1. The Incredibles vs.
The Avengers:
A Comparison of Disney’s Most Significant
Acquisitions
Stanford Final Project
Vaisakh Shankar, GSB Erik Teensma,
Angelo Ocampo & Dani Smith
July 12, 2016
5. Historical DIS Stock Price
Pixar Acquisition Marvel
Acquisition
Black: DIS
Pink: NASDAQ
Purple: S&P 500
Invest $1,000 on July 12, 2006
Get $3,813 on July 12, 2016
Annualized Return of 14.31%
6. Pixar Additional Films Revenue Budget Video Sales
Inside Out (2015) $857,400,000 $175,000,000 $106,600,000
The Good Dinosaur (2015) $331,900,000 $175,000,000 $50,000,000
Finding Dory (2016) $603,300,000 $200,000,000 NA
Total $1,792,600,000 $550,000,000 $156,600,000
Marvel Additional Films Revenue Budget Video Sales
Avengers Age of Ultron $1,405,000,000 $267,000,000 $74,000,000
Ant Man $519,000,000 $130,000,000 $56,179,000
Captain America Civil War $1,150,000,000 $250,000,000 NA
Total $3,074,000,000 $647,000,000 $130,179,000
Revenue Generation
Metrics Pixar (2006-2014) Marvel (2009-2014)
Number of films since acquisition 8 8
Worldwide Grosses $4,781,944,543 $6,304,740,356
Gross Film Revenue from Pixar: $6,574,544,543 /2 = $3.3B to DIS
Gross Film Revenue from Marvel: $9,378,740,356 /2 = $4.6B to DIS
11. Adopted the
director
driven and
production
approach of
Pixar
Strategy
! Need for Competitive
advantage
! Superior Product Quality
with Pixar’s Acquisition
! Change the “Profitability
over quality” view
“Strategy is a commodity and execution is an art”
- Peter Drucker, Management Consultant
" Pixar’s People
Technology &
Patents
" Leadership
Matters
14. Strategy
Marketing
Governance
& Talent
! International Expansion
and Penetration of its
Business into different
markets
! Strategic Ties with new
Partners – Limited theme
park options
! Growth and Market
Expansion
! 3D branding Strategy
! Marvel’s local culture
was preserved
! Intellectual Property
! 8,000 character
library
15. Pixar
Corporate Governance
Preservation & Adoption of
Local Culture
Marketing
Market Leadership & Brand
Positioning
Financials
Gross Revenue = $3.3B
11 Films
Talent Acquisition
Edwin Catmull & John Lasseter
Marvel
Corporate Governance
Preservation of Local Culture
Marketing
Co-branding, 3D Branding,
& Market Expansion
Financials
Gross Revenue = $4.6B
11 Films
Talent Acquisition Intellectual
Property
16. “The question isn’t did
Disney pay too much but
how expensive would it
have been for Disney if
Pixar fell into someone
else’s hands.”
-Barry Ritholtz,
Chief Investment Officer at Ritholtz Capital
Partners
21. 1923
Walt Disney
Forms The
Disney Brothers
Studio
1928
Mickey Mouse
Debut
1932
First full-color cartoon
1937
First Animated Film
1940
Walt Disney Music
Launches
1955
Disneyland CA
opens
1966
Walt Disney Dies
1983
Disney Channel
Launches
1989
Disney MGM
Studios Merge
2005
Disney Content
on iTunes
2006
Disney Acquires
Pixar
2009
Disney Buys
Pixar
1991
First Disney Pixar Deal Launched
1995
Disney.com Launches
1920 2010
22.
23. Informational Sources
• “To Acquire or Not to Acquire.” HBS Case.
• “To Acquire or Not to Acquire, An Update.” HBS Case.
• “The Marvel Way: Restoring a Blue Ocean.” HBS Case.
• “How Marvel Went from Bankruptcy to a $4B Buyout.” HBR Article.
• “Disney Buys Marvel: Designing 3D Brands.” HBR Article.
• “How Pixar Fosters Collective Creativity.” HBR Article.
• “Managing Creativity, Lessons from Pixar and Disney Animation.” HBR Article.
