Rabbit Ears Iger
So Bob Iger’s been CEO of Disney for some time now, so he’s bought out Pixar (even though I was pretty sure of Pixar staying away from them)…what else is new? How about trading a sport announcer for a rabbit?
A 61-year-old sportscaster for a 79-year-old animated rabbit?
Such are the deals being made these days in Hollywood as new Walt Disney Co. Chief Executive Robert Iger indicated that his company would be extending another olive branch within the entertainment community.
This time, Iger is trading "Monday Night Football" sportscaster Al Michaels to NBC Universal for Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, a cartoon character that was the predecessor to Mickey Mouse.
It doesn't stop there, though, as Disney's ESPN gets the rights to broadcast Ryder Cup golf, extended Olympics highlights and various cross-promotion deals.
Michaels told ESPN last month that he wanted to move over to NBC with colleague John Madden to do that network's Sunday-night football broadcasts. Michaels also pointed out several key behind-the-scenes crew members were making the jump with Madden.
"It was more a case of me being very comfortable if I could stay with my group," Michaels said in a news conference Thursday. "It couldn't have gotten any better than it was the last four years."
Wow, I thought most people would be rather upset about being replaced by a cartoon rabbit, but this guy’s pretty cool. I guess if nothing much changes, you might as well still feel at home anyway. For those of you who don’t know who Oswald is, here’s a brief summary from the same article further down:
The rabbit was a creation of company founder Walt Disney's in 1927, and the source of 26 cartoons that he produced for Universal Studios. Disney discovered, however, that Universal wanted ownership of Oswald, so he set out to create a new character. That gave birth to Mickey Mouse.
Disney did not spell out what it planned to do with Oswald -- whether the character will be revived and marketed in some fashion.
But the deal does suggest that Iger's early tenure will be marked by détente. After taking over from the mercurial Michael Eisner last year, Iger has mended fences with dissident shareholders Roy Disney and Stanley Gold, and patched up relations with animation partner Pixar enough to forge a merger pact between the two companies.
Reporters were able to get more information from Oswald in an interview: “I’ve spent over 60 years in retirement, but things get kinda boring when you’re a cartoon that doesn’t get any older. So when I asked Universal for a job a few years ago, they said I wasn’t in style. They were too busy working on that crazy woodpecker. So yeah, the Disney folks pretty much bought me on a deal about bringing back the magic. Trouble is, my new contract said something about a CGI makeover. Oh well, that’s showbiz.”
A 61-year-old sportscaster for a 79-year-old animated rabbit?
Such are the deals being made these days in Hollywood as new Walt Disney Co. Chief Executive Robert Iger indicated that his company would be extending another olive branch within the entertainment community.
This time, Iger is trading "Monday Night Football" sportscaster Al Michaels to NBC Universal for Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, a cartoon character that was the predecessor to Mickey Mouse.
It doesn't stop there, though, as Disney's ESPN gets the rights to broadcast Ryder Cup golf, extended Olympics highlights and various cross-promotion deals.
Michaels told ESPN last month that he wanted to move over to NBC with colleague John Madden to do that network's Sunday-night football broadcasts. Michaels also pointed out several key behind-the-scenes crew members were making the jump with Madden.
"It was more a case of me being very comfortable if I could stay with my group," Michaels said in a news conference Thursday. "It couldn't have gotten any better than it was the last four years."
Wow, I thought most people would be rather upset about being replaced by a cartoon rabbit, but this guy’s pretty cool. I guess if nothing much changes, you might as well still feel at home anyway. For those of you who don’t know who Oswald is, here’s a brief summary from the same article further down:
The rabbit was a creation of company founder Walt Disney's in 1927, and the source of 26 cartoons that he produced for Universal Studios. Disney discovered, however, that Universal wanted ownership of Oswald, so he set out to create a new character. That gave birth to Mickey Mouse.
Disney did not spell out what it planned to do with Oswald -- whether the character will be revived and marketed in some fashion.
But the deal does suggest that Iger's early tenure will be marked by détente. After taking over from the mercurial Michael Eisner last year, Iger has mended fences with dissident shareholders Roy Disney and Stanley Gold, and patched up relations with animation partner Pixar enough to forge a merger pact between the two companies.
Reporters were able to get more information from Oswald in an interview: “I’ve spent over 60 years in retirement, but things get kinda boring when you’re a cartoon that doesn’t get any older. So when I asked Universal for a job a few years ago, they said I wasn’t in style. They were too busy working on that crazy woodpecker. So yeah, the Disney folks pretty much bought me on a deal about bringing back the magic. Trouble is, my new contract said something about a CGI makeover. Oh well, that’s showbiz.”
posted by Jaimetud at 10:22 PM
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