The Walt Disney Company: a Financial and Organizational Analysis
The Walt Disney Company: A Financial and Organizational Analysis
Authors: Cliff Anderson, John Morris, Jacob Lawrentz, And Donna Munsey
Financial Environments of Organizations, MOL 503, MMOL 1-11
Professor: Kari Day
Warner Pacific College
September 10th, 2009
The Walt Disney Company: A Financial and Organizational Analysis
The Organizational History of Disney
Before WWII In 1939, the Valley Progress newspaper (History, p. 3) announced that San Fernando Valley in southern California would become the home of a million dollar, 51-acre lot called Walt Disney Studios. The then-current residence of Disney was established in 1925 in Los Angeles, and consisted of a single large room of 25 artists. Walt Disney (and his brother-manager Roy) had expanded Disney studios to 150 employees and 20,000 square feet of space by 1929; then, when “Snow White” came out in theatres in 1936, the studio employment had doubled to 300 employees. Operations continued to increase in the years 1937 and 1938, increasing from 300 to 600 to 900 respectively, and finally to 1,000 employees at the time of the above newspaper’s announcement. During this burgeoning period for Disney studios, artists were not the only operational development for what would become Buena Vista Studios. Walt built a coffee shop, restaurant, gas station, sports playfields, and an 800-seat theatre…all for the employees. Four sound stages were produced (among other things, one was exclusive for monitoring dialogue, another for orchestration; two stalwarts when creating Disney cartoons) and, in 1940, just a year after the San Fernando studio cut its ribbon, “Fantasia” would be born and Walter Elias Disney would create a new standard in the industry of animation. It wasn’t that many years prior that Mickey Mouse learned to talk (around 1932, when “talkies” were coming of age in film); a few years before that, Walt and his brother Roy had $290.00 between them. Apparently, Walt had his health but
Authors: Cliff Anderson, John Morris, Jacob Lawrentz, And Donna Munsey
Financial Environments of Organizations, MOL 503, MMOL 1-11
Professor: Kari Day
Warner Pacific College
September 10th, 2009
The Walt Disney Company: A Financial and Organizational Analysis
The Organizational History of Disney
Before WWII In 1939, the Valley Progress newspaper (History, p. 3) announced that San Fernando Valley in southern California would become the home of a million dollar, 51-acre lot called Walt Disney Studios. The then-current residence of Disney was established in 1925 in Los Angeles, and consisted of a single large room of 25 artists. Walt Disney (and his brother-manager Roy) had expanded Disney studios to 150 employees and 20,000 square feet of space by 1929; then, when “Snow White” came out in theatres in 1936, the studio employment had doubled to 300 employees. Operations continued to increase in the years 1937 and 1938, increasing from 300 to 600 to 900 respectively, and finally to 1,000 employees at the time of the above newspaper’s announcement. During this burgeoning period for Disney studios, artists were not the only operational development for what would become Buena Vista Studios. Walt built a coffee shop, restaurant, gas station, sports playfields, and an 800-seat theatre…all for the employees. Four sound stages were produced (among other things, one was exclusive for monitoring dialogue, another for orchestration; two stalwarts when creating Disney cartoons) and, in 1940, just a year after the San Fernando studio cut its ribbon, “Fantasia” would be born and Walter Elias Disney would create a new standard in the industry of animation. It wasn’t that many years prior that Mickey Mouse learned to talk (around 1932, when “talkies” were coming of age in film); a few years before that, Walt and his brother Roy had $290.00 between them. Apparently, Walt had his health but
References: Disney Corporate, 2009 News Releases (2009). Retrieved August 27, 2009 from http://corporate.disney.go.com/news/corporate/2009/2009_0814_q4_fy09_announcement.html. Helmore, Edward (1995, July 15). A Mickey Mouse kind of operation. The Independent. Retrieved August 27, 2009, from http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/a-mickey-mouse-kind-of-operation-1591540.html. History: The Building of the Disney Studio. (1939, October). Valley Progress newspaper, pp. 3-5, 24. Retrieved August 27, 2009, from http://www.animationarchive.org/2007/04/history-building-of-disney-studio.html. Management Team, Robert A. Iger (2009). Retrieved August 27, 2009 from http://corporate.disney.go.com/corporate/bios/robert_iger.html. McCarthy, Michael (2004, February 12). Comcast Exec has Disney History. USA Today: Money. Retrieved August 27, 2009, from http://www.usatoday.com/money/media/2004-02-12-burke_x.htm.