DisneyKidds
<font color=green>The TF thanks DisneyKidds for mo
- Joined
- Mar 30, 2001
Yes, the tag line from the commercials that my 3 year old loves to quote (so cute ). Very well used in relation to WDW. I love the advertising campaing. However, WDW is not the only thing for which this tag line is wholly appropriate.
Many lament the apparent current Disney focus to seperate us from our money. How often do we hear 'plush' referred to as a negative thing? However, it was Walt himself who created Disney merchandising. He was the Man Who Started it All when it comes to plush. Blasphemy you say? Bah! Walt started the ball rolling so long ago with the wholesale merchandising of Mickey Mouse. In fact, at one point it was the only thing that separated Disney from bankruptcy. Was it a knee jerk response to a desperate need for short term cash? Absolutely not. After all, the merchandising didn't stop once the bankruptcy clouds passed.
If you think about it, we owe much of what the Walt Disney Company has been to plush, to merchandising. Before Mickey was insanely popular as a feature character, he was a merchandising darling. Mickey Mouse made Disney, and Mickey Mouse, while a wonderful character and creation on his own, was made popular through merchandising.
So, what was so altruistic about Walts merchandising motives that seperates him from those who today are seen as groping for our wallets. Perhaps you could say that Walts use of merchandising was a vehicle to promote the name, the brand, and not just a way to open wallets. Perhaps, but I bet that when Disneyland opened it's doors there were just as many carts full of irresistable trinkets that served to separate parents from their greenbacks to keep the kiddies quiet.
So, is there a rose colored view of Disney merchandising in the early days, or was/is business simply business?
Many lament the apparent current Disney focus to seperate us from our money. How often do we hear 'plush' referred to as a negative thing? However, it was Walt himself who created Disney merchandising. He was the Man Who Started it All when it comes to plush. Blasphemy you say? Bah! Walt started the ball rolling so long ago with the wholesale merchandising of Mickey Mouse. In fact, at one point it was the only thing that separated Disney from bankruptcy. Was it a knee jerk response to a desperate need for short term cash? Absolutely not. After all, the merchandising didn't stop once the bankruptcy clouds passed.
If you think about it, we owe much of what the Walt Disney Company has been to plush, to merchandising. Before Mickey was insanely popular as a feature character, he was a merchandising darling. Mickey Mouse made Disney, and Mickey Mouse, while a wonderful character and creation on his own, was made popular through merchandising.
So, what was so altruistic about Walts merchandising motives that seperates him from those who today are seen as groping for our wallets. Perhaps you could say that Walts use of merchandising was a vehicle to promote the name, the brand, and not just a way to open wallets. Perhaps, but I bet that when Disneyland opened it's doors there were just as many carts full of irresistable trinkets that served to separate parents from their greenbacks to keep the kiddies quiet.
So, is there a rose colored view of Disney merchandising in the early days, or was/is business simply business?