Disney By Disney (Or Not)
Disney has amassed billions of dollars from the sale of merchandise with their iconic characters and stars. According to their own website, they are the largest consumer products licensor in the world. But that does not mean that they produce and sell all of their own merchandise.?
Disney Does It All
The Walt Disney Company owns over two hundred companies both directly and indirectly. This ranges from companies that perform services or have physical goods for purchase.?
These companies range from:
These companies and services range over thirty countries in various regions including:
Each of these regions has the ability to sell Disney-branded merchandise. Disney themselves produces some of the merchandise you see on store shelves. They have approximately forty four thousand facilities in more than one hundred countries across the globe. But they can not be the only ones producing all of this merchandise if they want to meet the demands of their consumers and produce items in a timely manner.
Licensing and Licensors
Disney allows individuals to use their trademarked designs and characters on their own merchandise. They usually charge a licensing fee of five to fifteen percent of total retail sales of products associated with their brands. Licensing is a formal agreement in which a company agrees to let another company manufacture, distribute, sell, or generally use the likeness of a brand, product or character they own. According to a 2022 article from the Hollywood Reporter, Disney was the top licensor in the world in 2021, a repeat of the year prior, making fifty six point two billion dollars in retail sales because of the sale of licensed merchandise worldwide. That's an increase from the fifty four billion dollars they made in 2020 during the height of the covid-19 pandemic.
Disney’s Consumer Products division, a subsidiary under Disney Experiences, actually holds summits in which licensees can come to see upcoming content which they might want to create products from. Most recently, they had a two-day European homeware summit where fourty licensees and retailers were in attendance. The European market makes up about thirty percent of licensing sales so it is important for Disney to optimize this sector and give them a chance to produce winning products, therefore leading to increased sales for them. During these summits, Disney can also make sure that they highlight and discuss any potential licensing ideas with licensees to prevent issues from arising down the line.?
Disney Movies?
The movies that Disney and its subsidiaries create are nostalgic and magical for many. Since they have become available in numerous countries across the globe, it has been important for the company to produce characters and storylines that highlight the diversity of their viewership. The below map created by digital artist Eowyn Smith, shows where forty four Disney animated movies and thirteen Pixar films have taken place based on their implied location in the films. Disney’s filmography spans multiple continents and centuries which allows them to include many eras, social statuses, life experiences, and nationalities.?
In Demand Disney
What does licensing characters from Disney mean for retailers? It means that you are able to target a broad audience. You can sell products that teens will love, that bring parents back to their childhoods, that excite children who are just now getting into their Disney Junior eras. Licensing Disney-branded characters doesn’t require as much marketing because these characters are already recognizable. They’re already embedded into Google to pop-up when you search for them. Because of the rapid pace that Disney pumps out new content for its characters and all of the industries they’re in, you can almost guarantee that these characters will not go out of style anytime soon.?
The most requested characters include:?
Minnie and Mickey Mouse
This duo is a classic for Disney and does not fail to continue to excite Disney fans. Mickey has been in around one hundred and twenty cartoons while Minnie has been in around seventy five. This includes the fan favorite, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Fantasia, Steamboat Willie and many more. These beloved characters have been around since their first appearances in Steamboat Willie in 1928. The couple both marked their 95th birthdays this year on November 18th which marks the start of their onscreen presence.?
Disney Princesses
Another popular classic for Disney are their iconic Disney princesses. The first mainstream princess to be introduced to the public was Snow White. Snow White was first released in 1937. The movie earned around eight million dollars which was the most out of any animated film before it. From then on, Disney saw the popularity of these heroines and decided to continue to adapt and create more.?
Disney princesses actually topped the annual list from The Licensing Letter as the best-selling licensed entertainment character merchandise. Disney princesses made around one point six billion dollars in retail sales from just North America alone this past year. Globally, they made a whopping three billion dollars. What’s crazy about this is that they were able to beat out other franchises like Star Wars or Nickelodeon.?
In a recent 2023 study by Statista.com, Cinderella has been the most popular of all the mainstream Disney princesses. People have become so obsessed with Disney princesses that these animated characters have gotten their own live action adaptations. In fact, Cinderella alone has dozens of live action adaptations!?
This includes:?
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Spiderman
Another very popular character comes from the Marvel Cinematic Universe or the MCU. Spiderman is a classic normal kid to superhero tale. In almost every version, a kid named Peter Parker gets bitten by a radioactive spider and has the ability to shoot spider webs from his wrists. He uses his new found ability to help fight crime in his city. Later on in his story, he gets to fight alongside other superheroes such as Captain America, Iron Man, Black Widow, The Hulk, Thor, and other comic to film adapted characters.?
Spiderman’s character in particular really intrigues those interested in science fiction, action, and good character development. He is a character that can grow with audiences and has. Much like Cinderella, there have been many animated and live-action adaptations of the character. Along with being a fan favorite, Spiderman has also brought in more global retail sales than any of his crime fighting counterparts on the Avengers team. The character has amassed around one point three billion dollars since the much anticipated movie, Spider-man: No Way Home starring Hollywood’s dynamic acting couple, Tom Holland and Zendaya.?
Star Wars
Although there has not been original movie content from the Star Wars franchise, since Disney has added it to their streaming service, Disney Plus, they continue to put effort into the multi-billion dollar movie saga. Currently, the Star Wars franchise is estimated to value a grand total of seventy billion dollars. This allowed them to come in fifth on a scale of the highest grossing franchises of all time.?
Since being added to Disney Plus, there have been various television programs and movie specials added including:
With the edition of this newly added content, there is now a total of one hundred seventy four thousand nine hundred and sixty seven hours of Star Wars content that you could now view on Disney Plus!
Distributing Disney
To keep up with demand for merchandise from all of the content Disney produces, there are distributors like Cerda. Cerda has been a trusted distributor partnered with Disney for over thirty five years. They provide companies with licensed products from over one hundred characters. They have worked on the design of over twenty thousand products and help those interested in getting into the licensing industry gain proper certification, knowledge, and resources to create a profitable business of their own. They have what is called an original license granted by Disney which allows them to use the original designs for all Disney-owned characters and logos. As Disney continues to expand, their partnership becomes more lucrative, giving licenses the chance to create more merchandise and profit. Since they work directly with Disney, they can help guarantee quality and brand recognition.
To sum up, licensing is a very important aspect of a business. For a company like Disney that is growing rapidly and investing into so many different regions and industries, this is a very lucrative field and should be invested in when looking to the future of merchandising.?
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