Page 127 - Harnessing the Management Secrets of Disney in Your Company

108 The Disney Way

All the while, Walt kept a sharp eye out for any violations of his copyright,
just as The Walt Disney Company does today.
But even Walt could not have dreamt of the multimillion-dollar cornuco-
pia of Disney products that has evolved from that first Mickey Mouse school
tablet. The company licenses its cartoon characters to manufacturers, and
products bearing the names and pictures of those characters are then sold by
retailers around the world. There are company owned and operated stores, as
well as a Disney Web site that markets movies, books, art, clothing, jewelry,
collectibles, and a host of other products all bearing the likeness of various
familiar Disney figures and all produced under license from The Walt Disney
Company.
Most of Disney’s numerous partnerships were formed for purely business
reasons, but one of his most unlikely affiliations stemmed from a creative
communion that developed quite by chance. One evening Walt was eating
alone in a fashionable Hollywood restaurant when he spotted the famous
conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra, Leopold Stokowski, also dining
alone. He invited Stokowski to join him. Stokowski was a giant in the world
of classical music, and with his mane of white hair and sweeping gestures, he
looked every inch the maestro, whether leading an orchestra or chatting with
a friend over dinner.
Discussing future plans, Disney mentioned that he was about to start
work on a new Mickey Mouse cartoon, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice. Stokowski
expressed an interest in conducting the score and even offered to waive his fee.
Over the dinner table, the two men then discussed the possibility of making
an animated feature set to the music of great composers. Out of this conver-
sation grew the 1940 movie Fantasia. Disney and Stokowski were equally
charmed by the concept.
In the film, Stokowski conducted everything from Beethoven to the
avant-garde music of Igor Stravinsky, while animated figures interpreted the
compositions through dance. Visual interpretation of orchestral music was a
new concept, and Fantasia won raves from the critics. Bosley Crowther of the
New York Times called it “simply terrific, as terrific as anything that has ever
happened on the screen,” while another critic described it as “a new artistic
experience of great beauty.” Because it was so unlike any other Disney movie,
however, the public rejected it. Today though, the film is highly regarded,
especially among film historians.
The partnership with Stokowski served Disney well in a creative and
artistic sense, and represented a great step forward in the fusion of animation,