Verified Document

Disney Pixar And The Third Case Study

Today, Woody and Buzz Lightyear are as recognizable as Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck. Weaknesses:

One of the core weaknesses revealed in the decade following Disney's early-90's animation renaissance was the lack of elasticity in its animation department. The company was unprepared for a set of lean years in which its growth had exceeded its ability to earn on its investment. According to Alcacer et al., "Some of the same features that observers credited for Disney Animations' success -- large staff, large budgets, and lots of time -- were also blamed for its demise. Disney Animation had just 275 employees in 1988; about 950 in 1994 for the release of the Lion King; and 2,200 at its peak in 1999.9 Competition for animators in the 1990s also caused salaries, which accounted for 80% of each film's cost, to balloon, with top animators' pay rising from $125,000 in 1994 to $550,000 in 1999. And these pay increases affected employees across the board." (p. 2)

Opportunities:

The acquisition of Pixar has represented the opportunity for Disney to continue to expand its brand universe, integrating characters from newly popular integrated films into its merchandising strategy, its theme parks and its copyrighted images stable.

Threats:

The greatest threat to Disney today is the nature of media sales today. With digital piracy having a significant impact on DVD sales, Disney's animated films are subject to the same declining value if not properly managed. Fortunately for Disney, this threat is pointedly limited by Disney's ability to maintain the visibility of its characters in theme parks and merchandise.

Options and Recommendations:

Disney's various options as it reached this crossroads in the mid-2000s included the possibility of severing ties with Pixar in the interests of creating its own CG studio; the possibility of severing ties with Pixar and establishing a similar partnership with one of its rivals such as DreamWorks; the possibility of renegotiating another temporary agreement with Pixary; and the possibility of purchasing the company outright.

The recommendation...

Were it 2005 and Disney was on the precipice of this decision, logic would suggest that such a dramatic gesture would be necessary to both revive Disney and solidify its new leadership. According to an article by Burrows & Grover (2006), new CEO Robert Iger has "revamped Disney's management style and has improved some operations. Still, the company's stock is at about the same level it was a decade ago. And Iger has only been CEO a few months, so he's on new footing with Disney's directors. One management expert calls the Jobs move "courageous" but says "Iger just put a gun to his head," predicting that Jobs's influence in the boardroom would be so pervasive that Iger could be gone within a year." (p. 2) Speaking in retrospect, we know this gamble has paid off for Disney and Pixar.
Implementation and Control:

Implementation of the purchase of Pixar has involved a coordinated permeation of the studio's iconic characters with those already important to the Disney brand. This would include the creation of new rides and theme park 'lands' centered on characters from Toy Story, Monster's Inc. And other successful characters.

Still, control of the company is now split between parties as Apple CEO Steve Jobs ascended with the merger to become the largest stockholder in the Disney company. One might suggest that given the considerable and sustained success enjoyed by Jobs' other ventures, that Disney is now in good and innovative hands.

Works Cited:

Alcacer, J.; Collis, D. & Furey, M. (2010). The Walt Disney Company and Pixar Inc.: To Acquire or Not to Acquire. Harvard Business Review.

Burrows, P. & Grover, R. (2006). Steve Jobs's Magic Kingdom. BusinessWeek Online.

Catmull, E. (2008). How Pixar Fosters Collective Creativity. Harvard Business Review.

Know Your Money (KYM). (2010). The Financial Success of Pixar. Knowyourmoney.co.uk.

Szalai, G. & Bond, P. (2010). Outlook for Studios Depends on Hits, Cuts. The Hollywood Reporter.

Van de…

Sources used in this document:
Works Cited:

Alcacer, J.; Collis, D. & Furey, M. (2010). The Walt Disney Company and Pixar Inc.: To Acquire or Not to Acquire. Harvard Business Review.

Burrows, P. & Grover, R. (2006). Steve Jobs's Magic Kingdom. BusinessWeek Online.

Catmull, E. (2008). How Pixar Fosters Collective Creativity. Harvard Business Review.

Know Your Money (KYM). (2010). The Financial Success of Pixar. Knowyourmoney.co.uk.
Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

Disney Pixar Analysis
Words: 813 Length: 2 Document Type: Essay

Disney and Pixar Disney owns Pixar outright, having acquired it in 2006 for $7.4 billion. In terms of business, Disney is a distributor of films, while Pixar is a production studio. That is to say, Pixar makes movies, and Disney markets and distributes them. Disney had an equity stake in Pixar, which came with a contract to produce three films. This has been the relationship between the two companies since the

Pixar Not All Fun and Games Pixar
Words: 3287 Length: 12 Document Type: Essay

Pixar Not All Fun and Games Pixar creates some of the most recognizable products of any company: Its animated films all display a distinctive style marked by a certain combination of realistic movement and an almost Impressionist use of color and form. The mingling of the realistic and the cartoonish, of the vulgar with touches of high art, the tongue-in-cheek commercial with traditional narrative tropes has given the studio a series of

Disney Global Stategy the Disney
Words: 2050 Length: 6 Document Type: Term Paper

6. Personal opinion The global strategy is effective as it regards numerous areas, all focused on the overall development of Disney. But since the strategy has numerous applications, it is only natural that some are better received that others. For instance, I believe that the decision to expand onto other continents was extremely wise as it not only increases profits, but it protects the company against economic features that might affect

Marketing Analysis of the Walt Disney Corporation
Words: 1160 Length: 4 Document Type: Essay

Marketing Analysis of the Walt Disney Corporation Marketing Mix Industry Influences Environmental Influences in Demand The Walt Disney Corporation started out as a small animation studio in 1923. Originally named Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, after the founders Roy and Walt Disney, the firm grew and diversified, moving first into live actions films and diversifying with different leisure and entertainment interests either developed internally or acquired (Disney, 2013). A great deal of the firms success sis

Advertising Is to Make the
Words: 2591 Length: 8 Document Type: Research Paper

Barbie doll top ten viral commercials as of 2013 rely mostly on You Tube, Dailymotion, Facebook and Twitter. The third doll brand, subject to this study is Bratz. As evidenced from the four commercials assessed in the course of this study, Bratz deploys a slightly different mode of advertising, which involves marketing adult entertainment to kids. Social psychologists have argued that this strategy is very effective within the realm of

Merge the Acquired Company Into Your Company.
Words: 659 Length: 2 Document Type: Research Paper

Merge the acquired company into your company. The result of this strategy will be one company containing the elements of both companies. What are the pros and cons of this implementation strategy? How will you know if the strategy is working? The risks and downsides of mergers are well-known -- it is often said that mergers make it easy to predict the future, because they almost invariably fail. In fact, two-thirds

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now