Disney could be about more than the bottom line

With regard to your recent News Analysis (DW 11 December), I think Disney could bring humour and fun into a lot of things that aren’t fun. Disney could produce great clothes; it could go into hotels in an interesting way. If Disney went into hi-fi, it could do it with wit and humour and style. I’ve seen the stuff Michael Graves has done for Target. It’s done with some style, but with somewhat austere wit and zero humour. It looks like Disney has lost track of some of its heritage.

I own a Disney print from the 1920s. It’s naive and beautiful. It’s a simple painting of Mickey Mouse and it has a quality about it that’s missing from today’s Disney brand, which seems to me to be a confusion of its corporate pieces. It’s a conglomerate now. I’m not clear what Disney means that Warner doesn’t mean.

Disney doesn’t cherish its own icons with rigour and enthusiasm. Unfortunately the company doesn’t seem to know what it stands for apart from earning money for its shareholders, just like any other business. That will never be enough. I hope it hasn’t lost its way completely.

Michael Wolff

Brand consultant