Disney Corporation Research Articles

I like Ike: The origins of broadcast presidential campaign advertising

AbstractThe first televised presidential campaign commercials ran in the 1952 electoral contest between Dwight Eisenhower and Adlai Stevenson, specifically as part of the effort to draft and then elect General Eisenhower. These first spot ads were developed not by political parties or the candidates but by an independent citizens group, Citizens for Eisenhower. The group developed two distinct styles of television advertising. The best known of these stemmed from the hard‐sell Madison Avenue tradition of public relations and its advertising innovator, Rosser Reeves, who produced the “Eisenhower Answers America” campaign. Less well known is an ad created by volunteer workers from the Disney Corporation, who produced an animated, musical rendition promising that “We'll Take Ike to Washington.” Unlike Reeves's more substantive ads that focused on issues, the Disney ads emphasized the image and character of the candidate. Using archival sources, this article shows that the televised marketing of the presidency stemmed not only from the public relations experts and Madison Avenue advertisers like Reeves but also from those connected to the entertainment industry who sought to manipulate the public through character appeals.

The portrayal of gender in Marvel and Star Wars media targeted towards children.

An abundance of previous research has investigated how gender has been portrayed within feature length films produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios, particularly those within the Disney princess franchise. However, the Disney corporation acquired the Marvel and Star Wars franchises in 2009 and 2012, respectively, which was likely a strategy for the corporation to obtain characters that would capture the imagination of boys and men. The current qualitative study explored how gender is portrayed by leading protagonists in these texts, utilising thematic analysis, which was necessary considering little is currently known in this domain. The researchers analysed series one of Avengers Assemble and series one of Star Wars Rebels. Interpretation of the data led to the development of several themes and subthemes based on the gendered portrayals within each series. Overall, the findings suggest that there was more overt gender stereotyping in Avengers Assemble when compared with Star Wars Rebels, meaning that the former could be particularly problematic for children who may replicate its messages. The current study has facilitated a greater understanding of the gendered messages that may be consumed by children who engage with Marvel and Star Wars media. Future research is needed to assess the relationship between such messages and children's behaviour.

What is Disney worth?

This article analyzes the business strategy and financial performance of Disney corporation. Disney is currently the biggest movie company in the industry, and it has just been through the COVID-19 period with the demand of expansion of their business. It is worth to take a deep look at Disney performance to gain an understanding of what strategies Disney is taking and how Disney performed during this unique period of time. I identify Disney strategies by using SWOT analysis and PES Analysis and give a general strategy that Disney has been taken. Next, I give an overview of Disney’s annual report at first. Finally, I project the following recent years’ revenue for Disney. The analysis reveals the Disney’s ability to operate well and generate revenue in the future. Hopefully, implication on business operation in a retail store can be provided, and stakeholders could have a fresh perception on Disney.

Levered-Beta and Cost of Capital Sensitivities: An Experimental Investigation in Capital Structure

Using US firms with over $5b market cap, this paper tests the impact of levered beta on the firm’s market value and optimal capital structure. Using the synthetic rating method in a recursive model, the paper shows the current and optimal weighted average cost of capital sensitivities as the firm’s market risk measured by beta changes. The paper shows that the change in the value of beta due to alternative leverage levels or other risk factors will alter the cost of capital insignificantly and has no impact on the optimal capital structure due to those firms’ extra-strong bond ratings. As a side-benefit of the synthetic rating method, one may also observe the market-level variables’ impacts on the cost of capital computations and the optimal debt ratio. The paper uses Disney Corporation to show how the synthetic rating methodology helps to disclose the sensitivities of hypothetical alternative leverages.

Disney’s Aladdin (2019), the Old Rum in the New Bottle

Disney Corporation has recently released Aladdin (2019) as their official remake of their own animated Film Aladdin (1992). By making some significant changes in the storyline, Guy Ritchie, the director of the film, tried to create some newness through the actions of the film. But the gender role of the princess Jasmine and the casting of Genie have brought back the same old tendency of the corporation that is the stereotypical representation of the females and racial ethnicity. The princess becomes the victim, and the male rescues the female, and the black becomes the slave. This very study shows how Disney has been doing the stereotyped portrayal of the women and showing the racist attitude towards the dark-skinned people. Since this study is conducted through a textual analysis approach, initially, the dialogues and actions related to the objective of the study have been coded. Then by analyzing the two characters and their dialogues, contexts and related actions, this study explains how Guy Ritchie’s Aladdin (2019) contains the old philosophy of Disney, that is keeping the women inside the house and neglecting the dark-skinned people, which at the end made the film nothing but the old rum in the new bottle.
 Keywords: Females, Genie, patriarchy, portrayal, slavery.

It’s Not Easy Being Orange: Animatronic Presidents, Patriotic Muppets, and the Configuration of Citizenship in Disney’s Liberty Square

It’s Not Easy Being OrangeAnimatronic Presidents, Patriotic Muppets, and the Configuration of Citizenship in Disney’s Liberty Square Chase Bringardner (bio) The aftermath of the 2016 election resonated widely into almost every nook and cranny of society, nationally and globally. What once had seemed an impossibility to so many now suddenly stared the nation directly in the face as a stark reality. Uncertainty and disbelief permeated pages and screens and media of all sorts struggled to make sense of what had happened. As norms faltered and new nationalisms emerged, the very ideas or constructs of citizen and citizenry were turned on their head. The previously established scripts no longer held together. The fragile threads that sought to hold together the citizenry unraveled. As the new administration sought to actively restrict and redefine what it meant to be American under the auspices of renewed greatness, the future for many suddenly seemed to have a whole lot less hope. At Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom, the self-proclaimed happiest place on earth, “imagineers” (those tasked within the Disney corporation with implementing new, innovative, and imaginative concepts and technology) faced a particular challenge. As polls had consistently shown former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton a clear favorite to win, imagineers had (allegedly) already begun construction on a Clinton animatronic figure to join the forty-three men who had served as president of the United States in Walt Disney’s Hall of Presidents, an animatronic enhanced show celebrating the institution of the presidency that opened with the Magic Kingdom in 1971.1 As imagineers behind the scenes struggled to (literally) shift gears and refashion latex and paint to reflect this new reality in this classic theme park attraction, for park guests and Disney employees alike, the area surrounding the attraction, known as Liberty Square, offered a possible [End Page 105] framework to understand the rapidly shifting terrain. For just a month before the election, a roaming band of felted, vaudevillian performers took residency in the building next door, entertaining crowds with two different retellings of American history. These performances offer an opportunity to provide a new script on how to engage with the presence of the new animatronic figure in that theatre next door. Moreover, they also perform a certain kind of disruptive and unruly citizenship to respond to this new administration. Through the Muppets’ raucous performance of “Great Moments in History”—delivered with gusto by a frog, a pig, a bear, an eagle, chickens, and Gonzo—audiences get to experience ruptures in the historical narrative and potentially ascertain strategies for performing and perhaps creating alternative citizenries. Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom theme park consists of six different “lands,” each located on a spoke that emanates from the central wheel’s hub (which is immediately in front of Cinderella’s castle). Liberty Square, nestled between Frontierland and Fantasy Land, recreates an idealized Colonial American town square complete with replicas of the Liberty Tree and the Liberty Bell. The land is the primary launch point for the Liberty Bell river boat and home to the Hall of Presidents attraction as well as one of Disney World’s most beloved (albeit perhaps oddly placed) attractions—The Haunted Mansion—which is neither particularly Colonial nor American. The center of Liberty Square contains a replica of Philadelphia’s Independence Hall, which houses the Hall of Presidents attraction (figure 8.1). Surrounding that central building are a number of other smaller Colonial structures that give the sense of a bristling Colonial town. In theory, and in Walt Disney’s original conception, these buildings recreate a historical civic space. In practice, these buildings primarily serve to offer theme park guests opportunities to buy products ranging from ornaments from Ye Olde Christmas Shoppe to funnel cakes and foot-long corn dogs from the Sleepy Hollow snack shop.2 The central attraction in Liberty Square, the Hall of Presidents holds a revered place in Disney history as one of Walt Disney’s legacy projects, a project he himself shepherded through the design process until his death in 1966. Originally intended as part of an early expansion to Disneyland titled “Liberty Street,” the Hall of Presidents eventually opened...

‘Meet me on main street’: Disneyland as place attachment for Southern Californians

Disneyland is often cited by scholars as a pseudo-place, non-place and placeless, but the approximately one million annual passholders in Southern California hold a strong sense of place attachment to the first and only park built by Walt Disney. The particular environmental, cultural, business and personal factors behind Disneyland’s development and evolution have produced a special connection between locals and theme park. Manzo and Perkins’s (2006) three psychological processes of place attachment illustrate the affective, cognitive and behavioral dimensions of the Southern Californian bond to Disneyland’s social and physical features based on qualitative data from interviews with event and group organizers, and two months of participant observation fieldwork at Disneyland, in addition to quantitative data from an online survey of 637 Disneyland fans in Southern California. Without the prodding, involvement or permit of the Disney corporation, Southern Californians have organically created hundreds of their own events, meets and clubs in the park. Disneyland is not placeless as typically insinuated, but rather a meaningful place for many Southern Californians who perceive the park as their primary social hub to meet family, friends and strangers, a home away from home, an anchor to the region and a force for good in American society to be protected and cherished by assisting other visitors and cast members, picking up trash, reporting lost items and enjoying camaraderie with fellow Disney enthusiasts. Though pleasure gardens, mechanical amusement parks and theme parks have long been derided as vacuous, antisocial spaces of ephemeral engagement, Disneyland for Southern Californians demonstrates otherwise. The original Disneyland is perhaps a localized Southern California place phenomenon and not representative of other Disneylands and theme park milieus around the world, though further research is necessary.

The Art of Walt Disney Animation Studios: Movement by Nature

Created in collaboration with the Walt Disney Animation Research Library, the “The Art of Walt Disney Animation Studios: Movement by Nature” exhibition held at the Paris Musee Art Ludique holds special appeal for students of popular culture. Some of that interest will, of course, stem from the 350 pieces on display, and some from the process by which the Disney corporation further “artifies” popular media, providing the studio’s products with an additional layer of cultural legitimacy and al...

“After Ever After”: Social Commentary through a Satiric Disney Parody for the Digital Age

“If you’ve ever wondered why Disney tales all end in lies,” then ask YouTube artist Paint—aka Jon Cozart. He has created a video for YouTube.com that re-imagines what happened after four of Disney’s leading ladies’ “dreams came true.” Continuing a tradition that is as old as the tales he sings about, the artist combines characters and melodies that have become culturally ubiquitous since the media domination of the Disney Corporation with an interpretation of the material that tries to make sense of the world in which it exists. Continuing the criticisms of post-modernism and feminist theory, Cozart challenges the “happily ever afters” that have become the stock endings for the genre. Through comedic satire he creates parodied storylines that bring four animated princesses out of their Disney realms and into the real world where they must deal with environmental destruction, racism, and colonialism, among other issues. The use of a video-sharing site such as Youtube.com not only allows for the expanded distribution of fan-created material, but it also directly addresses a wider audience than traditional oral story tellers could possibly reach: the Internet. This case study looks at the ways in which the global recognition of Disney culture allows for the creation of social commentary through familiar and beloved characters, while an increasingly digitally-connected world impacts the capabilities and understanding of both the creator and the viewers of the material. While far from being a new phenomenon, the reinterpretation of fairy tales takes on content and a form that reflects the increasingly globalized and digitized world in Cozart’s Disney parody.

Teachers’ Perspectives in Using Disney Songs in the Music Classroom

Integrating popular music as part of the public school music curriculum has been a topic of debate among many educators and researchers. Songs from the Disney Corporation, specifically from movies, television shows, and performers specifically marketed by Disney, are particularly significant due to their widespread popularity. In this article, the author compares various perspectives of researchers and practicing teachers as to their opinions regarding the use of Disney songs in their classrooms. Specific usages and incorporation into instructional methods are described, in contrast to opinions why certain educators oppose the use of Disney music, including specific songs or Disney music as an entity.

Ambiguitas yang Mencerminkan Rasisme dalam Film The Princess and The Frog

<p>Princess fairy tales have made the Disney Corporation so famous. At fi rst, Disney princesses were white skinned. As time goes by, Disney started fi lming animated movies with colored princesses. In 2009, Disney released a movie based on an African-American princess named Tiana in ‘The Princess and the Frog’ (2009). Ambiguities in terms of understanding black appear in the fi lm. To help analyzing this movie, Barthes’ semiotics theory will be used. By using that theory, the writer proposes that on one hand, Disney conveys that America has become “color blind,” but on the other, blacks are positioned as lower class. This movie refl ects Disney’s belief in what is true and ideal about the American society, but here we see that the notion “all men are created equal” writt en in the declaration of Independence is not fully implemented in the American society.</p>

Julie Taymor, Sony’s Digital Dream Kids, and the Marxist Labor Theory of Value

Julie Taymor is an exemplary artist who has successfully made the transition from avant-garde director of live theatre in the 1980s to become a Broadway director for Disney Corporation with The Lion King, and, more recently, a film director with Sony’s nostalgic look at the music of the Beatles in Across the Universe. Highlights of her career—spanning the latter half of the twentieth century—offer excellent examples of the changes in the economics of creativity and artistic labor for a case study in cultural and aesthetic values under global capitalism. Through interviews, newspapers and financial annual reports, specific moments in Taymor’s oeuvre reveal key distinctions between cultural and intercultural values, between aesthetic and financial exchange values, and highlight themes and limitations in the legacy of the Marxist labor theory of value.

Imagineering Uneven Geographical Development in Central Florida

In an era when it is proclaimed that, through globalization, the world has become flat, the unevenness of economic and social development is often overlooked or suppressed. This case study explores the conditions of uneven geographical development in the urban space of central Florida. Focusing primarily on the Reedy Creek Improvement District (), better known to much of the world as Walt Disney World, and on Celebration, the community developed by the Disney Corporation in the 1990s, the relationship between tourism, the defining economic sector in the region, and uneven geographical development is explored. This study shows that the theory of uneven geographical development applies well to a region that is heavily dependent upon the tourist sector for its economy, and thereby works to control the narrative of that space to continue attracting consumers.

Mickey Horror

Randy Moore's horror film Escape from Tomorrow (2013) was shot at Disneyland, Epcot, and Disney World, without either the authorization or knowledge of the Disney corporation. The result is a fascinating example of guerrilla filmmaking that makes use of gothic conventions to craft a new narrative of corporate horror. Both the film and its promotional materials narrate the vicissitudes of countering a mass-culture corporation that has become synonymous with American fantasies and imaginaries. And yet, however revolutionary his methods and overall narrative, Moore relies on long-familiar images of monstrous femininity to convey the circumstances of mass-culture seduction. The end result is less an attack on the institution of Disney itself than a gothic account of the parks' co-option by a dangerous female consumerism that nullifies male resistance or escape.

“It Just Makes Good Business Sense”: A Media Political Economy Analysis of espnW

The first business subsidiary of espn , Inc. marketed specifically to female athletes and fans is espnW , asserting its mission is “to serve women as fans and athletes. espnW.com provides an engaging environment that offers total access to female athletes and the sports they play, takes fans inside the biggest events, and shares a unique point of view on the sports stories that matter most to women” (espnW, n.d.a, espnW …). Political economy analysis reveals that espnW is a manifestation of espn , Inc.’s spurious interest in women’s sports as a means to garner profit. Being part of the Disney Corporation sets up espnW as a revenue generator for its parent company. Participants in espnW ’s planning retreats and the two women at the helm of espnW further reinforce that espn , Inc. is using espnW for profit, not for promoting women’s sports. Additionally, creating a website dedicated to anything related to women, with espn , Inc.’s history of discrimination, exploits women. Lastly, presenting espnW as a separate site for female fans yields women less respect as sports fans.

Professor Janet Wasko: An Interview with the President of the IAMCR and one of the Key Representatives of the Political Economy of Communication Approach

This paper presents an interview with Janet Wasko. She is a Professor and Knight Chair in Communication Research at the University of Oregon’s School of Journalism and Communication and widely considered as one of the key authors working in the tradition of the political economy of communication. Currently she is serving as the President of the International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR), one of the key international associations in the field of media and communication studies. She previously held several other positions in the IAMCR and served as the head of the Political Economy-section, which she also helped to establish. Professor Wasko published several influential books on the film industry, especially on Hollywood and the Disney Corporation. We talked especially about the influences on her approach, about her position in the IAMCR, her understanding of how the cultural and media industries work, the political economy approach in media and communication studies, and issues related to the film industry, which she mostly tackles in her own research.

Professor Janet Wasko: An Interview with the President of the IAMCR and one of the Key Representatives of the Political Economy of Communication Approach

This paper presents an interview with Janet Wasko. She is a Professor and Knight Chair in Communication Research at the University of Oregon’s School of Journalism and Communication and widely considered as one of the key authors working in the tradition of the political economy of communication. Currently she is serving as the President of the International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR), one of the key international associations in the field of media and communication studies. She previously held several other positions in the IAMCR and served as the head of the Political Economy-section, which she also helped to establish. Professor Wasko published several influential books on the film industry, especially on Hollywood and the Disney Corporation. We talked especially about the influences on her approach, about her position in the IAMCR, her understanding of how the cultural and media industries work, the political economy approach in media and communication studies, and issues related to the film industry, which she mostly tackles in her own research.

Damsels in Distress: A Textual Analysis of Gender roles in Disney Princess Films

Gender is one of the most discussed topics in today‟s society. Gender represents and also reproduces certain attributes, expectations and roles which are associated with male and female. Media is the most important resource through which people develop their identities and thereby come to understand the role that gender plays in the actual world. This article is designed to study the gender identity and gender roles in Disney movies and to see how identity is transformed through long term virtues and ideals that are set forth by the Disney movies. It is generally regarded that the Disney movies is unhealthy for children, especially the young girls to watch for the physical, social and behavioral attributes they suggest, conform to the values supporting male dominance. Disney movies are often criticized for their negative, stereotypical portrayal of female characters that are often unrealistically painted. In the context of Disney movies, the word „woman‟ has become synonymous with „victim‟ in a patriarchal society. The Disney Corporation films such as Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty et al are in the list of favorite Disney heroines for young girls for the last fifty years. These movies have certain themes in common—the female protagonist in each of these films is shown as a “Disney Princess” but the traits of these princesses, featured through these films are submissiveness and servitude. Though they possess divine beauty, these princesses only seem to be capable of suffering in silence, and it is because of this, they are finally given the ultimate reward: salvation through the handsome Prince Charming. This negative portrayals of women and girls in Disney movies gain force through the way in which similar messages are consistently circulated and reproduced in varying degrees in many of the Disney movies even till today. Though both the male and the female roles have changed over time in the Disney princess line, yet the female characters actually exhibits less change in their gender role portrayals and there is no doubt that Disney Corporation is reaching their target audience and their message is continuously being made available to the young children (especially the young girls) around the world.

It's the Time of Your Life: Marxism in Animated Films

This essay discusses how instructors can use popular animated films in their classrooms to exemplify progressive Marxian topics. In this particular case, A Bug's Life, which is a collaboration by the Disney Corporation and PIXAR, is analyzed. The film highlights issues of class revolution, exploitation, collective action, solidarity, and worker ingenuity. A lively and creative though relatively short film, A Bug's Life is packed with issues of economic and social justice, to which students brilliantly respond in their class discussions and papers. This is but one example of many works of popular culture that can help students connect with important progressive and/or Marxian concepts.

The Success of Disney Corporation: Case Study of Value-based Services for Sustainable Business (2008-2012)

디즈니랜드 시는 영화 및 미디어방원(Touchstone, Pixar, Marvel, and DreamWorks)과 미디어산업 (Disney Channel, ESPN) 등 필름 유통산업과 디즈니랜드 등 놀이공원으로 이 분야의 창조산업의 선 두 회사이다. 디즈니사는 그 동안 사업의 다각화, 전문화와 글로벌화를 통해서 성장하였다. 최근 2011 년 Interbrand사에 의하면 디즈니 사는 세제 9위의 브랜드 가치를 지나고 있다. 혁신적이며 창조적인 서비스의 제공을 목표로 하는 기업의 임무(mission)와 고객 책임과 봉사의 기업 강령(corporate citizenship)에서 이러한 성공을 알 수 있다. 특히 주목할 점은 디즈니 사는 그 동안 성공적으로 필름 유용산업의 다각화를 추구하는 동시에 디즈니랜드의 놀이산업을 글로벌화 하였다는 점이다. 이러한 디즈니사의 성공은 지속성장을 위한 가치기초 서비스 경영전략(value-based services for sustainable business)의 성공 사례로 높이 평가 받고 있다. 본 연구는 디즈니사의 두개이 중요한 사업군인 필름 유통산업과 놀이산업을 중심으로 사업의 다 각화, 글로벌화의 판정에서 디즈니사의 성공요인을 분석한다. 제 2장에서 디즈니사의 필름 유통산업의 다각화, 제 3장은 디즈니사의 놀이산업의 글로벌화를 중심으로 분석한다. 제 14장에서 디즈니사의 SWOT 분석과 기업 강령 및 성공을 분석하고 제 5장에서 결론을 각각 도출한다.