Snow White and Captain Marvel team up

In what is being billed as the biggest media deal of the year Walt Disney is to buy Marvel Entertainment in a takeover bid worth 2.7 billion Euros.

It means Disney will add Marvel’s impressive roster of comic-based superheros such as Spiderman to its stable of lovable characters.

But how does Tinkerbell sit comfortably with the Incredible Hulk?

After Disney reported a fall in profits last month, analysts widely believe the entertainment giant is looking to give its movie and theme park productions a boost.

“Comic books are now the hottest source material for Hollywood, and you will find almost every director and certainly every studio reading comic books intensely, looking for more books to adapt,” said a comics specialist.

The deal is Disney’s largest since it bought Pixar Animations, of Toy Story fame, but that was a more overtly compatible merger; Marvel has more edgy material.

“ I think Disney’s plan is to really let Marvel work pretty much independently just like Disney did with Pixar which has worked beautifully for Disney,” said a media analyst.

But the real reason for Disney’s move is to improve its appeal to boys. It has long been a blockbuster brand with girls thanks to Cinderella and company; now Disney is counting on Spiderman to spin his web and pull in the lads.

Copyright © 2009 euronews

tags: Entertainment, USA