By
Ronak Patel
In July 1923, Walt Disney and his brother Roy started their film business but they got their first real break in 1928. Walt produced Steamboat Willie, the first cartoon with sound and also introduced a new star Mickey Mouse. In the decades it followed, Walt became an extraordinary filmmaker, a motion picture innovator and pioneer. The name “Walt Disney” became universally known as the symbol of the finest family entertainment. The business activities of the company are in four segments: (1) theme parks, (2) films, (3) consumer products and (4) real estate development.
The theme parks segment caused Disney not to grow. Disney’s attendance growth had been low or zero over the preceding decade, though as recently as 1978 the entertainment and recreation segment had shown a pretax return on assets of 15.7 percent. With 25 major theme parks in competition for an aging population, demand thoroughly saturated and park attendance grew no more than 5% per year, which was one third the rate of 1970s.
The Walt Disney Company's objective is to be one of the world's leading producers and providers of entertainment and information, using its portfolio of brands to differentiate its content, services and consumer products. The company's primary financial goals are to maximize earnings and cash flow, and to allocate capital profitability toward growth initiatives that will drive long-term shareholder value.
The Walt Disney Company is the world’s largest media and entertainment conglomerate with assets encompassing media networks, theme parks and resorts, consumer products and real estate development. The Walt Disney Company’s film library is consisted of 25 full length animated features in color, 123 full lengths live action features, 8 true life adventure films and over 500 short films. The film Snow White was proved to be an enduring source of cash. Annual revenue for Snow White is as under (in millions). Year | Revenue | 1937 | $10.00