Pass the popcorn. Walt Disney’s studio business is a big hit right now. Frozen has surpassed The Lion King as the most successful Disney animated movie with more than $870m in global box office revenues so far. The film gets to Disney’s core – animation – and the central character is – you guessed it – a princess. The merchandising opportunities are endless and a Broadway show is already planned.
The success of Frozen along with Thor: The Dark World, drove revenues at Disney’s studio business up nearly a quarter and operating income up nearly three quarters in three months to December 28. That made it the star performer, but the rest of the company did well, too. Each business segment delivered operating income growth in the double-digits.
Studios may often get top billing, but they represented only about 15 per cent of the business last quarter. A big part of the plot at Disney is globally cross-selling its brands through theme parks and consumer products. The company has announced an Iron Man attraction, for example, in Hong Kong. Long lines for a Frozen ride somewhere cannot be too far away. The largest contributor to revenue and operating profit, however, is media networks, which include ESPN and ABC television. Ad revenues at ESPN were up 10 per cent in the quarter, but higher programming costs pressured the broadcasting business.