Disney Pairs Up With Turner to Promote TCM and Great Movie Ride
THERE is a saying in Hollywood, attributed to Katharine Hepburn, about why the pairing of Fred Astaire and Gingers Rogers worked so well: "He gave her class, and she gave him sex." Two familiar names in entertainment that are teaming up for another pas de deux may not be Astaire and Rogers, but they are giving each other something each wants.
The Turner Classic Movies cable channel is joining with two divisions of the Walt Disney Company for an agreement, to be announced on Wednesday, that underlines how media giants are increasingly collaborating on content-marketing efforts.
TCM will help the Walt Disney Parks and Resorts division make changes to the Great Movie Ride, a long-running attraction at the Disney's Hollywood Studios section of Disney World in Orlando, Fla.
In return, TCM will receive "Presented by" credits at the attraction on posters, banners, display windows, marquees and the like, which will also display the TCM logo.
In the other part of the deal, another Disney division, Walt Disney Studios, will provide TCM with vintage movies, cartoons, documentaries and episodes of TV series like "Disneyland" and "Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color" for a periodic programming block on the channel under the banner of "Treasures From the Disney Vault."
The block will be offered by TCM "roughly four to five times a year," said Charlie Tabesh, senior vice president for programming and production of TCM.
"Disney films and other programming have been seen a little bit on TCM, but not much," he added. "It will be exciting to dig into the vault and see classic Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, 'The Wonderful World of Disney,' " he said.
The initial block of Disney programming by TCM is to run from 8 p.m., Eastern time, on Dec. 21 through 5:15 a.m. on Dec. 22. "It's a Sunday night," Mr. Tabesh said, "a perfect family night and getting close to Christmas."