Porn Valley- Mickey Mouse and “Kill Bill” may have seemed strange corporate bedfellows to some, but now Disney’s often-vocal critics must fathom the prospect of the Magic Kingdom being ruled by one of the nation’s top distributors of pornography.
Cable giant Comcast owes a sizable chunk of its profits to selling pornographic movies to cable subscribers. As the nation’s largest cable provider, Comcast offers a variety of adult channels and pay-per-view selections.
Selling adult entertainment is far from unique to Comcast; the other major cable providers are in the business as well.
But Disney – despite having grown into a diversified company that owns ABC-TV, ESPN and various magazines, TV and radio stations – remains largely identified as the family-friendly home of Mickey and Minnie, Donald and Goofy and “The Lion King.”
So when subsidiary Miramax released such controversial films as the violent “Kill Bill, Vol. 1” and the profane “Bad Santa,” conservative and religious organizations launched angry public campaigns against Disney.
A Comcast takeover could create even more uncomfortable associations for Disney – or it could simply serve as a wakeup call that the days of corporations standing for more than the bottom line have passed.
“A lot of us have concerns about some of the things that Disney does, but they still produce a lot of positive family-values movies,” said Rick Schatz, president of the Cincinnati-based National Coalition for the Protection of Children & Families.
“We don’t believe Comcast is family-friendly,” he said. “The management of Comcast has shown no hesitation to distribute hard-core and soft-core pornography. So what does that say about the product and environment of what Disney’s going to produce in the years ahead?”
Cable companies generally don’t report the percentage of profits reaped from adult entertainment and Comcast did not respond to a request to discuss this end of its business. “60 Minutes” reported late last year that the company earned $50 million from adult programming in 2002.
Bob Waliszewski, entertainment review manager for Colorado Springs-based Focus on the Family, was hopeful that Comcast might exert a positive influence on Disney.
“We’ve been saying for years Disney needs to be more responsible,” he said, complaining about the Miramax films and Walt Disney World’s Gay Day. “And if Comcast buys them out and that happens, we’d be happy. If Comcast bought them out and it was business as usual, that certainly wouldn’t be anything we’d be crazy about.”
Neal Gabler, author of the early-Hollywood history book “An Empire of Their Own” plus an upcoming biography of Walt Disney, said he doubted a Comcast takeover would have much impact on its new subsidiary’s image.
“The brand identity of the larger organization is almost insignificant now,” Gabler said. “If Disney were bought by Comcast, it’s not like Comcast would have any identity. Disney would retain its identity.”
As for the possibility that Disney’s values could be tarnished by association, he added, “This is a nostalgic notion. This is not a notion that has any relevance to modern business.
“Once upon a time in the entertainment business, companies had an identity. Disney had the identity of Walt Disney, MGM had the identity of Louis B. Mayer, but those days are long gone.”