"The Simpsons": Homer Was Originally Going To Krusty The Clown

There was originally supposed to be a twist on The Simpsons: Krusty the Clown was meant to be Homer Simpson in disguise, but that's not what happened in the end. All 30 seasons of TV's longest-running scripted primetime animated series will be available on Disney+ at launch. This means generations of Simpsons fans can experience one of the greatest TV shows ever from the very beginning - and they'll see just how much The Simpsons has changed since its awkward first season.

Of course, Krusty (voiced by Dan Castellaneta, who is also the voice of Homer) is one of The Simpsons' greatest characters and he's arguably the town of Springfield's biggest celebrity. Krusty hosts The Krusty the Clown Show, the favorite weekday program of Springfield's children. Krusty's show is the home of Itchy & Scratchy cartoons and, as Krusty once bragged, "It's the tightest three hours and ten minutes on TV". Krusty is also Bart Simpson's personal hero; Bart's pure-hearted worship of Krusty defies the realities and many failings of the narcissistic clown. Krusty never seems to remember all the things Bart has done for him like re-ignite his career with Krusty's Komeback Special, serving as his assistant, the "I Didn't Do It! Boy", and reuniting Krusty with his estranged father, Rabbi Krustofsky (Jackie Mason).

The Simpsons' Homer/Krusty Twist Explained

Krusty's first appearance was in The Simpsons short "The Krusty the Clown Show", which aired on The Tracy Ullman Show. Bart attends a taping of Krusty's show but he suspects the clown host isn't the real deal; Simpson yanks off his nose and it's revealed Krusty is an imposter - before a smash cut shows Homer and Marge watching the debacle on TV. But originally, Matt Groening planned for Bart to discover that Homer was Krusty before it was changed. As Groening told EW:

”The original idea behind Krusty the Clown was that he was Homer in disguise, but Homer still couldn’t get any respect from his son, who worshiped Krusty. If you look at Krusty, it’s just Homer with extended hair and a tuft on his head.

This explains the obvious physical resemblance between Homer and Krusty. Groening also said that it was too complicated a story to do during The Simpsons' tumultuous beginnings so they (wisely) dropped the idea and kept Homer and Krusty as separate characters. The Simpsons later did a hilarious spin on Homer being Krusty in season 6 episode, "Homie the Clown", where Homer enrolled in Krusty's Clown College but then the two identical harlequins ended up as targets of Springfield's Mafia because of Krusty's $48 debt to the mob.

The Simpsons Did Something Much Better With Krusty

Dropping the Homer-as-Krusty plot allowed Krusty to become a fan-favorite recurring character. The famous clown went on to become one of The Simpsons' best supporting cast members who has been featured in many great episodes. Moreso, Krusty fulfills an invaluable function in the series by encapsulating every negative stereotype about celebrities, thanks to Krusty's improbable 61 years in show business. This includes Krusty's penchant for slapping his image on any substandard product to support his lavish lifestyle of eating dodo eggs and lighting his cigars with $100 bills.

Krusty's venal nature has also been mined for laughs: In "Bart the Fink", the Clown once faked his death because of his IRS debts and posed as "Rory B. Bellows" until Bart and Lisa goaded him back to bring Krusty because he couldn't stand the idea of not being admired for being famous. When his outdated (and racist) comedy bombs in "The Last Temptation of Krust", Krusty stages a comeback by "telling it like it is", only to immediately sell out when he's offered the chance to be the spokes-clown for the Canyonero. While Homer secretly being Krusty would have been an interesting twist, it can't compare to the dividends reaped by Krusty's many hysterical adventures on The Simpsons over the decades.

Credits: Screenrants

Nelson Releases White Paper Proposing Several Restructuring On Disney Including Less Sequels And A Downsizing Of Disney+ Global

Nelson Peltz‘s Trian Partners, which is agitating to get two seats on Disney’s board, on Monday released a lengthy white paper analyzing the Mouse House’s financial performance — and suggesting strategic fixes.

The recommendations, according to Trian, are aimed at turning around Disney‘s total shareholder returns, which have trailed most of its peers (except Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount Global), according to the white paper. Trian is urging Disney shareholders to vote for its two board nominees — Peltz and ex-Disney CFO Jay Rasulo — at the company’s April 3 shareholder meeting. Disney opposes the candidates put forward by Trian and another activist firm, Blackwells, as lacking “the appropriate range of talent, skill, perspective and/or expertise.”

“For more than a year, Trian has described its thoughts on strategies and goals, some of which Disney has now implemented, such as reducing excess costs, reinstating a dividend, and making the Parks business a bigger part of Disney’s growth strategy,” the Peltz-run firm says in the white paper. “We are now making our 100+ page presentation public with our comprehensive views.”

Among the proposals in the 133-page white paper (available at this link), the hedge fund says that to achieve a better return on its streaming content, Disney should take more “shots on goal” and increase creative risks outside of its core franchises, similar to Netflix. The company, Trian says, should “explore allocating more budget dollars across lower-cost, easier-to-produce projects to further balance Disney’s higher-cost franchise content; prioritizing ‘retention’ content spend should diversify away the risk of expensive streaming flops.”

Trian also recommends that Disney make fewer movie sequels. “Disney’s ‘flywheel’ spins the fastest when the company creates or acquires new intellectual property to monetize,” the white paper says. “Sequels are less risky film ventures to produce, but do not drive long-term benefits in the same way that new IP can.”

The firm continues, “The percentage of Disney films that are sequels, prequels, spin-offs or remakes has dramatically increased — suggesting a creative engine that is sputtering.” Trian is calling for “a comprehensive review of studio operations and culture” by the board, including the state of leadership, process and workflow.

Meanwhile, Trian recommends two potential paths for ESPN: One, that ESPN’s standalone streaming service, which Disney is aiming to debut by the fall of 2025, be launched “ideally with a ‘bundle’ partner like Netflix or Amazon”; or two, that ESPN should “harvest cash out of its linear business to selectively reinvest in ESPN+ and higher growth parts of Disney’s business (such as Disney+).”

Elsewhere, Trian suggests merging Disney+ and Hulu product and content organizations to cut costs — a move it claims would create cost efficiencies in the neighborhood of $1 billion. Disney is in the process of buying out NBCUniversal’s 33% stake in Hulu. In November, Disney said it would pay at least $8.61 billion to Comcast for the Hulu stake, with the final price tag — which could be higher — to be based on an assessment of Hulu’s market value by each parties’ bankers.

As it relates to the integration of Hulu content on Disney+, Trian believes the service should “phase out the Hulu tile.” “We are skeptical that keeping Disney’s best general entertainment content behind a Hulu tile optimizes user engagement,” the white paper opines.

In addition, Trian says it believes Hulu + Live TV “is a loss-leading product that has struggled to scale and adds limited strategic value.” Per the white paper, “In our view, Live is not competitively positioned compared to YouTube TV following its deal to secure NFL Sunday Ticket and is no longer positioned as a ‘low-cost alternative to cable.’”

Other suggestions in the white paper aren’t new. For example, Peltz wants Disney to achieve “Netflix-like” streaming margins of 15%-20% by 2027, something the hedge fund has previously outlined. Trian also wants to see Disney’s board “fix” its “chronic succession problems” for CEO Bob Iger, whose contract expires at the end of 2026.

Much of Trian’s white paper dwells on making the case for change on Disney’s board. For example, the hedge fund argues that Disney’s $71 billion deal for 21st Century Fox, which closed in 2019, was “strategically flawed”: “We are skeptical that Disney has delivered on its targeted synergies and EPS accretion given the deterioration of Disney’s media earnings power following the acquisition.”

The Disney/Fox deal was “arguably the result of misaligned incentives,” Trian’s white paper says. “On the same day that Disney agreed to acquire Fox, the board extended Mr. Iger’s employment agreement by four years and awarded him an ‘over-the-top’ compensation package, reasoning that doing so was ‘critical’ to driving long-term value from the acquisition,” the paper says. “In our view, the prospect of a much larger compensation package (more than double his previous package) created a strong financial incentive for Mr. Iger to pursue the Fox deal regardless of its prospects, creating a significant conflict of interest.”

Here are Trian’s agenda items for the Disney board from the white paper, divided into four categories:

Enhance Corporate Governance & Accountability

Refresh the board by adding Nelson Peltz and Jay Rasulo as independent, aligned, and focused Directors

Fix succession process and run a thorough and successful search for a CEO in time for Mr. Iger’s 2026 retirement

Align pay with performance by tying the compensation program to outcomes that drive long-term shareholder value

Form a board-level finance & strategy committee to evaluate progress on recommended initiatives and improve the Board’s monitoring of Disney’s long-term strategy

Accelerate Media Profitability

Insist management develop and articulate a clear DTC strategy with tangible goals that will achieve Netflix-like margins of 15-20% by 2027

Explore opportunities to improve DTC engagement and cost structure, including changes to product and marketing strategies and reducing redundant overhead costs

Right-size legacy media business cost structure in light of industry dynamics

Evaluate Disney’s organizational structure to improve accountability and efficiency

Review of Creative Engine

Initiate a comprehensive Board-led review of studio operations and culture, including leadership, processes and workflow

Prioritize new intellectual property to reignite the “flywheel” and drive Disney’s long-term growth

Explore additional opportunities to enhance the “flywheel” with digital cross-promotion

Clarify Strategic Focus

Issue long-term free cash flow growth target beyond FY 2024 to anchor investors on a clear strategic vision and enhance accountability

Explore strategic partnership(s) for non-core linear assets – benefits include an enhanced focus on linear assets, a preserved strategic alignment with Disney’s DTC business, and an improved growth profile for Disney

Insist on a digital strategy for ESPN that has a clear path to attractive financial returns

Refine parks strategy to include tangible return targets on the $60bn of Parks capex, plans to address new competitive threats to Walt Disney World, and a commitment to improving the guest experience at domestic parks

The Simpson's History With The Gameboy With Game Included

Acclaim Entertainment teamed with Imagineering to release Bart Simpson's Escapes From Camp Deadly in 1991. The summer camp horror story was notable released before the show's intake of this idea in the season 4 episode titled Camp Krusty.

Acclaim Entertainment then also rushed out the continuation of Bart's handheld conflict in 1992 with The Simpsons: Bart Vs. The Juggernauts. The game's designers pulled out the idea from the most sacred of institutions which was American Gladiators.

Later that year, the handled Krusty's Funhouse also by Acclaim Entertainment was shipped on Gameboy. It was an impressively huge puzzle game featuring as many brain twisting levels as the console and computer versions.

It took a short break when the Bart mark started a waver and came back in 1993 with Itchy & Scratchy In Miniature Golf Madness. Surely these kids were clambering to have these two violent characters to play in an orderly game.

Itchy And Scratchy In Miniature Golf doesn't end with a bang but a whimper as Acclaim Entertainment exits the Gameboy with Bart And The Beanstalk in 1993. The game merges the existing universe of The Simpsons television series with the fairy tale of Jack and the Beanstalk.

Uncovered by Bartmania, THQ and Software Developer released what is the most memorable games in the Simpsons franchise titled The Night Of The Living Treehouse Of Horror in 2001. In colour and featuring the entire family released too late to make much of a splash.

The Simpsons made a leap to the Gameboy Advance courtesy of the THQ and Voltron with The Simpson's Road Rage in 2003. Based on the fun and fully 3D, the console game developed by Radical Entertainment plays like the paper craft taxi racing game you never wanted.

In total, The Simpsons managed to immense amount of 7 handheld games which is impressive for any handheld series.

Credits: Noiselandco

Disney To Halt Distribution Of DVD And Blu-ray In Australia

The sales of physical media, including Blu-Ray and DVDs, have been in decline for years, following the increased popularity of streaming services and a shift to digital movie releases.

Recently, Disney announced it was closing down its Movie Club program in Canada following a shift in consumer patterns to watching films on digital and Disney+. And now, according to Digital Bits, multiple industry, distributor, and retailer sources, Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment will be pulling out of distributing physical discs in Australia.

Over the past few years, many retailers in Australia and other countries, have slowly been withdrawing physical media, including video games, movies and music from sale, as audiences shift to digital platforms. Disney has previously stopped releasing movies on physical media in Latin America and across most of Asia. And it is likely other countries and regions will follow, as the sales of physical discs continue to fall.

For context, in the United States, in 2006, “Pirates of the Caribbean – Dead Man’s Chest” sold 14,476,924 million discs.  In 2012, the highest-selling disc was “Hunger Games”, with 7,434,058 discs sold and in 2022, “Top Gun: Maverick” was the highest-selling DVD with 829,831 sold.  However, in 2023, currently, “Black Adam” is the highest-selling DVD of the year, with just 74,353 discs sold in the US.

Many movie fans are unhappy with this news, especially with a growing trend of streaming services like Disney+ making changes or removing content without notice. Disney has been releasing fewer of its films and shows on physical media over the past few years. Australian film collectors will still be able to import films from global retailers, but this will result in much higher costs due to international shipping etc.

“Guardians Of The Galaxy: Vol 3” is set to be the last physical release in Australia, which arrives in stores in August. Previously released titles will continue to be on sale, but as stock is reduced, these may become unavailable over time.

Ultimately, as audiences have moved to watching films on streaming services such as Disney+ and buying/renting films on digital platforms, it now looks like it’s no longer sustainable to distribute physical discs in Australia.

24Kitchen To Cease Transmission In Turkey By The End Of July, More Countries Likely To Follow

24Kitchen is a lifestyle channel operated by The Walt Disney Company (Benelux) that broadcasts mainly food and cooking programs. Similar to the FOX channel in the affected region, 24Kitchen is known for a number of original productions alongside international content.

Some of the content seen on 24Kitchen include Amazing Weddingcakes, Jamie’s Family Christmas, The Taste of Life Basics and Rudolph's Bakery.

During the month, it was learnt by Bob Iger who serves as the current CEO of the blue brand that he's looking to sell several linear channels. Internationally, The Walt Disney Company is consolidating further programming from these brands to streaming services.

It's likely that the demise of 24Kitchen has to do with the company's pursuit to a streaming only module. The company had closed a further 18 channels last year in Asia and plan to close the remaining feeds by the end of the year.

Although consumers in South Africa and most parts of Africa aren't familiar with 24Kitchen, MultiChoice however distribute a Portuguese feed of the lifestyle channel in Angola and Mozambique while Turkey and some parts of the world had been receiving the Dutch feed.

The Tale Of Gargoyles: The Abandoned Project From The Walt Disney Company

Gargoyles has, over the years, developed a cult following, one that has only grown with all episodes from the 1994-1997 series available to stream on Disney+. Rumors of a new animated series featuring the heroes have come up consistently since the series ended, and the seeds of a live-action take goes as far back as 1995, going so far as to have a screenplay drawn up. The initial success of the series had even spawned the idea of a Disney action universe, a more mature set of fare along the lines of what DC and Marvel had. Only Disney kept the series at arm's length, distributing the syndicated series through its Buena Vista Television arm. They really wouldn't attach the Disney name to it until changes were made for its third season. The series was popular, and toys and other related merchandise was flying off the shelves, so why wasn't it embraced wholeheartedly from the beginning?

Gargoyles begins in 1994, where gargoyles - winged creatures who awaken at night - assist the guards of a medieval Scottish castle from attack by the Vikings. Their leader, Goliath (Keith David), is caught outside the castle walls when daybreak hits, turning him into stone. The captain of the guards (Ed Gilbert) is behind the ruse that led Goliath outside and betrays the clan by letting the Vikings inside. All but a few of the gargoyles are smashed while in their daytime stone form, and the castle is destroyed. Believing the princess of the castle was killed in the attack, the court magician curses the remaining gargoyles in their stone sleep "until the castle rises above the clouds." Only the princess was saved by Goliath, who reunites her with the Magus (Jeff Bennett). Sadly, the curse can't be undone, so Goliath asks to be put under the same curse as his clan.

The Gargoyles are awakened when their castle is reconstructed atop a New York skyscraper by industrialist David Xanatos (Jonathan Frakes), whose intentions are villainous. Befriended by detective Elisa Maza (Salli Richardson), Goliath and his Gargoyle clan, who have taken on very New York names - Bronx (Frank Welker), Brooklyn (Bennett), Broadway (Bill Fagerbakke), and Lexington (Thom Adcox-Hernandez) - learn the truth about Xanatos and spend the nights fighting Xanatos' threats and all manner of evil.

'Gargoyles' Wasn't Like the Other Disney Fare

Goliath (Keith David) and Elisa (Salli Richardson) stand side by side in Disney's 'Gargoyles'Image via Walt Disney Television Animation

Gargoyles was unlike anything else in the mid-1990s, especially in comparison to Disney's other animated fare like Darkwing Duck and TaleSpin. It had far more in common with shows like Batman: The Animated Series as a darker, more mature offering, including a controversial episode, "Deadly Force", that spoke to the gun control debate. The mythology of the series, as well as its story arcs, ran deep, even incorporating Shakespearean themes throughout its run. The one truly unique aspect of the show for its time was its serialized storytelling, especially for syndication. Most series in syndication had self-contained episodes that could be viewed in any order, but Gargoyles had a sequential, overarching narrative that couldn't be aired haphazardly without sacrificing the storyline.

An in-depth interview with creator Greg Weisman with Polygon brings forward two other differences that set the series apart from its animated kin, and arguably live-action television series as well. The character of Detective Elisa Maza was a rarity. As Weisman points out, she was never a damsel in distress, saving Goliath's life just as often as he saved hers. She was half African-American and half-Native American, and the actress who voiced the role, Salli Richardson, is a woman of color, another rarity in the industry back then. Weisman also talks about how Lexington, one of the gargoyles, was gay. At the time, that trait couldn't be acknowledged without consequences, especially for a studio like Disney, so he was written as a gay character without explicitly stating such.

'Gargoyles' Season 3 Changed Everything

Goliath (Keith David) and Elisa (Salli Richardson) in a scene from Season 3 of Disney's 'Gargoyles'Image via ABC

When the time came for a third season, a number of circumstances spelled the end for Weisman's Gargoyles. Almost everyone at Disney that had championed the series was no longer around (Disney president and CEO Frank Wells tragically died in a helicopter crash, and other executives had bolted to DreamWorks), or had effectively been neutered (Michael Eisner was forced to give up being the final word on animated series). News from the O.J. Simpson trial was constantly preempting TV shows and the syndicated stations that were running Gargoyles cut to the trial coverage in lieu of airing the show, meaning episodes were being missed by the public, impacting the narrative, and changing the afternoon appointment viewing habits of the public.

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers blasted onto the scene, knocking Gargoyles off its perch atop its afternoon slot. Finally, when Disney bought ABC, they moved the series to the network's Saturday morning lineup, calling it The Goliath Chronicles to separate it from the first two seasons. Standards were significantly different from syndication for network television, especially when it came to Saturday morning fare The darker, more mature edge that made Gargoyles unique was dropped, the creative team had largely jumped ship, and the third season was shipped out to Nelvana Enterprises, a cheaper alternative that saw a marked difference in the quality of the animation... and not a good one at that.

Gargoyles was a show that was well ahead of its time and a gamble that, for a while, paid off. By making the series safe, unchallenging, Saturday morning fare in its third season, it fell into an undefined sameness where each show blended into the next. Now, the series can - and should - be enjoyed as it was meant to be seen on Disney+, a world-building narrative where each episode plays into the next. From its beginnings in medieval Scotland to the boroughs of New York in the present day, Gargoyles' nocturnal protagonists stand unparalleled, with ground-breaking elements that, even now, are unlike anything else in the entertainment industry.

Credit: Llyod Farley

Disney Planning To Restart The Pirate Of The Caribbean's Franchise

Sean Bailey, the president of Walt Disney Studios Motion Picture Production, recently spoke with the New York Times to talk about Disney’s live-action projects and one of those projects was Pirates of the Caribbean.

Bailey says restarting the Pirates franchise is a priority at Disney. “We think we have a really good, exciting story that honors the films that have come before but also has something new to say”

For those unaware, Disney is actually developing multiple Pirates projects and we highlight each project and share everything we know so far. So let’s set sail and get into the nitty-gritty.

Pirates Project #1
Back in 2018, it was reported that Deadpool and Zombieland 2: Double Tap writers Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese, were brought on to write Pirates 6, but would drop out months later and were replaced by Chernobyl and The Last of Us creator Craig Mazin and Pirates alum Ted Elliot. While there have been no story details or massive updates on this project, it is still the main Pirates project Disney is actively working on. That said, in 2019, we exclusively reported that Guardians of the Galaxy star Karen Gillan was someone Disney was looking at to star. This project will exist in the previous Pirates of the Caribbean movies continuity, so a return from stars Orlando Bloom, Kiera Knightley, Brenton Thwaites, and Kaya Scodelario is definitely on the table.

Pirates Project #2
In 2020, a report surfaced that Harley Quinn herself Margot Robbie would star in a female-led reboot from Bumblebee writer Christina Hodson. This project is not intended to be a spinoff, but a new story, with new characters set in the Pirates universe. Despite rumors last year that this project was axed, franchise producer Jerry Bruckheimer dispelled that, saying “I think that that script will come forward at a certain point. We developed two different stories for Pirates and the other one’s going forward first, so that’s what we’re working on, to try to get that one made.” The story Bruckheimer is referring to would be the first project we talked about. We had heard when this project was in active development Disney was looking at some pretty big-name actors to star alongside Robbie, names we heard included Jason Momoa, Richard Madden, and Sebastian Stan.

Pirates Project #3
A fun piece of information we shared on The DisInsider Show during our “Rumor of the Week” segment, is that Disney has put a Pirates of the Caribbean Disney+ on the drawing board and are in very early development stages. At this time, I don’t have any further information on this project as it is still in the early stages.

The Elephant in the Room
It’s what everyone wants to know, is Johnny Depp returning to the franchise as Captain Jack Sparrow? A role that garned him an Oscar nomination for his work in Curse of the Black Pearl. Despite rumors last year that the actor had actually closed a deal to appear in a sixth movie and that he was also planning to help co-write the film, after his very public defamation trial against Amber Heard last year, the actor made it very clear that he would never forgive Disney for the way they publicly distanced themselves from him. Some insiders believe he will return. Bruckheimer told Deadline earlier this year that he would still reach out to Depp because Johnny was both his friend and “an amazing artist.” Acknowledging that enough time has passed between him, Disney, and Depp, he explained his reasoning by saying, “You go through things in life that you wish you hadn’t done right.” Bailey was asked about Depp once again and said “Noncommittal at this point,” which is an inkling that a return is very possible.

Now, here is what we at The DisInsider know, we have talked with some people in the industry and we have heard the goal is to bring Depp back in a passing of the torch role, whether that would be in a starring, supporting, or cameo role is currently unknown.

The franchise originated with the Pirates of the Caribbean theme ride attraction, which opened at Disneyland in 1967, the last Disney theme park attraction overseen by Walt Disney. The attraction can be found at four Disney theme parks. Since then, it has become a moneymaker, the five films have grossed over $4.5 billion at the worldwide box office. The franchise has also become a revenue booster in video games, merchandise, and more.

The Real Life Story Of Disney's The Little Mermaid

The Little Mermaid, a tale that endured over the centuries

This story is certainly one of the most popular cartoons of the 1990s and 2000s. Ariel, a young mermaid, dreams of becoming human and living on the surface herself. With the help of her friend, she disobeys her father King Triton, and trades her precious voice for a pair of legs with the witch Ursula. But once on land, the young woman, who finds the sailor she has fallen in love with, Prince Eric, must succeed in making him fall under her spell in less than three days without the help of her voice. Should she fail, she would end up damned by the witch’s curse. Only a true love’s kiss can save her, and the whole plot of the film leads viewer to hope for a happy ending, which eventually comes.

At least, this is Disney’s 1989 version. And also the one the studio has chosen to use for the release of a live-action version of The Little Mermaid, due May 2023.

The Little Mermaid, a not-so-fairy story

Although Disney opted to make it a love story, this very much not the plot of the original story as written by Hans Christian Andersen. In fact, in 1837, the author of the Danish tale published Den Lille Havfrue (The Little Mermaid), a story that is very different from the one retold by the animation studio. In the original tale, the Little Mermaid fell under the spell of a human whom she saves from drowning, but unlike Disney’s adaptation, she was not driven to wish for legs out of curiosity for life on earth, or her love for the princes. In Andersen’s story, the young mermaid learns that the souls of humans are eternal and decides to go to the witch to get legs so that she too can acquire this “ability” by marrying a human. Once again, the Danish author’s story is much less squeamish than Disney’s: the Little Mermaid has her tongue cut out by the witch and the “creation” of her legs is so painful that every step she takes feels as if she is being “pierced by knives.”

Similarly, you’ll find no “happily ever after” for Hans Christian Andersen. The prince falls in love with another woman, and decides to marry her, so Ariel knows she is doomed to have her heart broken, literally, and to be turned into sea foam. In a fit of despair, urged on by her sisters, the young woman decides to stab Prince Eric, her only means of breaking her curse and becoming a mermaid again. But at the last moment, Ariel finally decides to spare him. As she throws herself into the sea, ready to accept her fate, she joins a metaphorical paradise, “the women of the air,” as a reward for her good deed.

No great love story, then. Hans Christian Andersen portrays a young woman who idealises her future and sacrifices everything to get there, without taking into account the risks and warnings. It is not her love for the prince that drives her to leave the ocean, but her desire to be immortal.

The Little Mermaid, a work forever linked to Copenhagen

Hans Christian Andersen died in Copenhagen in August 1875 after leaving his mark on the capital and on Danish culture. Although he may have been mocked by his peers during his lifetime, this great friend of Charles Dickens enjoyed worldwide success in posterity. The Danish capital erected many statues of the author, such as the one in Rådhuspladsen Square or the one at City Hall, but also of his most popular work: The Little Mermaid. In Copenhagen harbour, not far from Churchill Park, there is a bronze statue of the famous character in the waters of the Kattegat.

Outside the capital, you can also visit the writer’s childhood home in his home town of Odense. In the south of the country, in the heart of the Efteling amusement park, the Fairy Tale Wood features many of the local hero’s works in their original setting.

Disney+ Loses Another 4 Million Subscribers

Today, the Walt Disney Company has released its latest quarterly results for the fiscal second quarter 2023, and that means we get an updated look at how many subscribers Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ have.

This gives us a clear indication of how the apps are doing, especially with growth or decline in subscriber numbers. These subscriber numbers are based up to April 1st 2023.

Disney+ now has 157.8 million subscribers globally, down over 4 million subscribers from 161.8 million subscribers last quarter. All of these losses have come from subscribers leaving Disney+ Hotstar in India, following the loss of the cricket and, most recently, HBO content. In the US and Canada, they lost 300,000 subscribers, likely due to the recent price rise, less content and political issues. However, Disney+ subscribers in other areas, including Latin America, Europe and Asia, increased by 900,000.

While Hulu has added around 200,000 subscribers, ESPN+ has also added 400,000 subscribers in the US.

Disney CEO Bob Iger said in a statement:
“We’re pleased with our accomplishments this quarter, including the improved financial performance of our streaming business, which reflect the strategic changes we’ve been making throughout the company to realign Disney for sustained growth and success. From movies to television, to sports, news, and our theme parks, we continue to deliver for consumers, while establishing a more efficient, coordinated, and streamlined approach to our operations.”

More importantly, Disney’s streaming businesses have been able to increase its revenue by 12% to $5.5 billion and decrease its operating lost by half a billion dollars, which mainly came from better Disney+ and ESPN+ results, partially offset by lower operating income at Hulu.

The improvement at Disney+ was due to higher subscription revenue and a decrease in marketing costs, partially offset by higher programming and production costs and, to a lesser extent, increased technology costs. Higher subscription revenue was attributable to subscriber growth and increases in retail pricing, partially offset by an unfavorable foreign exchange impact. The increase in programming and production costs was due to more content provided on the service. Improved results at ESPN+ were attributable to growth in subscription revenue due to an increase in retail pricing and subscriber growth.

The decrease in operating income at Hulu was due to higher programming and production costs and lower advertising revenue, partially offset by subscription revenue growth and, to a lesser extent, lower marketing costs. The increase in programming and production costs was attributable to more content provided on the service and an increase in subscriber-based fees for programming the Live TV service, partially offset by a lower average cost mix of SVOD content. Higher subscriber-based fees for programming the Live TV service were due to rate increases and more subscribers. The decrease in advertising revenue resulted from lower impressions, partially offset by higher rates. Subscription revenue growth was due to increases in retail pricing and subscribers.

Disney has also provided a detailed breakdown per region: (Million)
Disney+ – Global – 157.8
Disney+ – Domestic (US & Canada) – 46.3
Disney+ – International excluding Disney+ Hotstar+ – 58.6
Disney+ Core – (excluding Hotstar) – 104.9
Disney+ Hotstar – 52.9
ESPN+ – Million Subscribers (US Only) – 25.3
Hulu – Million Subscribers (US Only) – 48.2

To compare, here are the subscription numbers (Millions) from November’s Investor Call:
Disney+ – Global – 161.8
Disney+ – Domestic (US & Canada) – 46.6
Disney+ – International excluding Disney+ Hotstar+ – 57.7
Disney+ Core – (excluding Hotstar) – 104.3
Disney+ Hotstar – 57.5
ESPN+ – Million Subscribers (US Only) – 24.9
Hulu – Million Subscribers (US Only) – 48.0

How Will Disney+ Adding Hulu Content Work?

It’s finally happening. Disney CEO Bob Iger has announced plans to bring together its streaming services in the United States under one app, bringing Hulu, Disney+ and ESPN+ content all together to offer subscribers a better experience but it also comes with many business benefits.

The details of how all of this will work are still very much unknown. Bob Iger was very vague about how Hulu content would be added within Disney+, but there are some key things we know.

• It will be happening by the end of 2023
• Disney+, ESPN+ and Hulu will still be offered as separate services
• Hulu content will be available within Disney+
• More advertising is going to be offered
• Price rises for Disney+

However, we still know very little about how all of this will work out because the Hulu situation is very complicated. First off, Comcast still owns 33% of Hulu and due to a contract that was put into place when Disney purchased 20th Century Fox, which means Disney or Comcast can force Disney to buy out the 33% stake, for a minimum of around $9 billion. Bob Iger has said he has had meetings with Comcast over Hulu, but ultimately, the deal hasn’t been finalised, which is why the information has been so vague.

Disney is being open about its plans to consolidate its streaming services, similar to how HBO Max and Discovery+ will merge and how Paramount+ and Showtime have recently done. It’s setting the tone for the future, which Disney knows will be all about the streaming business as the linear business is declining yearly.

There are many reasons why the merger of Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ will make sense. It will drastically reduce costs for the company. They can make less content and stretch it out easier, because when you look at all of the content being created across Disney’s studios, they release lots of shows and films. Publicity costs can be reduced, since they will be only promoting one app. Bob Iger even mentioned in the quarterly conference call that they’ve been releasing so much content on their streaming platforms, they’ve not been advertising them properly to get the most out of their investment. That’s in addition to savings that can be made on just running one platform, reduced overheads etc.

The merging of the platforms also will help reduce churn, as subscribers of the Disney Streaming Bundle have been generally less likely to unsubscribe, since there is usually something someone wants to watch on one of the three platforms.

ESPN+ is already available within the Hulu app, so Disney has already begun getting subscribers used to them being together. However, adding ESPN+ into Disney+ should hopefully be something that can happen easier, since they are built on the same tech. Disney has also already added ESPN content onto Disney+, but with the high costs of sports, it’s likely this will remain a premium add-on or as part of a bundle.

Internationally, Disney+ has had lots of success with the addition of the Star brand, which offers the majority of Hulu Originals and other general entertainment from Disney’s studios like 20th, FX and ABC. Bob Iger has said that it’s been a huge success and one of the reasons why they want to merge the platforms.

Unfortunately, with the Hulu contract, Disney has never been to share its plans for the future properly, but now with just over six months until 2024, it is starting to let subscribers know what’s going on. It makes the recent decisions for Disney+ to make more sense, such as moving to the next-day programming for Disney Channel and National Geographic content. Or why more Disney+ Originals have been added to Hulu and why “A Small Light” and the next Searchlight Pictures film, “Flamin’ Hot”, are being released on both Hulu and Disney+ simultaneously. Slowly blending together the two platforms.

Disney’s CFO Christine M. McCarthy also revealed during the quarterly results that they are going to be taking an impairment charge of approximately $1.5 to $1.8 billion, due to them planning to remove content from their streaming platforms. Disney+ in the United States generally probably doesn’t have a huge amount of content to remove, but Hulu has thousands of titles, many of which aren’t owned by them, so it wouldn’t be a surprise if we see lots of content removed from Hulu in the coming months, ahead of the merger.

There will no doubt be many more questions about how all of this is going to work in the coming months ahead. We know that Disney has been working on incorporating Hulu’s legacy system into the Disney+ tech since last year. Plus, the Disney Streaming Bundle accounts already use a single login, so that’s something that will hopefully make this smoother, but it’s bound to be a bit bumpy.

There are so many questions that we know nothing about such as:
• How much is the combined app going to cost?
• When will it happen?
• Will Hulu + Live TV continue?
• Will the Hulu brand continue?
• Will ESPN+ be a paid add-on?
• What will happen to other add-ons like HBO within Hulu?
• What will happen with the Star brand internationally?

Ultimately, the direction for a combined streaming platform for Disney makes sense. Offering multiple outlets is more expensive, and one platform will offer more content to more people. It’s already proven to work, but there are lots of hurdles, including Disney paying Comcast a huge cheque for billions of dollars. But now we know there is a plan to combine Disney’s streaming services under a single offering.

Eventually, a single app for all of Disney’s content is going to make it much easier for both subscribers and Disney, but it will also likely lead to less overall content being available, as Disney is looking to scale back its general entertainment side, but pairing it with Disney+, which has been lacking general entertainment, means the combination will result in us getting regular content constantly.

New Channel Alert: DStv Compact Gets ESPN 2

DStv added ESPN 2 to its channel catalogue for Compact subscribers, increasing its sports offering for these customers to ten channels.

ESPN 2 is the home of basketball and American football in South Africa, with the channel airing National Basketball Association (NBA) and National Football League (NFL) content.

“This announcement is our way of rewarding our loyal customers with a wider catalogue of entertaining content to choose from,” says MultiChoice South Africa CEO Marc Jury.

Regarding content, MultiChoice said Compact customers could look forward to the NBA playoffs and NFL draft in the coming weeks.

“DStv Compact subscribers will] be able to watch, among others, the nail-biting NBA playoffs and soon, the highly-anticipated NFL draft,” the company said.

Despite the NFL’s biggest event of the year — the Super Bowl — concluding in February, NFL fans can look forward to the draft, which is scheduled to take place from 27 to 29 April 2023.

The draft is the primary player recruitment event for the tournament, and NFL said a schedule of games should follow in May.

“We are excited to be bringing ESPN’s compelling content and unique personality to new viewers across Africa,” says the Walt Disney Company Africa’s director of sports Kyle de Klerk.

“With our unparalleled portfolio of international, local and US leagues, together with live games, sports news, films and documentaries, audiences now have every opportunity to relive the greatest moments in sports history and see those moments being made.”

ESPN 2 is available to DStv Compact subscribers on channel 219 from Thursday, 6 April.

The Simpsons: A Look At Proposed Spinoffs That Never Got Time Of Day

When The Simpsons debuted 35 years ago as a series of shorts on The Tracey Ullman Show, it was hard to expect that it would become one of the most successful and longest-running franchises in movie and TV history. While The Simpsons spun off from (and quickly eclipsed) The Tracey Ullman Show, it seems a little odd that, given the show’s rampant popularity, we have yet to see a spin-off from The Simpsons, itself. The show has occasionally mocked the concept of TV spin-offs – most notably in the Troy McClure-hosted “Simpsons Spin-Off Showcase” – but that doesn’t mean Fox and the Simpsons creative team haven’t attempted to use the show as a springboard to launch another series. Let’s take a look now at some proposed spin-offs of The Simpsons, all of which sound infinitely better than The Cleveland Show.

A Krusty the Clown Series (1994)

One of the first side characters the Simpsons writers fleshed out was Krusty the Clown, so it makes perfect sense that he was the first one Matt Groening tried to develop a series around. With The Simpsons at its creative zenith as well as the peak of its cultural relevance in the 90s, it would have been the perfect time to launch a second series, but the plans for the Krusty show sound a little out there. Groening wanted it to be a live-action series starring Dan Castellaneta, who voices Krusty, Homer, and a solid 1/3 of Springfield’s male residents, as Krusty the Clown. Matt Groening, with King of Queens creator Michael Weithorn, wrote a pilot script about Krusty moving to L.A. to host a talk show. Several visual jokes that seemed a better fit for animation caused trouble with the network. Here’s Groening describing the difficulties:

“We had this running joke in the script that Krusty was living in a house on stilts and there were beavers gnawing their way through the stilts. But somebody at the network pointed out how expensive it was to hire trained beavers – and an equally prohibitive cost would be to get mechanical beavers – so I said, ‘If we animated this, we wouldn’t be having this discussion.’”

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Matt Groening and Fox then began to work on an animated Krusty spin-off, but contract negotiations stalled, and Groening moved on to developing Futurama, a series that does not require the use of beavers – mechanical or trained.

Tales from Springfield (1996)

The greatest strength of The Simpsons has always been its deep bench of supporting characters. While many of these tertiary Springfieldians seem like broad cartoonish characters on the outside, they’re often revealed to be rich, three-dimensional figures underneath who are capable of carrying their own episodes of the show. After the success of the 1996 episode “22 Short Films About Springfield,” an episode composed of nearly two dozen vignettes centering on the show’s recurring characters, the writers began batting around the idea of developing a new series following these lesser-known Springfieldians. Tales from Springfield would have told three different short stories each week, focusing on secondary characters and occasionally telling stories about the Simpsons family members’ past and future.

Matt Groening concluded that the show didn’t have enough writers to script two simultaneous series, so the idea was shelved. The Simpsons has enough wonderful recurring characters to fill several additional series, and this seems like it would have been a logical and worthwhile spin-off at the time, but it wasn’t meant to be.

A live-action Troy McClure movie (mid-90s)

Prior to his tragic death, Phil Hartman, who voiced recurring Simpsons characters Troy McClure and Lionel Hutz, amongst others, expressed an interest in starring in a live-action film based on McClure. While Matt Groening has said that this was only an idea and no script was ever written, several of the writers were fond of Hartman’s idea. While the Krusty spin-off seems a little harder to pull off, Phil Hartman has proven he’s adept at playing smug, superficial guys like McClure in live-action roles, and it’s a shame we never got to see him play Troy McClure in non-animated form.

Credits: Bradford Evans

TRAGEDY 💔: The True Story Of Disney's Beloved Fairytale Princess, Pocahontas

Many tales have been told about Pocahontas, but not all of them are true.

Pocahontas has been romanticized throughout American history, thanks in no small part to the accounts of English settlers John Smith and John Rolfe, and of course, the 1995 Disney animated movie. But who was the real Pocahontas?

To help dispel the many myths surrounding the popular Native American figure, here are some facts that originate from Native American oral history and contemporary historical accounts.

Pocahontas was actually her nickname

Born around 1596, Pocahontas was actually known as Amonute, and to those closest to her, Matoaka. The name Pocahontas, in fact, belonged to her mother, who died while giving birth to her.

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Devastated by his wife's death, Pocahontas' father, Chief Powhatan Wahunseneca of the Pamunkey tribe of Virginia, called his little daughter Pocahontas as a nickname, which meant "playful one" or "ill-behaved child."

A spirited young girl who liked to do cartwheels, Pocahontas grew up to be a brave and intelligent leader and translator on behalf of her people.

There was no romance between Pocahontas and John Smith

By the time 27-year-old Smith and the rest of the English colonists arrived on Native American lands in 1607, Pocahontas was probably around 10 years old. Despite Smith embellishing the idea of a romance between them in order to sell books that he'd later author, they were never involved.

What is true is that Smith spent a few months with Pocahontas' tribe as a captive, and while there, he and Pocahontas taught each other basic aspects of their respective language.

Pocahontas would later marry Indian warrior Kocoum at age 14 and shortly give birth to their son "little Kocoum."

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Pocahontas didn't warn Smith of a planned assassination against him

While Smith was being held prisoner, Chief Powhatan grew to trust him. In 1607 the chief decided to offer Smith a "werowance" role, which was the tribe's way of acknowledging him as an official leader of the colonies, giving him access to coveted resources such as food and better land.

Smith would later allege that while he trained to become a werowance, Pocahontas warned him of a deadly plot against him, and thus, saved his life. However, contemporary accounts show that if a Native American chief was honoring a man, there would be no threat to his life.

Additionally, children were forbidden to attend a werowance ceremony, so Pocahontas wouldn't have been present.

Pocahontas was not traded to the English; she was kidnapped and raped

With tensions rising between the Powhatan and the English, rumors spread that Pocahontas was a prime target for kidnapping. Hoping to prevent future attacks by Native Americans, English Captain Samuel Argall made those rumors a reality and took the Chief's beloved daughter away with him after threatening violence against her village.

Before leaving, Argall offered a copper pot to the tribe and later claimed the two parties had made a trade. Forced to leave her husband and small son, Pocahontas boarded an English ship, not knowing that colonists had murdered her husband Kocoum shortly after.

While captive in Jamestown, Pocahontas was raped by possibly more than one colonist — an act that was incomprehensible to Native Americans. She grew into a deep depression and had a second son out of wedlock. That son would be named Thomas Rolfe, whose biological father may have actually been Sir Thomas Dale.

Pocahontas was not an eager goodwill ambassador of the New World

The story of Pocahontas marrying tobacco planter Rolfe for love is highly unlikely, especially considering Rolfe was under great financial pressure to somehow forge an alliance with the Powhatan to learn their secret tobacco curing techniques.

In the end, he decided the best way to win over the Powhatan was to marry Pocahontas, who all the while was being forced to wear English clothes, convert to Christianity and adopt the name, Rebecca.

Out of fear of being kidnapped himself, Chief Powhatan didn't attend Rolfe and Pocahontas' wedding ceremony and instead, offered a pearl necklace as a gift. He'd never see his daughter again.

To help further fund the tobacco business in the colonies, Rolfe took Pocahontas and son Thomas with him to England to show the court the "goodwill" between the colonists and Native Americans. Thus, Pocahontas was used as a prop, paraded around as an Indian princess who embraced western culture.

Although she was considered in good health right before leaving England, Pocahontas suddenly fell ill and died after dining with Rolfe and Argall, the man who kidnapped her. The tribesmen who accompanied Pocahontas on the trip believed she was poisoned.

At the time of her death, Pocahontas was around 21 years of age. She was buried in Gravesend, England at Saint George’s Church on March 21, 1617. The location of her remains is unknown.

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