Monday, January 22, 2001

I’ve been approved for that speaking engagement at Comdex. This should be cool.

I have a nifty thought about the internet and the nature of fame, which I’m going to have to save for later because I came up with something else to share during the drive to work this morning.

Let’s look at Buzz Lightyear of Toy Story. Buzz, and all his paraphenalia, is meant as a parody of all those Saturday morning sci-fi action/adventure kids’ shows. He was meant to be a summation of every silly sci-fi cliche.

What has Disney done with Buzz Lightyear? They’ve made a Saturday morning sci-fi action/adventure kids’ show. Animated, no less. This is really no different than deciding to make a real weekday afternoon Wild West puppet show with Woody.

Think about it. If I were an executive at Disney, and someone proposed this to me as a serious idea, I’d say “Y’know, I’d be afraid people will think we didn’t get the joke with Toy Story.” It makes Disney look like a bunch of brain-dead corporate zombies who want to turn every possibly marketable character into a franchise.

Evidently, they are, and they do.