“There’s 104 days of summer vacation
And school comes along just to end it
So, the annual problem for our generation Is
finding a good way to spend it”
If you are here for scholar standard words, I’m sorry; I’m just an eight year old humming the Phineas and Ferb theme song even when I know that I’m just horribly stuck in an eternal lockdown, yet finding a good way to spend it. And I do not fit in 2021 because I came right from 2010. Otherwise, how would I know these little guys? Because nowadays, kids don’t get to watch Disney Channel on TV in Bangladesh. You might be thinking whether I used Doraemon’s time machine or not. Who knows? It’s Disney. Anything can happen here.
Walt Disney and his brother Roy O. Disney were spectacularly talented artists and animators. They had this small office called Disney Brothers Studio in Los Angeles where they had started their journey with drawing cartoons. And with time, they had moved to animation and nailed it. One day, a producer approached them and offered them an animation of 6 parts, which now we know as “Alice in Wonderland”. But did that really bring these brothers to the limelight? Because we never really remember the names of the animators.
But the brothers wanted to stand on their feet with the name “Disney”. They focused on original work instead of working for clients. The very first animation they created was in 1927, which I haven’t watched yet! And I’m pretty sure most of us didn’t. It’s called- “Oswald the Lucky Rabbit”. Perhaps, this animation couldn’t be that famous, but there was this one side character which, in a sense, built Disney. We cannot forget the ears of Disney’s logo. Yes, one and only Mickey Mouse it is.
The Disney brothers dreamt like a rocket. Their animations were enveloping the whole worlds’ entertainment needs. Their statement was- they were making money to create animations, to expand Disney. And just according to their words; Oh! Wait! Break time!
“It’s the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse
Come inside, it’s fun inside
It’s the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (roll-call!)
Donald! (Present)
Daisy! (Here)
Goofy!
(Here, here)
Pluto! (Woof, woof)
Minnie! (Oh, here!)
Mickey! (Right here)
It’s the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse
Come inside, it’s fun inside!”
How alluring is that! They really are present all over the map! California, Florida, Tokyo, Paris, Hong Kong, Shanghai – the Disneylands which had been followed by parks, resorts, merchandise, cruise ships, and much more!
I really thought that this is the end of the story. But it seems like Disney is more than just Mickey Mouse. It has ever-growing treasures we don’t know about.
In 2004, Disney Channel officially started its journey broadcasting different TV shows such as Hannah Montana (You get the b-e-s-t!…Okay, I just get excited, you know!), High School Musical, Phineas and Ferb etc. We can actually just Google it, can’t we? I’m just eight, man, I haven’t seen “Good Morning, Mickey!” in 1983, which is considered the first ever TV show of Disney Channel..
Let’s jump into the main show. Since the beginning, Disney never had to go through any nightmares. All of the dreams that the founder had established, all of the dreams that are still in the process have never seen a red light. It was 2000 and Bob A Iger was crowned with the presidentship of Walt Disney Company. Right from that time, Disney started to go for acquiring ownerships of other companies. It started with buying Pixar (2006) which had been followed by Marvel (2009, I could never imagine Iron man wearing Mickey Mouse ears) and the massive purchase- 21th Century Fox Network (2019) which had many other subsidiaries like National Geography, Fox TV, Star Network, ESPN. To my surprise, though Disney doesn’t own it, one of the most followed anime productions, Studio Ghibli is distributed by Disney. This is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of companies owned by Disney.
What brought me here? I am just very excited to see how Disney Plus plays its game. For me, it’s a win . I cannot imagine the vastness of content Disney Plus will broadcast. Disney owns more source materials and shows than Amazon Prime and Netflix could ever dream of owning. And I cannot wait to watch Marvel movies on Disney Plus. It’s like when you are subscribing to Disney Channel; you are actually buying shows of Fox TV, National Geography, Marvel, Star Network and what not. I may sound a bit biased while mentioning the shows or channels, but these make my childhood special.
Finally, this only depicts the fact that if our earth were a mass media entertainment industry, then Disney wishes to establish its kingdom here being the only multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate. And, undoubtedly, it may become true someday.
“Have faith in your dreams and someday
Your rainbow will come smiling through
No matter how your heart is grieving
If you keep on believing
The dream that you wish will come true.”
