How Disney staff found merchandising characters a source of revenue.

Bryan Slater

Active Member
Original Poster
I'm currently a full time student in college studying Business Administration. I find myself doing project or reports on Disney whenever possible. Along the way I always find something new out. This time it happened to be how Disney started out in the merchandise business and here it is.

While the cartoons were gaining popularity in the movie houses, the Disney staff found that merchandising the characters was an additional source of revenue. When a man in New York offered Walt $300 for the license to put Mickey Mouse on some pencil tablets he was manufacturing. Walt Disney needed the $300, so he said okay. That was the start of Disney merchandising. Soon there were dolls,dishes,toothbrushes,radios,figures- almost everything you could think bore likeness. The first Mickey Mouse book was published in 1930, as was the first Mickey Mouse newspaper comic strip.
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JIMINYCR

Well-Known Member
You can find a lot of info about the merchandising history by looking up Disney Consumer Products and Interactive Media (DCPI) a division of Disney. Very interesting to read about how Walt made a fortune early on and it continues today. Lots has been written about this in various books about Walt's life and the history of the company.
 

The Empress Lilly

Well-Known Member
I'm currently a full time student in college studying Business Administration. I find myself doing project or reports on Disney whenever possible. Along the way I always find something new out. This time it happened to be how Disney started out in the merchandise business and here it is.

While the cartoons were gaining popularity in the movie houses, the Disney staff found that merchandising the characters was an additional source of revenue. When a man in New York offered Walt $300 for the license to put Mickey Mouse on some pencil tablets he was manufacturing. Walt Disney needed the $300, so he said okay. That was the start of Disney merchandising. Soon there were dolls,dishes,toothbrushes,radios,figures- almost everything you could think bore likeness. The first Mickey Mouse book was published in 1930, as was the first Mickey Mouse newspaper comic strip.
Post your best info and follow
That sounds exactly like how I found out I could merchandise my good looks!
 

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