Success continued to ride into the Disney studio, especially from the spark from Disneyland. Walt and Roy's creation inspired other companies to do the same: "CBS converted an old amusement pier at Ocean Park into a collection of thrill rides and other attractions...The most ambitious new park was Freedomland in New York" (243). Unfortunately, these new grounds did not maintain popularity like Disney's. Fame also came from populations overseas. In 1930, Paul Winkler, an active French journalist, came to the studio and stated he wanted to introduce the fascinating Mickey Mouse to the European public. Roy gave him permission, and it did quite the trick: "Paul Winkler was the first of a cadre of Europeans who spread the Disney characters and product throughout Britain and the continent" (210). Much to the joy of Walt and Roy, the studio acquired many new staff members. It seems that the Disney company has gotten over the rough patches and is finally establishing the high position that it still holds today.
~ Outside Reading #5
Thomas, Bob. Building a Company: Roy O. Disney and the Creation of an Entertainment Empire.
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7 comments:
I think that it is odd that it was such a success after having such a bad first day. In these times that certainly would not have happened. These days people are more likely to sue than wait for the problems to fixed and trying to go again.
I never knew that at first Disney was not a total complete hit! It's kinda nice to know that it had it's fair share of problems and wasn't the "fairytale" business. It definately seems more realistic now.
I agree with Julian's point: it seems like people would be less inclined to give something a second try now than they were at the time that Disneyland was created.
Also, it seems like the Disney brothers were pretty lucky that their business turned into a success. There must be countless other entrepreneurs with just as much ambition and determination to succeed as the Disney brothers had whose businesses failed. Sometimes, bad circumstances can lead to those failures, but luckily, the Disney brothers overcame the bad circumstances that they encountered and succeeded.
Its very odd that Disneyland was able to become successful after such large problems at first. If no one was satisfied after going once, I wonder why anyone of these people who go again.
I think the success of Disneyland is really a testament to how lovable their brand is. Despite all these problems the company managed to succeed, because their characters and movies are loved enough that people don't care about first-day problems. The other amusement parks that came and went did not have this kind of recognition and that is why they failed.
I was surprised that Disneyland had so many problems when it opened. Now it is a great park that a lot of people go to. I am also suprised that Disneyland was able to become such a huge success after a bad opening because now if a new store is bad on the first day they have a very high chance of failure.
I know this sounds like what everyone else is saying,but I also couldn't believe that Disneyland, the theme-park that spread all over the world, could have still succeeded after such a bad start. Sean is right though. People really love disney and its characters, so much that they would go back to someplace where they didn't have much fun just because of that. They really were quite lucky though that they succeeded so much to how Disney is today.
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