Disney: The Renaissance and the Empire

from Acquired · host Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal

In 1984, the Walt Disney Company was worth more dead than alive. Disney Animation — the heart of Walt's famous flywheel — had stagnated for years, bleeding away talent while corporate raiders circled, salivating over offers to sell off the film library to MGM and offload the parks to hotel operators. But what followed instead was the greatest turnaround in media history under Michael Eisner and Frank Wells. Beauty and the Beast. The Lion King. Broadway. Bringing the Disney Vault home on VHS and DVD. And the greatest media acquisition of all time — ESPN.And then... it all almost fell apart. Again. Euro Disney turned into a money pit. Boardroom and executive infighting ran rampant. Animation descended into a dumpster fire. (Remember Chicken Little? Us neither.) Comcast — Comcast!! — tried to steal the company via a hostile takeover. Out of the chaos, a new generation of Disney management emerged under Bob Iger to stage yet another epic comeback with Pixar, Marvel and Lucasfilm, creating the defining media empire of the 21st century…until the tech companies came along. Tune in for the ultimate Acquired thrill ride: Disney, Part II.Sponsors:Many thanks to our fantastic Fall '26 Season partners:SierraSentryWorkOSAnthropicLinks:Sign up for email updates, get our takeaways and research photos from each episode, and vote on future topics!The Official Acquired Meetup on Sept 17th with our friends at Sentry. Join us!The Acquired Disney Part II Companion PDFThe Acquired Disney Part II Artifacts visual hubOur Disney Part II column in WSJWorldly Partners' Multi-Decade Disney StudyAll episode sourcesCarve Outs:Warby Parker Transitions Extra ActiveMichael Arndt's Toy Story 3 Story PresentationThe Golden State ValkyriesMore Acquired:Get email updates and vote on future episodes!Join the SlackCheck out the latest swag in the ACQ Merch Store!00:00:00 Start00:00:50 Intro00:05:07 Disney in Chaos (1984)00:11:33 Eisner, Wells, Katzenberg Arrive (1984)00:24:30 Animation Renaissance & CAPS Tech (1989)00:37:33 Flywheel Extensions: Home Video, Retail & Broadway00:54:32 Challenges & ABC/ESPN Acquisition (1994-1995)01:05:55 ESPN: Disney's Accidental Goldmine01:21:26 Eisner's Decline & Save Disney Campaign (2001-2004)01:34:53 Comcast Hostile Takeover Bid (2004)01:41:58 Bob Iger's Vision & Pixar Acquisition (2005-2006)01:52:17 Pixar: From Lucasfilm to Steve Jobs (1979-1995)02:03:11 Toy Story, IPO & Eisner Conflict (1995)02:34:30 Disney Acquires Pixar (2006)02:46:37 Marvel & Lucasfilm Acquisitions (2009-2012)02:58:01 Streaming Pivot: Cord Cutting & BAMTech (2015)03:06:30 The Disney+ Strategy & FOX Acquisition (2017-2019)03:19:01 The Disney+ Launch, COVID, & Chapek's Tenure (2019-2022)03:42:15 Iger's Return, Challenges & Parks Revival (2022-2026)03:50:54 The Business Today: Parks & Streaming Focus03:59:22 Analysis: Disney+ Strategy & The New Media Landscape04:10:01 Analysis: Bull/Bear Cases04:21:20 Quintessence04:24:39 Carve-Outs + Outro‍Note: Acquired hosts and guests may hold assets discussed in this episode. This podcast is not investment advice, and is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only. You should do your own research and make your own independent decisions when considering any financial transactions.

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