Another month is Mickey's 93rd birthday, the classic animation star who has accompanied generations of people, and is about to lose his copyright protection in 2023, which means that Mickey will no longer belong to Disney.
In addition to the "Steamboat Willie" version of Mickey will expire in 2023, classic animations such as Donald Duck (2029), Goofy (2027), Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (2032), Pinocchio (2035), Dumbo (2036) and Bambi (2037) and other classic animations and characters will gradually enter the field of public creation and become the common property of society. For Disney, this is undoubtedly a catastrophe.
Mickey, the beginning of Disney's animated kingdom
As Walt Disney said: It all starts with a mouse. Born in 1928, Mickey made his big-screen debut in the animated film STEAMBOAT Willie, and has been available in more than 130 languages around the world, becoming the first animated star to engrave his name on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1978.
Mickey, Chinese more accustomed to calling it Mickey Mouse, was based on comedy guru Chaplin, and is Disney's most popular animation IP. So far, the cute and sunny Mickey has brought us 93 years of laughter and laughter, which is the childhood memory shared by several generations.
After 93 years, Mickey's position in Disney's animation kingdom is still unshakable, why is this?
Animation productions are diverse. Animation stars have created Disney's industrial chain, and Disney has also gained commercial value empowerment due to the popularity of animation stars. In Disney's official definition, Mickey is a big sunny star with a round head and body. In the beginning, in "Steamboat Willie", Mickey's classic attire was a red shirt, shorts and yellow shoes; by "Opry Theater", Mickey wore a pair of white gloves that have not been taken off to this day; in the 1930s, Mickey Mouse "wore" some more complicated clothes. In that era when color movies were just beginning, the color of the costume not only increased the expressiveness of the picture, but also masked Mickey Mouse's thin body and limbs, giving him a figure close to that of a human child, and the movement of the joints was easier to handle more naturally.
After Fantasia, the image of Mickey Mouse is still slowly "evolving" at a speed that is not easy for the naked eye to distinguish. His head gradually grew larger, his proportion of his height increased, making his torso and legs and even arms appear shorter and thicker; at the same time, his cheeks became round, so that his nose was shortened. The combination of all these "juvenile characteristics" exclusive to babies will make adults feel that babies are "cute", and the psychological mechanism of this feeling makes most people, especially children, think that Mickey Mouse is cute, friendly and trustworthy.
The portrayal of Mickey's character is undoubtedly a success. Mickey, whose versions have been constantly changing for 93 years, has an optimistic personality, diversified appearance changes, and even now that Mickey and his friends have not been on the big screen for a long time, they still remain vigorous and continue to create revenue for Disney, which will not affect Mickey's commercial value in the slightest.
Animation works are all-age. As one of the world's largest and most valuable film and television giants, Disney's early works Mickey and his friends Donald Duck and Pluto were created with children and women as the main audience. Although relying on the operation mode of "small hands holding big hands" has attracted countless parents and children to become fan audiences, it is inevitable that there will be an audience gap.
In order to expand the audience, Disney began to radiate from a children's audience to a full-age audience. Over the years, Disney has acquired Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm, such as "Zootopia", "Spider-Man", "Star Wars", "Frozen", "Dream Quest", "Super Marines" and other phenomena and box office movies, which is a successful case representative, not only breaking Disney's original more female and children's audience shortcomings, but also creating a balance between adults and children to have fun.
Animation IP licensing. Today we can see Mickey's image everywhere on T-shirts, water glasses, stationery, bags and other daily necessities, but in the 20s of the last century, it was a huge innovation in the business model.
According to Walt Disney, a businessman found him in 1929 at a hotel in New York and offered to print Mickey's appearance on a pencil case for a child for $300. Walt Disney had just started his business and was in desperate need of money, so he took $300. This is the first bucket of gold earned by Mickey IP licensing, and it is also the beginning of the licensing of Mickey IP in the future.
According to statistics, Disney has authorized more than 20,000 SKUs of Mickey image products in Greater China alone, including cosmetics, clothing, toys, food, home and other categories. "Mickey" this independent IP with a high degree of recognition and recognition can help Disney earn 5.6 billion US dollars a year, whether it is an international big name or a new and old national brand have been on the new Mickey new products, such as GUCCI, VANS, Bosideng, the new generation of fashion brand COCOTREE and so on.
For Disney, licensing Mickey IP can not only earn huge profits, but also become an important reason for maintaining the vitality of Mickey IP. According to the list of the "World's 50 Most Profitable IPs" released in 2021, Mickey ranked in the TOP4, of which retail sales reached 79.531 billion, far exceeding the box office revenue of 457 million and the home video revenue of 293 million.
Without Mickey, how far Disney can go
As disney's most profitable IP image, Mickey and his friends led more Disney series of animated IP works from the big screen to offline live entertainment, which took only 27 years. In 1955, the world's first Disney theme park opened in the United States, and so far there are 6 Disney parks in the world, and it is called "the happiest place on earth".
Now, 2 years later, the copyrights of Mickey and his friends will lose legal protection, but fortunately, Disney has Mickey's exclusive trademark protection, which is renewed every ten years. And in 93 years, as long as Mickey is mentioned, disney will be thought of, even if Mickey enters the field of public creation in the future, everyone will only remember Disney's Mickey.
Moreover, as disney companies continue to innovate, Disney Princess series, Marvel series and other ace IP is still full of fresh vitality, Disney animation is still the IP kingdom for a long time to come.