Letter #53: Walt Disney (1966)
Founder of The Walt Disney Company | A look to the future | 1966 Shareholder Letter
Hi everyone! Due to popular request (and a few persistent individuals), I’ll be restarting this newsletter, but with a few changes. Most notably, rather than sending “A Letter a Day”, I’ll be sharing a letter or transcript twice a week, once on Tuesday afternoon (2:22pm) and once on Saturday morning (6:06am). Second, I’m expanding the scope of the newsletter to include a broader range of subjects, but still focused on thought-provoking investors (across venture, hedge funds, and private equity), founders (not just tech), and operators (sales, marketing, product, etc.). Lastly, I’ll be limiting my commentary so it’s a smoother reading experience and you can read the work as is. (If you’d like to see my notes or trade thoughts, shoot me a DM on Twitter!)
Today’s letter is Walt Disney’s 1966 shareholder letter. It was also his last, passing away on December 15, 1966. In this letter, he looks back into the past and ahead into the future, why he didn’t make sequels, the power of experimentation in the search for new ideas and stories, the value of a shared mission, and the importance of being humble.
I hope you enjoy this letter as much as I did!
Letter
The past year has been one in which many groups around the world, both inside and outside the entertainment industry, have paid high tribute to our creative staff. For all these honors, we are all very grateful indeed.
In accepting the “Showman of the World” award from the people who own and operate the nation’s theatres, I looked to the past, recalling some of the wonderful people in the theatre business who helped us get where we are today because they had faith in the things we did, from Steamboat Willie to the present day. There was always someone—some wonderful exhibitor or an understanding banker—willing to take a chance on another crazy Disney idea.
Today, I propose to look to the future…to tell you about some of the plans, and some of the philosophy, that makes us tick here in the Disney organization.
Many people have asked, “Why don’t you make another Mary Poppins? Well, by nature I’m a born experimenter. To this day, I don’t believe in sequels. I can’t follow popular cycles. I have to move on to new things—there are many new worlds to conquer.
As a matter of fact, people have been asking us to make sequels ever since Mickey Mouse first became a star. We have bowed only on one occasion to the cry to repeat ourselves. Back in the ‘30s, The Three Little Pigs was an enormous hit, and the cry went up—”Give us more Pigs!” I could not see how we could possibly top pigs with pigs. But we tried, and I doubt whether any one of you reading this can name the other cartoons in which the pigs appeared.
We didn’t make the same mistake with Snow White. When it was a huge hit, the shout went up for more dwarfs. Top dwarfs with dwarfs? Why try?
Right now, we’re not thinking about making another Mary Poppins. We never will. Perhaps there will be other ventures with equal critical and financial success. But we know we cannot hit a home run with the bases loaded every time we go to the plate. We also know the only way we can even get to first base is by constantly going to bat and continuing to swing.
And so we’re always looking for new ideas and new stories, hoping that somehow we’ll come up with a different kind of Mary Poppins…or even a different kind of Disneyland.
As 1967 begins, we have high hopes that some of our current projects may measure up to this exciting challenge. Perhaps it will be a motion picture like The Happiest Millionaire. Perhaps it will be our so-called “Disney World” in Florida. Or perhaps it will be our year-round recreation facility in the High Sierra of California, Mineral King. On the pages that follow in this Annual Report, we’ll try to tell you why we believe so strongly in each of these fascinating projects, and many more our creative staffs are now producing.
You know, the Disney organization today has more than four thousand employees. Many have been with us over 30 years. They take great pride in the organization they helped to build. Only through the talent, the labor and the dedication of this staff could any Disney project get off the ground. We all think alike in the ultimate pattern.
We’re all proud of the honors that many groups around the world have given us. And we’re even more proud that the public—whether in theatres, at Disneyland, or in their own homes—continues to express its faith in the kind of family entertainment we produce.
I promise you that all of the honors in the world won’t go to our heads—we have too many projects for the future to take time out for such a thing.
Wrap-up
If you’ve got any thoughts, questions, or feedback, please drop me a line - I would love to chat! You can find me on twitter at @kevg1412 or my email at kevin@12mv2.com.
If you're a fan of business or technology in general, please check out some of my other projects!
Speedwell Research — Comprehensive research on great public companies including Constellation Software, Floor & Decor, Meta (Facebook) and interesting new frameworks like the Consumer’s Hierarchy of Preferences.
Cloud Valley — Easy to read, in-depth biographies that explore the defining moments, investments, and life decisions of investing, business, and tech legends like Dan Loeb, Bob Iger, Steve Jurvetson, and Cyan Banister.
DJY Research — Comprehensive research on publicly-traded Asian companies like Alibaba, Tencent, Nintendo, Sea Limited (FREE SAMPLE), Coupang (FREE SAMPLE), and more.
Compilations — “A national treasure — for every country.”
Memos — A selection of some of my favorite investor memos.
Bookshelves — Your favorite investors’/operators’ favorite books.