Disney plays Scrooge with kids
p2pnet news view | Kids & Kartels:- Walt Disney has taken Scrooge to new heights. It apparently doesn’t want to give a share of its profits from the new Peter Pan movie to the Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital in London, England. So it’s pulling out.
Peter Pan has thrilled children and delighted parents since J.M. Barrie’s original 1904 play and under his will, Great Ormond Street is the legal owner of the copyright. Peter Pan III (in effect : ) is being released to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the play’s first performance.
The hospital has full control over all productions of the play and is supposed to benefit financially from each subsequent adaptation, says says Britain’s Daily Telegraph here.
However, it say, “The Hollywood studio became embroiled in a row with its fellow producers when it rejected a deal that would have given the hospital a share of the royalties from lucrative merchandising deals linked to the film.”
The Telegraph quotes Nina Jacobson, Disney’s head of production, as saying although there had been a dispute over the royalties connected with the merchandising, that wasn’t why the company walked out.
“As far as merchandising was concerned, we already had a deal with the hospital, which we thought was beneficial for both parties,” the report has her stating. “It works for us and works for the hospital. We felt we should let sleeping dogs lie and not open an all-new agreement, which would have a domino effect on the existing agreement. We did not want to be in a situation where we were paying twice.”
Disney, “jealously guards its image as the world’s most child-friendly corporation,” the story adds. “One producer connected to the new film said: ‘We are very happy with the film and delighted that its success will benefit the hospital. Disney are trying to have their cake and eat it. They are trying to pretend that they left the project for all sorts of reasons. The bottom line is that they wanted a share of the merchandising but did not want to pay for it.
” ‘This is despite the fact that they have made tens of millions of pounds out of the animated Peter Pan films, and continue to sell DVDs and videos without benefit to the hospital’.”
