In the first instance, that took the form of the Disney Vault, whereby films would be re-released every ten years, either in cinemas or later on VHS and DVD, before going “back into the vault” in order to create a rolling cycle of nostalgia that has proven lucrative over the years. More recently, they’ve been able to continue that by remaking their animated features in live action, an extremely lucrative strategy that will give us Tim Burton’s Dumbo, Guy Ritchie’s Aladdin, and Jon Favreau’s The Lion King, all in the next 12 months or so.

Aside from being a legacy brand, franchises are doing as much heavy lifting at the House of Mouse as they are at any other studio. In fact, their success has actually come out of making fewer smaller films, when you compare their output to what they were doing in the 1990s via Touchstone and other divisions, and reaping the rewards of betting big on Marvel and Lucasfilm. Looking at what’s to come, they mean to continue monopolising the blockbuster business.

The Disney brand means that, for better or worse, “Disney movie” was essentially its own genre. Even ten years ago, that would largely be synonymous with fairy tales, princesses, and movies primarily aimed at women and children. But from making more four-quadrant films for a PG-13 audience, to stock-piling franchises, their record-smashing success in the last decade has all come out of them figuring out how to make movies that everyone else wants to see as well.

The last ten years

Going back a decade to Disney’s acquisition of Pixar for the sum of $7.4 billion, you can already see the start of the company getting to where it is now. The story of Disney’s last ten years started with them using their heft to buy companies and properties that were already hitting the bases they weren’t, but has gradually led to the diversification of their film output overall. What started as a financial strategy has done some creative good as well, keeping their shareholders happy, but also entertaining us geeks in the process.

Back in 2008, Disney’s big franchise releases were sequels to National Treasure, The Chronicles Of Narnia, and High School Musical. At that point the first Pirates Of The Caribbean trilogy had just wrapped up with expensive back-to-back sequels, and a few years later, the fourth one would somehow prove to be even more expensive.