Disney and Blue Sky Animation in the Parks

[Nick]

Things were getting a bit off track in the Dinoland thread so take discussions here.

 

[Clive]

I think it's a bit silly to expect Disney to incorporate Blue Sky IP into the parks or even tout it as a relevant component of its animation portfolio. It's a second-rate studio turning out second-rate films, even if the Ice Age sequels performed steadily well overseas.

Legally, Disney can't even formally plan what they intend to do with Blue Sky... but the entertainment industry part of me knows they'll pluck out/poach relevant talent, perhaps farm some existing units to support Pixar or Disney Animation projects, salvage any useful assets and software, and then dissolve/disband/retire the brand.

In no realistic circumstance can I see an Ice Age or even a Rio attraction make it to the Disney parks.

 

[tankart150]

You know what would be really cool though, if Disney does make an attraction based off of Robots (2005). It could be an interesting replacement idea for Stitch’s Great Escape. Plus, you can keep parts of the “discovery” aspects in Tomorrowland, but just expand upon it

 

[GadgetGuru]

You know what would be really cool though, if Disney does make an attraction based off of Robots (2005). It could be an interesting replacement idea for Stitch’s Great Escape. Plus, you can keep parts of the “discovery” aspects in Tomorrowland, but just expand upon it

I feel like Disney would rather use Meet the Robinsons, which has a similar aesthetic and robots.

I think it's a bit silly to expect Disney to incorporate Blue Sky IP into the parks or even tout it as a relevant component of its animation portfolio. It's a second-rate studio turning out second-rate films, even if the Ice Age sequels performed steadily well overseas.

Legally, Disney can't even formally plan what they intend to do with Blue Sky... but the entertainment industry part of me knows they'll pluck out/poach relevant talent, perhaps farm some existing units to support Pixar or Disney Animation projects, salvage any useful assets and software, and then dissolve/disband/retire the brand.

In no realistic circumstance can I see an Ice Age or even a Rio attraction make it to the Disney parks.

All of the Fox parts of the company have ongoing contracts (similar to Marvel when they bought that). Those contracts will be ongoing for a long time. They definitely don't have the theme park rights in UK, Dubai, and Malaysia. I'd be a little surprised if they had the domestic theme park rights for any of the Blue Sky movies.

 

[Clive]

I feel like Disney would rather use Meet the Robinsons, which has a similar aesthetic and robots.


All of the Fox parts of the company have ongoing contracts (similar to Marvel when they bought that). Those contracts will be ongoing for a long time. They definitely don't have the theme park rights in UK, Dubai, and Malaysia. I'd be a little surprised if they had the domestic theme park rights for any of the Blue Sky movies.

Any sound international contracts will continue to play out, but Dubai is vaporware that won't survive another decade, and the Malaysia park is embroiled in FOX attempting to sever its license with the park half-built.

Universal now owns Dreamworks, but Shrek attractions continue to function as touring units in the UK and in some German park. This'll likely function similarly... except Disney won't bother using these IPs in their own parks.

 

[Nick]

I think it's a bit silly to expect Disney to incorporate Blue Sky IP into the parks or even tout it as a relevant component of its animation portfolio. It's a second-rate studio turning out second-rate films, even if the Ice Age sequels performed steadily well overseas.

Legally, Disney can't even formally plan what they intend to do with Blue Sky... but the entertainment industry part of me knows they'll pluck out/poach relevant talent, perhaps farm some existing units to support Pixar or Disney Animation projects, salvage any useful assets and software, and then dissolve/disband/retire the brand.

In no realistic circumstance can I see an Ice Age or even a Rio attraction make it to the Disney parks.

The whole reason for this topic is because Jim Hill has stated that Ice Age might be in the works to take over Dinoland and i've also seen some of the more credible people on Magic say that a Blue Sky session was had for Blue Sky IPs (lol) to try to find a way to integrate them into the parks or if they should.And I don't disagree that they will likely keep the best talent from Blue Sky and move them over to Pixar or WDAS and then shutter Blue Sky.

Basically they want a return on investment from FOX so they are looking into if any of these IPs are worth using.

 

[Clive]

The whole reason for this topic is because Jim Hill has stated that Ice Age might be in the works to take over Dinoland and i've also seen some of the more credible people on Magic say that a Blue Sky session was had for Blue Sky IPs (lol) to try to find a way to integrate them into the parks or if they should.And I don't disagree that they will likely keep the best talent from Blue Sky and move them over to Pixar or WDAS and then shutter Blue Sky.

Basically they want a return on investment from FOX so they are looking into if any of these IPs are worth using.

I'm sure there was a meeting. I imagine the product of that meeting was nothing of importance.

 

[GadgetGuru]

The whole reason for this topic is because Jim Hill has stated that Ice Age might be in the works to take over Dinoland and i've also seen some of the more credible people on Magic say that a Blue Sky session was had for Blue Sky IPs (lol) to try to find a way to integrate them into the parks or if they should.And I don't disagree that they will likely keep the best talent from Blue Sky and move them over to Pixar or WDAS and then shutter Blue Sky.

Basically they want a return on investment from FOX so they are looking into if any of these IPs are worth using.

That fits Jim Hill’s MO perfectly. He’s heard about every meeting because he’s Jim Hill. He reports every meeting regardless of how realistic it is.

Makes for fascinating storytelling, but not great rumormongering.

 

[Nick]

I'm sure there was a meeting. I imagine the product of that meeting was nothing of importance.

Probably not. But it is worth at least keeping tabs on with the prospect of Brazil being added to World Showcase and Rio being in their portfolio. Disney doesn't really have any other IPs that would fit in Brazil (besides the 3 Cabs, which actually would fit in Brazil more than Mexico...).

And yes, Brazil is supposedly still happening. Of course i'll believe it when it happens.

 

[WAJAS]

Probably not. But it is worth at least keeping tabs on with the prospect of Brazil being added to World Showcase and Rio being in their portfolio. Disney doesn't really have any other IPs that would fit in Brazil (besides the 3 Cabs, which actually would fit in Brazil more than Mexico...).

And yes, Brazil is supposedly still happening. Of course i'll believe it when it happens.

With the renewed nationalism in the country, I could see them partially funding a pavilion and at the very least supporting one. Plus, with the current large-scale investigations into government corruption, they may want something to help repair their appearance in the States. Their relationship with the US is also fine at the moment, so no problems there.

 

[Nick]

With the renewed nationalism in the country, I could see them partially funding a pavilion and at the very least supporting one. Plus, with the current large-scale investigations into government corruption, they may want something to help repair their appearance in the States. Their relationship with the US is also fine at the moment, so no problems there.

Didn't mean to change the topic to Brazil, it has it's own thread. This thread was created because of a thread derail

 

[GadgetGuru]

I love checking out a company's job postings because that's how you learn about their future plans.

Blue Sky has ~30 job postings and some that have been opened in the past couple days, but they're not officially part of Disney yet.

I'd give it a month or so and then check again. If that number goes down dramatically, or if there aren't any new listings, then I think we can make some solid assumptions about Blue Sky's future.

 

[Viator]

To note with Blue Sky's future with Disney, they're seemingly still giving them relevancy, in part at Cinemacon.

 

[Nick]

To note with Blue Sky's future with Disney, they're seemingly still giving them relevancy, in part at Cinemacon.

Idk, BlueSky has a movie set to release later this year called “Spies in Disguise”, which is where that image was taken from. Every Studio is represented by a movie coming out this year or was nominated for awards this year except for Fox Searchlight. I personally think this is just them boasting their huge studio line-up.

 

[Clive]

Again, I see them finishing up any movies far along in Blue Sky's pipeline - get the most of that investment since money and resources has already been poured in - but wake me when they actually greenlight new films for the studio.

 

[GadgetGuru]

Again, I see them finishing up any movies far along in Blue Sky's pipeline - get the most of that investment since money and resources has already been poured in - but wake me when they actually greenlight new films for the studio.

I could see them becoming a direct-to-streaming animation studio for Disney

 

[Nick]

I could see them becoming a direct-to-streaming animation studio for Disney

Sort of like Disneytoon Studios (which was shuttered last year), except with a higher budget. I could see it.

 

[Clive]

Sort of like Disneytoon Studios (which was shuttered last year), except with a higher budget. I could see it.

Only if they can dramatically reduce budgets. BlueSky isn't like Illumination in that they made a name for producing budget-friendly titles - they're usually approaching Disney Feature/Pixar spends, which defeats the purpose.

 

[GadgetGuru]

Sort of like Disneytoon Studios (which was shuttered last year), except with a higher budget. I could see it.

I was literally going to make that comparison! They just did the direct-to-video sequels right?

 

[Nick]

I was literally going to make that comparison! They just did the direct-to-video sequels right?

Pretty much.