The Walt Disney Company has prospered by keeping an extra-tight leash on its animated critters. Publish a comic book depicting Mickey Mouse as a sadomasochistic smoker, as a group of underground cartoonists did in the 1970s, and prepare for a not-so-magical encounter with copyright lawyers.
So why is Disney tolerating YouTube videos that turn Bambi, Simba and Winnie the Pooh into rap stars? YouTube users started posting the videos, set to “Crank That (Soulja Boy)” by the rapper Soulja Boy, about five months ago.
The postings (called mash-ups), are made by editing together snippets of animated movies and TV shows. The finished products look like music videos in which the cartoon characters do the singing. As “Crank That” climbed the music charts over the summer — the song hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 this month — the videos started gaining in popularity and users edited together versions using characters owned by other big media companies. A version using clips taken from Nickelodeon’s “SpongeBob SquarePants” has been viewed more than seven million times.
What started as a pilot for ABC three years ago, and rejected has found a broadcast home on MyspaceTv. Emmy-winning television show creators Ed Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz are teaming up with MySpaceTV to distribute their new online series, "Quarterlife." The first "Webisode" will air on MySpaceTV November 11.http://quarterlife.com/
“When Emmy award-winning producers come to MySpaceTV you know this is reaching a whole new level,” said Chris DeWolfe, CEO of MySpace. “We’re proud to offer the creative community a blank canvas and open platform to express their vision.”
Herskovitz and Zwick are the Emmy Award-winning co-creators of the TV series thirtysomething and My So-Called Life; they have also produced hit movies, such as Traffic and Blood Diamond.
