Disney Case Study - Tangled

For more than nine decades, the name Walt Disney has been preeminent in the field of family entertainment. From humble beginnings as a cartoon studio in the 1920s to today's global corporation, The Walt Disney Company continues to proudly provide quality entertainment for every member of the family, across America and around the world.

 In 18 November, 1928, Steamboat Willie is released at the Colony Theatre in New York, the real ease of Mickey Mouse cartoon and the very first appearance of Minnie Mouse.

In 21 December, 1937, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Disney's first feature-length animated film, premieres at the Carthay Circle Theatre.

 

In 17 July, 1955, The first Disney park, opened in Anaheim, California, to an invited audience on this day.

Media Networks

Media Networks comprise a vast array of broadcast, cable, radio, publishing and digital businesses across two divisions – the Disney/ABC Television Group and ESPN Inc. In addition to content development and distribution functions, the segment includes supporting headquarters, communications, digital media, distribution, marketing, research and sales groups.

The Disney/ABC Television Group is composed of The Walt Disney Company’s global entertainment and news television properties, owned television stations group, and radio business. This includes the ABC Television Network, ABC Owned Television Stations Group, ABC Entertainment Group, Disney Channels Worldwide, ABC Family as well as Disney/ABC Domestic Television and Disney Media Distribution. The Company’s equity interest in A&E Television Networks, Hulu, and Fusion round out the Group’s portfolio of media businesses.

Parks and Resorts

When Walt Disney opened Disneyland on July 17, 1955, he created a unique destination built around storytelling and immersive experiences, ushering in a new era of family entertainment. More than 55 years later, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts (WDP&R) has grown into one of the world’s leading providers of family travel and leisure experiences, providing millions of guests each year with the chance to spend time with their families and friends making memories that will last forever.

At the heart of WDP&R are five world-class vacation destinations with 11 theme parks and 44 resorts in North America, Europe and Asia, with a sixth destination currently under construction in Shanghai. WDP&R also includes the Disney Cruise Line with its four ships - the Disney Magic, Disney Wonder, Disney Dream and Disney Fantasy; Disney Vacation Club, with 12 properties and approaching a total of 200,000 member families; and Adventures by Disney, which provides guided family vacation experiences to destinations around the globe.

The Walt Disney Studios

For nearly 90 years, The Walt Disney Studios has been the foundation on which The Walt Disney Company was built. Today, the Studio brings quality movies, music and stage plays to consumers throughout the world. Feature films are released under the following banners: Disney, including Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar Animation Studios; Disneynature; Marvel Studios; Lucasfilm; and Touchstone Pictures, the banner under which live-action films from DreamWorks Studios are distributed. The Disney Music Group encompasses the Walt Disney Records and Hollywood Records labels, as well as Disney Music Publishing. The Disney Theatrical Group produces and licenses live events, including Disney on Broadway, Disney On Ice and Disney Live!

TANGLED

Origins

Tangled is loosely based on the German fairy tale 'Repunzel' in the collection of folk tales published by the Brothers Grimm, two 17th century writters who are the most renowned fairy-tale creators creating other classics such as Cinderella, Rumplestiltzskin and Snow White. The Brothers were known for their gothic style of writing and their stories which are told now have been drastically adapted.

Finance

Tangled spent 6 years in production at an estimated cost of $260 million which makes it the most expensive animated film of all time. The opening weekend in the UK, the box office made £5,106,612 and in total in the UK £35,518,895.

Distribution

There are two reasons why Tangled made big news on it's release.

1. As of yet, Tangled is the most expensive animated movie to date. To put it into context-

The movie holding the title of most expensive is the  Lord of the Rings trilogy (The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers andThe return of the King) costing 281 million, only 21 million more.

However, James Cameron is famous for his big budget movies. Terminator 2 (1991) was the first movie to cost 100m. Titanic (1997) was the first to cost 200m. By the time James Cameron was making Avatar in 2009, budget was enormous. The official budget is supposedly 237m dollars, but it’s not uncommon to see claims and speculations that place the budget closer to 280m dollars.

2. The film uses a new animation technology which completely killed traditional hand-drawn animation, forever solidifying CGI as the “new cartoon”. This is one of the first time Disney has relied pimerily on CGI for an animated film. Many amateur cartoonists were in uproar over the effects this would have on hand drawn animations.