Ducking Disney

Every theatre geek's gotta love this clip from SNL, but as I was giggling through it, I wondered what the heck oldsters like The Music Man and Annie were doing in the sketch. Where was Simba the Lion King? Where was Ursula the Seawitch? Where was Mary Poppins, or Beauty, or the Beast? These are all easily identifiable musical characters which would have helped Middle America enjoy this very Manhattan-centric skit. Oh, but all those characters are owned by Disney.

Remember that most infamous of Oscar broadcasts? The one where Rob Lowe serenaded Snow White? Disney claimed ownership of Snow's image, and went to court over copyright infringement. Somebody at NBC is clearly on the lookout to avoid such costly litigation. Looks like the Peacock bowed to the Mouse...

ah well, who cares. The sketch is still a hoot: