SUMMARIZE the Given paragraph.

Over the last half-century, The Walt Disney Company has been one of the most recognizable and successful entertainment companies in the world. While the company has experienced its share of ups and downs, it remains a case study of how a firm can achieve competitive advantage and long-term profitability through the successful implementation of corporate-level strategies. Walt Disney and his brother Roy formed Walt Disney Studios in 1923 in Hollywood, California. While the business struggled at first, it found success when Walt developed the Mickey Mouse character. In the late 1930s, Walt shifted his business from cartoon shorts to full-length feature films, including the 1937 release of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the first full-length animation film. During the World War II era, the company struggled financially as the demand for animated films slowed. However, Disney survived this period by producing educational cartoons for the government and by diversifying into other businesses. This initial diversification included the creation of the Walt Disney Music Company to control Disney’s music copyrights and recruit top artists. At the beginning of the 1950s, Disney began producing live-action movies such as Treasure Island and Old Yeller. The company also created Buena Vista Distribution to distribute its films and ultimately save one-third of each film’s gross revenues. In addition, during the 1950s, Disney diversified into TV shows with the production of the TV series Disneyland, which was used to promote the company’s new theme park in California. Disney followed up the success of Disneyland with another theme park in Orlando, Florida, called Disney World. The new park was an instant success, grossing $139 million from 11 million visitors in its first year. To generate traffic in the park, Disney opened an in-house travel company to work with travel agencies, airlines, and tour companies. However, following Walt Disney’s death in 1966, the company began to languish as the corporate focus shifted from film making to theme park construction. The company was almost lost to corporate raiders in 1984 but was ultimately saved by a cash infusion from a private investor who reinstated Roy Disney to the company’s board. At this low point in the company’s history, the reins were handed to Michael Eisner.

Eisner’s first order of business was to breathe new life into the company’s TV and movie units. In the early 1980s, Disney had stopped producing network TV shows for fear it would cannibalize its Disney Network offerings on cable. Eisner took the opposite approach, producing several shows on network TV to bolster the company’s brand image. Eisner next turned his attention to the ailing movie division, which maintained a paltry 4% share of the box office in 1984. The new management team completely changed both the type and way in which movies were made at Disney. During this period, Disney produced more films on average (16 per year versus 4 per year), began producing comedies and live-action films for older audiences, cast lower-priced actors, and held all film budgets to strict financial controls. Of Eisner’s first 33 movies, 27 were profitable versus an average hit rate of only 40% for the industry.

Over the next 10 years, Disney expanded its corporate reach into new businesses and reemphasized its core through significant investment. With its launch of Disney Stores in 1987, the firm pioneered the “retail-as-entertainment” concept, generating sales per square foot at twice the average rate for typical retail stores.9 Disney also expanded the theme park division, building Euro Disney, Typhoon Lagoon, and Disney-MGM Studios. Through its Buena Vista Home Video unit, Disney achieved tremendous success by selling videos directly to consumers. Further diversification occurred through Broadway theater productions; the purchase of an NHL hockey team, The Mighty Ducks; and the development of new production studios under the Miramax and Touchstone names for films aimed at adults.

While all these initiatives broadened Disney’s scope, the company cemented itself as one of the most diversified and vertically integrated firms in 1995 with the acquisition of ABC. This acquisition made Disney the largest entertainment company in the world, with worldwide distribution outlets for its creative content. Through the $19 billion acquisition, Disney controlled TV stations, cable networks, radio stations, newspapers, and periodicals. Eisner believed that Disney’s ability to leverage its brand and create value depended on corporate synergy. For instance, in the year before a movie’s release, creators from Disney’s animation group would make presentations to the heads of the consumer products, home video, and theme park units. The participants would then discuss product options and reconvene monthly to update one another. In short, Eisner believed that Disney’s structure created value through horizontal, vertical, and geographical synergies that allowed different business units to share resources and transfer skills.

Eisner’s successor as CEO, Robert Iger, has continued this approach. In 2006, Disney acquired Pixar Studios from Apple for over $7 billion. Through this acquisition, the company gained access to a treasure trove of new characters from Toy Story, Cars, Brave, and other Pixar movies. With this access, Disney has been able to continue its strategic process of leveraging key assets across its theme parks, retail stores, and movie franchises. Disney hopes to do the same with the Star Wars franchise that was acquired for $4 billion from Lucasfilms in 2012.