Troupe Disney

Why try to re-invent the wheel? As I was searching the internet I came across an article/paper that was written by Douglas Karalis, for a docturate program in Dowling College. It is excellently written and sumarizes Troupe Disney beautifully ....

Walt Disney created a world of imagination that has transformed popular culture while simultaneously providing other organizations with a model of a “Great Group.” Troupe Disney has been able to not only survive and to thrive for more than 40 years after the death of their founder because of Walt’s vision and his developing a definition of Disney in generations of dreamers. The success of this company and the great groups that have existed within the Disney Kingdom owe all of their allegiance to the vision that Walt Disney himself created more than 80 years ago with the creation of a little cartoon mouse that for a brief moment was almost named Mortimer. That little mouse however was named Mickey and his name became that under the advice of Walt’s wife, Lillian. That initial collaboration can be considered the initial building block of all the groups that have lived, laughed, and imagined in Disney World.
Disney’s, “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves” came out of Walt’s desire to create a feature length animated film after visiting Europe where he witnessed a theater that instead of showing a feature film, strung together a bunch of Walt’s cartoon shorts that were usually shown before the feature. His vision for doing what had never been done before, coupled with his use of new technology, made Snow White even more magical and memorable because the film was the first to use Technicolor. That pioneering spirit continues to this day to be a driving force behind the great groups that make up Disney today while being driven by the vision of creating a “Disney” film.
Disney created his name and vision early in the formation of Disney productions by having final say in all that was released to the public and putting his name and his name alone on it. Walt did this because he wanted the public to know that when they saw a Disney film they were guaranteed “good family entertainment.” Eventually, others were given credit, but not before the name of Disney had permeated every household. Walt did not do all of this alone. The over 300 artists that worked for him did so not for credit, but to be part of something great… part of something that was going to change the world.
Walt’s brother Roy simultaneously helped to establish the name of Disney by his merchandising genius and his authority to oversee all financial aspects of his brother’s creative genius. Roy kept an eye on the money and when necessary constrained the creative genius that was flowing behind the walls of the Disney troupe. This merchandising attached to the “good family entertainment” that was synonymous with Disney continues to serve Disney to this day by nostalgic aunts, uncles, mothers, fathers, grandmothers, and grandfathers that purchase Disney merchandise not with consumer pressure but with reminiscent smiles and thoughts of yesteryear. A great example of this is when a man that had just come out of a viewing of 101 Dalmatians was asked why he did not bring a child to the show and he replied, “I did bring a child. I brought myself.”
The greatest testament to Walt Disney has to come from his nephew Roy Jr., whom Walt supposedly referred to as the “idiot nephew.” However, this did not detract from Roy Jr.’s belief in Walt’s vision. After the release of “The Black Cauldron” Disney seemed to be starting to crumble, but Roy Jr. revitalized, re-visioned, and refocused his uncle’s dream to put out a major animated film every year. He did this with the help of Michael Eisner while simultaneously preventing a takeover by Saul Steinberg (source).
This revitalized vision that Roy Jr. created helped to bring about the most successful period that Disney has ever seen. The impact created a new dynamic within the culture of all the animators and permeated all other members involved in Disney productions. Great groups are driven by something greater than themselves, Jim Collins would call this the “Hedgehog Concept”, and Walt Disney defined it as “Good Family Entertainment” that always seeks to incorporate new technology. I think that the ultimate success of Disney was and is its ability to support its members in all their creative endeavors allowing the vision to be truly shared.