We all remember the Disney movies when we were younger. Starting with Mickey Mouse, Disney has been defining the culture of America's youth since its inception. The youth of America grew up on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Sleeping Beauty, The Lion King, Aladdin, and the Beauty and the Beast, among many other cartoon classics. With each of these movies came the marketing, licensing, and strong brand promotion that led Disney to be one of the greatest media company's in the world. If we look at Disney in the past, its movies' themes and values have always been in accordance with the current trends in culture. All of their movies in the past have had strong conservative undertones that were most likely remnants of their founder's views and beliefs. The children who grew up watching these movies had these values imposed on them, but the fact that they were present in the first place was a function of society's views and beliefs. Disney was simply giving the people what they wanted and expected. Times have clearly changed since the good old days when social conservatism seemed to keep the television shows and movies targeted at children from being too promiscuous or suggestive. This can be seen in the news on a daily basis as well as in the media being presented on the Disney network. Disney has met this new trend by once again providing the people with what they want, in accordance to the trend in youth culture. My reason for pointing out the link between Disney's product offerings and society's trend is to highlight the company's ability to realize trends and innovate accordingly. They began this process with shows such as Lizzie McGuire and Even Stevens, which took young actors and actresses who were the same age as their target audience and placed them into the same scene as their target audience. With LIzzie McGuire came a movie, as well as the following soundtrack and music career of the lead character, Hilary Duff. These types of shows were the beginning of a changing trend in teen shows. Then came High School Musical, which took the same idea that seemed to work with Lizze McGuire and applied to directly to a movie, with an accompanying soundtrack that broke records for its type of a production. The defining of a new direction for Disney was born with the success of High School Musical and since than, Disney has never looked back. The continued innovation came with Miley Cyrus and her hit tv-show, Hannah Montana. The show takes an out-of-the-box teen and places her in a double role as a goofy high school girl and a popular hit artist. The packaged deal that evolved with the Lizzie McGuire show was immediately imposed on Miley Cyrus, and the results could never have been better. A hit tv-show, record breaking album sales, and a pending movie release, as well as the licensing of products targeted to teens has created a promotional masterpiece that only Disney could have discovered. All of these innovated shows have come with new social morals and values being imposed on the youth of America. Being goofy and out-of-the-box is no longer something to look down upon. The teachers and adults in the shows are shown attempting to make the kids conform and meet conservative expectations. This is typical for these shows but the children have never been more rewarded for going the extra mile to stand out. The point here is to show that the children of America are being shaped by the shows that Disney and related networks produce. If you do not believe, just talk to a family or friend that has a child in middle school or early high school. Either talk to the child yourself or try and squeeze it out of the parents and see just how much Disney the kid watches and how much they attempt to assimilate themselves to what they see on the show. My assumption is that your will see a mirror image. The company has been trading down in the recent months and I cannot figure out why. With the Hannah Montana movie, and High School Music 3 or 4 in the making, coupled with its recent release of Wallie, Disney should be doing much better. Coming off of its success with the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy, Disney has continued to produce hit shows and movies. While the economic conditions in America may have caused less domestic traffic into their theme parks, the decreased value of the dollar has encouraged foreign families to travel to Disney World, which should make up for deficit. While this report has focused on how Disney is a cultural trend-setter, there is one movie that sticks out from the rest. Enchanted did introduce non-conservative ideas such as divorce, but the underlying theme and plot of the movie took an old school movie plot and applied it to real world. This movie was a blockbuster hit with the young and old alike. It seemed to bridge the gap between the cartoon movies we grew up on and the new-Hannah Montana/High School Musical culture that is in place now. Disney has always been a solid American media and production company and I think it always will be. With this long-winded and mostly presumptive analysis over with, I see no reason the company should be valued at anything below $33 a share. The fact that is hit a $28 dollar low a month ago was just appalling to me. Disney has innovated from its conservative past to meet a new and more liberal youth with products and shows targeted to the current trend in teen culture. This trend is just on the rise and I expect more people to realize this as the economic crisis rounds out at the end of the year. I see 2009 as a strong growth year for Disney, as it will reevaluate where its core competencies lay and reorganize its product offerings to focus on its successes.
$31.4 (06/30/08)
