The New DVD Tent Pole

Out with a new trailer.



As it happens, I was at DisneyToon Studios today doing a 401(k) enrollment meeting. It's a nice studio, with lots of amenities ...

The artists working there are working on the DTS franchises, one about planes and one about Tinker Bell and her many friends.

Tink has made Diz Co. plenty of money. I'm laying bets that Planes will make the Burbank conglomerate even more. Not only will it sell a lot of little silver disks, but it will do alright in its summer theatrical release. (If Planes' timing is good, it might do more than alright.)

And Planes is a dead-bang cinch to sell several metric tons of toys and various games. Robert Iger is about building brands and leveraging product with other product. Plenty of people object to the money-grubbing mercenary quality to some of Disney's pictures, but the profits are gushing and the stock price keeps going up ... up ... and up.

Synergy, interconnectivity and multiple media platforms is what it's about in IgerWorld. According to the wrap, that's a big part of the reason filmmaker J.J. Abrams will be coming to the Mouse House to oversee the next trilogy of Star Wars.

Abrams' ambitions to create a multi-platform film franchise will find a ... natural home at Disney, analysts and industry experts tell TheWrap. As successful as "Star Trek" has been, few franchises match the profitability and cultural prominence of George Lucas' space opera, which would be difficult for any director to pass up.

“Disney has always been oriented to multi-platform revenue stream situations,” Seth Willenson, a film library valuations expert, told TheWrap.

Multi-platform revenue streams. It's why Mr. Abrams wants to work at Disney. And it's why Planes is being made. The revenue stream from kid merchandise should be a veritable gusher.