We're about to tick into waitlist-only territory for our big 500-person Acquired meetup in SF.
We've got a great night planned for all of you with our friends at @sentry!
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Hilarious footnote to the Marvel acquisition: Disney isn't allowed to use Marvel Characters at Disney World!
Before the purchase, Marvel had licensed the exclusive rights to Universal for theme parks east of the Mississippi. And as long as Universal is actively using them... the rights are theirs to keep.
So if you live in the US, Avengers Campus is (forever?) only in California, not Florida.
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"Do you think that the next Lion King could be created by AI?"
Ben: "No."
David: "Well... nobody thought computer animation could work and look at where Pixar is now."
Thanks @andrewrsorkin and @MelissaLeeCNBC for having us on to talk Disney!
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"You know, Snow White is 60 years old. Who do you know who hasn't seen Snow White?" -Steve Jobs
Our @Disney finale. In your podcast players now!
Part II research trip. We had to.
Our PDF companion for the Walt Disney Company episode is now complete. Charts, tables, and illustrations of key concepts.
Let us know what you think!
Announcing the official 2026 Acquired Meetup. San Francisco. With our friends at @sentry.
The first 500 to snag tickets will:
- Hang with us (Ben and David)
- Meet other Acquired listeners
- Hear an ACQ behind-the-scenes conversation
See you there!
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Here's the math from our Disney episode.
While the "box office gross" numbers sound big for Snow White, Cinderella, 101 Dalmatians, etc... here's what Walt Disney Productions actually received:
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The power of content repurposing (theme parks, merch, TV, etc.) to stabilize earnings in a cyclical movie industry is hard to overstate.
Disney has been much more profitable than other studios thanks to this flywheel.
(See our full Disney study:
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The multiplane camera is a truly incredible piece of machinery.
Walt Disney Productions created this one (the most sophisticated at the world) for the creation of Snow White.
🍿🎥 Average movie theater attendance by year:
1929: 46x per year
1956 (post-TV): 14x per year
Early 2000s (post-Blockbuster): 6x per year
2025 (post-streaming): 2x per year
For more charts/data see our multi-decade study on Disney:
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Last week, our friends at Sierra hosted us for a chat with the one and only @btaylor in NYC.
You can now watch the whole conversation here:
Thank you to the 1000+ folks who joined Ben, David, and me to discuss AI and Sierra in NYC. Amazing venue and amazing discussion
“Steamboat Willie” is the landmark 1928 American animated short film directed by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. It marks the official public debut of Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse, and it’s famous as one of the first cartoons with fully synchronized sound.
Released: November 18, 1928 at the Colony Theater in New York
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In the early days, Disney was not a great business. A single bad movie could tank the whole company. (They actually *lost* money for 5 years of this chart!)
But...
Americans used to go to movie theaters 46 times per year — until the birth of television.
Disney started as an animation company. At its healthiest, it's a diversified entertainment company.
But by 1983 — 17 years after Walt's death — it was unmistakably just a parks company.
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How did Disney become the best business of all the classic Hollywood studios?
Animation (which is uniquely well-suited to compounding), the flywheel, and... a lesson learned the hard way.
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In your podcast players now!
