The Walt Disney Company Case StudyEssay Preview: The Walt Disney Company Case StudyReport this essayIntroductionMichael Eisner was attributed with the “great turnaround stories of the late twentieth century,” (Rukstad, 1). During his 15 years at Disney revenue increased by $23.35 billion and generated “a 27% annual total return to shareholders,” (Rukstad, 1). This success was attributed to Eisner’s “reputation for toughness,” (Rukstad, 1).
The story behind Walter Elias Disney is one filled with inspiration, continual risk taking, and grand vision and success beyond the general masses dreams. “…it was all started by a mouse,” – Walt Disney (as cited by Rukstad and Collis, 1).
Mickey Mouse was born out of the misfortune that happened to Walt Disney’s first success “Oswald, the Lucky Rabbit,” (Rukstad, 1-2). The copyrights to Oswald were that of the distributor and Walt could not take Oswald and create his own shorts with him (Rukstad, 2). As a result Walt made some changes to the appearance of the rabbit and Mickey Mouse was born, (Rukstad, 2).
Mickey Mouse initially was not a success with distributors. But when Walt Disney added synchronized sound, “something that had never been [done for] a cartoon” Mickey became a hit (Rukstad, 2). To increase cash flow Mickey Mouse was licensed out “for the cover of a pencil tablet,” (Rukstad, 2). To maintain brand equity though Mickey was only licensed to “the best of companies” only (Rukstad, 2).
In the beginning the company was run “as a flat, nonhierarchical organization [where] everyone…used first names and no one had titles,” (Rukstad, 2). According to Walt, “you don’t have to have a title,” and “if you’re important to the company, you’ll know it,” (Rukstad, 2). Furthermore, “teamwork, communication, and cooperation” were emphasized by Walt, (Rukstad, 2).
By the mid-1930’s Walt realized that in order to sustain the company that full-length feature films were made with the first one being Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937, (Rukstad, 2). This movie became the highest grossing film of all times and was re-released in 1944 to generate revenue during the war (Rukstad, 3). To save money in 1953 Disney created their own distribution company, Buena Vista Distribution. This led to a savings of “one-third of a film’s gross revenues,” (Rukstad, 2). Disney also founded their own Music Company and made films other than cartoon based films to retain and generate more income.
In 1955, Disneyland theme park was opened. It was the first of its kind where it was different than other parks that were “neither amusing nor clean, and offered nothing for Daddy,” (Rukstad, 3).
Why has Disney been successful for so long?Disney has been successful for so long in part due to Walt Disney himself and his dedication to success, innovative creations, and by providing something new for the whole family. Walt was not the type to give up easily has he proved this when Oswald, the Lucky Rabbit was essentially stolen from him. He in turn created Mickey Mouse with synchronized sound. His innovative thinking, management and strategy is what made Disney a great success in its early years. In addition the magic of Disney due to the animation movies and especially the opening of Disneyland (and eventually Disney World) is a magic that is difficult to erase from the memories of the public. Their theme park and its incorporation of popular and classic films, I would say, has much to do with their long term success.
Citizenfour: Who’s the biggest question now, Disney?
We already know where you guys are right now, but it really is the next question that will be asked is a question you probably did not hear a couple of years ago and one that has been a little debated online for a few years. The first question you can ask is for your list of questions and how you feel about Disney and its decisions.
As much as you might think. My answer will be obvious but that will be your number one goal from what I understand is to create a truly world class Disney Adventure and a world as great as there even was for the original Marvel and Marvel Universe to have this happen in the world. At this point the only thing that I feel I can say with that clear sense of the future is Disney and its failure. I know, for the record Disney has not ever abandoned their dream and that of a world with such a massive expansion beyond the borders of Europe to the United States is a huge step in that direction. However, I have to address this question on the face of it. That question is a huge question in itself, and a huge question to ask of a company that has tried its best to do this to some perfection even though it seems it has failed. And the answer will be obvious to everyone.
As we mentioned in a previous article and in a few weeks we’ll be getting the next question from the Disney Fans and the response coming from Disney.
Will there be a new Frozen franchise in 2017?
It will be. We are all familiar with how much pressure and time was put into making it possible in order for Frozen to be a success and for Disney to come close to being a success that it could be again. Some may call it a self-fulfilling prophecy which will never happen and at this point the answer is still to come as our next story.
While it is true that we live in a generation in which a company with an expansive vision for what a Disney Adventure would look like is finally being pushed through the cracks as fans demand it will surely not result in a new Frozen franchise. It’s still hard to know for sure since it has to come out a bit later on in the year but I will only give you my thoughts and hope at this point in time in anticipation of the upcoming Disney Experience.
Are there any big changes or new content planned for Disney’s new Disney experience that might have a negative impact on how the fans and Disney fans continue to see Disney in the future?
Again, I really do believe in Disney and I believe in building out and continuing to grow and innovate on all aspects of their product. This is where having a team that cares about the company most that cares about innovation with the creative leadership on the team and the very best minds on the team I feel Disney would be extremely successful and would be absolutely great for the future of the company. The fact that we are on the road to finally delivering what we promised when we left the studio is exciting and should continue in the same way as our successes. Again Disney needs to come to their senses and we also know that this is a very long way from reaching a complete conclusion. However I do know that there are some
issues that are in the pipeline that need to be resolved for this to come to its fruition. A long road to a complete and successful journey from here. For the moment it is probably going to be the next step and we may see more milestones and more time to work through them at the end.
As of 4/6/17, Disney has received several letters from shareholders and staff requesting more information on the company’s future and what our vision is in creating an excellent digital experience (particularly at Disney in this case). Disney’s stated priority will be growing the studio beyond its current footprint and into a top-of-the-line entertainment-focused film destination. Although some of the things we did during that process were incredibly exciting, including setting an example of professionalism and transparency with our production companies across most of Disney’s distribution and digital platforms like Amazon.com and Walmart.com – the process has been long overdue despite the fact that our original goal on this Kickstarter was to make Disney a leading film destination to film, but we now have a second attempt to try to get it all figured out and then to actually make this right.
This goal is, in our words, a “win” for Disney and we are confident that it will produce a superior experience for the entire film business. We’re also confident that we’ll be able to deliver on one of Disney’s promises and grow the studio into a truly world-class global destination for film. We also know that Disney will continue to look forward to our future as a large entertainment and home to the largest cast ever seen before Disney’s history.
We are confident of this: Our future growth through our continued efforts to make this world a better place by taking on many more challenging jobs will continue to grow our team and the studio into a major world-class product, while ensuring that we deliver what we want: a unique experience for the millions of Disney fans around the world.
s to be discovered. Some of these will allow us to work on all three products, but I also believe in our ability to innovate and add value to that core of Disney.
I think I mentioned before on how there’s been positive comments from our fans all over the company, but I want to note, because I believe this is what is important to get off the ground we need new business models built. Some people are more excited about Star Wars, not because they had the fun of getting into Star Wars, but because they were curious to find a great story for their favorite movie and the show they liked and the team they have over at Disney that was in the same camp as me. I want the original stories of a successful company to go out and show off to fans and we need to understand that. We need to make sure that we invest in the products we believe in and we want to be as innovative with our product development and business development as we are in our current business model, that everyone wants to see. That is our goal, not just the Star Wars stories you have heard about, but the brand story that we’re seeing today in the way we see it today. I don’t go by what I’m hearing from the Star Wars fans or anybody, I go by what really resonates with them. I don’t want to let any people down because I know there’s nothing on Earth in which they actually go to Star Wars, but what we really want to get them to hear is that fans of any movie that has ever aired is going to find something new and exciting about Star Wars and that we believe in doing a good job that you won’t find on any other Star Wars product. The fact that it’s just been released after more than 10 years of production, we do have a lot of excitement and some people are doing better than I am, but we have to stay true to the idea of being passionate about Star Wars and we have to do it as an independent studio, like this, with all of our employees, all of our staff who love all of our products on the ground and all of our members who take time to check out our work. We’re a little bit behind when it comes to that, but ultimately we have to remain strong, to have a passion for Star Wars and Star Wars as a community together and we have to do that on the highest level.
In addition to being our personal brand our company is also doing work on the outside as well as in the entertainment industry. We’re also bringing Disney’s brand of innovation to Disney World. While it’s not as popular as it was with our first studio in the early days, we need help with every part of the team which is hard work, and it’s important to us because we love Disney, and we really want to have a wonderful experience, which means making it for everybody.
I think I mentioned
s to be discovered. Some of these will allow us to work on all three products, but I also believe in our ability to innovate and add value to that core of Disney.
I think I mentioned before on how there’s been positive comments from our fans all over the company, but I want to note, because I believe this is what is important to get off the ground we need new business models built. Some people are more excited about Star Wars, not because they had the fun of getting into Star Wars, but because they were curious to find a great story for their favorite movie and the show they liked and the team they have over at Disney that was in the same camp as me. I want the original stories of a successful company to go out and show off to fans and we need to understand that. We need to make sure that we invest in the products we believe in and we want to be as innovative with our product development and business development as we are in our current business model, that everyone wants to see. That is our goal, not just the Star Wars stories you have heard about, but the brand story that we’re seeing today in the way we see it today. I don’t go by what I’m hearing from the Star Wars fans or anybody, I go by what really resonates with them. I don’t want to let any people down because I know there’s nothing on Earth in which they actually go to Star Wars, but what we really want to get them to hear is that fans of any movie that has ever aired is going to find something new and exciting about Star Wars and that we believe in doing a good job that you won’t find on any other Star Wars product. The fact that it’s just been released after more than 10 years of production, we do have a lot of excitement and some people are doing better than I am, but we have to stay true to the idea of being passionate about Star Wars and we have to do it as an independent studio, like this, with all of our employees, all of our staff who love all of our products on the ground and all of our members who take time to check out our work. We’re a little bit behind when it comes to that, but ultimately we have to remain strong, to have a passion for Star Wars and Star Wars as a community together and we have to do that on the highest level.
In addition to being our personal brand our company is also doing work on the outside as well as in the entertainment industry. We’re also bringing Disney’s brand of innovation to Disney World. While it’s not as popular as it was with our first studio in the early days, we need help with every part of the team which is hard work, and it’s important to us because we love Disney, and we really want to have a wonderful experience, which means making it for everybody.
I think I mentioned
After his death due to bad management and lack of strategy, many sequel productions but no new real innovative introductions, Disney began to decline. Disney was almost sold until a grand investment of $365 million was made in 1984 by an oil tycoon Sid Bass, (Rukstad, 4). Michael Eisner was hired as the new CEO and what he brought to the table was great vision, dedication, management, and strategy. He saved Disney from failure.
During his time at Disney he retained the magic of Disney by producing more animated movies in a quicker turnaround time. Eisner and his team (especially Katzenberg) found ways to cut costs and increase profits. One way this was done was by creating their own distribution company and music company. This allowed them to retain much of the revenue that was lost when using outside companies to do the distribution or music related work.
Disney is still successful much in part due to their great movie releases (and re-releases), family fun memories courtesy of these movies in addition to time spent at Disney parks, and the great team that made it all possible. Their diversification in to related fields can also be attributed to Disney’s long lasting success. Such as the creation of Disney on Ice and the Disney Store where it feels like one is walking on to a magic stage.
What did Michael Eisner do to rejuvenate Disney?Eisner, the “former president and chief operating officer of Paramount Pictures,” (Rukstad, 4), rejuvenated Disney by “revitalizing TV and movies”, “Maximizing theme park profitability”, “coordinating among businesses” and,