing for Pixar, WHICH HAS ALWAYS BEEN STELLER. (and let's face it--Toy Story was a weird, different kind of project and if Disney marketing didn't know the right buttons to push on that thing--NO ONE would have gone.) Everyone who breathes air knew about Cars. How many people knew about Over the Hedge?
2.)
A first-class DVD/video distribution machine: Don Bluth may not want to admit this, but many, many, many more people knew about and appreciated his films once Disney bought most of his library and aired it on the Disney channel. (Ditto every other obscure animation company that couldn't sell their film at the box office--y'know, The Last Unicorn, The Brave Little Toaster, Balto, We're Back, etc...) They could do the same for DW, and films that bombed at the box office could get a whole other shot.
3.)
More freedom to fail. DW has done well, but the fact is EVERY FILM counts and every time a DW film does not meet expectatons--even if it does relatatively good numbers, they fall into a bad patch. How well can you do when EVERY film has got to be a blockbuster? Look at all the pressure Disney was under to make Chicken Little "the hit that would save the company." That's what it's like for DW every time they release a film!
Disney has had plenty of bombs, but no one talks about them "folding" like the talk about DW animation. Disney can protect DW.
It's good for Disney 'cause:
1.)
They get the DW library--you know, those big, big hits like Shrek, Shrek 2, Antz, and Madagascar. 2d AND 3d films, great since many people want to see 2d again. The films are also extremely diverse (IMHO), which is one of the reasons the library is so valuable. And it may not seem like DW would be a good match for the Disney name BUT--and I'm willing to admit this, even though they're original, the DW films are built on Disney core values and themes. Like Ben has said, POE was "Disney does Moses." Spirit was "Disney does the old West." El Dorado: "Disney does Central America". I admit it. And even Shrek, with its supposed "mocking" of Disney, celebrates the "happily ever after" message far more than it denigrates it. It's just a new twist on an old theme (as is everything, basically)
2.)
They FINALLY get to lay that old "Disney hates DW and vice/versa" label that's been dogging them for the last ten years to rest. The Eisner/Katzenberg mess was a nightmare for public relations and the company's image. As was SaveDisney--and then what happened? Roy was invited back and everyone seems to have let bygons be bygons. That has helped the company to heal a lot of the rifts that the public saw. Katzenberg/DW joining Disney again would do the same, maybe on an even bigger scale. DW can still make "their own brand" of films under the Disney name (as Pixar does) What is so wrong with this arrangement?
And every time DW releases a film, no one will be saying: "Oh DW they hate Disney, oh Katzenberg just wants to beat Eisner into the ground" (even though Eisner's been gone for more than a year now)
3.)
They get JK back. Maybe Lassetter is the head of Disney Feature now, but he's ALSO head of Imagineering and Pixar. That's spreading one guy awfully thin. If Lassetter is a bit distracted by his own films and his Imagineering/Theme Park duties, he might need some help. Yes there is, um, some tension between DW and Pixar now, but tensions can heal. (Believe it or not, Katzenberg and Lassetter were friends once.) And as talented as Lassetter is, it was Katzenberg who was there when Beauty and Little Mermaid were being made.
You can’t just have your characters announce how they feel! That makes me feel angry!
Disney bought the Don Bluth library. Disney bought, well, pretty much anything animated that was released in the 1980s. Disney bought the Muppets. I don't see any problem with them buying DW. Also, Ben has mentioned that there WAS talk during the sale of DreamWorks SKG proper of Disney buying DW (I think this was when DWA was still connected to them, which, again, as Ben said, might have been one of the reasons that they split off. (Eisner was still there, so....)
