Our recent class discussion about transmedia storytelling made me realize that a majority of my childhood was just that: becoming obsessed with a given franchise and trying to enjoy it by every means I possibly could.
I was a huge fan of Disney animation in my youth, so each time a new movie came out, I not only had to see the movie, but I also had to collect the McDonald's toys, read the books, watch the TV series (if one came out), and once my family got a video game system, play the video game as well. Since I've always been creatively minded, I would also draw pictures of and write stories about the characters from my favorite films, long before I knew of such things as "fanart" and "fanfiction."
I remember being disappointed when a film that I really liked didn't receive the same franchise treatment as other Disney films had. I wanted to enjoy the characters' world further, but all the media industry had really provided for me was the film itself, and perhaps a video game if I was lucky. I think by that point, I had actually come to expect the full franchise treatment for all the movies I liked - expected to be able to expand my enjoyment beyond the film itself, a medium which was initially designed to stand alone.
So I found it interesting when we discussed transmedia storytelling in a way that made it sound like a relatively recent phenomenon, or at least one that really got going in recent years. But for me, it was a defining characteristic of my childhood. It's sort of funny to talk about the media industry targeting consumers by spreading a franchise across multiple media, and realize that they were - very successfully - targeting me.
Just for fun: The Little Mermaid at McDonald's
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