Disney’s ‘hands off’ style
Giant known for granting its brands creative freedom
LOS ANGELES – Naysayers would have you believe Disney’s purchase of Lucasfilm can only mean one thing: Mickey Mouse is sure to appear in future Star Wars movies taking up a lightsaber against the dark side of the Force.
Not so, say experts who’ve watched Disney’s acquisition strategy closely. If anything, The Walt Disney Co. has kept its fingerprints off film franchises like those produced by its Marvel Entertainment and Pixar divisions.
“They’ve been pretty clearly hands-off in terms of letting the creative minds of those companies do what they do best,” says Todd Juenger, an analyst with Bernstein Research.
Over the last few decades, Disney has ballooned into a company with $40.9 billion in annual revenue and a market value of $88 billion. Disney bought Capital Cities/ABC in 1995 for $19 billion, Pixar for $7.4 billion in 2006, Marvel for $4.2 billion in 2009, and this week it said it will purchase Lucasfilm and the Star Wars franchise for $4.05 billion.
Disney’s acquisition of Marvel Entertainment in 2009 offers the best example of how it might treat Lucasfilm and the Star Wars universe.
Marvel was in the midst of a storyline that would span several films following the success of Iron Man, in 2008. When Disney bought it a year later, it continued reading from the comic book giant’s playbook, releasing in subsequent years Iron Man 2, Thor, Captain America and The Avengers, which grossed $1.5 billion.
Star Wars fills a hole in Disney’s live-action portfolio. Disney chief Iger has said the plan is for Star Wars movies to replace others that may be in development, and to keep its production slate to about 10 movies a year.
“Disney respects and understands, probably better than just about anyone else, the importance of iconic characters,” Iger told analysts by phone.