When you think of animation, you think of Disney. Disney started with the character of a single mouse, and now owns the world’s largest and most successful brand in the entertainment business. Recently the debate on Disney’s agressiveness for ALL intellectual properties is one of the hottest topics anywhere. First with Pixar, Marvel, and now Lucasfilm – What will become of all these well-known names, and how will they all fit into the universe of Disney?
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About the Walt Disney Company Founded: 1922 as Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio.
IP Legacy: Debuts Steamboat Willie, the first synchronized sound cartoon; opened the first theme park in the world. Products: Cable television, publishing, movies, theme parks, broadcasting, radio and web portraits |
Darth Vader: What Are You Going to Do Next?
Huh? Is this some kind of joke? What is Darth Vader doing in Disneyland?
In 2012 with the purchase of Lucasfilm, Disney owns the rights to yet another world famous fictional character! Once a small cartoon studio, now an empire. What is the story behind the rise of the Walt Disney Company?
Losing a Lucky Rabbit’s Foot: The Birth of Mickey Mouse
You might not know this, but Disney’s first original character was Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, distributed through Winkler Pictures. The distributor would not give up the copyright, leading to Disney’s loss over the rights of the popular cartoon. This was a lesson that Disney could not forget, and raised the studio’s awareness of licensing rights. It led the team to start their own animation studio, which later created Mickey Mouse.
▲ Oswald the Lucky Rabbit is Disney’s first and prizing winning animation.
▲ Walt Disney with an earlier version of Mickey Mouse. Disney started licensing their character IPs since the very beginning.
▲ There’s been different “Mickey Mouse” phases. Which is your favorite?
A Successful Licensing Business Model
Disney was but a tiny animation studio back in 1930, but already they were collecting royalties off of Mickey Mouse’s intellectual property. The Disney characters quickly became household names: Movies, TV shows and side products… They certainly came a-rollin’. Today, Disney is all about its brand image. They focus solely on the production and marketing of their registered characters, and now the souvenirs alone take up over 40% of the revenue. As a result, over 3,000 authorized distributors across the world present over 100,000 Disney products now.
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▲ Anything with a Disney star on it is guaranteed to be loved by kids!
Five Operations: A Maximized Marketing Effect
So, how does this kingdom of fantasy function in the real world? Here’s one example. Little girls who dream of becoming princesses can visit Disney’s website and be one for a day at Disneyland’s Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique, or attend the “Disney on Ice: Princess Wishes” skating show. You can even buy your very own princess gown before going home. Yup. The Walt Disney Company has evolved into an enterprise operating on television networks, theme parks, merchandising and film productions: Each works in its own way to achieve the perfect customer experience.
▲ Disney fulfills your princess dreams. Literally!
Expanding the Target Market
“Disney? Isn’t that for kids?” If you still think that way… Well, it’s time to take another good look at the world of Disney today. Now, with the purchase of Marvel and Lucasfilm, over 5,000 super heroes and movie characters join the Disney family. This is an intent to attract attention of the male demographic — especially hardcore fans.
The thing with Lucasfilm is its initiation and popularization of CGI technology into movies; thanks to that, now Disney owns the best team of movie effect specialists and action/si-fi scriptwriters. Not to mention Lucasfilm’s very profitable line of merchandise (Ah-hem.) Also, let’s not forget that the Star Wars franchise still holds the record of earning $36 billion at the box offices to date, with over 90 billion made from movie side products. Just imagine what will become of the Lucasfilm assets under Disney’s management. For better or for worse, the crowd goes wild
▲ This is what Disney means from now on. Quite a mash, eh?
Usually a film comes out with box office promises and further home entertainment potentials. Cable networks will fight over broadcasting rights, and theme parks will get yet another new “theme” to feature. Disney’s business model is a clear one: It aims to make the most out of intellectual property, and build an empire on the dreams of our childhood heroes and dreams. To adapt to newer generations, Disney’s willingness to change the mode of storytelling plays a big part to its success as well. That is, the more diversity of character IPs you have, more different stories can be told. I can’t wait to see superheroes and Darth Vader cruising in Disneyland. What about you?
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