Disney Adds a Kids' Movie and Music Player to the Mix

Disney is masterful at marketing, repackaging, and remarketing its own content. The magical company is at it again with a handheld movie and music player, replete with controls in the shape of Mickey's ears and the ability to play $15-a-pop formatted memory chips with Disney movies.

As the New York Times points out, the Disney Mix Max Personal Player is slightly larger than an iPod nano, plays MP3 and WMA music files, has 512MB of internal memory, and a battery that charges via a computer USB port. Standard SD memory cards also fit into the side port where the movie chips go. Memorex makes it for Disney. It has only one audio port, so there's no sharing, but sharing a 2.2-inch screen? Not easy.

It's not cheap: $100. So if you can already download Disney movies for iPod video use, the market is obviously young kids who don't have access to iPods or portable DVD players to play the Disney DVDs a lot of families already own. But at 2.2 inches, the screen is smaller than an iPod's 2.5-inch screen, and I'm in no rush for my kids to crane their necks to focus on a tiny screen, particularly in a moving vehicle.

For parents who want a portable video player for their children, portable DVD players are a better option in my book. They're small enough to carry with you on trips but have bigger screens, which mean less strain. And they've come down in price.

Does Disney's newest entertainment delivery system, available starting next month, interest you?