Disney (NYSE: DIS) has decided to stop making straight-to-DVD sequels to its old animated hits like Bambi. It is an odd decision since the company makes money on the content. The Wall Street Journal claims that the products were killed by Steve Jobs and his friends who came from Pixar when Disney bought the animation firm. The new guys feel that the "Mickey Mouse XXV" sequels don't burnish the franchise. They hurt it.

Jobs could be right. Disney and Pixar have been known as the gold standard of animated films, with the Disney part of that franchise going back decades to the original studios of Mr. Walt Disney. Since it is not known outside of the company what kind of revenue is being given up, it is hard to judge.

But, the resurgence of "content" as a valuable asset for companies from Disney to Viacom (NYSE: VIA) may have emboldened the company's management to decide it does not want to damage something that it already has --cachet.

The other side of the argument is also compelling. A child of six probably does not know that a second-rate version of "Bambi Goes to Planet Hollywood" was made by the same company that created Toy Story and The Lion King. Unless, of course, that child reads The Wall Street Journal.

Douglas A. McIntyre is a partner at 24/7 Wall St.

Disney to let 'One Hundred and One' sleeping dogs lie originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 23 Jun 2007 16:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Time Warner Inc.'s (NYSE: TWX) Warner Bros. Entertainment division revealed the look of actor Heath Ledger as the Joker in The Dark Knight, the upcoming sequel to 2005's Batman Begins, last week on one of three new websites designed to promote the film: www.ibelieveinharveydenttoo.com. The image has since been removed from the site and a disclaimer reads "Page not found" but if you highlight the page you can read several hundred "ha ha's," with displaced letters throughout the text reading "see you in December."

The sequel planned for release in the United States in July 2008, follows the $372 million blockbuster Batman Begins, which showed a young Bruce Wayne struggling to deal with his parents murder and vowing to clean-up Gotham City as Batman. In The Dark Knight, Batman will purportedly continue his fight to clean-up Gotham while the Joker, his comic book arch-nemesis, comes into the picture and causes more chaos. If this image and its grotesque indications are any sign, the new film is going to follow the first nicely and add more to the realistic tones set down by director Christopher Nolan and writer David S. Goyer. Fans and summer blockbuster viewers will have to wait another fourteen months to see though.

Time Warner, which closed at $21.56 yesterday, will have a hard road in those months to sell this new Joker to kids and families like it has sold products for every Batman film since 1989, which featured Jack Nicholson as the Joker. While this new incarnation is showing no sign of being connected to Nicholson's portrayal, it seems hard to determine how or if Time Warner will even attempt to market the character. Certainly a Heath Ledger Joker action figure will be produced, but who will purchase it? Kids (the parents for the kids), or the fans and collectors that jump on the dark nature of the acting, character, and ultimately film.

Revealed image indicates 'Dark Knight' indeed originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 24 May 2007 11:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.