Where this was said
Roy Finishes Walt Disney World (1966-1971)
At 3:59:02 · chapter starts 3:57:57
Roy immediately renames the Florida project Walt Disney World in his brother's honor and dedicates himself to completing it. He secures Florida state legislative approval and the Reedy Creek Development District — a special governmental zone giving Disney extraordinary autonomous control. But where Walt always bet everything, Roy deliberately does not: he sets a goal to build the entire project without additional debt, and achieves it, constructing the Magic Kingdom, two hotels, and extensive infrastructure for $400 million entirely from cash flow. The park opens October 1971 to enormous success. Roy dies just two months later in December 1971, having fulfilled his promise to his brother. What follows is a slow creative decline. Animation staff falls from ~500 at Walt's death to just 125 by the early 1980s. Films from the 1970s are almost universally forgotten. The Black Cauldron ties up the studio for 10 years and bombs on release as the first PG-rated Disney film. By 1984, Parks and Consumer Products generate $250 million in operating income while Film and TV generates only $2.2 million. [1] — David Rosenthal "Disney Parks profit: $250M vs Films profit: $2.2M in 1984: By 1984, Disney Parks and Consumer Products generated $250 million in operating …" 4:09:37 The company's revenue has grown from $100M in 1965 to $1.4B in 1984 — and net income from $11M to $97M — but the core is rotting.
