The magic formula: As Disney turns 100, its business model is still a dream come true
Once upon a studio
Today marks exactly 100 years since 2 brothers, Walt and Roy, set up an animation studio in a nondescript LA office that would go on to shape the entertainment landscape: The Walt Disney Company, or the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, as it was known back then.
The monolith that is the modern House of Mouse has been celebrating the milestone with a range of merchandise and events across its parks. However, it’s the company’s short film, Once Upon a Studio — featuring 543 memorable characters — that’s been the standout.
The magic formula
As it’s grown into one of the biggest media companies in the world, modern Disney obviously looks different to how it did in 1923. A series of acquisitions in recent years, for example, has seen the company’s focus shift from Mickey to Marvel and Fantasia to Fox. But, to generalize, what really has lived on is Disney's core formula for the business: make content and characters people love, and monetize them in multiple ways.
Ever since 1955, when Disney first opened the gates to the Magic Kingdom, the company has made most of its money through a heady mixture of theme parks and ever-popular TV and movie content.
Indeed, flicking back through the archives, we found the company’s 1960 annual report, which detailed $18 million in amusement park income, with film rentals and TV income totaling $18.4 million and $5 million, respectively. Although the **m**illions have become **b**illions — and divisions have been split-up, put back together, and renamed countless times — the core structure of the Disney business really is not-so-different, all these decades later.
