[IlluminatEpcot]

Disney has sold Power Rangers back to Saban Entertainment --

"The franchise came to Disney in 2001 as part of the purchase from Saban and Fox of what is now the ABC Family cable channel. At first, Disney had high hopes for the characters, exploring additional licensing and even a feature film. But focus group research soured Disney on them. Mothers, the research showed, disliked the violence — particularly the hand-to-hand combat — that is part of the franchise’s DNA. Ultimately, Disney decided not to brand the Power Rangers characters as Disney products, which made the franchise something of a black sheep at the company."

Wonder how much longer they stay at the studios with the sale of the franchise?

http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/...like/?src=busln

[IHeartTheStudios]

MHWeaver913, on May 13 2010, 08:42 AM, said:

Disney has sold Power Rangers back to Saban Entertainment --

"The franchise came to Disney in 2001 as part of the purchase from Saban and Fox of what is now the ABC Family cable channel. At first, Disney had high hopes for the characters, exploring additional licensing and even a feature film. But focus group research soured Disney on them. Mothers, the research showed, disliked the violence — particularly the hand-to-hand combat — that is part of the franchise’s DNA. Ultimately, Disney decided not to brand the Power Rangers characters as Disney products, which made the franchise something of a black sheep at the company."

Wonder how much longer they stay at the studios with the sale of the franchise?

http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/...like/?src=busln

Not long. Don't remember the exact date but it's less than a month.

[QuickGold]

Thanks for the info. WDW Magic reports August 7 2010 is their last date.

My opinion of the Power Rangers was indifference. Obviously I'm not their target audience but I know kids loved them. On the bright side, I'm hoping a new character initiative will take hold thanks to this vacancy.

On a side note, hope the Power Rangers vehicle (a derelict of the Stars and Motor Cars parade) doesn't end up in the trash heap!

[darthstich]

I think this would be a good time for a Marvel introduction to replace it. I mean New York street is perfect, because piratically every hero is from New york in the comics. Iron man Meet and Greet anyone?

[IlluminatEpcot]

Im excited to see them go back to the company that started the Power rangers here in the US.. I remember being a kid and standing in long long lines at toy stores for one (any) of the toys and how insanely popular they became. I understand the reasoning for Disney parting with them, however if its solely based on the violence aspect, I wonder how they incorporate marvel, as the comics, and cartoons the characters are involved in can be violent as well. Regardless, I think this is a win win, as Darthstich said, this makes room for the marvel product and Power Rangers being with their original company in Saban.

[darthstich]

MHWeaver913, on May 13 2010, 03:17 PM, said:

Im excited to see them go back to the company that started the Power rangers here in the US.. I remember being a kid and standing in long long lines at toy stores for one (any) of the toys and how insanely popular they became. I understand the reasoning for Disney parting with them, however if its solely based on the violence aspect, I wonder how they incorporate marvel, as the comics, and cartoons the characters are involved in can be violent as well. Regardless, I think this is a win win, as Darthstich said, this makes room for the marvel product and Power Rangers being with their original company in Saban.

I don't think it's the violence aspect. I think that they realized the franchise is going to die out soon and wanted to get rid of it before it happened, and Saban wanted it back more for sentimental than business reasons

[QuickGold]

darthstich, on May 13 2010, 01:06 PM, said:

I think this would be a good time for a Marvel introduction to replace it. I mean New York street is perfect, because piratically every hero is from New york in the comics. Iron man Meet and Greet anyone?

Doesn't Universal have the rights to theme park Marvel characters for a number of years to go?

[darthstich]

QuickGold, on May 13 2010, 04:10 PM, said:

Doesn't Universal have the rights to theme park Marvel characters for a number of years to go?

To my understanding, it's just the characters currently in the park, Spider-Man, X-Men, and Hulk.

[COH#1fan]

darthstich, on May 13 2010, 04:14 PM, said:

To my understanding, it's just the characters currently in the park, Spider-Man, X-Men, and Hulk.

You mean Spider-Man, X-Men, and Captain America. The Hulk is not a meetable character at Universal.

Sue Richards of the Fantastic Four could possibly be met, if you can find her, that is.

[surfpark]

That's kind of crazy. I imagine the rights were expensive to get. Disney wasn't bad to the Power Rangers at all. Disney has been keeping up the brand for 8 years with new seasons and a merchandise line. It was canceled in 2009, and Disney started showing first season re-runs in 2010. I imagine this move really bothered Saban to buy them back. Power Rangers is an interesting franchise but is somewhat different than Disney's style.

Disney maintains it's characters for a longer shelf life. Power Rangers had a yearly rotation of characters, costumes, and sets. I imagine they're some of the most expensive characters to maintain in the parks. It has to be the reason they rarely did all the Rangers. The news is that Saban is connecting the Power Rangers brand to Nickelodeon. The new series will air on Nick in Spring 2011. The remaining 700 episodes will re-run on Nicktoons Network (sometimes a digital cable channel). No work yet as to if this means the characters will be in Universal Studios or not.

[MJMcBride]

COH#1fan, on May 13 2010, 05:28 PM, said:

You mean Spider-Man, X-Men, and Captain America. The Hulk is not a meetable character at Universal.

Sue Richards of the Fantastic Four could possibly be met, if you can find her, that is.

The Hulk is being used at Universal so I doubt that would be permitted. Iron Man however would be fair game

[COH#1fan]

MJMcBride, on May 13 2010, 06:27 PM, said:

The Hulk is being used at Universal so I doubt that would be permitted. Iron Man however would be fair game

No. The Hulk is not a character. It is a roller-coaster.

And I doubt there will be an Iron Man character at Disney. Can you imagine the poor guy in the iron-like plastic armor in the heat of Florida?

[MagicMemories]

How long can Universal keep using the Marvel themed stuff??

Is there a deadline on their use of the Marvel characters / attractions, and if so, when is that?



Any ideas on future Marvel weekends, similar to SWW????

[MagicMemories]

Also, I think Disney is crazy letting go of MMPR.

The merchandising on the CLASSIC / ORIGINAL line-up of Rangers could have done even better if Disney added more to it.

Don't get me wrong, as someone said above, they kept it going for a long time - but there is a HUGE market for MMPR still.

[darthstich]

MagicMemories, on May 14 2010, 07:07 PM, said:

Also, I think Disney is crazy letting go of MMPR.

The merchandising on the CLASSIC / ORIGINAL line-up of Rangers could have done even better if Disney added more to it.

Don't get me wrong, as someone said above, they kept it going for a long time - but there is a HUGE market for MMPR still.

Which is why nickelodeon snatched it up. Classic season will air soon, and new season and Movies through them soon after. Looks like we may take Marvel from Universal, and they may take Power Rangers from us

[QuickGold]

MagicMemories, on May 14 2010, 07:05 PM, said:

How long can Universal keep using the Marvel themed stuff??

Is there a deadline on their use of the Marvel characters / attractions, and if so, when is that?



Any ideas on future Marvel weekends, similar to SWW????

Disney said they would honor pre-existing agreements when they bought Marvel so yes, they will let Universal keep the characters.

[ADP]

As I understand it, Universal has the rights to the characters they have attractions built for in their theme parks. This agreement, however, is only valid for theme parks east of the Mississippi River.

Since Universal Orlando has attractions based on Spiderman, Dr. Doom, The Hulk, and Storm Force we won't be seeing these characters at Walt Disney World; however, they may show up at Disneyland or other foreign Disney parks.

If Universal wants to build further Marvel attractions inside Islands of Adventure they'll have to go to Disney for permission. I wonder how Disney would respond to such a request from a rival theme park.

[General Specific]

ADP, on May 14 2010, 10:05 PM, said:

As I understand it, Universal has the rights to the characters they have attractions built for in their theme parks. This agreement, however, is only valid for theme parks east of the Mississippi River.

Since Universal Orlando has attractions based on Spiderman, Dr. Doom, The Hulk, and Storm Force we won't be seeing these characters at Walt Disney World; however, they may show up at Disneyland or other foreign Disney parks.

If Universal wants to build further Marvel attractions inside Islands of Adventure they'll have to go to Disney for permission. I wonder how Disney would respond to such a request from a rival theme park.

I'm curios to see how far that deal extends, since Universal has costumed characters not featured in attractions, caracters depicted in the attractions that are not listed on the name, and all the major characters plastered as cutouts all over the island.

[IHeartTheStudios]

Sorry it is August 7th. I misunderstood the person I first heard it from.

[QuickGold]

So long Power Rangers. Today was their last performance.