Making Magic, and Money

After drawing Mickey Mouse in 1928 while riding a train from New York to Los Angeles, Walt Disney must have grinned at the realization that he finally had his meal ticket in hand. Disney later said that money proved important because of what it freed him from -- worry -- and what it allowed him to do: build things, including the namesake park that came to life 50 years ago in Anaheim.

Californians had been escaping to amusement parks for generations before Disneyland opened, thanks to the mechanical flights of fancy crafted by such designers as Charles Looff, who built Coney Island’s first carousel before heading West to take Californians for a ride. But no one had ever imagined, much less built, a Disneyland.

Disney was a Mouseketeer capable of imagineering his dream into a business. He did so by satisfying the most discerning customers of all -- children willing to believe what he put before their eyes. Now children the world over clutch Disney toys, memorize Disney DVDs and yearn to visit the parks. We think of Disney as an escapist universe, but in fact the Magic Kingdom’s collected works spread American values to every corner of the world. Walt Disney is the American dream’s foremost propagandist, the park in Anaheim its original mecca.

This isn’t meant in a mean-spirited way, but Disney’s successors have been Marketeers. They’ve imitated, but never really duplicated, the master’s touch. They bolstered revenue opening more Tomorrowlands and Disney Stores, adapting animated films into Broadway shows and showing the good business sense to work with others (including Steve Jobs at Pixar and Miramax Film Corp. co-founders Harvey and Bob Weinstein) who know a bit about pixie dust.

The real shame is that founder Disney couldn’t manage to capture and bottle some of the pixie dust that turned an Anaheim orange grove into the Happiest Place on Earth. Forget about imagineering; marketeering can be tough enough. Just ask caretakers of other familiar brands that struggle to remain relevant in Tomorrowland.

Soon-to-retire Walt Disney Co. Chief Executive Michael Eisner described 2004 this way in a recent letter to shareholders: “By every measure, the company prospered. Earnings per share were up 72%; the stock price was up 12%; and operating income, return on invested capital and cash flow were all up significantly, with cash flow hitting record levels.”

Eisner’s by-the-numbers recitation underscored the dichotomy of Disneyland at 50. To succeed, the park must continue to transport children of all ages to places they can’t find on their own. The park also must generate enough cash (and spin off enough affiliated businesses) to pay the bills and reward shareholders. And it all must be done without becoming so commercial as to turn off tomorrow’s true believers. Where’s Tinkerbell when you need her?