The Walt Disney Company is known for extending its reach as a media conglomerate with its acquisition of Marvel Entertainment, LLC and Lucasfilm Limited, LLC, but every business has its horror stories.
According to an Oct. 30, 2012 press release, Disney purchased Lucasfilm for $4.05 billion exactly one year ago next month. While it is true Disney retains a powerful hold over the entertainment industry today, Disney faced financial ruin six decades ago; a forgotten part of Disney history in contemporary society.
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) was the first animated feature-length film Disney produced, and the first in the history of film. It was a commercial and critical success, earning $6.7 million by May 1939, and set the bar for future animated productions.
Pinocchio (1940) was Disney’s next feat in feature-length animation. Critics lauded the film for its accomplishments in animation and storytelling, and it presented Disney with its trademark theme, “When You Wish upon a Star.” However, contrary to what many may think, Pinocchio didn’t break much of a profit upon its initial release. The film was only shown in English, Spanish and Portuguese, while Snow White played in 49 countries in 11 languages. Earning only $2 million overall, Pinocchio made $1.2 million for Disney after a $2.7 million investment.
Disney’s third feature, Fantasia (1940), was even more of a financial failure, initially earning only $325,000. This film never even left the U.S. due to the special sound equipment required for screenings, provided only by RCA at this time. The reason for this was that Fantasia was the first commercial film to be shown in stereophonic sound. The theaters of the time simply weren’t fitted with the presentation tools necessary for stereophonic sound. This, unfortunately, can be the cost of innovation. Disney showed the film in select theaters, after which receipts proved a wide release to be impractical.
Now what was the reason for this major financial loss one might ask? The answer is World War II. The war closed off the European market to the western world, so the majority of international revenue was unavailable to Disney at this time.
Dumbo (1941) and Bambi (1942) were already in production during the war’s early years. Dumbo turned out to be the only successful film during World War II due to its short running time of 64 minutes and simple story, but there was also another reason. Two months after Dumbo’s release, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, thus marking the beginning of America’s entrance into combat with the Axis Powers. As a result, success for Bambi became impossible. Even with a portion of Bambi scrapped to save on production costs, the film still only earned the studio $1.6 million after a $1.7 million budget.
The war affected Disney in more ways than just weakening Bambi’s release. Many of the studio’s animators were drafted, and those who weren’t had to contribute time to producing propaganda cartoons. Because the company’s founder, Walt Disney, was forced to rely on government funds for the sake of his studio, the propaganda cartoons were the government’s compensation. One of the government’s key interests at this time lied with South America due to potential ties with Nazi Germany. The U.S. wanted to promote relations with Latin America, as well as keep Latin American theaters from showing films associated with the Axis Powers.
These conditions, along with many unfinished story ideas from the past several years, brought viewers the “Package Film Era” of Disney features. Six films released from 1942 to 1949; Saludos Amigos (1942), The Three Caballeros (1944), Make Mine Music (1946), Fun and Fancy Free (1947), Melody Time (1948) and The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949).
The Disney Package Era
These films were short in running time and cheap to produce, some even blending live-action elements for the sake of using as minimal animation as possible. The majority of the animation used was mostly produced using live-action reference techniques, such as rotoscoping.
Of these six films, the two better-known parts today are probably Ichabod and Mr. Toad’s adaptation of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, and the “Peter and the Wolf” segment from Make Mine Music.
Neal Gabler’s book, Walt Disney: A Triumph of the American Imagination, recalls that at this time, “the famous Disney touch had become cloying.”
The package films were not major box office successes, but their earnings did help finance Cinderella (1950). Cinderella marked the return of a single-narrative animated feature format, the first film since Bambi to do so. Because of the company’s gathered debt following World War II, pursuing a full-length animated feature like Cinderella became a risky endeavor.
This time, of course, the odds played out in Disney’s favor, both Walt and the studio. Cinderella was a huge box office success, earning $7.9 million after a $2.2 million budget; the studio’s first commercial hit since Snow White in the late 1930’s. Box office revenue combined with merchandise, such as vinyl albums and publications, made it possible to produce Alice in Wonderland (1951), Peter Pan (1953) and Lady and the Tramp (1955), as well as invest in live-action titles. Cinderella’s success also gave Walt adequate finances to establish his own distribution company, giving birth to the Buena Vista Distribution Company in 1953, known today as Buena Vista Pictures Distribution.
Peter Pan was the last Disney animated feature released through RKO Pictures, Disney’s distribution source since Snow White. Since Lady and the Tramp, every Disney animated feature has been released through Buena Vista.
What all this means though, is that the Disney company’s survival and power today is primarily attributed to the success of Cinderella.
“The failure of [Cinderella] would have sunk the Disney studio,” Gabler wrote. “[Instead, it] wound up rescuing [the studio] from financial disaster and spiritual despair.”
Who knows for sure what would have been without Cinderella. Yes, the Disney company has invested just as much into live-action filmmaking as animation today, but I think we can all agree that animation is the heart and soul of the Disney studio. Had Cinderella flopped, would we have The Little Mermaid (1989), Beauty and the Beast (1991), Aladdin (1992) or The Lion King (1994)? Again, who knows for sure.
What we do know is this: Disney animation lives on because of Cinderella, making it one of the most important animated films in the company’s history.
Disney hasn’t always been such a global force in the entertainment industry, and this dark period of financial crises shows that. The company can plummet today, no matter how unlikely, just as they almost did 60 years ago.
Disney’s studios certainly churn out some crap flack every once and a while, but occasionally they do get it right and give us something we cherish for the rest of our lives.
Frame by Frame 