Disney's marketing department has already begun the process of absorbing Bart Simpson
Well, that was fast: Just hours after finalizing an earthshaking $71.3 billion deal for its acquisition of 21st Century Fox’s film and TV properties, Disney has already started leveraging the properties for its own blandly sinister purposes. Case in point: The new imaging on The Walt Disney Company’s main web site, which offers up a hearty “Please, respectfully eat our shortened pants!” to fans of those beloved Disney characters, the “Simpsons” relatives of Springs’ Field, USA.
Normally we don’t report extensively on changes to the mastheads of major corporations’ web sites. But, then, normally, companies don’t spend the annual GDP of Oman in order to plaster Atlanta and Bart Simpson at the top of their sites. In any case, the messaging is clear: We own the Bartman now, as well as El Barto, Seymour Butz, Woodrow, and all the show’s other beloved characters who Bart Simpsons may or may not have made up, and if you ever want to see them (or, apparently, National Geographic’s supply of cheerfully smiling chimps) again, you’re going to have to come to us to get it.
Despite its change of ownership, The Simpsons is expected to stay on Fox, at least for the near future, with plans to keep it in place at least through 2021. The series is currently in its 30th season, and continues to rack up an equal mixture of accolades for its longevity, and complaints about its longevity, as it goes.