From Mortimer to Mickey – The Evolution of Disney

Having been recognised as one of the worlds leading media conglomerates, it probably comes as no surprise that Disney is still considered one of the most influential companies and brands, especially to children. A recent study found that when asked to identify certain brands, children aged just 3-5 could recognise Disney, even with their somewhat limited knowledge of the world. Attracting audiences from such an early age is perhaps an indication as to how Disney has managed to maintain its popularity and power within every generation, and why their parks are some of the most visited theme parks in the world.

From the TEA AECOM 2014 Theme Index, Global Attractions Attendance Report

It is strange to think that there was once a time when Mickey Mouse didn’t exist; a time when Walter Elias Disney was just doodling in notepads for fun, never thinking that they would amount to anything near to the scale they have today.

From early adulthood, Walt Disney was drawing small animations for publications and newspapers which later led to his decision to start his own small animation business, Laugh-O-Gram. In a matter of years, the company had to disperse due to debt; an event that led Walt and his brother Roy to move to Hollywood, where the character Oswald the Lucky Rabbit was born. A few years later, the Disney brothers’ rights to Oswald were lost.

This is when Mickey Mouse was born. Having originally been named Mortimer Mouse (until Lillian Disney (Walt’s wife) suggested Mickey as a preferred name), the cartoon didn’t get off to a great start, with the first two Mickey animations failing to make it to distribution. However, when sound made its way into film, Walt created Steamboat Willie, an instantly popular, all singing, all dancing cartoon which Walt himself voiced.

Since then, Disney have always been seen to be ahead of the game. They created the first full length animation film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, which saw incredible popularity even during the time of the Depression. Disney were also one of the first to use television to distribute their products to their audience, airing shows such as The Mickey Mouse Club and Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Colour which was aired on Saturday nights.

On July 17 1955, Disneyland was first opened and quickly built its reputation for family fun, which it still holds today. Although never able to see the park open, Disney began to plan and create ideas for what is now known as Walt Disney World, Florida.

In more recent years, Disney have stayed ahead of the game. Disney’s Interactive President, Jimmy Pitaro, told The Wrap that Disney are constantly trying to stay ahead, creating new games and interactive experiences for audiences all over the world to enjoy. “We like to say we need to change the tires as the car is driving down the highway”, he said, “there’s a lot of truth to that. Like I said, we’re a business and we’re very focused on profitability and driving value for our shareholders. At the same time we need to be making investments today in these new technologies.”

It seems that new technologies have changed the ways in which much of our society interact, communicate and organise; a factor that Disney have seemed to adapted well to. We now live in a world where The Muppets have Facebook pages, where Mickey Mouse can help to teach our children how to read and write, and where we can get into a theme park, make purchases and reserve dinner reservations just by wearing a wristband.

With all of this new technology, the mind boggles as to where it will take us next. The industry itself is changing, with new jobs being created every day to help companies respond and adapt to the constant changes and new inventions. It is predicted that the next generation of workers will be hired for roles that are not yet created; something that is going to impact upon people of my age who are nearing the end of their education and deciding on a future career.

Perhaps Disney’s ability to stay up to date is why it is still so popular so many years on; it is continually evolving with technology and has opened our eyes to so many more possibilities. And to think, ‘it all started with a mouse’.