The Disney Innovation

Walt Disney started one of the biggest media companies in the twentieth century almost a hundred years ago. Disney began his career as a simple animation artist, but as his work increased in popularity, so did his vision. 1937 brought about the creation of the first ever feature-length animation, an innovation to change the face of the industry forever.

 Disney adopted the most advanced technologies of the time, and as a result, created some of the most innovative animations of the early to mid-twentieth century. The advancement of colour in film was quickly snapped up by Disney in his employment of Technicolor in his early animations, and was complemented with radical sound developments at the time. 1928 saw the first animation with synchronised sound with the creation of Steamboat Willie and the later development of ‘Fantasound’ allowed Disney to experiment with how sound is presented in animation.

Disney then began to expand the brand by investing in different angles of the company. After the success of Mickey Mouse, Disney licensed merchandise of the character and began to sell it to fans. Additionally, the soundtracks from the films have become almost as big themselves, sparking a craze for Disney music, and market for live and recorded songs. Disney’s most lateral move would be the creation of theme parks that provided a new product to customers whilst maintaining the original brand. The innovation for Disney would be in its Baby Einstein range, a series of DVDs that begins to educate babies through music, art and imagination; the three integral parts of Disney itself.

Disney has offered its customers a whole range of products since its conception, but the main principles and aims of company remain inherent in each and every part. By making radical moves to new products, or by changing how the product is created, Disney constantly innovates itself and keeps up with the fast-paced world of the media.