The Four Color Media Monitor

So a short time ago, I'd written about the 60th anniversary of Charles Schultz's Peanuts comic strip in animation. Now, the AP Wire says Sony's buying a majority share of what was owned by a Canadian company for the franchise, while Schultz's family will retain the rest of the ownership:

Happiness is taking control of a beloved comic strip.

Sony is buying a 41% stake in the Charles M. Schulz comic “Peanuts” and its characters including Snoopy and Charlie Brown from Canada’s WildBrain in a $457 million deal, the two companies said Friday.

The deal adds to Sony’s existing 39% stake, bringing its shareholding to 80%, according to a joint statement. The Schulz family will continue to own the remaining 20%.

[...] Sony acquired its first stake in Peanuts Holdings LLC in 2018 from Toronto-based WildBrain Ltd. In Friday’s transaction, Sony’s music and movie arms signed a “definitive agreement” with WildBrain to buy its remaining stake for $630 million Canadian dollars ($457 million).

Rights to the “Peanuts” brand and management of its business are handled by a wholly-owned subsidiary of Peanuts Holdings.

Gee, can a corporation truly be considered "happiness"? I seem to recall that if there's any point of contention with Sony, it's that they imposed censorship on video games featured on the Playstation console in the past decade, and while the Schultz family may retain creative control of the franchise, that doesn't mean Sony couldn't possibly impose some kind of political correctness on it one day, their being a Japanese corporation notwithstanding.

Quartz also noted:

Sony’s push for control fits a broader strategy to leverage beloved intellectual property across new formats and markets. In recent years the company has woven its entertainment assets — film, music, television, and now legacy comics — into a tighter web, betting that deploying familiar characters can attract audiences, in an increasingly crowded streaming market.

Seriously, this doesn't sound like they're building on merit, but rather, recognition. Even a veteran franchise can see its share of duds, and that's why it's absurd to build marketing campaigns that way. Unfortunately, this has doubtless been the norm for a long time, and it's unhealthy. And again, what if anything they turn out under this new ownership is watered down? I guess that's why I'm glad the Schultz family still retains an ownership in the franchise, and hope it's mainly the creative control they retain in the arrangements. Overall, all these corporate buyouts are getting way out of hand, and it's a shame there's so many out there who don't have the confidence to retain ownership of their own creations.

Labels: comic strips, Europe and Asia, good artists, history, msm propaganda