Adventure Time | Pilot | Nickelodeon/Cartoon Network

The short focuses on a boy named Pen (later renamed Finn in the television series) and his best friend, a shapeshifting dog named Jake. One day, Lady Rainicorn, a unicorn-like creature, flies past them in tears; Pen and Jake follow her to an icy domain, where they discover that the Ice King has kidnapped Lady Rainicorn's owner, Princess Bubblegum, in the hope of marrying her. 

Recap To The Decade: Have William Shakespeare And Wife Anne Hathaway Returned From The Afterlife?

We’re starting with the conspiracy theory about Oscar Award-winning actress Anne Hathaway and her husband, Adam Shulman. They may or may not be reincarnations of this famous couple from the 16th century: William Shakespeare and his wife Anne Hathaway. Let’s discuss the background of each respected, well-known couple and how much this conspiracy theory could be real.

How did Anne Hathaway Meet Her Husband?

Anne Hathaway has acted in many projects, such as the plethora of adapted films she’s been a part of, the Princess Diaries series, Les Misérables, The Dark Knight Rises, One Day, Love & Other Drugs, and so many more. It’s pretty endless at this point. 

She met Adam Shulam, a fellow actor, jeweler, and producer, during a Palm Springs Film Festival in 2008. Oddly enough, Hathaway told a mutual friend of theirs at the time, “I’m going to marry that man. I think he thought I was a little nuts, which I am a bit, but I’m also nice.” And a few years later, they tied the knot in September 2012. Coming from a troubled marriage prior, Shulman became the light of her life. She fell in love with him easily and knew in her heart that she could trust this man.

Background of How William Shakespeare met his Anne Hathaway Met

Now Shakespeare and Hathaway’s marriage is actually a little more scandalous. They were married in November 1582 when Shakespeare was 18 and Hathaway was 26… and already pregnant. During this time, Shakespeare was still considered a minor in the eyes of the law, so he had to ask Hathaway’s father’s permission for her hand in marriage. And because he married so early, he couldn’t complete an apprenticeship, where young people would have lived with a mentor and learned how to master the respected craft they wished to be part of.

The couple’s main priority was to avoid the pregnancy scandal at all costs, so Shakespeare quickened the workmanship process by applying to the Bishop’s Court in Worcester. Which then allowed them to marry outside of the normal residence. Six months after the wedding, their first daughter, Susanna, was born. They then had twins named Judith and Hamnet.

The Conspiracy Theory

Reincarnation stems from Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism, and Jainism religions, where peoples’ (or even animals’) souls are believed to be reborn into another body. So to speak, they are living another life on Earth. There have been some real-world accounts of people recounting their past lives. For example, as a young child, James Leininger recollected memories from a past life as a war hero. This first started at the age of two when he began having nightmares of a terrible plane accident. In the subsequent years, Leinger started to share stories as a fighter pilot from the Navy during 1945. What he shares is quite strange, as he was just a kid with little exposure to military basics.

With that in mind, let’s discuss the possibilities of Anne Hathaway and Adam Shulam’s reincarnation. Note: This is strictly a conspiracy theory and should not be taken seriously!

There are some partial coincidences or hard facts on the matter. Anne Hathaway was born on the four hundredth anniversary of Shakespeare and Hathaway’s wedding. Another — quite possibly the best evidence — is Shulman’s physical appearance. His face looks nearly identical to Shakespeare’s portrait paintings. Unfortunately, Hathaway of Stratford has fewer portraits to support her half. Sillier evidence for this claim is that Hathaway hasn’t aged for quite some time which causes people to speculate that maybe she is a ghost from the past!

Another evidence source comes from the horse’s mouth:

“Life is too short to love you in one. I promise to look for you in the next life.”

William Shakespeare

Within this theory, it’s believed that Shakespeare had promised his wife that in the next life, she would be famous, and he would take the back seat. Impartialy because he lived apart from his family for most of their marriage, he only visited occasionally.

Credits: Bookstr

Former DStv Channel: What Happened To The Afrikaans Music Sensation MK?

Musiek Kanaal (MK) was a youth oriented music channel with similar styling to the early 2000s MTV and Channel O. It was distributed by M-Net on DStv channel 324 when it launched by mid-2005 as MK89 with the 89 being its original frequency on the platform. 

As mentioned, MK had the MTV influence and prestige with reality shows like Jol24, Hoeneer and Petrolkop with music from Hoordoosis, Ondergrond and Kraakvars. Aside from catering to a much younger audience it was well known for infusing music genres. 

By 2013, it was announced that MK would be exiting the DStv platform after 8 years with audio version launched in place. M-Net and MultiChoice noticed its strong online presence so kept various social accounts on air in an attempt to build its streaming base.

Prior to its discontinuation, KykNET launched its third spinoff channel KykNET NOU (formerly KykNET Musiek) which is described as a variety channel incorporating music and other programming into the mix.

Although, MultiChoice had the intention of retaining MK through an international service with other content viewed on the audio bouquet. This proved to be unsuccessful as MK barely had much content in the pipeline that it wasn't long till it got discontinued to its entirety. 

To date, MK's content is still accessible on YouTube although owners Google were looking to deactivate millions of inactive accounts. With thousand hours of MK content on the platform one has to wonder how long the brand would continue to be accessible. 

Understanding the downfall of MK

According to MultiChoice, most of its consumers preferred using online platforms than watching outdated television which contributed to its low figures. But that couldn't be any further from reality as a various scenarios could have formed the exiting of MK.

KykNET NOU was introduced as the new kid in the block a year before MK was shut down. Unlike MK, KykNET NOU was grouped alongside KykNET's other linear channels despite offering similar content to MK which was grouped with MTV Base and Trace Urban.

MK was a premium channel while KykNET NOU was available all the way down to Family. KykNET NOU had the figures and combining that with MK put it at a disadvantage so if the problem was viewership they could have restructured the content as opposed to closing. 

Shooting Star Milkshake Bar (Full Song) | Phineas And Ferb | Disney Channel

Phineas and Ferb is a 2007 television series created by Dan Povenmire and Jeff "Swampy" Marsh that tells the story of two boys who try to make their summer vacation fun in various ways. One of the episodes of this show, "Out To Launch", involves the character Lawrence naming a star after the titular duo and them setting off to find it in a rocket. During one part of the episode, the boys learn that the star they named is actually a place called the Shooting Star Milkshake Bar. This part uses a song with the same title as a montage of Phineas and Ferb enjoying their time there is shown.

A full version of the song was produced and was played at Disney's Hollywood Studios' former Phineas and Ferb meet and greet, but was never released in any form of physical media. The version is longer than the one heard on the show and has additional verses. Part of this version can be heard in a video by famous YouTube family Sen, Momo and Ai Channel when they visit the area.

On December 28th, 2020, a YouTube user by the name of "SuperSonicStyle" had uploaded the instrumental to the song. The instrumental was a secret unlockable track from the game "Phineas and Ferb in the Transport-inators of Doooom!".

On March 10th, 2024, a YouTube user by the name of "Charter School Girl" had uploaded the full version of the song.

Schneiderverse In Hot Water: Former Nickelodeon Star Drake Bell Details Sexual Abuse He Experienced As A Teen In New ID Documentary Quiet On The Set: The Dark Side Of Kids TV

Drake and Josh star Drake Bell is the biggest former child actor to allege having faced toxic workplaces at Nickelodeon while performing on Dan Schneider’s hit TV shows sets as part of Investigation Discovery’s docuseries Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV.

For the first time, Bell shares his story of alleged abuse at the hands of Brian Peck, his former dialogue coach, who was convicted of sexually assaulting a Nickelodeon child actor in 2004. Bell is not alone.

The ID four-parter probes the toxic environment claims on sets run by Schneider, who created Nickelodeon hit programs like The Amanda Show, Drake & Josh, Zoey 101, iCarly, Victorious and Sam & Cat and helped launch the careers of Kenan Thompson, Amanda Bynes, Victoria Justice, Miranda Cosgrove, Jennette McCurdy and others. 

Here are some of the revelations about allegations of abuse, sexism, racism and inappropriate behavior involving underage stars and crew and alleged predators at the network, as set to be revealed in Quiet on the Set, which premieres across two nights on ID on March 17 and 18.

Dan Schneider allegedly ran or tolerated toxic workplace conditions on his hit show sets at Nickelodeon.

Former creatives and crewmembers who worked with Schneider on or behind the camera claim they endured toxic workplaces. “Working for Dan was like being in an abusive relationship,” Christy Stratton, one of only two women writers on The Amanda Show, along with Jenny Kilgen, tells the docuseries. What’s more, Stratton and Kilgen had to split a normal staff-writer salary to get hired. And it wasn’t long before Stratton recalls being told by Schneider “he didn’t think women were funny.” Kilgen adds: “He challenged us to name a funny female writer, and he said this to the writers in the writers room.” Kilgen says Schneider allegedly had pornography up on his computer screen and told her he’d put one of her sketches in the show in return for a massage. “He always presented it like a joke, and he’d be laughing while he said it. But you always felt like disagreeing with Dan, or standing up for yourself, could get you fired,” Kilgen claims. She also recounted Schneider one day in the writers room asking Stratton to lean across her desk and simulate being sodomized. “I would not do that today, but I did it then,” a strikingly embarrassed Stratton says on camera.

And for onscreen talent, Schneider was a kingmaker, the one who decided who became a star, including Amanda Bynes, and who would have their lines or even character roles cut from a series. Raquel Lee Bolleau, who appeared on The Amanda Show during its first season when she was 12, adds: “You wanted Dan to like you, because otherwise he was mean to you.” Case in point: Schneider apparently flipped out when he decided a birthday cake on set for Bolleau was too big. Then the jocular Schneider was replaced by a screaming tyrant. “Dan yelled a lot. Dan was like a tornado. He’d show up and you’d say, ‘What just happened?’ Dan showed up. The set wouldn’t feel the same when he’d leave, because everyone was on their toes, scared,” Bolleau claims at one point.

Toxic workplaces in Hollywood are not new, but Nickelodeon sets stood out for being filled with vulnerable child actors.

Kid actors were made to wear suggestive costumes and take part in inappropriate sketches full of physical comedy and hinting at pornographic undertones, the series claims. An example is Leon Frierson, who was part of seasons 4 through 6 of All That, which also starred a young Amanda Bynes. In the doc, Frierson recalls playing the character of Captain Big Nose in a superhero costume of tights and underwear. Besides his prosthetic nose attached to his face, Frierson had matching noses on his shoulders. “You can’t help but notice that it looks like penises and testicles on my shoulders,” he recalled. And as part of the sketch comedy, Captain Big Nose unleashed a giant sneeze due to his allergy to asteroids. The result was a messy goo left on the face of a young woman in his path. “The joke in that sketch is effectively a cum shot joke. It’s a cum shot joke for children,” Schaachi Koul, culture writer, tells the doc in the first episode. Frierson adds: “Looking back, it’s very strange. Frankly, it was just uncomfortable. In the moment, I thought this is what we got to do to stay on the show, to stay in the cast and stay in the good graces of people that were higher up.” And that specifically meant doing right by Schneider. “Being close to Dan could mean an extra level of success. It was important to be on his good side, and he made it known who was on his good side,” he insists.

Former Nickelodeon star Drake Bell tells his story of alleged abuse at the hands of Brian Peck when he was only 14 and 15 years old.

The third episode of Quiet on Set centers on Drake Bell graphically recounting how he was allegedly groomed and suffered alleged sexual abuse at the hands of Nickelodeon dialogue coach Brian Peck. In 2003, Peck was accused of molesting a child. He was subsequently convicted of a lewd act against a child and oral copulation of a person under 16, and spent 16 months in prison. Only now do we learn Bell, then a minor at 15 years of age and the star of Nickelodeon shows like All That and The Amanda Show, was at the center of that criminal case and conviction. He recounted waking one morning while on Peck’s living room couch. “I woke up to him. … I woke up, opened my eyes, and he was sexually assaulting me. I froze and was in complete shock. I had no idea what to do or how to react,” Bell recounts. Peck is said to have manipulated Bell’s mother and others to allow himself free reign with a minor. “It just got worse and worse and worse and … worse, and I was just trapped and I had no way out,” Bell adds. It was only when the mother of Bell’s then girlfriend asked why Peck wouldn’t stop calling him that Bell sought therapy, but he was still not ready to share his secret. “Then I realized it was so calculated. You (Peck) moved all the pieces into place. The whole thing was mental manipulation,” Bell says of Peck’s behavior.

It’s a theme many now adult actors claim about their childhood selves on Nickelodeon shows during the Quiet on the Set series: If they spoke up for themselves, or had a parent do so on their behalf, they feared retribution and never being able to work again. But eventually in 2003, Bell talked to the police after finally telling his mother. “I’ve no idea what provoked it, what happened, but I just screamed into the phone everything that had happened to me,” Bell said. He recalled a “brutal” interview with two detectives and having to call Peck to get him to admit his guilt on a tapped phone. He did, with a full confession. Immediately after Peck’s arrest, Bell recalled a phone call from Schneider asking if the case had anything to do with him. “I was close enough with Dan that I was like, ‘Yeah, man, this is what he’s been doing.’ Dan just goes, ‘You don’t need to talk anymore about it. That’s all I needed to hear. Are you OK? Do you need anything from me. Anything you need,’” Bell tells the doc series. Then, when asked whether other Nickelodeon execs reached out to him personally, Bell made excuses: “I’m not really sure how many people knew who it was. It wasn’t really brought up to me a lot, maybe because it was a sensitive subject. But really the only person that I remember being there for me was Dan.” Bell would eventually headline his own series, Drake & Josh, on Nickelodeon.

In a statement, Nickelodeon said, “Now that Drake Bell has disclosed his identity as the plaintiff in the 2004 case, we are dismayed and saddened to learn of the trauma he has endured, and we commend and support the strength required to come forward.”

Dan Schneider allegedly tormented and humiliated the cast and crew on his TV sets.

As Schneider grew more powerful as a kids TV producer, his relationships with fellow creatives apparently worsened to the point of alleged abuse, the series claims. “He would come down and yell and scream. There were many times I had to say, ‘You’re creating an atmosphere on this set that is not healthy,’” All That director Virgil Fabian alleges in Quiet on the Set‘s second episode. That toxicity extended to the edit suite. Karyn Finley Thompson, an editor on All That, The Amanda Show and Drake & Josh, claims she and others in production had little life outside work when working with Schneider. “You didn’t eat. You didn’t go to the bathroom. Dan would be, ‘Wait! Wait a minute! Hold it. Can you wait a minute?’“ And she’d give in to the incessant demands. “We all did it, or you got fired,” Thompson adds. She recalls one day keeling over in the edit suite and having to go to the hospital. “As I’m leaving and curled over, I could hear someone saying, ‘How is this show going to get finished?’ And I remember just saying, ‘I’ll be right back!’”

The docuseries argues it took the #MeToo movement to stop Schneider in his tracks at Nickelodeon, not internal controls.

After the #MeToo movement, Schneider and Nickelodeon finally parted ways following years of whispers and rumors. Before that, the network in 2014 launched an internal investigation into workplace conditions on Sam & Kat, which starred Ariana Grande and Jennette McCurdy. The result was Schneider, ever the hands-on showrunner, having to stop interacting with the series cast and stay in his office. That eased any alleged toxicity on set, while also keeping Schneider, the moneymaker, in the Nickelodeon tent, where he created two more shows, Game Shakers and Henry Danger. Until 2017 and Hollywood’s reckoning with hostile workplaces and sexual harassment and assault accusations against Harvey Weinstein and others, “a lot of rumors were circulating around Dan Schneider, and these really exploded online,” Business Insider writer Kate Taylor tells the series in the fourth episode. And a second internal investigation by Nickelodeon, while clearing Schneider of any hint of sexual misconduct, led to his exit in 2018. “It did find evidence of being abusive to others in the workplace,” Taylor reports. And the network changed the locks at the Nickelodeon on Sunset facility, where Schneider ran his empire. “Let’s collectively please not let another Dan happen. He cannot happen again. This is not a joke,” Alexa Nikolas, a Zoey 101 castmember, tells the series.

Schneider shared the following statement with the docuseries, which airs at the end of the four-parter: “Everything that happened on the shows I ran was carefully scrutinized by dozens of involved adults. All stories, dialogue, costumes, and makeup were fully approved by network executives on two coasts. A standards and practices group read and ultimately approved every script, and programming executives reviewed and approved all episodes. In addition, every day on set, there were always parents and caregivers and their friends watching us rehearse and film.”

That’s followed at the end of the final episode with: “And in response to producers’ questions, Nickelodeon has stated it ‘investigates all formal complaints as part of our commitment to fostering a safe and professional workplace… We have adopted numerous safeguards over the years to help ensure we are living up to our own high standards and the expectations of our audience.'”

Separately, Nickelodeon released the following statement pertaining to the docuseries’ allegations: “Though we cannot corroborate or negate allegations of behaviors from productions decades ago, Nickelodeon as a matter of policy investigates all formal complaints as part of our commitment to fostering a safe and professional workplace environment free of harassment or other kinds of inappropriate conduct. Our highest priorities are the well-being and best interests not just of our employees, casts and crew, but of all children, and we have adopted numerous safeguards over the years to help ensure we are living up to our own high standards and the expectations of our audience.”

Credits: The Hollywood Reporter

Recap To The Decade: The Mysterious Disappearance Of Flight MH370

Malaysia's government has said it may authorize a new hunt for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight 370 a decade after the plane and all 239 passengers and crew on board disappeared on March 8, 2014. What happened to MH370 after it departed Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, en route to Beijing remains one of aviation's biggest mysteries.

Texas-based marine robotics company Ocean Infinity, which tried previously to find the plane, has proposed launching a new search, and Malaysia's transport ministry said it would consider the proposal.

The pilot sent a normal sounding radio call as the plane left Malaysian airspace, but he never checked in with Vietnamese air traffic controllers upon entering that country's airspace as he should have done.

MH370 timeline, from takeoff to final satellite signal

About two minutes after the last radio correspondence, MH370's transponder — a standard piece of equipment on all commercial aircraft that routinely relays a plane's position to air traffic control authorities — turned off, making the jet invisible to civilian radar systems.

Military radar and satellites showed that MH370 then turned around to travel over the Andaman Sea back toward Malaysia, flying for hours before it vanished, possibly when it ran out of fuel.

Malaysia's prime minister said 17 days after the plane disappeared that, based on the satellite data, his government had concluded that the plane crashed down in a remote corner of the Indian Ocean, and that there were no survivors.

Who was on Malaysia Airlines flight MH370?

There were 227 passengers and 12 crew members on board flight MH370, including three Americans as well as people from China, Indonesia, Russia and France.

Among them was a celebrated group of 24 Chinese calligraphy artists coming from an exhibition of their work. Two young Iranian men on the plane, 18-year-old Pouria Nour Mohammad Mehrdad and 29-year-old Delavar Seyed Mohammadreza, were traveling on stolen passports to seek better lives in Europe.

Two of the U.S. citizens on the plane were young children, Nicole Meng, 4, and 2-year-old Yan Zhang.

Philip Wood was the only American adult on the flight. The IBM executive had been living in Beijing and was planning to relocate to the Malaysian capital with his girlfriend, Sarah Bajc.  

Is there still an ongoing search for flight MH370?

When MH370 disappeared, an international search effort involving dozens of ships and aircraft was mobilized to scour the South China Sea and southern Indian Ocean. Australia, Malaysia and China then conducted a huge underwater search operation, covering around 46,000 square miles with sonar, submarines and aircraft. 

In July 2015, an airplane fragment later confirmed to be a flaperon from MH370 was found washed ashore on the western Indian Ocean island of Reunion. It was the first hard evidence that the plane had gone down in the area. More debris was later found washed up on the coast of eastern Africa.

But after no more results, all formal search efforts were suspended in 2017.

In 2018, Ocean Infinity launched its own hunt for MH370 north of the initial search area, as part of a "no find, no fee" deal with Malaysia, but that search was called off after a few months.

What comes next?

Ocean Infinity recently suggested it could resume the "no find, no fee" search for MH370, though Malaysia has said it will only do so if there is credible new evidence of where it might be located.

Malaysian Transport Minister Anthony Loke said he was open to being briefed on Ocean Infinity's proposal, and if there is credible new evidence to work with, he said he would seek government approval to resume the search.

"The government is steadfast in our resolve to locate MH370," Loke said at a memorial event for MH370. "We really hope the search can find the plane and provide truth to the next-of-kin."

Malaysian Prime Minister Anway Ibrahim echoed the sentiment on Monday.

"We have taken the position that if there is a compelling case, evidence that it needs to be re-opened, we're certainly happy to re-open," Ibrahim told journalists. "Whatever needs to be done must be done."

What are some of the leading theories on what happened to MH370?

No conclusive evidence has been found to support a specific cause of the plane's disappearance. However, various theories have been proposed and investigated in the years since.

One theory is that the captain or another crew member deliberately crashed the plane in an act of mass murder-suicide. Authorities reviewed the crew's financial records and tracked the pilots' activity leading up to the flight using security camera video and found "no significant" behavioral changes and no evidence of financial trouble, according to a 2015 report from Malaysia.

A 2016 report in New York magazine revealed that authorities had found the pilot used his home flight simulator to do a simulated flight that was similar to the path MH370 is believed to have taken before it disappeared. Hishammuddin Hussein, Malaysia's acting transport minister in 2014, said there was "nothing sinister from the simulators," according to the BBC.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said in 2014 that both the radar transponders and flight data transmission system had been deliberately turned off by someone on the flight in an attempt to hide the plane's location, according to a report in New Scientist. This has led some to speculate the plane may have been hijacked.

Several passengers were investigated as possible perpetrators of a hijacking, including the two men who had been traveling using fake passports. No evidence was ever found linking any passengers to the plane's disappearance, and authorities concluded that the two Iranian men had been seeking asylum.

Credits: Hailey Ott, CBS News

Saved Again: Netflix Acquires Rights To The 2019 Season Of The Bold And The Beautiful For Fans Across South Africa

Set in the glamorous world of Los Angeles, The Bold And The Beautiful focuses on the wealthy and powerful Forrester family. Its company, Forrester Creations, is the leader in the fashion industry. Add in the machinations of rival businesses and families, and you've got a classic set-up.

Produced by Bradley P. Bell through Bell-Phillip Television Productions, Inc, The Bold And The Beautiful debuted by March 23, 1987 on CBS.  So far at least 9000 episodes of the American soap with a new seasons being filmed for the 2024-2025 period.

It held the record for most watched in the soap in the world with its audience reach surpassing 26 million viewers. The American soap also holds won 77 Daytime Emmy Awards, including three for Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series.

SABC 1 acquired rights to the American soap by the late 90s before moving to SABC 3 over 10 years after its launch due to low ratings. Around this time, SABC 3 was going through an identity crisis and the public broadcaster these two would align better.

Although The Bold And The Beautiful was able to pull a massive following in South Africa. It wasn't bringing in the revenue for the public broadcaster so much that by 2019 the show got axed with the only means to the soap EVA and Vodacom Video Play axed years later.

Following its departure from South Africa, several consumers pirated several episodes illegally through torrent sites while others had to make due with what's seen on their screen. As seen by several subscribers, Netflix has become the exclusive home to The Bold And The Beautiful. 

Netflix has held these rights since October 2023 for consumers in South Africa. After M-Net opted not to acquire the show when it exited SABC 3, the streamer added the first 100 episodes to the 2019 season which coincide with demises of EVA and Vodacom Video Play. 

Nelson Releases White Paper Proposing Several Restructuring On Disney Including Less Sequels And A Downsizing Of Disney+ Global

Nelson Peltz‘s Trian Partners, which is agitating to get two seats on Disney’s board, on Monday released a lengthy white paper analyzing the Mouse House’s financial performance — and suggesting strategic fixes.

The recommendations, according to Trian, are aimed at turning around Disney‘s total shareholder returns, which have trailed most of its peers (except Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount Global), according to the white paper. Trian is urging Disney shareholders to vote for its two board nominees — Peltz and ex-Disney CFO Jay Rasulo — at the company’s April 3 shareholder meeting. Disney opposes the candidates put forward by Trian and another activist firm, Blackwells, as lacking “the appropriate range of talent, skill, perspective and/or expertise.”

“For more than a year, Trian has described its thoughts on strategies and goals, some of which Disney has now implemented, such as reducing excess costs, reinstating a dividend, and making the Parks business a bigger part of Disney’s growth strategy,” the Peltz-run firm says in the white paper. “We are now making our 100+ page presentation public with our comprehensive views.”

Among the proposals in the 133-page white paper (available at this link), the hedge fund says that to achieve a better return on its streaming content, Disney should take more “shots on goal” and increase creative risks outside of its core franchises, similar to Netflix. The company, Trian says, should “explore allocating more budget dollars across lower-cost, easier-to-produce projects to further balance Disney’s higher-cost franchise content; prioritizing ‘retention’ content spend should diversify away the risk of expensive streaming flops.”

Trian also recommends that Disney make fewer movie sequels. “Disney’s ‘flywheel’ spins the fastest when the company creates or acquires new intellectual property to monetize,” the white paper says. “Sequels are less risky film ventures to produce, but do not drive long-term benefits in the same way that new IP can.”

The firm continues, “The percentage of Disney films that are sequels, prequels, spin-offs or remakes has dramatically increased — suggesting a creative engine that is sputtering.” Trian is calling for “a comprehensive review of studio operations and culture” by the board, including the state of leadership, process and workflow.

Meanwhile, Trian recommends two potential paths for ESPN: One, that ESPN’s standalone streaming service, which Disney is aiming to debut by the fall of 2025, be launched “ideally with a ‘bundle’ partner like Netflix or Amazon”; or two, that ESPN should “harvest cash out of its linear business to selectively reinvest in ESPN+ and higher growth parts of Disney’s business (such as Disney+).”

Elsewhere, Trian suggests merging Disney+ and Hulu product and content organizations to cut costs — a move it claims would create cost efficiencies in the neighborhood of $1 billion. Disney is in the process of buying out NBCUniversal’s 33% stake in Hulu. In November, Disney said it would pay at least $8.61 billion to Comcast for the Hulu stake, with the final price tag — which could be higher — to be based on an assessment of Hulu’s market value by each parties’ bankers.

As it relates to the integration of Hulu content on Disney+, Trian believes the service should “phase out the Hulu tile.” “We are skeptical that keeping Disney’s best general entertainment content behind a Hulu tile optimizes user engagement,” the white paper opines.

In addition, Trian says it believes Hulu + Live TV “is a loss-leading product that has struggled to scale and adds limited strategic value.” Per the white paper, “In our view, Live is not competitively positioned compared to YouTube TV following its deal to secure NFL Sunday Ticket and is no longer positioned as a ‘low-cost alternative to cable.’”

Other suggestions in the white paper aren’t new. For example, Peltz wants Disney to achieve “Netflix-like” streaming margins of 15%-20% by 2027, something the hedge fund has previously outlined. Trian also wants to see Disney’s board “fix” its “chronic succession problems” for CEO Bob Iger, whose contract expires at the end of 2026.

Much of Trian’s white paper dwells on making the case for change on Disney’s board. For example, the hedge fund argues that Disney’s $71 billion deal for 21st Century Fox, which closed in 2019, was “strategically flawed”: “We are skeptical that Disney has delivered on its targeted synergies and EPS accretion given the deterioration of Disney’s media earnings power following the acquisition.”

The Disney/Fox deal was “arguably the result of misaligned incentives,” Trian’s white paper says. “On the same day that Disney agreed to acquire Fox, the board extended Mr. Iger’s employment agreement by four years and awarded him an ‘over-the-top’ compensation package, reasoning that doing so was ‘critical’ to driving long-term value from the acquisition,” the paper says. “In our view, the prospect of a much larger compensation package (more than double his previous package) created a strong financial incentive for Mr. Iger to pursue the Fox deal regardless of its prospects, creating a significant conflict of interest.”

Here are Trian’s agenda items for the Disney board from the white paper, divided into four categories:

Enhance Corporate Governance & Accountability

Refresh the board by adding Nelson Peltz and Jay Rasulo as independent, aligned, and focused Directors

Fix succession process and run a thorough and successful search for a CEO in time for Mr. Iger’s 2026 retirement

Align pay with performance by tying the compensation program to outcomes that drive long-term shareholder value

Form a board-level finance & strategy committee to evaluate progress on recommended initiatives and improve the Board’s monitoring of Disney’s long-term strategy

Accelerate Media Profitability

Insist management develop and articulate a clear DTC strategy with tangible goals that will achieve Netflix-like margins of 15-20% by 2027

Explore opportunities to improve DTC engagement and cost structure, including changes to product and marketing strategies and reducing redundant overhead costs

Right-size legacy media business cost structure in light of industry dynamics

Evaluate Disney’s organizational structure to improve accountability and efficiency

Review of Creative Engine

Initiate a comprehensive Board-led review of studio operations and culture, including leadership, processes and workflow

Prioritize new intellectual property to reignite the “flywheel” and drive Disney’s long-term growth

Explore additional opportunities to enhance the “flywheel” with digital cross-promotion

Clarify Strategic Focus

Issue long-term free cash flow growth target beyond FY 2024 to anchor investors on a clear strategic vision and enhance accountability

Explore strategic partnership(s) for non-core linear assets – benefits include an enhanced focus on linear assets, a preserved strategic alignment with Disney’s DTC business, and an improved growth profile for Disney

Insist on a digital strategy for ESPN that has a clear path to attractive financial returns

Refine parks strategy to include tangible return targets on the $60bn of Parks capex, plans to address new competitive threats to Walt Disney World, and a commitment to improving the guest experience at domestic parks

Could Netflix Become The Exclusive/Future Home Of Nickelodeon?

During the year, it was reported that WWE would be exiting linear television by 2025 with Raw, SmackDown and NXT alongside premium live events like WrestleMania and SummerSlam would be streaming exclusively on Netflix with more countries to be added soon.

This has boosted the media's interest on the streamer with some curious about what other projects the brand has in the pipeline. One of the brands I wouldn't really be shocked to see get purged soon would be Nickelodeon.

Nickelodeon is an international children's brand operated by Paramount Global. Since it's inception had brought animated shows like SpongeBob SquarePants, The Loud House and Legend Of Korra alongside live-action shows like Drake & Josh, iCarly and The Thundermans.

As some readers are aware, Netflix and Nickelodeon have co-produced shows like Pinky Malinky, Glitch Techs and the upcoming live-action series for Avatar: The Last Airbender. On top of distributing films like Invader Zim: Enter The Flopus and Rocko's Modern Life: Static Cling.

There was a point in time when Netflix was looking to acquire Paramount's studios before negotiations fell flat. Not long ago, Paramount announced that they'd be laying off 800 employees due to the effects of streamlining with fear lurking around their linear offering.

With WWE leaving linear television, the idea of more content being purged to streaming particularly Nickelodeon wouldn't seem far fetched a stretch. Disney had closed several channels across the world as most of their content gets integrated with Disney+.

Netflix has been doing a lot of quality control in recent months and looking to get decent content. They recently filmed a live-action series to popular anime One Piece and acquired exclusive rights to The Casagrandes Movie and The Fairly OddParents: Make A Wish.

Why eToonz Now Offers Shows Like MasterChef Junior?

eToonz is South Africa's first free-to-air children's channel operated by eMedia Investments. It broadcasts daily at 6am with preschool shows like Peppa Pig, Postman Pat and Bob The Builder alongside with other content like Trollstopia, All Hail King Julien and Ninjago.

Launched in 2013, eToonz initially served as a preschool filtered brand and to date remains as the only youth brand on Openview to feature animated and live-action shows. Despite the rise in competiton with MultiChoice ramping up a duplicate offering on Play Room.

There was a lot of commotion pertaining to its performance regardless eMedia Investments had continued to bolster the entertainment. The channel now offers its own slate of live-action something formerly offered on Craze on top getting more first run programs.

As seen in recent months, eMedia Investments opted to add MasterChef Junior from eReality to eToonz current line-up. The inclusion of MasterChef Junior would further expand its line-up.

Openview launched in 2013 and as mentioned eMedia Investments remains hush hush on eToonz performance. There's been rumours that not much consumption is being poured on the brand as sources site Openview's demographic for the low numbers.

If anything, the inclusion of MasterChef Junior helps draw in numbers as well as more mature content like The Thundermans, Hank Zipzer and Backstage. Such content is relatable with fiction cast aside viewers are able to envision themselves within these characters.

Popeye: The Origin Story Of Frank ‘Rocky’ Fiegel

‘Oh, I’m Popeye the Sailor Man!’ Most people know Popeye as a tough, spinach-eating sailor, a cartoon character created by American cartoonist E. C. Segar. But did you know who the real-life inspiration behind the strong sailor was? Culture.pl explores the sailor man’s Polish roots!

A scrappy little seaman

Popeye with a can of spinach – Popeye, the cartoon character created by E. C. Segar, photo: East News

Popeye with a can of spinach – Popeye, the cartoon character created by E. C. Segar, photo: East News

Popeye the spinach-chomping sailor was a childhood hero to millions and has made a name for himself all around the globe. Still, for those who have somehow managed not to encounter Popeye, let’s go over the basics. Here’s how Encyclopedia Britannica defines the fictitious sailor:

Popeye is a scrappy little seaman with bulging forearms, a squinty eye, and a screwed-up face, punctuated with an ever-present pipe in his mouth. He is always ready for a fight instead of a reasonable discussion, has a gravelly voice, and is constantly mumbling under his breath. His credo is ‘I yam what I yam, and that’s all what I yam.’ His girlfriend is the gangly, uncoordinated Olive Oyl, for whose attention Popeye vies constantly with Bluto, his bearded, hulking rival.

The character of Popeye was created by Elzie Crisler Segar, an American cartoonist from the town of Chester, Illinois. In 1919, the draughtsman created a comic strip in New York’s Evening Journal, called Thimble Theatre. In 1929, Popeye made his debut as a new character in the strip. Due to the newcomer’s high appeal, the strip was eventually renamed Thimble Theatre Starring Popeye. For decades to come, the character enjoyed immense popularity, appearing in dozens of iterations by various creators – in Fleischer Studios’ animated cartoons or in Robert Altman’s 1980 musical Popeye with Robin Williams in the lead role.

Interestingly, many claim the fictitious sailor was based on a real-life person, one of the citizens of E.C. Segar’s hometown. The man in question is believed to have been Frank ‘Rocky’ Fiegel, whose parents came from Poland.

A heart of gold

The 1979 article Chester Man Accepted as Real-Life Popeye was a Brawler, Loved Kids ran by the Southern Illinoisan newspaper mentions that some citizens of Chester considered Rocky ‘a bum.’ It goes on to explain how this came to be:

Fiegel, a bartender and general labourer around Chester, seldom had steady work and was often seen loafing around the town’s saloons. He lived with his mother until she died, then continued living in the house alone (…)

But it isn’t, of course, the lack of regular employment that’s said to have inspired E.C. Segar. Frank Fiegel was a local brawler, famous for his fist-fighting skills and this is where we really start seeing resemblance to the cartoon Popeye. In the article Rocky’s nephew, Clyde Feegie, recounts a story of his uncle visiting a saloon:

They had two big guys inside who said you had to buy drinks for the house or put on the gloves. They had a big bruiser waiting to fight, but he (Fiegel) put on the gloves and knocked their guy out.

According to Fred M. Grandinetti’s 2003 book Popeye: An Illustrated Cultural History, also Rocky’s facial features and pipe were reflected in the cartoon character:

Because of his hardened physique he was affectionately known as ‘Rocky’. His angular jaw and familiar corn-cob pipe apparently impressed the young Segar.

Indeed, such a figure like Rocky could’ve made a strong impression on Segar, especially since the prospective cartoonist was much younger than him. Fiegel was born in 1868 (it’s unclear whether that was in Poland or in America), whereas E. C. Segar was only born in 1894. Moreover, the Polish-American had ‘a heart of gold for children’ as the Chicago Tribune phrased it. He was known to have selflessly helped out Chester kids, giving them change or protecting them from bullies. That’s another similarity to Popeye who was always a ‘good guy.’

A joke or a prank

Frank’s parents, Anna and Bartłomiej, were Polish. According to the MyHeritage, a genealogy website, the family had ties to the town of Czarnków in today’s central Poland and their surname was originally spelled ‘Figiel’. It was most probably altered to better fit the English-speaking realities of America after the family emigrated there. Curiously, the Polish word ‘Figiel’ means ‘joke’ or ‘prank’, a rather fitting surname for the protoplast of a comic strip hero…

But whether Rocky himself knew that he became the inspiration for Popeye is uncertain. Some say that he learned of this only after Segar’s death of leukaemia in 1938, from a newspaper that printed the story of the comic strip creator and his inspirations. Others, like Popeye historian Michael Brooks, claim that Fiegel received checks from Segar on a regular basis, as a sort of thank-you for the success of the hero based on him. Then again others doubt that Fiegel ‘ever knew he was Popeye.’ Segar moved out of Chester in the early 1920s – years before the character debuted – and according to the 2003 book Comic Strip Artists in American Newspapers by Moira Reynolds, he never actually acknowledged anybody as a real-life inspiration for the famous sailor.

However, what seems to back the story of Rocky being the inspiration is that a number of early-20th-century Chester locals were awfully similar to other characters in Segar’s Thimble Theatre. Olive Oyl, is said to have been modelled after Dora Paskel, a store owner who was ‘unusually tall and thin and wore a bun at the nape of her neck,’ as the New York Times puts it. The chubby, hamburger-loving J. Wellington Wimpy was supposedly based on William Schuchert, the heavyset manager of the Chester Opera House (where Segar had worked for a while) and a known lover of burgers.

What’s beyond any doubt is that the gravestone of Frank Fiegel, who passed away in 1947, can be found at Chester’s Saint Mary’s Catholic Cemetery. The inscription on it says:

Above the inscription you can find an engraving showing the original, 1929 version of Popeye. Of all the hero’s various iterations, the first one, created by Segar, is said to be the one most reminiscent of Rocky.

A friendship between two wanderers

During both Rocky’s and Segar’s lifetimes, Popeye became so popular that the Thimble Theatre comic strips were printed in hundreds of newspapers, even overseas – for instance in Italy, the sailor was known as Braccio di Ferro which means ‘Iron Arm’. In Poland, Popeye’s adventures appeared under two titles: Marynarz Kubuś (Jacob the Sailor Man) and Ferdek i Merdek, Dzieje Przyjaźni Dwóch Łazików (Ferdek & Merdek: The Story of A Friendship Between Two Wanderers). The latter title looks like it may need a bit of explaining: its first part consists of the Polish names that were given to Popeye and Wimpy respectively, whereas the second part… Well, it looks like a free take on the task of presenting the comic strip to the local public. In post-war Poland, however, Popeye was known simply as Popeye.

Speaking of Poland, it doesn’t seem like the town of Czarnków has in any way recognized its ties to the real-life Popeye’s ancestors. A search of the town’s official website reveals no mention of Frank ‘Rocky’ Fiegel. But there is a town, other than Chester, which has made the claim of being the birth place of Popeye – Santa Monica, California, where E.C. Segar moved after having lived in places like Chicago and New York. Here’s an excerpt from a 2009 report titled The Bay Builders Exchange found on Santa Monica’s official website:

When Segar moved to Santa Monica in 1928, he often found inspiration for characters and storylines on the Santa Monica Pier. Although some believe Segar’s characters were inspired by his Midwest upbringing, according to oral history, the Popeye character was modelled on an expert Norwegian fisherman, ‘Santa Monica Olsen,’ who had exotic fishing tales, a heavy Norwegian accent, and rough language.

What appears to back this version of events is that the character of Popeye debuted only a year after Segar moved to Santa Monica. But, due to the lack of compelling evidence, there is no room for definitive declarations here. Perhaps, the character of Popeye was a mash-up, including some traits of Rocky and some of Olsen…

Since E.C. Segar apparently never singled anybody out as the inspiration for Popeye we’re left with speculation. And Frank ‘Rocky’ Fiegel is definitely a strong contestant for that role, due to his undeniable links both to the author and the fictitious hero. So whenever ‘you eats your spinach’ you should remember that it’ll make you not only as strong as Popeye, but (perhaps) also as strong as his real-life, Polish protoplast.

Credits: Culture.pl