Acquired · Jun 23The Walt Disney Company: The most successful enterprise for monetizing human nostalgia
Kamen's 1933 exclusive deal gave Disney 60% of the first $100,000 of royalties, then a 50/50 split. Gross merchandise sales reached $6 million in six months and $70 million a year by 1935, including 2,183 Snow White products.
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- Kay Kamen's 1933 licensing deal turned Disney merchandise into a bigger business than its films▶ 1:03:50The Ingersoll Mickey Mouse watch sold 2.5 million units in two years and saved a near-bankrupt company. Merchandise royalties passed film rentals by about 1934.
- Walt Disney gave each of Snow White's seven dwarves a personality partly to sell merchandise▶ 1:44:42Roughly 2,183 separate Snow White merchandise SKUs were sold, and the New York Times said sales might be America's path out of the Depression.
