Disney Consumer Products facts for kids
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| Subsidiary | |
| Industry | Merchandising |
| Predecessor | Character Merchandising Division |
| Founded | 1929 |
| Headquarters |
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United States
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Area served
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Worldwide |
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Key people
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Tasia Filippatos (president) |
| Products | Textiles, apparel and luxury goods |
| Services | Licensing |
| Parent | Disney Experiences |
| Divisions | Global Products Disney Retail |
| Subsidiaries |
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Disney Consumer Products, Inc. is a company that sells and licenses Disney-themed products. It is part of the Disney Experiences group within The Walt Disney Company. This company makes sure you can find your favorite Disney, Pixar, Marvel, and Star Wars characters on toys, clothes, and other cool stuff.
Before 2016, Disney Consumer Products was its own big part of Disney. Then, it joined with Disney Interactive to form a new group. It has always been a leader in selling licensed merchandise around the world.
Its main brands include Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, and National Geographic. Other important brands are Disney Parks and Lucasfilm.
Contents
How it All Started: The Early Days of Disney Products
The idea for Disney Consumer Products began way back in 1929. That's when Walt Disney first allowed Mickey Mouse's picture to be used on children's books. On December 16, 1929, Walt Disney Productions created a special division. It was called Walt Disney Enterprises (WDE) and its job was to handle all the merchandise.
Soon after, in January 1930, Charlotte Clark started making Mickey Mouse dolls. WDE also hired George Borgfeldt & Company to help license Mickey and Minnie Mouse toys. They quickly found other companies to make products. For example, the first license was given for Mickey and Minnie Mouse handkerchiefs in Switzerland.
In the summer of 1930, Disney expanded WDE to England. They allowed William Banks Levy to sell Mickey and Minnie Mouse items there.
Growing the Business: Kay Kamen and Early Success
In 1932, Disney made a big deal with Herman "Kay" Kamen. He became the main person in charge of licensing. The WDE division quickly showed great results. For example, the merchandise from the Silly Symphony film Three Little Pigs (1933) helped it become Disney's first animated film to make a profit.
By 1934, Disney's licensing grew even more. You could find Mickey Mouse on toy projectors and diamond pins. There was even Mickey Mouse toffee in England. Lionel also made a Mickey Mouse wind-up train toy.
More companies wanted to use Mickey Mouse. General Foods used him on Post Toasties cereal boxes for one year. They made $1.5 million from this! Mickey was the first character ever licensed for a cereal box.
In 1938, Walt Disney Enterprises changed its name to Walt Disney Productions. In 1949, the Character Merchandising Division was officially formed within Disney.
Building the Brand: Disney Consumer Products History
Disney Consumer Products (DCP) was officially created in 1985. It was incorporated in California in 1986.
The very first Disney Store opened its doors in Glendale, California on March 28, 1987. Soon after, Disney made a deal with Mattel. Mattel would create a line of Disney character toys for babies and preschoolers.
By April 1990, the 50th Disney Store opened. In 1994, DCP changed how it licensed Winnie the Pooh products. They created three different lines for Pooh fans. One was based on the cartoon version, another was a fancy line for department stores, and the third was based on the original book illustrations.
Expanding and Innovating: New Franchises and Products
In 1997, DCP was at its peak. There were 749 Disney Stores worldwide. They had 4,200 companies licensed to make products. Most of these were for Winnie the Pooh and Mickey Mouse.
Around 2000, Disney Consumer Products faced some challenges. To fix this, Andrew P. Mooney became the president of DCP. He came up with the super popular Disney Princess franchise in January 2000. He also created other fashion and home lines.
Mooney also worked to get Disney products into more places. He made deals with high-end stores like Fred Segal. He also opened a sales office near Wal-Mart's headquarters. In 2001, he made Mickey Mouse T-shirts popular by getting celebrities to wear them.
DCP also started licensing food products in the 2000s. They partnered with Kellogg Company for Disney cereals in 2002. In 2003, they worked with Wells' Dairy for Disney-branded ice creams and yogurts.
In 2004, Disney bought the rights to The Muppets and Bear in the Big Blue House. These brands became part of Disney Consumer Products.
Focusing on Franchises: A New Strategy
In 2005, Mooney created the Disney Fairies franchise. It launched with the Fairy Dust and the Quest for the Egg book. DisneyToon Studios helped develop these new Disney franchises.
By 2006, with Disney Princesses and Disney Fairies doing well, DCP started looking for more franchises. They chose Disney Bunnies. In January 2007, Disney Bunnies and Disney Dragonkind were launched.
In 2008, Disney bought back its Disney Stores from The Children's Place. Also, Disney Interactive Studios moved out of DCP to the Disney Interactive Media Group.
John Lasseter from Pixar became a creative advisor to DCP in 2009. He helped make sure that products related to movies like Cars were high quality. The Disney Princesses franchise has made over $4 billion in sales worldwide.
In 2009, Disney bought Marvel Entertainment. This brought popular characters like Spider-Man into the Disney family. By 2012, Disney was the world's largest licensor. It had an 80% market share and made $39.5 billion.
In June 2013, DCP started representing the Lucasfilm brand. This included the super popular Star Wars movies and characters. With Star Wars, Disney had six of the top 10 franchises in the world.
Disney Consumer Products and Interactive Media
In 2015, Disney Consumer Products joined with Disney Interactive to form a new group. It was called Disney Consumer Products and Interactive Media (DCPI). This new company handled licensing, retail, video games, and digital content.
The merger happened because Disney Consumer Products was using more technology. They were developing new toy systems and digital books. This combined the company's efforts in physical products and digital experiences.
DCPI worked to expand the audience for all Disney franchises. They also focused on creating new types of products. For example, they worked to bring Marvel and Star Wars products to more female fans. They also worked with designers to make Minnie Mouse products appealing to adults.
In March 2018, Disney Consumer Products and Interactive Media merged again. This time, it joined with Walt Disney Parks and Resorts. This created the new Disney Experiences segment.
Popular Disney Franchises
Disney Consumer Products has created many popular franchises. These are special groups of characters and stories that have their own products.
| Franchises launched |
|---|
| Disney Villains (1993) |
| Disney Princess (2000) |
| Disney Fairies (2006) |
| Disney Bunnies (2007) |
| Disney Dragonkind (2007) |
Andrew P. Mooney created the Disney Princess franchise in January 2000. In 2005, he also started the Disney Fairies franchise. This launched with the Fairy Dust and the Quest for the Egg book.
By 2006, with Disney Princesses and Disney Fairies doing well, DCP looked for more franchises. They chose Disney Bunnies. In January 2007, two new franchises were launched: Disney Bunnies and Disney Dragonkind.
In 2013, the Disney Princess Palace Pets app was released. This led DCP to create a toy line called The Palace Pets. It became an extension of the Disney Princess franchise.
Disney Bunnies
| Disney Bunnies | |
|---|---|
| Creator | Disney Consumer Products |
| Original work | Licensing spin-off |
| Print publications | |
| Books |
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| Miscellaneous | |
| spun off from | Bambi and Bambi II |
Disney Bunnies is a franchise based on Thumper from the 1942 film Bambi. It also includes characters from its 2006 sequel Bambi II. This was the third franchise launched by Disney Consumer Products. It started on January 15, 2007, with three books.
Disney Dragonkind
| Disney Dragonkind | |
|---|---|
| Creator | Disney Consumer Products |
| Original work | Licensing spin-off |
| Miscellaneous | |
| Toys | Statues |
| Spun off from | Disney movies |
Disney Dragonkind is a franchise based on dragons from Disney animated movies. It launched in January 2007. The first product was a statue of Maleficent in her dragon form from Sleeping Beauty. Other statues included Mushu from Mulan and Elliot from Pete's Dragon.
Disney Shopping: Bringing Products to You
Disney Shopping, Inc. is the part of Disney Consumer Products that sells items directly to customers. This includes online sales and catalogs.
History of Disney Shopping
The company started as Disney Direct Marketing. In 1988, Disney bought Childcraft Education Corporation. This helped them expand their mail-order business.
In 1990, Disney Direct Marketing Services Inc. was officially formed. In 1996, the company's main office moved to Burbank, California. They also started a gift service called Pooh Gram. You could order a special Pooh bear sent with a message.
In 1997, Disney sold Childcraft Education Corp. They decided it didn't fit with the Disney brand anymore. Disney also worked to combine its many customer lists into one big database. This helped them send out more catalogs.
Later, Disney Direct Marketing Services Inc. changed its name to Disney Shopping, Inc. It started selling products online at disneyshopping.com. In 2009, disneyshopping.com was updated and moved to disneystore.com. This new site also started selling products from Disney Parks and Resorts.
Catalogs and Services
Disney Shopping has offered various catalogs over the years:
- Disney Catalog
- Walt Disney Gallery (started 1997): A catalog for collectibles.
- Disney Kids (started by 1998): Sent to parents, focusing on back-to-school and Halloween costumes.
- disneystore.com: The online store, formerly disneyshopping.com.
- Pooh's Corner (started 1997): For fans of the bear character.
They also offered gift services:
- Pooh Gram (started 1996): You could order a special Pooh bear with a personal message.
- Mickey Gram: A similar service that was planned.
And a club:
- Winnie the Pooh Flag: Sent holiday flags regularly.
Images for kids
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DCP office buildings in Glendale at Disney's Grand Central Creative Campus
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Logo for Disney Consumer Products and Interactive Media
See also
In Spanish: Disney Consumer Products para niños
