Italians of all ages love Disney and commuters are as likely to be engrossed in a Topolino [Mickey Mouse] comic as their British counterparts are in a newspaper. Perhaps it keeps them sane in an increasingly crazy world. Now Topolino, Paperino [Donald Duck] Zio Paperone [Uncle Scrooge] and the rest can be viewed in a new way on iPhones and other mobile phones, Play Stations, palmtops and other digital devices thanks to the work of Gianfranco Cordara and Dario Di Zanni of the New Media division of Disney Publishing Worldwide in Milan.
The two began working on what has become Disney Digicomics after developing a Disney comic on an iPhone. Once they had the approval of their boss in Milan they took the idea to London, New York and Disney in California. Fans of the comics will be able to purchase the stories in the same way as they do music and view them in a special player on their digital device.
Over 50,000 stories from the Disney archive will gradually be made available to the public and each series will be updated weekly, as in a traditional comic. The digital stories contain some sound effects and cinematic techniques such as fade-out but are not animated and no special effects are used. In this way, the developers said at Monday’s launch in Milan, the importance of the story-telling aspect is retained. What is new is the portability of the stories for the target market of teenagers and young adults who do not, perhaps, often visit a newsagent’s store.
What we want to know is whether the Italian comics’ famous English onomatopoeias such as “Smack! Crash! Gulp!” - which have given so much pleasure to so many over the years - will disappear if sound effects are used. We do hope not!
You can see a preview here:
http://www.wired.it/promo/disney
Would you pay for digital Disney comics?
