Walt Disney

Disney is one of the five top grossing corporations in the world of media entertainment and product consumerism (England, Descartes, & Collier-Meek, 2011). According to Bazzini, Curtin, Joslin, Regan, and Martz (2010), Disney’s

The Walt Disney Company has seen their share of success in taking their parks and resorts into global markets. “60 years ago, the first Disney theme park opened, in California and was the brainchild of Walt Disney himself, who was motivated by the lack of entertainment options available to him and his two young daughters.” (Forbes, 2016). Disneyland California penetrated the market rapidly, and its popularity led to the opening of Disney World in Florida, followed by global expansion in Tokyo, Paris, and Hong Kong. Their latest expansion came in June 2016, on a 963 acres’ site in Shanghai, China (Xu, 2012). After one year in operation, Shanghai Disneyland is outpacing their most optimistic projections, and the park’s

77 years later and it is still as emotionally resonant, and artistically beautiful as ever. The feeling was so strange, marveling at the tone and storytelling of The Old Mill. I have never felt more driven than I had in animation. I wanted the Old Mill to stand tall when the storm stood still. The feeling was magical.

“If you can dream it, you can do it” and that is exactly what Walt Disney did (beginnings).These words meant that Walt Disney visioned the world in ways many did not. He created and founded many well known landmarks, movies, and animations. Walt Disney’s creative talents as an artist led him to invent sound animation and later become an entrepreneur of the first wide-scaled theme park.

The Walt Disney Company’s business model is to create value by providing family entertainment to people all over the world. The company owns television networks and various production studios as well as many different parks and resorts that provide families with the opportunities of creating memories. The company also offers consumer products and interactive programs that provide families with further entertainment. By offering consumer products like toys, DVD’s, books, and many others, the company goes into the customer’s home and provides permanent entertainment. The company’s eleven parks and forty-four resorts are spread all over the world and provide the company with customer value

Disney has survived many competitors coming into the space by leveraging its powerful brand and experience. This does not indicate they can stop trying to be relevant. Video games and the rise of virtual reality are becoming huge threats to the theme parks. Why pay a premium for a one time admission when you can buy a virtual reality headset and play basketball with Lebron James. Disney has slowly adapted but must act quicker in the future on new technologies to stay relevant.

Disney operates in very competitive industries such as media, tourism, parks and resorts, interactive entertainment and others. The competitive landscape changes quite drastically in the media industry, where news and TV go online and new competitors with new business models compete more successfully than incumbent media companies. Disney’s parks and resorts business segment also receives strong competition from local competitors who can offer better-adapted product. This results in growing competitive pressure for Walt Disney Company (Ovidijus Jurevicius).

A lot of people just know Walt Disney as the guy who made Mickey Mouse, movies, and Disney World. All of that is true but he is much more than all of that. Walt was born on December 5,1901 in Chicago, Illinois (“Walt Disney”). His parents were Elias Disney and Flora Call Disney. He had 3 brothers and a sister. His spouse was Lillian Disney. They had two girls named Diane Disney and Sharon Disney (“Walt Disney”). His family moved to Missouri, and spent most of his boyhood on a farm near Marceline in Missouri. At age 16, he studied art in Chicago. In 1920, he joined the Kansas City Film Academy (“Walt Disney”). Walt Disney is an American hero because he is ambitious, talented, and creative.

Considered to be legendary in the fields of film and animation and well known for his famous theme parks, Walt Disney was and still continues to be an icon of the entertainment industry. Coining the phrase, “If you can dream it, you can do it,” Disney was devoted to embodying the American spirit. He loved learning about the past and was active in working towards the future in a whimsical manner which is evident in his films and theme parks. Although he is no longer living, Disney’s energy and spirit continue to shine through all the Walt Disney Company’s endeavors. Walt Disney singlehandedly changed the entertainment industry in regards to quality of animation and integration of American culture into film as shown in his first full- length film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.

The success of movies and television programs were due to diversity and distribution. It does its own distribution and targets several markets from children to adults. Finally, the Disney character consumer product sector, which includes clothing, home goods, and toys, has been an extremely important asset to the company. For example, by establishing deals such as an agreement with Mattel, Disney was able to manufacture more than 14,000 Disney licensed products. Furthermore, Disney expanded it’s retailing by opening up Disney stores.

Competing amusement parks has upgraded their attractions to attract more consumers and Disney is has recently strategizing this approach to a more concentrated perspective. This can ultimately lower their revenues until the plan is complete.

Disney’s long-run success is mainly due to creating value through diversification. Their corporate strategies (primarily under CEO Eisner) include three dimensions: horizontal and geographic expansion as well as vertical integration. Disney is a prime example of how to achieve long-run success through the choices of business, the choice of how many activities to undertake, the choice of how many businesses to be in, the choice of how to manage a portfolio of businesses and the choice of how to create synergies between those businesses (3, p.191-221). All these choices and decisions are

Biographical facts: placing emphasis on crucial experiences, episodes, pre-occupations and challenges that created turning points in advancing the subject’s leadership role.

Tokyo Disneyland was opened to the public on April 15, 1983. This amusement park was owned and operated by an unrelated Japanese corporation. The Walt Disney Company received royalties, paid in Yen, on certain revenues generated by Tokyo Disneyland. This new overseas business venture was bringing some concern about the foreign exchange risk to Disney. The management team at the Disney has been considering hedging future Yen inflows from Disney Tokyo since 1985. Mr. Anderson, the director of finance at The Walt Disney Company, focused his attention on a possible 15 billion ten-year term loan with an interest rate of 7.5% paid semiannually. On the other hand, Goldman Sachs, who had been working with

Disney has become a marketing goliath and the #1 entertainment company in the US. They have been able to develop a creativity-driven philosophy that over time was tempered by financial responsibility and that benefitted from powerful synergies between its divisions. From the very beginning, Disney has been synonymous with innovation within the children’s entertainment industry, from their introduction of animations with synchronized audio, full-length animated feature films and then later into theme parks and on-ice and Broadway shows. One important element of Disney’s success was the extent to which they integrated and expanded into different