Truly insane that the highest-grossing piece of entertainment ever (single story, not episodic) is a Broadway musical.
Never would have guessed.
The original ESPN logo was so sick.
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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The best part of this whole thing is seeing "East of the Mississippi" in the legal agreement from 1994.
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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.@djrosent Steve validating your "you can't kill the best IP just like you can't kill the best luxury brands" idea.
"These things can live for 100 years."
"You know, Snow White is 60 years old. Who do you know who hasn't seen Snow White?" -Steve Jobs
It's pretty unbelievable what Toy Story became given the original concept art.
Our @Disney finale. In your podcast players now!
Tomorrow.
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!
See you in September, San Francisco!
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 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.
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...
Walt Disney's timing to embrace TV was impeccable. Right as adoption skyrocketed in 1954. Very contrarian too since most Hollywood studios were scared of TV stealing audience.
He also maximized the impact since his TV show was essentially a giant commercial for Disneyland.
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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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