时事新闻:第一届迪士尼粉丝大会幕后花絮

【英文原文】

Behind the scenes at Disney's first fan convention
Last Friday, Johnny Depp came onto a stage at the Anaheim Convention Center and wowed the crowd by appearing in full costume as Captain Jack Sparrow, the star of the Pirates of the Caribbean films. On the same stage, actors John Travolta and Nicholas Cage dropped by, and singer Miley Cyrus performed -- all surprises for star-struck fans who bought tickets to attend "D23 Expo", Walt Disney's first-ever in-house convention for its faithful.

To me, this conjured déjà vu: Where had I seen this before? Oh, yes, the very same stars, including Depp as Captain Jack, had appeared at a private presentation the Disney Studio held late last year for journalists and analysts. But of course, this was the whole point of D23 -- a chance for real people, folks who have nothing to do with the media spindustrial complex, to get up close to their idols, go behind the scenes, and get the lowdown on what is coming next across Disney's vast film, TV, Web, resort, travel and consumer products divisions.

It was an interesting experiment in one of the few burgeoning trends in media today, a move toward selling already-loyal customers premium memberships that offer access to things they wouldn't normally see. It was a small glimpse at how an industry hungry for growth is trying new ways to find it. And it gave new meaning to the term "Mickey Mouse Club."

The broad concept behind D23 -- the 23 is a reference to 1923, the year young Walt left Kansas and arrived in Hollywood -- was to create an official fan club for all things Disney. D23 Expo is the company's own version of Comic-Con,the geekfest held in San Diego each summer that in recent years has been pretty much co-opted by the Hollywood studios who use it as a venue to hawk their biggest projects and stars -- many that have not a whit to do with comic books -- in front of an influential young audience and a boatload of press.

D23 Expo, which ended its four-day debut yesterday, was essentially Disney-Con -- and anyone could attend for $37 a day or $81 for the whole event (and members of the D23 club, which was founded earlier this year, get a discount.)

Because of its theme parks in particular, brand affinity is an area where Disney thinks it holds a clear advantage over its peers. Once, when I mentioned a rival movie studio to a senior Disney executive, he replied "there is a difference between a brand and a logo."

And it's hard to bet against Disney right now, which holds the mantle as the world's largest media company with a market valuation of nearly $53 billion. It is using that size to its advantage, recently agreeing to buy Marvel Entertainment -- the comic book company now churning out box office hits like Iron Man and Spider-Man -- for $4 billion. (It also announced a deal last week with fantasy-film director Guillermo Del Toro, adding even more heft to the idea that Disney is aggressively going after the young male market.)

I strolled D23 Expo on Saturday, the third day of the event, and probably the biggest in terms of attendance. (Officially, the company would only say that "tens of thousands" were on hand).

Having written extensively about Disney, it was interesting to see disparate elements of what I've observed internally at the company -- such as showrooms of Disney-branded furniture and folks from its hush-hush "Imagineering" division that builds theme-park attractions -- assembled in one place.

The convention floor itself did not feel crowded and was lower-key than you might expect, though there was a mini-stampede at a booth when a plate of mouse-ear-shaped chicken nuggets came out. Some exhibits were better than others (a shout-out to the the Lego mural and booth for "Lost University", a clever new online spin-off of the hit TV show on Disney's ABC network.)

Amid all the Disney and Pixar fare you'd expect stood a fairly anachronistic white "Action News" van from ABC's owned and operated Fresno, Ca. TV station tucked next to a far more heavily trafficked interactive games area. "We're just happy to be here," said the man minding the van.

Notably absent from the festivities was ESPN, the sports programming juggernaut that accounts for roughly a third of Disney's profits. There was, however, a subtle nod to Disney's partner in ESPN, 20% owner Hearst Corp., which also is a partners with Disney on other cable channels including A&E and Lifetime: signage on a barbecue concession outside noted that it served only "grass-fed beef from Hearst Ranch".

Saturday night there was a live auction that included a holiday dinner party at the corporate commissary in Burbank. During the day, the big event was a presentation by Jay Rasulo, the head of Disney's parks and resorts division.

During it, the arena attached to the convention center was nearly filled with several thousand people who hooted and applauded at every item Rasulo unveiled -- from new attractions at Disney's various theme parks to the pending arrival of two new Disney cruise ships. Star Wars storm troopers joined Rasulo onstage when he concluded by announcing a major upgrade a longstanding attraction related to the film at Disneyland.

Sitting there, I couldn't help but marvel that the crowd had paid to see what is essentially a sales pitch when they could have just gone literally across the street to Disneyland for the real deal. Yet they loved every word and image.

Of course this audience was already pre-sold on Disney, and what they were really paying for was the feeling of being an insider. But more than that was an inescapable irony: in the digital age, with all its virtual means to connect with consumers, the most valuable customer just might be the one you can get to come meet you in person.

【中文译文】

上周五，《加勒比海盗》中的明星演员强尼•戴普（Johnny Depp）出现在了阿纳海姆会议中心。他以一身杰克船长的全副装扮亮相，引来观众一片尖叫。当天出现在会场的还有男演员约翰•特拉沃尔塔（John Travolta）和尼古拉斯•凯奇（Nicholas Cage），歌手麦莉•塞勒斯（Miley Cyrus）更是在现场放歌。这一切都给那些买票参加华特迪士尼（Walt Disney）首届室内集会，即“D23博览会”的追星迪士尼迷们带来了无穷的惊喜，是对他们身为忠实粉丝的嘉奖。

这一景象让我觉得似曾相识：我以前在哪里见过？哦，对了，正是这同一拨明星，包括杰克船长打扮的戴普，曾经出现在去年年末为各方记者和分析师举办的迪士尼制片厂内部展演中。但毋庸置疑，这就是D23博览会的重点所在：它为那些与媒体产业毫不相干的普通人提供了和自己偶像亲近的机会，让他们能够走进幕后，了解迪士尼公司的电影、电视、网络、酒店、旅游和消费者产品等部门的最新动态。

这是如今媒体业中为数不多的迅猛发展方向中一个有趣的尝试：向那些忠实度很高的顾客销售优惠的会员资格，让他们能够体验平时见不到的东西。这也让我们瞥见一个渴望增长的行业是如何创新探索的，同时这也赋予了“米老鼠俱乐部”以新的内涵。

D23博览会有着宏大的概念，那就是要创造一个专属迪士尼的官方粉丝俱乐部。其中，23代表着1923年，正是那一年，年轻的华尔特离开了堪萨斯州来到了好莱坞。D23博览会可以说是国际动漫展的迪士尼版本：每年夏天，盛大的国际动漫展会都会在圣地亚哥举行。近几年来，许多好莱坞的制片厂都会和动漫展进行合作，寻找平台来展示他们最大的项目和明星。尽管许多制片厂和漫画扯不上一点关系，但毕竟国际动漫展是面向有影响力的年轻观众和众多媒体的最佳途径。

为期四天的D23博览会可以说是一场纯粹的迪士尼展会——谁都可以花37美元参加单日的展会，或者花上81美元来享受四日的全部活动（而在今年早些时候成立的D23俱乐部的成员还可以享受折扣）。

迪士尼公司认为自己和同行的比较优势在于其品牌的亲和力，尤其是要归功于公司旗下的主题公园。有一次我向迪士尼资深高管问起对于一家竞争电影制片厂的看法，他回答说“品牌和标志之间是有很大区别的”。

而如今想要反驳迪士尼公司的观点并非易事。它作为世界上最大的媒体公司，拥有将近530亿美元的市值，是该行业的权威。它也正在利用自己的规模优势。最近迪士尼公司同意斥资40亿美元收购惊奇娱乐公司（Marvel Entertainment）——这家漫画公司凭借《钢铁侠》（Iron Man）和《蜘蛛侠》（Spider-Man）创下了电影票房纪录。（在上周迪士尼公司还宣布了和幻想片电影导演葛雷摩•戴•托罗（Guillermo Del Toro）达成的协议，即迪士尼将把更多的注意力投入到年轻男性这块市场）。

我在上周六即展会的第三天漫步于D23博览会中，当天可能是参加人数最多的一天了。（官方报道中，迪士尼可能只会说“有几万人”到场。）

我已经在之前的文章中对迪士尼进行过宽泛的描写，而我所观察到的公司内部的迥异元素也十分有趣：例如陈列着带有迪士尼商标的家具展示厅，同时也是那些极度保密的“幻想工程”部门即设计主题公园娱乐设施的员工们的办公室。

展会的楼层并不感觉拥挤，并且比想象中的更为低调。但是每当一盘米老鼠耳朵形状的鸡块端到展台时，总会有一次小拥抢。有科技含量的展品比较出类拔萃：如由乐高积木拼成的壁画和“失落大学”（Lost University，迪士尼旗下的ABC电视网主打电视节目的网络衍生剧集）都大受喜爱。

在你所期盼的各种迪士尼和皮克斯（Pixar）的展台中，横泊着一辆格格不入的老式白色面包车。这是由ABC拥有和运营的加州弗莱斯诺电视台“新闻进行时”的工作车，安插在一个非常拥挤的游戏区域。“我们非常乐意在这里”，一名负责照看面包车的男子说道。

值得注意的是ESPN这家体育节目巨头没有现身在庆祝活动中。它为迪士尼公司提供了将近1/3的利润。而拥有ESPN公司20%股份的赫斯特公司（Hearst Corp.）和迪士尼共同拥有其他一些有线频道，包括艺术与娱乐频道（A&E）以及生活频道（Lifetime）都来参加了：室外的烧烤专区指示牌上写着“赫斯特公司专区”。

周六的晚上在波尔班克举行了一场现场拍卖会，期间还提供给假日晚餐派对。周六的白天，这一重大活动是由杰•拉素罗（Jay Rasulo）主持的，他是迪士尼公园和酒店部门的总管。

在此期间，与会议中心相连接的活动场所挤满了上千人。从迪士尼不同主题公园的新设施到悬挂着的两艘迪士尼游船，每当杰•拉素罗揭开一件拍卖品时，人群就会爆发出欢呼声和掌声。当他最后宣布一件重要的与电影《星球大战》相关的为时甚久的升级版迪士尼乐园景观时，星球大战中的风暴骑兵和杰•拉素罗一起出现在了舞台上。

坐在会场，我不禁惊异于这些观众竟然付了钱来看这些在迪士尼乐园时就能看到的真品。但是，他们津津乐道于每一个词和每一个形象。

当然，这些观众早就为迪士尼公司买过单了。但他们的钱其实是花在了体验作为内部人员的感受上。但是在这背后是一个无法摆脱的讽刺：在数字时代中，尽管可以通过各种虚拟方式与消费者相联系，但是最有价值的消费者可能只是那个能让他来亲自见你的人。