Scope of operations

Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow (EPCOT)

  The Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow (EPCOT) was originally developed by Walt Disney in the layer years of his life.  It was intended that the property that he had purchased near Orlando, Florida to become a "community of the future" which was designed to inspire American corporations to create new ideas of urban living.  This eventually became the Walt Disney World Resort, including EPCOT, which was previously known as the EPCOT Centre.   Walt Disney is quoted saying, "EPCOT will take its cue from the new ideas and new technologies that are emerging from the forefront of American industry.  It will be a community of tomorrow that will never be completed.  It will always be showcasing and testing and demonstrating new materials and new systems".

  The concept was to eventually transform into the Epcot theme park, which opened in 1982 at the Walt Disney World Resort.

Walt Disney and Competition

 Disney has been one of the top leading animation studio for a number of years but this leaves them under threat from being over taken by one of the large number of competitors that are  becoming more well known.

These companies include Dream Works Animation and Warner Bros. Animation.  Despite the fact that Disney have been a major impact and success in the animation industry, many businesses have developed skills just as powerful in the same field.  This now means that Disney has to remain able produce new ideas and understand the market in order to remain number one.  One of the main ways in which Disney have achieved this is by introducing the Pixar company into their work.  This gives Disney the advantage of using an experienced CGI company in order to break barriers in the media.

Present Finance      

How Disney uses synergy

The idea of synergy within the Disney company is not new. We see much of it today -- such as cross-branding from The Disney Channel into retail outlets, movie theaters, and theme parks. But this is not a new idea by any means. In 1967, Disney's synergy among its various organizations was alive and well. The company went so far as to create an updated diagram of the creative and marketing links shared within. This was not the first such diagram to be created, but given the time period, it tells many great stories. (click on the image to view a larger version)

The first thing that jumps to attention is that the studios were central to the Disney operation. The studios command the largest amount of real estate on the diagram and have more links than any of the others. In 1967, the company was still deeply rooted in its studio beginnings, and this entity formed the core of all the company's activities.

Other divisions of note include Disney World Florida which was in planning stages, the Mineral King ski resort which never found its way to realization, and the Celebrity Sports Center which was a short-lived recreation center in Denver, CO.

Some of the more interesting synergies:

•Disneyland plugs motion pictures and keeps characters before the public - As much as many Disney theme park purists may dislike the seemingly rapid growth of characters in the parks in the recent years, this was a planned strategy forty years ago. Sleeping Beauty Castle was named while the film was still in production as a means of building interest in the character and story.
•Disneyland and Disney World Florida provide a major sales outlet for merchandise licensing - The company has always carried various souvenirs for sale in the parks, including ones branded with characters from television and film.
•WED master plans, produces audio-animatronics, and imagineers and designs attractions for Disneyland, Disney World Florida, and Mineral King - It is no surprise at WED's involvement in the theme parks that we know today, but the Mineral King ski resort was to be home to a small set of imagineered attractions, as well. The Country Bear Jamboree was originally conceived for Mineral King.
•TV promotes the theme parks and the talents of WED - Walt Disney viewed television as a great promotional tool since its inception. Even after his death, the company still realized the potential that this outlet had in getting audiences excited about the theme parks. We still see this today with such things as the fairly new Disney Travel on Demand series.
•Music, TV, publications, comic strips, studios, and theme parks promote each other through use of characters, stories, and settings - There are many links amongst these divisions that showcase how the company viewed its intellectual assets as a means of advertising and providing source material to other divisions.

How does Disney represent reality?

Despite Disney basing their stories around fictional tales, i.e. Snow White and the seven Dwarfs, they remain to contain a teaching or moral.  For example in Snow White and the seven Dwarfs Snow White takes the apple from the old woman and eats it resulting in her death, despite the fact that she had no idea who the woman was.  This presents the perfect example for the moral "don't talk to strangers".  Disney also confronts other issues such as single parenting (The Little Mermaid) and death (Bambi).  These representations of reality allow a large audience to relate with the issues that are dealt with in the films themselves.

The Origins of Disney

The Origins of Disney

Walt Disney was born on December 5th 1901 in Chicago, Illnois. He spent his childhood in Marceline Missouri after his parents moved there after his birth.
As a child, Walt would usually sell drawings that he had done to his neighbours to earn a bit of money. Walt went after his art career by studying art and photography at McKinley High School in Chicago. His father (Elias Disney) was quite strict and his household was quite poor. Walt was encouraged by his mother(Flora Call Disney), and older brother (Roy) to pursue his artistic talents. In 1918 Walt joined the Red Cross, as he was rejected from being in the army as he was only 16, and was sent overseas to France where he spent a year driving an ambulance. He also chauffeured for Red Cross officials. Instead of camouflage his ambulance was covered with Disney cartoons.



Laugh-O-Grams

Located on the second floor of the McConahay Building at 1127 East 31st in Kansas City, Missouri. Disney founded Laugh-O-Gram Films, in May 1922, with a budget of $15,000. Laugh-O-Grams is the industry that provided Walt Disney with the inspiration to create Mickey Mouse. The company got an $11,000 contract to produce six cartoons for Pictorial Clubs, Inc. which then went bankrupt. The company had problems making ends meet so by the end of 1922, Disney was living in the office, taking baths once a week at Union Station.
Thomas McCrum, a dentist who worked in Kansas City, rescued Disney from total failure when he commissioned Walt for $500 for Tommy Tucker's Tooth, a short subject showing the merits of brushing your teeth.
The studio declared bankruptcy in July 1923 after creating one last short live-action/animation called Alice Comedies. After Laugh-O-Grams was finished Disney moved to Hollywood, California. He was forced to sell his movie camera, which earned him enough money for a one-way train ticket. With him he brought along an unfinished reel of Alice's Wonderland.


After Walt made a success of his "Alice Comedies", he became a recognized Hollywood figure. On July 13, 1925, Walt married one of his first employees, Lillian Bounds, in Lewiston, Idaho. Walt was to have two daughters with Lillian, (Diane and Sharon).
  Mickey Mouse was created in 1928 by Walt Disney, who also voiced him, and Ub Iwerks.  The Walt Disney Company celebrates Mickey's birth in the 18th November, 1928 upon the release of "Steamboat Willie".  Mickey had appeared six months earlier in "Plane Crazy" but "Steamboat Willie" was the first Mickey Mouse Cartoon with sound.  The anthropomorphic mouse has been developed from simply being a character in animated cartoons and comic strips, to one of the most famous symbols in the world.

  In 1932 Walt won the first of his studio's Academy Awards with the production entitled "Flowers and Trees", which was the first colour cartoon. In 1937. He released The "Old Mill", the first short subject to utilize the multi-plane camera technique.

  The first full-length animated musical feature of "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" was premiered at the Carthay Theater in Los Angeles on the 21st December, 1927. The film was produced during the Depression at a cost of $1,499,000, which was unheard of at the time. It is still considered as one of the all time best treasures of Disney. Over the next five years Walt Disney Studios completed other full-length animated classics such as Pinocchio, Fantasia, Dumbo, and Bambi.