ParentsOf4
Well-Known Member
Disney spent $31M in theme park capital expenditures (capex) in 1969, $65M in 1970, $228M in 1971, and $141M in 1972.
We all owe Roy Disney for creating Walt Disney World.
-
Welcome to the WDWMAGIC.COM Forums!
Please take a look around, and feel free to sign up and join the community.
On layoffs, very bad attendance, and Iger's legacy being one of disgrace
- Thread starter pheneix
- Start date
We all owe Roy Disney for creating Walt Disney World.
Animaniac93-98
Well-Known Member
Fun quote from Roger Ebert circa 1975, when he thought Disney might be on its upswing:
"Escape to Witch Mountain," as well as "The World's Greatest Athlete" and (I'm told, though I didn't see it) "The Strongest Man in the World" seem to indicate that the Disney studio has snapped out of its doldrums and returned to the business of making movies with life and spirit."
Escape to Witch Mountain movie review (1975) | Roger Ebert
"Escape to Witch Mountain" is the Disney organization's annual Easter movie, and a pretty good one. Too often in the past, the Disney liveaction features have been impossibly bland, too scrubbed and innocuous, to really hold the attention of all but the younger members of the family. But now...
www.rogerebert.com
Animaniac93-98
Well-Known Member
Not all the post-Walt movies are bad. Many are more charming and palatable than the lackluster blockbusters Disney cranks out these days. In particular:
Candleshoe, The Rescuers, Escape to Witch Mountain, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, The Love Bug, Apple Dumpling Gang, Something Wicked This Way Comes, Child of Glass (TV movie)
Even the "swing and a miss" stuff like The Black Hole, Pete's Dragon, The Watcher in the Woods and Island at the Top of the World were at least interesting curiosities.
Candleshoe, The Rescuers, Escape to Witch Mountain, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, The Love Bug, Apple Dumpling Gang, Something Wicked This Way Comes, Child of Glass (TV movie)
Even the "swing and a miss" stuff like The Black Hole, Pete's Dragon, The Watcher in the Woods and Island at the Top of the World were at least interesting curiosities.
ParentsOf4
Well-Known Member
Fun quote from Roger Ebert circa 1975, when he thought Disney might be on its upswing:
"Escape to Witch Mountain," as well as "The World's Greatest Athlete" and (I'm told, though I didn't see it) "The Strongest Man in the World" seem to indicate that the Disney studio has snapped out of its doldrums and returned to the business of making movies with life and spirit."
Escape to Witch Mountain movie review (1975) | Roger Ebert
"Escape to Witch Mountain" is the Disney organization's annual Easter movie, and a pretty good one. Too often in the past, the Disney liveaction features have been impossibly bland, too scrubbed and innocuous, to really hold the attention of all but the younger members of the family. But now...
I was a kid when most of these movies were released and (probably) was Disney's target audience.
At the time, me and my friends all thought these movies sucked!
It was a different age, no longer the 1950s when some of these might have succeeded.
Even though we were in grade school, we were aware of what was going on and had lived through the 60s protests, the Vietnam War, an oil crisis, Watergate, Disco, and more.
Kids weren't kids anymore, at least not the way they had been in the 1950s. Corporate Disney management was stuck in the 1950s.
As I remember it, Star Wars (1977) was the first great movie that kids could enjoy.
_caleb
Well-Known Member
Are you talking about animation studios, or movie studios?
_caleb
Well-Known Member
I agree that we can be fans of the park and not necessarily fans of everything the Company does. My statement about a revisionist narrative had to do with the idea that Disney was just a small, scrappy animation studio in 1971 when they had (with varying degrees of success) branched out into live-action features, television (Mickey Mouse Club, Disneyland television show, serials like Davy Crockett, Zorro, etc.), film distribution, and were partnering with major corporations on things like attractions for the World’s Fair.
_caleb
Well-Known Member
Not sure zooming in on 1971 helps put things into perspective. Maybe zoom out to see all that Disney had gotten into during the 1950s and 60s: diversification in film and television (live-action, distributing their own films, comics, etc.) educational initiatives/materials, several major corporate (and governmental) partnerships, technology developments (with patents and licensing), in addition to the merchandise, etc.
the.dreamfinder
Well-Known Member
Michael Eisner: “did you forget me?”
lazyboy97o
Well-Known Member
While Disney had diversified they still paled in comparison to the other studios. They had grown but were still a relatively small, family-controlled company.
ImperfectPixie
Well-Known Member
Candleshoe, Something Wicked this Way Comes, Pete's Dragon, and The Watcher in the Woods were (and still are) favorites of mine.
The split is not not dramatically different today, it is less but roughly a healthy (not this year) 35-40% of total revenue from the parks .
Also WDW phase 1 cost 2.5 Billion in today's dollars.
Disney Studios was still considered a major film studio in the 70’s but had the smallest market share of the 70’s at around 6%. Biggest thing that hurt them was being tied to G rated movies and not paying points the producers, directors as the other studios began doing. Losing out on Raiders, ET. etc. That caused them to lose a lot of animators bringing the Studios further down.
Last edited:
Animaniac93-98
Well-Known Member
I know that's adjusting for general inflation, but it's doubtful Disney could build something comparable for that much today.
True Galaxy's Edge cost $1 billion
GimpYancIent
Well-Known Member
I take it the price tag for the Galactic Star Cruiser hotel, that was supposed to start taking reservations soon, is not a part of the Galaxy's Edge price.
But also note, when Magic Kingdom opened there were no Mountains, only rides were
Railroad, Jungle Cruise, Haunted Mansion, Hall of Presidents, Small World, Snow White, Mr. Toads, Carousel, Dumbo, Tea Party, Skyway and Grand Prix Speedway. The Contemporary, Poly and Fort Wilderness also opened.
They opened the a Riverboat, Peter Pan and 20,000 Leagues three months later
Railroad, Jungle Cruise, Haunted Mansion, Hall of Presidents, Small World, Snow White, Mr. Toads, Carousel, Dumbo, Tea Party, Skyway and Grand Prix Speedway. The Contemporary, Poly and Fort Wilderness also opened.
They opened the a Riverboat, Peter Pan and 20,000 Leagues three months later
Correct
Tom P.
Well-Known Member
Football vs. soccer is a much simpler conversation.
Americans are right. Europeans are wrong. That's just fact.
Tom P.
Well-Known Member
I have always wondered about using the term "Americans" to denote people in the United States, when there are numerous other countries in the Americas. But it is commonly accepted usage. And what is the alternative? Saying "people in the United States" is a bit more cumbersome. United Statesians?LOL Europeans? To be more specific the US is wrong, the rest of the Americas (Central, South) and Europe are Right LOL
Miss Bella
Well-Known Member
It's not the United States. It's "The States". You are from "The states". People in Europe seem to know all the states so you can actually tell them what state you are from and they will know where it is. Most of us United Statesians are really bad at geography or we just don't care about the rest of the world.