Disney

Link

Emma Lipstone and Susy Solino

[1] The Walt Disney Company Logo

The Walt Disney Company

500 South Buena Vista St.
Burbank, CA 91521

Website: thewaltdisneycompany.com
Phone Number: (818) 560 – 1000

Company

The Walt Disney Company was founded on October 16, 1923 by Walter Elias Disney and is headquartered in Burbank, CA. The Company is one of the biggest media and entertainment corporations in the world. [2]. Walt Disney Studios is home to the four major film studios: Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar Animation Studios, Marvel Studios, and Lucasfilm Ltd. The Walt Disney Company also owns and operates Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, Disney Music Group, Disney Theatrical Group, DisneyToon Studios, Touchstone Pictures, and DisneyNature. [3].

Disney’s animation studio has produced around fifty-five animated feature films, with the fifty-sixth being Moana that was just recently released. Pixar has produced seventeen films; the most recent being Finding Dory. In 2009, Disney purchased Marvel Studios and has since produced multiple movies based off of Marvel comic book characters including: The Avengers, X-Men, Spider-Man, and Guardians of the Galaxy. Most recently in 2012, Disney acquired Lucasfilm Ltd. which is the studio best known for creating the Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises.

In addition to popular film franchises, Walt Disney Company owns and operates many television channels that produce popular television series’. The biggest subsidiary under Disney Media Networks is ABC, which produces hit network shows such as Scandal and How to Get Away with Murder. [5]. Disney also owns ESPN and operates A&E Networks in a joint venture with Hearst Corporation, along with a portion of Hulu.

[9] Some of The Walt Disney Company Conglomerates

Financials

The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) stock has been declining in the past few quarters.

According to the earnings report released on November 10, 2016, operating income at Cable Networks decreased $207 million to $1.4 billion for the quarter due to decreases at ESPN and the Disney Channels. [6].

ESPN has been losing subscribers to online streaming, such as Netflix or over-the-top streaming services. Also, social media has provided access to a lot of breaking news and sports live broadcasting, luring viewers away from cable television. One of the biggest issues facing ESPN and The Walt Disney Company is that the sports cable network has already paid huge rights fees for the next 5 years, yet subscribers are only paying $8 a month to cover the games, which will not exist in a few years. The increase in programming and production costs were due to The Olympics programming internationally, the World Cup of Hockey rights, and higher contractual rates for college sports. [7].

However, the growth at Freeform, which is the old ABC Family, has been very successful this quarter due to lower programming and production costs, as well as a decrease in marketing expenses. These were driven by fewer hours of original scripted programming in the current quarter.

[33] Disney stock prices for last 2 years

Key Executives

[8] Robert A. Iger: Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

[8] Alan N. Braverman: Senior Executive Vice President

[8] Christine M. McCarthy: Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

[8] Zenia Mucha: Executive Vice President and Chief Communications Officer

[8] Jayne Parker: Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer

Box Office Reports

[12] Movie poster for “Captain America: Civil War” (2016)

2016 was announced as The Walt Disney Company’s most successful International Box Office record to date, reporting over $3.56 Billion through October 16th in just international sales, surpassing their 2015 general record of $3.56 Billion. [10]. This was due to a powerhouse series of releases throughout 2016, beginning with the summer blockbuster Captain America: Civil War which brought in 1.15 Billion worldwide viewers, $745 million Internationally and was named the No. 1 film of the year internationally and globally. [11].

[14] Movie poster for “Zootopia” (2016)

The animated release of Zootopia also helped spike Disney’s international numbers as it was named the biggest animated film to ever be released in China and brought in $682.3 million internationally. Elsewhere in the studio, 2016’s surprise remake of The Jungle Book also experienced a successful release, bringing in $602.3 million internationally as well as the title of “Top Western Film of all Time” in India and the No. 3 film of the year overseas. [13]. Furthermore, while being in the box office for nearly 16 weeks, Finding Dory managed to break records and pass the billion dollar global box office line by bringing in $484.8 million domestically and $519.9 million internationally, making it Pixar’s second billion dollar release and earning a rank as the 5th biggest animated film of all time, globally. [15].

As though breaking international box office records was not enough, Disney also managed to set new industry records for reaching $2 billion domestic (July 16th) and $5 billion global (July 10). As well as earned three new spots in the Hall of Fame for domestic box offices with Finding Dory, Captain America: Civil War, and Zootopia. All of this success comes with still two-and-a-half months and three major releases remaining in their calendar year. [16].

Dory, the star of “Finding Dory” (2016), now the fifth highest grossing animated film of all time. [17]

Recent and Future Releases

[18] Movie poster for Marvel’s “Doctor Strange” (2016)

Marvel Studio’s Doctor Strange represents another large victory for The Walt Disney Company’s Marvel unit, even on the heels of the overwhelming success of Captain America: Civil War.

Doctor Strange was projected to collect anywhere from $65 million to $75 million in ticket sales from the United States and Canada through opening weekend, positively surprising analysts and bringing in $85 million and the #1 rank instead. Since its release, Doctor Strange has made over $200 million domestically and over $400 million internationally, crossing $600 million worldwide in under 4 weeks. [19].

Moana, who was scheduled for a holiday release, has surpassed the high expectations set by Doctor Strange, bringing in over $81 million domestically throughout its opening weekend. [20].

[22] Movie poster for “Moana” (2016)

Further down the line, fans eagerly await the release of Star Wars: Rogue One. As well as Disney’s live action remake of Beauty and the Beast and the recently announced remakes of Mulan and Snow White. All of which are predicted to be box-office heavy hitters. [21].

[23].

Diversity

videothumbnail_elanaofavalor_teaser_02_ce1b790c

[24] Elena of Avalor, Disney’s first Latina princess.

In light of a growing diverse culture and need for representation in the film industry, Disney had begun fighting back against claims of their white-washing tactics and ill representation in their films by allowing more diverse roles in their characters and plots.

[25] Moana, Disney’s first Polynesian heroine.

This year’s recently released Moana revolves around Tahitian and Pacific Islander culture and will be the first Disney film every to be translated into the Tahitian language. [26]. Furthermore, Disney introduced the world to their first Latina princess earlier in the year with the release of their television series Elena of Avalor, a Disney Channel show revolving around latin customs and characters [27] further proving the Company’s desire to focus on promoting more representation of diversity through their media. In addition to their animated strikes towards representation, Disney has announced their search for Chinese actors to star in the upcoming Mulan remake. [28].

jungle-book-to-mulan-all-the-live-action-disney-movies-in-the-works-right-now

[29] Movie poster for Disney’s upcoming live action remake of “Mulan,” featuring a Chinese actress.

Future Integration

In addition to divulging into a more diverse space, Disney has also shown interested in expanding into a more digital and web space with their media. In September 2016, Disney began showing signs of interest for acquiring the social media giant, Twitter Inc., going as far as to work with advisors to put together a potential bid for the company. [30]. While eventually deciding to go against the deal for image reasons, as the social network is known for its reputation of bullying and harassment, the interest in social media gives clear insight that Disney has begun exploring new digital horizons. [31]. Many analysts have taken note of Disney’s interest to expand digitally and predict that the streaming giant, Netflix, might be next on the company’s list of potential assets. [32].

Bibliography

Walt Disney Company Logo. Retrieved November 1, 2016. http://logok.org/disney-logo/
Walt Disney History. Retrieved November 1, 2016. https://d23.com/disney-history
The Walt Disney Company. Retrieved November 1, 2016 https://thewaltdisneycompany.com/about/#our-businesses
Box Office Reports. Retrieved October 28, 2016. boxofficemojo.com
Johnson, Madeleine. June 16, 2016. Your Complete Guide to All the Things Owned by Disney. Retrieved November 21, 2016. https://www.zacks.com/stock/news/220682/your-complete-guide-to-all-the-things-owned-by-disney
November 10, 2016. The Walt Disney Company Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year Earnings for Fiscal 2016. Retrieved November 11, 2016. https://ditm-twdc-us.storage.googleapis.com/q4-fy16-earnings.pdf
October 31, 2016. Disney: ESPN Still has a Big Problem. Retrieved November 2, 2016. http://seekingalpha.com/article/4017145-disney-espn-still-big-problem
The Walt Disney Company About. Retrieved November 1, 2016. https://thewaltdisneycompany.com/about/
The Walt Disney Company. Retrieved November 2, 2016. https://storify.com/LA346TeamDisney/the-walt-disney-company
McNary, Dave. October 17, 2016. ‘Captain America: Civil War,’ ‘Finding Dory’ Push Disney to International Box Office Record. Retrieved October 18, 2016. https://variety.com/2016/film/news/captain-america-civil-war-finding-dory-disney-box-office-record-1201891155/
Tartaglione, Nancy. October 17, 2016. Finding Money: Disney Tops Full-Year Intl Box Office Record with $3.56B+ (So Far). Retrieved October 18, 2016. http://deadline.com/2016/10/walt-disney-studios-all-time-international-box-office-record-captain-america-zootopia-1201837655/
Freeman, Molly. November 25, 2016. Captain America: Civil War Character Posters- Superhero Fight Time. Retrieved November 27, 2016. http://screenrant.com/captain-america-3-civil-war-posters-iron-man/
Laughing Place Disney Newsdesk. October 17, 2016. 2016 International Box Office is Disney’s Best Year Ever. Retrieved October 19, 2016. http://www.laughingplace.com/w/news/2016/10/17/2016-international-box-office-disneys-best-year-ever/
Disney Zootopia. Retrieved November 10, 2016. http://movies.disney.com/zootopia
October 10, 2016. “Finding Dory” Keeps Swimming to $1 Billion. Retrieved October 20, 2016. https://thewaltdisneycompany.com/finding-dory-keeps-swimming-1-billion/
Derisz, Ricky. October 18, 2016. ‘Captain America: Civil War’ Helps Disney Break its Own $3 Billion International Box Office Record…With More to Come. Retrieved October 19, 2016. http://moviepilot.com/p/captain-america-civil-war-disney-box-office-record/4127909
Disney Movies: Finding Dory. Retrieved November 21, 2016. http://movies.disney.co.uk/finding-dory
CS. April 4, 2016. Doctor Strange Filming Wraps as Mads Mikkelsen’s Villain is Revealed. Retrieved November 15, 2016. http://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/673101-doctor-strange-filming-wraps-as-mads-mikkelsens-villain-is-revealed#/slide/1
Faughnder, Ryan. November 1, 2016. ‘Doctor Strange’ is Expected to Draw a Massive Audience for Disney’s Marvel Studios. Retrieved November 2, 2016. http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-fi-ct-movie-projector-20161031-story.html
The Associated Press. November 27, 2016. ‘Moana’ Wins Box Office with Huge Opening Weekend. Retrieved November 27, 2016. http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/movies/moana-wins-box-office-huge-opening-weekend-article-1.2888989
Acuna, Kirsten and Phillips, Ian. October 26, 2016. Disney Announced all its Movies Coming in the Next 4 Years – Here’s What you have to Look Forward to. Retrieved October 28, 2016. http://www.thisisinsider.com/disney-movie-schedule-2016-to-2019-2016-10/#strange-cumberbatch-will-play-a-surgeon-who-injures-his-hands-severely-in-accident-2
Disney Moana. Retrieved November 25, 2016. http://movies.disney.com/moana
May 23, 2016. Beauty and the Beast Official US Teaser Trailer. Retrieved November 15, 2016. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c38r-SAnTWM
Ranere, Dianna. August 12, 2016. Disney’s Elena of Avalor Renewed for 2nd Season #ElenaOfAvalor. Retrieved October 28, 2016. http://www.fsm-media.com/disneys-elena-avalor-renewed/
Lodi, Marie. July 1, 2016. Why People are Upset About this Character’s Weight in Disney’s New Movie “Moana”. Retrieved November 10, 2016. http://hellogiggles.com/moana-maui-people-angry-obese-stereotype/
October 25, 2016. Walt Disney Animation Studios’ “Moana” to be First Film Ever Translated into the Tahitian Language. Retrieved October 26, 2016. https://thewaltdisneycompany.com/moana-first-film-translated-tahitian-language/
Hughes, Ruth. October 16, 2016. Teen Spirit: Meet the new Plucky Disney Princess Elena of Avalor. Retrieved October 17, 2016. http://www.express.co.uk/life-style/life/720813/Disney-Channel-Elena-Of-Avalor-princess
Biek, Katherine. October 5, 2016. Disney Seeks Chinese Actress for ‘Mulan’ Remake. Retrieved November 20, 2016. http://www.whio.com/news/national/disney-seeks-chinese-actress-for-mulan-remake/fG3AO2Pqefhu4NVlI8ycfI/
Edwards, Ally. October 16, 2016. Jungle Book to Mulan: All the Live Action Disney Movies in The Works Right Now. Retrieved October 17, 2016. http://moviepilot.com/posts/3590427
Roettgers, Janko. September 26, 2016. Disney is Looking into Buying Twitter (Report). Retrieved October 20, 2016. http://variety.com/2016/digital/news/disney-twitter-acquisition-possible-1201870392/
New Statesman. October 18, 2016. Disney Didn’t Buy Twitter- Partly because it Can’t Master the Bare Necessities. Retrieved October 19, 2016. http://www.newstatesman.com/science-tech/social-media/2016/10/disney-didn-t-buy-twitter-partly-because-it-cant-master-bare
Williams, Trey. October 5, 2016. Netflix Said to be in Disney’s Crosshairs, and Analysts see a Streaming Rationale. Retrieved October 21, 2016. http://www.marketwatch.com/story/disney-remains-center-of-merger-talk-this-time-its-netflix-2016-10-03
The Walt Disney Company (DIS). Retrieved November 20, 2016. https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/DIS?p=DIS

Buena Vista/Disney Pictures

Posted on March 25, 2015 by Jordyn Rosenberg

by JORDYN ROSENBERG

[2] Walt Disney Pictures Logo

HISTORY

The Lion King

From 1988 to present day, Disney Pictures has released some of the most successful films in Hollywood. Disney’s most iconic and memorable titles include, The Lion King, The Little Mermaid, Aladdin and Beauty and The Beast. Disney has pushed the boundaries of the film industry since its beginning with the production of the first full length animation film, Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs, in 1937, as well as the release of their first live action film, Treasure Island, in 1950 [1].

Treasure Island

After the death of Walt Disney in 1966 his brother Roy Disney took the lead. The company only continued to grow when Robert Iger was named chief executive officer in 2005. Currently, Disney owns Walt Disney Animation Studios, Marvel, Touchstone, Disneynature & Lucasfilms. On February 5th 2015, Thomas O. Staggs, [16] Chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, was named Chief Operating Officer of The Walt Disney Company.

FINANCIALS

In 2015, Buena Vista or Disney Pictures Studios held 10.8% market share and earned a total gross of $319 million. With only three movie releases thus far in 2015, the studio is ranked 4th. [13] The studio is behind 20th Century Fox, Universal, and Warner Bros. The companies rank is anticipated to rise with the rest of their 2015 slate. [3] After a full slate of 13 movies in 2014, the company grossed $1,617.5 billion, held a market share of 15.6% and ranked 2nd behind 20th Century Fox. The Walt Disney Company released its first quarterly report [14] for 2015 on February 3rd. Within the overall company, earnings per share increased 23% to $1.27 billion from $1.03 billion in the 2014 fourth quarter report [15]. Specifically, in studio entertainment, revenues have decreased 2% to 1.9 billion from 1.8 billion in 2014. Lower theatrical distribution numbers were a result of the performance of Big Hero 6 in comparsion to the release of Frozen last year.

KEY EXECUTIVES

[22] Alan Bergman – President, The Walt Disney Studios

Alan Horn - Chairman, Walt Disney Studios

[23] Alan Horn – Chairman, The Walt Disney Studios

[24] Robert Iger – Chairman and Executive Officer, The Walt Disney Company

IN THEATERS

Cinderella

Cinderella

The live-action remake, directed by Kenneth Branagh, of the notorious Disney animation, Cinderella, did well in the box office opening weekend. Opening at number 1, the weekend of March 13th 2015, the movie earned an opening weekend gross of $67,877,361 domestically. Including international gross, the film made over $70 million opening weekend and made their $95 million budget in the second week. In total, Cinderella has made $438,036,467 worldwide [6]. With a large part of the target audience being female children, the cast, including, Lily James and Richard Madden, was fairly unknown [7]. The seven minute Frozen Fever short at the beginning of the film, based of the extremely popular animation Frozen, may have been a drawing factor for audiences. Although the film had one of the biggest debuts of the year, its numbers fell short of what was expected by Disney. The lower figures mean the new film fell behind Disney’s last live-action remake, Maleficent [8].

Monkey Kingdom

Monkey Kingdom

The Disneynature film, set in South Asia, follows the story of a macaque monkey, named Maya. With a new son, Kip, and her longtime home, Castle Rock, being taken over, Maya faces various struggles. Her ultimate goal is to get her home back and establish a good future for her son. The movie is narrated by Tina Fey. The director of the film, Mark Linfield, spent over 2 and a half years filming and following the animals for the movie [9]. The movie was released on April 17th. The opening weekend numbers have yet to be released. . .

SPRING 2015 RELEASES

McFarland, USA

McFarland USA

Released on February 20th, 2015, the sports-drama, McFarland USA, tells the story of a high school cross-country team as they attempt to succeed under the supervision of a new coach, played by Kevin Costner. The director of the film, Niki Caro, expressed that film is especially timely with the current debate over immigration [5]. The movie is set in a highly immigrated area and a majority of the athletes are from migrant families. Opening weekend grossed $11,020,798 and the movie made an overall domestic total of $42,715,645 [4]. The film was not as successful as Disney had hoped, opening at number 4 in theaters and continually falling in rank week to week. .

FUTURE SLATE

Tomorrowland

Tomorrowland

Tomorrowland will be released on May 22nd 2015. The movie was directed by Brad Bird and stars Academy Award winning actor, George Clooney. The cast also includes Britt Robertson, this year’s “Star of Tomorrow” award winner [11] at CinemaCon, and Judy Greer. The films tells the story of a young girl who finds a mysterious and magical pin. Touching the pin reveals a new and better world [10]. Disney is keeping the details of the plot a vaulted secret. Disney’s new sci-fi/fantasy film is inspired by the Disneyland park attraction and Disney World’s Epcot theme park. In a newly released featurette, Disney informs audiences of the tie between the film, Walt Disney and his original team’s vision for the future. The film is inspired by Walt’s vision of what the future would be like, as well as his ideas for the development of society [12]. The nostalgia of the film and reference to Walt Disney, adds Tomorrowland to Disney’s list of inspired remake films, such as last year’s Maleficent and this year’s Cinderella.

FUTURE FOR DISNEY PICTURES

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

On March 12th 2015, The Walt Disney Company held their 2015 annual meeting of shareholders [17]. At the meeting, CEO Robert Iger and Chief Creative Officer, John Lassester [18] announced exciting future projects for Disney. In October of 2012 Walt Disney Studios bought Lucasfilm for $4 billion [19]. At this years annual meeting, Disney acknowledged three new Star Wars projects the studio has been working on. Star Wars: The Force Awakens will premier in theaters on December 18th 2015. The film is the 7th episode of the Star Wars series and is set thirty years after the last Star Wars film, Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi, which was released in 1983. The film was directed by J.J. Abrams and stars Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, & Carrie Fisher. The 2nd official teaser was released in April 16th 2015.

Disney Annual Meeting of Shareholders 2015

At the meeting, Iger announced the production of another Star Wars film, Rogue One. Set to release on December 16th 2016, the film written by George Lucas is a spin-off to the original franchise. Finally, Star Wars: Episode VIII will arrive in theaters on May 26th 2017 [20]. The film will be directed by Rian Johnson and will continue the Star Wars story after episode 7. In addition, Disney Animation has officially announced plan of production for Frozen 2. After the huge success of the original film, it is no surprise that Disney is taking advantage of a sequel [21]. A release date has yet to be set for the film.

SOURCES

[1] Walt Disney Studios History. Walt Disney Studios. Retrieved: April 16th 2015

[2] Walt Disney Studios Logo. Walt Disney Studios. Retrieved: April 16th 2015

[3] Walt Disney Studios Current Slate. Walt Disney Studios. Retrieved April 16th 2015

[4] McFarland USA. Box Office Mojo. Retrieved April 16th 2015

[5] Johnson, Ted (February 21st 2015) What McFarland USA Says About Immigration. Variety. Retrieved April 16th 2015

[6] Cinderella (2015). Box Office Mojo. Retrieved April 16th 2015

[7] Acuna, Kirsten (March 16th 2015) Cinderella Opening Weekend. Business Insider. Retrieved April 16th 2015

[8] Lang, Brent (March 16th 2015) Cinderella Falls Short. Variety. Retrieved: April 16th 2015

[9] Miller, Gregory (April 16th 2015) Monkeys of ‘Monkey Kingdom’ NY Post. Retrieved: April 16th 2015

[10] Breznican, Anthony (January 18th 2015) George Clooney & Tomorrowland. Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved: April 16th 2015

[11] Lang, Brent (March 11th 2015) Britt Robertson Tomorrowland. Variety. Retrieved: April 16th 2015

[12] White, James (April 16th 2015) Tomorrowland Featurette. Empire Online. Retrieved: April 16th 2015

[13] Box Office by Studio: Buena Vista. Box Office Mojo. Retrieved: April 17th 2015

[14] Walt Disney First Quarter 2015. Walt Disney Studios. Retrieved: April 17th 2015.

[15] Walt Disney Fourth Quarter 2014. Walt Disney Studios. Retrieved: April 17th 2015

[16] Thomas Staggs COO. Walt Disney Pictures. Retrieved: April 17th 2015

[17] Disney Annual Shareholders Meeting 2015. Walt Disney Company. Retrieved: April 17th 2015

[18] John Lasseter. Walt Disney Company. Retrieved: April 17th 2015

[19] Krantz, Matt (October 30, 2012). Disney Lucasfilm. USA Today. Retrieved: April 17th 2015

[20] Kludt, Tom (March 12 2015). Star Wars Episode VIII. CNN Money. Retrieved: April 17th 2015

[21] Graser, Mark (March 12 2015). Frozen 2. Variety. Retrieved: April 17th 2015

[22] Alan Bergman. Walt Disney Studios. Retrieved: April 17th 2015

[23] Alan Horn. Walt Disney Studios. Retrieved: April 17th 2015

[24] Robert Iger. Walt Disney Company. Retrieved: April 17th 2015

[25] Lion King Movie Poster. Fan Pop. Retrieved: April 17th 2015

[26] Treasure Island Poster. Wikimedia. Retrieved: April 17th 2015

[27] Alan Bergman Picture. Walt Disney. Retrieved: April 17th 2015

[28] Alan Horn Picture. Walt Disney. Retrieved: April 17th 2015

[29] Robert Iger Picture. Walt Disney. Retrieved: April 17th 2015

[30] Cinderella Poser. Wikia. Retrieved: April 17th 2015

[31] Monkey Kingdom Poster. StitchKingdom. Retrieved: April 17th 2015

[32] McFarland USA Poster. IMP Awards. Retrieved: April 17th 2015

[33] Tomorrowland Poster. WP Images. Retrieved: April 17th 2015

[34] Star Wars: The Force Awakens. IMDB Media. Poster Retrieved: April 17th 2015

[35] Annual Shareholders Meeting Image. Visions Fantastic. Retrieved: April 17th 2015

Buenavista/Disney Pictures

Posted on December 1, 2014 by kawalek

by Lynn Walek

Image Courtesy of the Official Disney Fan Club (www.d23.com)

Key Executives

Robert “Bob” Iger Alan F. Horn
Chairman & Chief Executive Officer Chairman
The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Studios

Robert “Bob” Iger – Image Courtesy of The Walt Disney Company

Alan F. Horn – Image Courtesy of The Walt Disney Company

History

The Walt Disney Company was founded in 1923 when Disney brothers Roy and Walt sold the Alice Comedies. The star of the company, Mickey Mouse, was not seen until five years later when Steamboat Willie, the first sound cartoon, was released in 1928. The Disney Company continued to push boundaries releasing the first animated feature film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, in 1937. [1] The company has grown and expanded into many aspects of entertainment. [2] Currently Walt Disney Studios owns Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar Studios, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, Marvel, Touchstone, and Disneynature. In 2012 Disney purchased Lucasfilm, which most notably includes the Star Wars franchise. [3] [4]

Finances

With the end of the 2014 fiscal year, Disney announced a record year. The fourth quarter earning report quotes CEO Bob Iger as saying: “Our results for Fiscal 2014 were the highest in the Company’s history, marking our fourth consecutive year of record performance.” [5] This year’s revenues are up from 45 billion to 48.8 billion, an eight percent increase. Net income increased from 6.1 billion in 2013 to 7.5 billion in 2014, a 22 percent increase. With the future slate Disney is set to release “21 tentpole movies…over the next three years, compared to only 13 in the last three”. [6] The increase in “tentpole” movies means Disney has the opportunity to continue breaking records as it expands franchises under its many banners. [5] [6]

Current Slate

Image Courtesy of IMDb

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
Released October 10, 2014 this film is based on the popular children’s book of the same title. Despite comedy giant Steve Carell and well known actress Jennifer Garner headlining the film, it was only a mild success. It opened at number three at the box office and quickly fell out of the top five. It grossed 63 million domestically and 82 million worldwide with a production budget of 28 million. [7]

Image Courtesy of IMDb

Big Hero 6
Released November 7, 2014, this is the first animated Marvel film. Disney CEO Bob Iger had high hopes for the film when he spoke to investors the day before its release, and it did not disappoint. [6] It grossed more than 205 million worldwide with a production budget of 165 million. It opened as number one at the box office and then held second place during its second and third weeks. The film follows the adventures of Hiro, a young boy, and his robot best friend, Baymax who according to IMDb “team up with a group of friends to form a band of high-tech heroes.” [8] Big Hero 6 has faced little direct competition until the November 26 release of Penguins of Madagascar. [8] [9] [10]

Image Courtesy of IMDb

Into the Woods
This film will be released on December 25, 2014 (see trailer below [a]). This is a big screen adaptation of the Stephen Sondheim musical and boasts big name actors Meryl Streep and Johnny Depp. The film will feature a new song written for Streep. The film focuses on a witch (Streep) teaching lessons to various fairytale characters such as Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella and Rapunzel. The film will be up against another family musical, Annie, as well as the third installment of family comedy franchise Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb. Both of these competing films will be released before Christmas on December 19. [10] [11]

Future Slate

Because Disney’s fiscal 2014 is over, the emphasis is on what is to come in the next fiscal year. In his address to investors on November 6, 2014, Bob Iger emphasized the future slate and franchise expansion. Disney has released several long term plans. [6]

Marvel

Image Courtesy of marvel.com

Marvel was acquired in 2009 and has become an instrumental part of Walt Disney Studios success. Currently Disney is working on two Marvel franchises, The Avengers (2012) and Guardians of the Galaxy (2014). There are 11 Marvel films planned for the next five years (see table 1). [6]

Table 1 Table created in Microsoft Word by Lynn Walek [6]

Image Courtesy of IMDb

The next release on the Marvel docket is Avengers sequel Age of Ultron, which hits theaters in May 2015. Director Joss Whedon will return to lead stars Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, and Mark Ruffalo who will reprise their superhero roles. The trailer (see below [b]) which was originally set to air on October 28 during Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. was leaked on October 22. Marvel and Disney responded by quickly posting the official trailer which got 34.3 million global views in its first 24 hours. This number shattered the previous record held by the Iron Man 3 trailer. [12] [13]

In the 2014 fiscal year, Guardians of the Galaxy had the highest domestic gross and the second highest worldwide gross. It grossed more than 770 million dollars worldwide. [14] Additionally, the success of Big Hero 6 proves that Marvel can produce successful animated films and they will likely continue to do so. [9]

Star Wars

Image Courtesy of lucasfilm.com/starwars

Image Courtesy of IMDb

Disney will produce a new trilogy of Star Wars movies: Episodes VII, VIII and IX. The title and teaser trailer for Episode VII have now been released. It will be called Star Wars: The Force Awakens and the trailer can be seen below [c]. This film will be released December 18, 2015. Episode VIII will be released in 2017 and Episode IX will be released in 2019. In 2016 Disney will release the first of their “stand alone” films within the Star Wars universe. [6]

Pixar

Image Courtesy of official Disney Pixar Facebook

Image Courtesy of IMDb

Noticeably absent from the 2014 slate Pixar will be back in June 2015 with Inside Out. This film is not a franchise expansion but it lists big name stars, Amy Poehler, Mindy Kaling, and Bill Hader. Poehler, Kaling and Hader will voice three of five emotions from inside the mind of a little girl. Pixar will continue two successful franchises in 2016 and 2017. Finding Dory, sequel to Finding Nemo, will be released in 2016. The recently announced Toy Story 4 will be released in June 2017 and boasts the return of director John Lasseter who was at the helm of the first two installments of the Toy Story franchise. Lasseter is also the chief creative officer of Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios and principal creative advisor of Walt Disney Imagineering. [6] [15]

Disney Pictures

Image Courtesy of waltdisneystdudios.com

Image Courtesy of IMDb

Following the success of Maleficent, which grossed 757 million dollars worldwide, Disney will continue to produce live action fairy tales. [16] The official Cinderella trailer was released on November 19 (see below [d]). This film is scheduled to be released in March 2015. Other live action fairy tales announced are The Jungle Book and Alice in Wonderland 2. Disney will also release another film in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. [6]