When my sister and I were little, and we weren’t lapping up the kind of Disney Princess merchandise that Emily described, we loved the worlds created by American Girl (I provide the link here but it may be worth noting that I’m talking about the American Girl of about 2005, which was a different place…
The My Little Pony franchise is one of Hasbro’s biggest moneymakers next to Transformers. Primarily a toy company, Hasbro started using TV shows to market its toys in the 80’s, with great results. The shows brought the toys to the attention of the children, who wanted to continue the adventures after the show ended. The…
We all know Disney: it is perhaps the biggest and most successful children’s entertainment franchise in the world. Some of us love it, and others think its a monumental brainwashing tool for children and adults alike. However you feel about it, Disney’s use of multiple media has transformed the way people view Disney stories. Take…
One of the first things that came to mind when thinking about transmedia storytelling was podcasts. While there are podcasts that are entirely self-contained, there are many that expand the conversation or narrative to other platforms or media. The podcasts themselves are often created in order to expand an already existing franchise; many YouTubers, authors, and celebrities now have their own podcasts….
One franchise that I believe takes transmedia storytelling and uses it to its advantage is Marvel. The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) ranges from many feature films to television series to comic books and web series. The universe was created with 2008’s Iron Man and has been growing consistently ever since. In “Searching for the Origami Unicorn,…