Disney: The Renaissance and the Empire

**Ben Gilbert** (0:00)
All right, so David, the real question is, after this episode, it gets released, it becomes this durable IP that is part of an IP franchise. Will we turn this into a musical?

**David Rosenthal** (0:12)
Oh, yes, absolutely. With masks, dancing in the aisles.

**Ben Gilbert** (0:18)
And I'm thinking, too, we may as well do Acquired on Ice.

**David Rosenthal** (0:21)
Oh, yeah, while we're at it, let's go.

**Ben Gilbert** (0:23)
Yet another adaptation of it.

**David Rosenthal** (0:25)
Can we do Acquired in Space?

**Ben Gilbert** (0:26)
Oh, we know a few people who could make that happen.

**David Rosenthal** (0:30)
Yeah, he'll make that happen. All right.

**Ben Gilbert** (0:31)
All right. Let's do this.
Welcome to the fall 2026 season of Acquired, the podcast about great companies and stories and playbooks behind them. I'm Ben Gilbert.

**David Rosenthal** (0:58)
I'm David Rosenthal.

**Ben Gilbert** (0:59)
We are your hosts.
Disney is so much more than you think it is. It is Mickey and Minnie, and Ariel, and Simba, and Elsa, and Woody, and Buzz, and Nemo, and all the Pixar characters. Of course, it's The Avengers, and Luke Skywalker, and Darth Vader, and Winnie the Pooh, and Disneyland, and Disney World, and Disney Cruises, Disney Hotels. But now it's also The Simpsons, and Avatar, and National Geographic, plus the entire studio of 20th Century Fox, a privately owned government inside the state of Florida, a private island in the Bahamas, 10 Broadway musicals, the special effects firm Industrial Light and Magic, and Skywalker Sound, one of the four major US broadcast networks, ABC. It is of course ESPN.

**David Rosenthal** (1:55)
I was wondering when you were going to get to the worldwide leader here.

**Ben Gilbert** (1:59)
Unexpectedly, a giant amount of the profits of the whole company come from.

**David Rosenthal** (2:03)
Absolutely.

**Ben Gilbert** (2:04)
It is the SEC network. And for a period of time, David, they got even more exotic owning the NHL team, the Mighty Ducks, the Anaheim Angels, the Angels in the Outfield, baby.
And the 1936 British Ocean Liner, the Queen Mary.

**David Rosenthal** (2:21)
That's right.

**Ben Gilbert** (2:22)
Despite being one of America's most storied and stable brands, the company is going through a time of immense upheaval. They're in the midst of a transition to streaming with Disney Plus and Hulu and ESPN, making giant technology and marketing investments to support that transition that lost billions for half a decade. And they're doing this while their old, fantastically profitable businesses are fading. Consumers don't really go to the movies like they used to. They don't buy movies on VHS or DVD or Blu-ray. And of course, consumers are also cutting the cords to cancel their cable subscription. So those fat profits from cable channels like ESPN are shrinking every year. And Disney, despite being over 100 years old, is at the very center of the most interesting business strategy questions that have ever been posed. Can we fight the innovator's dilemma and win? What exactly is enduring about our business as technology and trends change? And can our future be as bright as our past?
Today, listeners, we tell the story of how Disney went from Walt's tidy, neat idea of an animation studio turned theme park operator into the global, sprawling, diversified behemoth that Disney acquired and expanded its way to today. And we'll answer that question. What does their future look like from here? Yes. All right. Well, big news from Acquired headquarters. This episode has a companion PDF with visuals, charts, tables, and illustrations of the key concepts we discuss. You can get access and follow along by clicking the link in the show notes or going to library.acquired.fm.
You can join the email list at acquired.fm slash email. That's where we'll send out behind the scenes photos of research, past episode corrections, and it's where you can vote on future episode topics. Plus, we'll give away a little hint each time at what the next episode is about. That is acquired.fm slash email.
If you are in the Bay Area on September 17th, you should join us for the official 2026 Acquired Meetup with our friends at Sentry. Details are at acquired.fm slash meetup.
Before we dive in, we want to thank our brand spanking new presenting partner, Sierra.

**David Rosenthal** (4:38)
Yes. Sierra is not only the very best partner for agents in the enterprise, but also home to the self-proclaimed co-presidents of the Acquired fan club, Clay Bavor and Brett Taylor.

**Ben Gilbert** (4:50)
Yes, as Brett and Clay shared on stage with us a few weeks ago when we were in New York together.

**David Rosenthal** (4:55)
Yes, indeed. Thank you, Sierra.

**Ben Gilbert** (4:58)