Disney Culture, Social Responsibility and Corporate Identity Research Paper

Disney Culture, Social Responsibility and Corporate Identity - Research Paper Example The Studio Entertainment unit is the foundation on which the Walt Disney Company would be built, and at its heart are world-renowned animated features and live-action motion pictures. (Kotler 24) The Disney Company had a well defined corporate identity and worked extremely hard to control their public image. This resulted to businessmen and organization interested in placing Mickey Mouse character, logos and images on the cover of their products. The Consumer Products extended the Disney brand to merchandise ranging from apparel, toys, and books to interactive games, foods and beverages, electronics and delicate art. The founder of Walt Disney Company, Walt Disney died on December 15, 1966, of lung cancer. His persona that is the Walt Disney the character, and the role of Roy Disney and the creative input of nine old men, should never be underestimated while considering the history of the company (Michaels 45). Roy Disney took over as chairman, CEO, and president of the company after the death of his brother. One of his first acts was to rename Disney World as "Walt Disney World," in honor of his brother and his vision. Walt Disney had a vision of building Disneyland. These parks served as valuable role in shaping the Disney identity as well as for tourist attractions. Walt Disney could quote saying,† Disneyland began when my two daughters were extremely young. Saturday was always Daddy's Day, and I would take them to the merry-go-round and sit on the bench eating peanuts while they rode, sitting there, alone, I felt there should be something built of Family Park where parents and children could have fun together. (Williams 34) The death of Walt Disney snatched a brilliant innovator, who was constantly inventing and reinventing to keep his studio ahead of the game. Even after his death, the company, which bears his name, has continued with his philosophy. The new technique is the animated feature which is now more competitive than ever. The Walt Disney Co mpany Director, Emaritus Roy E. Disney, died on stomach cancer on December 16, 2009. During his time of death, he had owned roughly 1% of the Disney which could amount to 16 million shares. Roy Disney was the last member of Disney family to be actively involved in the operation of the Walt Disney Company and also working in the company altogether (Wasko 63). At the time of Roy Disney death, the Chief Executive Officer was Mike Eisner who took the reins in 1884. He could be credited for turning Walt Disney around through his policy of expansion into television, the internet, sports, publishing and music. Due to these range of media companies, problems continued to arise. This led to his criticism as a result of poor management of the company and also he was not popular with members of the board as compared to Roy Disney. The poor management of Disney Company, led to some of Disney’s animated family films, being accused of having sexual references in them. For example,’ the little Mermaid’,’ Aladdin’ and the Lion King’. This resulted to the recollection of the copies distributed \, and modifications of the films to remove such content (Smoodin 17). Disney Corporate social responsibility Corporate social responsibility refers self regulating mechanism formulated by businesses for their interaction with the outside factors. The business monitors and ensure that its actively complying with ethical standards and international norms. The goal is to foster