The Disney Vision

The Disney Vision

by Mikayla Nelson

            The Walt Disney Company has brought people entertainment of all kinds for many years.  From the movies they produce to the theme parks you can visit, the Disney Company is known by practically everyone around the world for its flawless animation, heart wrenching stories and their gift of bringing magic to life.  The original mission statement of the Disney Company was simply to "make people happy” (Rasmus).  The vocation of the Disney Company was simple and sweet, it gave room for creativity and precisely described the vocation that Walt Disney intended for his work to do.  The vocation of the Walt Disney Company has changed over the years and has lost touch with its original purpose and mission.

            The mission statement of the Walt Disney Company today has changed quite differently from its original.  Their new mission statement is "to be one of the world's leading producers and providers of entertainment and information. Using our portfolio of brands to differentiate our content, services and consumer products, we seek to develop the most creative, innovative and profitable entertainment experiences and related products in the world" (Rasmus).  This sounds more like a sales pitch rather than a mission statement.  Roy E. Disney, the son of co-founder of the Disney Company Roy O. Disney, claimed "Michael Eisner (the current CEO of the Disney Company) has lost sight of the vision upon which the company was founded," Disney wrote. "The focus has shifted to the chase for the quick buck instead of a dedication to new and high-quality ideas" (Verrier).  Disney has been focusing mainly on the profit they receive and how many movies they make, rather than keeping the focus on thinking of creative and unique ideas, the quality of their movies and keeping the Disney magic alive.   

The Disney Company’s mission statement not only seems like a sales pitch, but it very wordy and confusing as to what their mission actually is.  "To be one of the world's leading producers and providers of entertainment and information. Using our portfolio of brands to differentiate our content, services and consumer products, we seek to develop the most creative, innovative and profitable entertainment experiences and related products in the world" (Rasmus).  To break this down piece by piece first we have, “to be one of the world's leading producers and providers of entertainment and information” (Rasmus).  The Disney Company is already the leading company for entertainment and has been for quite a while, with 8 million to 9 million dollars in total profit per year (DIS).  This part of their mission statement seems redundant, though it is always good to keep this in the mission statement as to remind themselves that they want to stay the leading entertainment company.   The second part of their mission statement is, “using our portfolio of brands to differentiate our content, services and consumer products, we seek to develop the most creative, innovative and profitable entertainment experiences and related products in the world" (Rasmus).  This part of the statement is quite a mouthful and has many large words to understand and comprehend such as “differentiate”, “portfolio” and “innovative” (Rasmus).  This part of the mission statement is cumbersome and could be made a lot clearer using less and easier words.  The mission statement as a whole seems undefined, confusing and deflecting of the original mission of the Disney Company in the first place.          

  Since 2012 Disney has made many films such as, Wreck it Ralph, Planes, Monsters University, Brave, Maleficent, and the fan favorite Frozen (Animated).  Out of all of these movies, the only original story lines are from Wreck-it Ralph, Brave and Frozen.  Frozen was one of the highest ranking movies of the year earning Disney billions of dollars. “Since its release, “Frozen” has earned $1.2 billion worldwide, becoming the fifth-highest-grossing film of all time and by far the highest-grossing animation. That’s not to mention two Academy Awards, a BAFTA, a Golden Globe, a soundtrack that’s garnered more than a million album sales and seven million Spotify streams, official YouTube video views in the hundreds of millions, and a DVD that became Amazon’s best-selling children’s film of all time based on advance orders alone” (Konnikova).  Though this movie made billions of dollars, the other movies Disney has made haven’t made the cut.  Brave making a domestic gross income of $237,283,207 (Brave) and Wreck-it Ralph coming in with $189,422,889 (Wreck-it).  The rest of these movies are either sequels to already made movies or similar to others; Planes and Cars have the same concept and none making even close to the same amount of money as Frozen.  In the upcoming years, Disney has said to be releasing animated movies such as Finding Dory, The Incredibles 2, Toy Story 4, and Cars 3 (Animated).  All of these being sequels, none of which being new original films.  The Disney Company gained its fame for its original ideas and stories.  Without these new and original ideas, which direction will Disney go?  Disney is shooting out films one by one at a rapid pace.  With more time and dedication and less focus on money and sales – which I do believe is important as well – the Disney Company could focus on creating movies with creative and unique ideas, holding up the sanctity of the Disney name and appeasing the needs of their fans. 

As Disney tries to thrive within a changing and more demanding society it has begun to focus on the financial goals rather than the enjoyment and beauty of animation and Disney magic.  As competition arises itself, changes must be made to keep Disney in business and to keep the company ahead.  Though with this rise of competition and change within the Disney Company, the original mission mustn’t be forgotten, “to make people happy” (Rasmus).  This was Walt Disney’s original vocation that the Disney Company must keep going, otherwise the vocation of Disney is destroyed by the greed of money thus, depriving the world of Disney magic and tossing Walt’s vocation and dream down the drain.       

 

Works Cited

"Animated Disney Movies." Animated Disney Movies: Animated Movies: List of Disney Animation Films. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Nov. 2014.

"Brave (2012) - Box Office Mojo." Brave (2012) - Box Office Mojo. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Nov. 2014.

"DIS Income Statement | Walt Disney Company (The) Commo Stock - Yahoo! Finance." DIS Income Statement | Walt Disney Company (The) Commo Stock - Yahoo! Finance. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Nov. 2014.

Konnikova, Maria. "How “Frozen” Took Over the World - The New Yorker." The New Yorker. N.p., 25 June 2014. Web. 07 Nov. 2014.

Rasmus, Daniel W. "Defining Your Company's Vision." Fast Company. N.p., 28 Feb. 2012. Web. 08 Nov. 2014.

Verrier, Richard. "More Angry Words Lobbed at Disney CEO." Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 04 Dec. 2003. Web. 08 Nov. 2014.

"Wreck-It Ralph (PG)." BoxOffice® — Wreck-It Ralph. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Nov. 2014.