Disney has just entered a deal to buy 21st Century Fox. In 2017, the future of The Simpsons original production company now hangs in a billion-dollar deal. But, did The Simpsons predict it, in 1998?
Episode five of season ten, “When You Dish Upon a Star” involves actors Alec Baldwin, Kim Basinger, and Ron Howard. The former stars send Howard with a script to pitch to Fox. Although, when the cartoon continues to the studio a sign reads, “20th Century Fox: a division of Walt Disney Co”.
So, here are the facts:
- Disney has allegedly offered $50bn-plus to buy Fox
- Combined, Disney would then own 272 TV stations globally,
- Disney would own; Fox’s FX and National Geographic cable channels, India’s main network Star, and its stake in Sky,
- Fox is currently in a bid to buy shares in Sky, the Competitions and Markets Authority is not set to make a decision until March 2018,
- However, in light of this new deal, the CMA may decide to approve the deal between Fox and Sky with the illusion that the shares will eventually be owned by Disney.
- Disney would also be buying the stake in Hulu that Fox has, a big competitor to Netflix.
- Murdoch is rumored to have been considering this deal to focus on his passion, news. He has assets in Wall Street Journal and The Times.
The Simpsons have allegedly predicted numerous events in its 29 seasons. This includes Lady Gaga’s Superbowl performance, smartwatches, and Donald Trump’s presidency. In Season 11, Episode 17, “Bart to the future”, Lisa is president and the other characters comment on how President Trump had left the economy in ruin. Conversely, the electoral map of the US that features in The Simpsons has no connection to Trump when it appears. Although, it does strike some similarity to how it looked at the end of Trump’s campaign.
In light of Disney’s takeover of Marvel and Lucasfilm, the producer of Star Wars, and being worth £124 billion themselves, it is no surprise that the creators of The Simpsons could have predicted this. Nevertheless, we look forward to seeing what they could predict next.
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