All language subtitles for How Disney Built America s01e04 Now Available in Stores.eng

[pensive music]

[knocking]
- Hello?

- [Narrator] It's
been eight years

since the world
first fell in love

with Walt Disney's cartoon
star, Mickey Mouse.

- This little animated
every-man mouse

[baton clacking]

has so captivated
the world by storm.

[knocking]
- Hello?

- Mickey became more to people

than just a character
on a screen.

[knocking]
- Hello?

Do you have it?

- Have what?

- People see
themselves in Mickey,

and Mickey becomes sort
of an icon to everyone.

- There becomes a demand for
people to have some ownership

of that story, of that
thing that they love.

- [Narrator] Now, after
conquering cartoons,

Mickey Mouse has sparked
another revolution.

- The idea of taking a beloved
character from the screen

and putting it on everything,

this had never been done before.

[tapping]
- I'll take two.

No, three.

- Now, you can take the magic

of the character you love
from the theater, home.

It was groundbreaking.

- [Narrator] Beginning
with Mickey Mouse,

Disney will revolutionize
entertainment

by lifting its star
characters off the screen

and landing them in almost
every facet of American life.

- It was an entirely
new phenomenon.

- Merchandising
could be anything.

It could be everything.

[dramatic music]

- [Narrator] By pioneering
character licensing

for merchandise...

- Basically, he
created cereal culture.

- [Narrator] Disney will
launch new industries.

- Where'd that all come from?

The mouse.

- [Narrator] It will
take a big gamble...

- Money was really being left
on the table, left and right.

- Mr. Disney, I believe
your Mickey Mouse

is an untapped goldmine.

- [Narrator] To leap
from movie screens

to virtually everywhere else.

[paper tearing]

- Marshall Fields in Chicago.

[glasses clink]

- It's a big, big risk.

- Neiman Marcus in Texas.

- It could have
failed spectacularly.

- Macy's in New York.

- This is the big bang.

This is the moment that creates
merchandising as we know it.

- He says he can make us rich
beyond our wildest dreams.

[dramatic music]

[lively music]

- [Narrator] At an upstart
animation studio in Hollywood,

27-year-old filmmaker,
Walt Disney,

is focused on
getting more eyeballs

in front of his
breakout new star.

- Hello, yes, I'm calling to see

if you're playing the
new Mickey Mouse cartoons

I've heard so much about.

- [Narrator] Mickey is quickly
becoming the king of cartoons

and the secret to his success
is synchronized sound.

[playful music]

But to pull it off, Walt
has dug his studio in deep.

[pensive music]

- My pals and I
really wanna see it.

Well, do you know what
theaters are playing it?

Thank you.

- Walt.

- I'm just building
more buzz, Roy.

That's how you fan the flames.

- Did you even read that
before you signed it?

- Of course not.

We need them.

- [Narrator] Recording the
sound for Mickey Mouse shorts

requires licensing and expensive
cutting edge technology.

- To get this technology, he
signed on to a 10 year contract

during which he's going to
shell out $26,000 every year,

plus a percentage of the profits
coming from his cartoons.

- Walt, this deal is
going to bleed us dry.

We'd have to double our output
just to keep the lights on.

- Then we'll double our output.

- So despite the fact that
they have a successful product,

because of the deal
that Walt Disney signed,

it costs more to make
the Mickey Mouse shorts

than they are making from them.

- [Narrator] The man responsible

for funding almost
all of Walt's ideas,

is his brother Roy.

- Walt's the idea man,
Roy is the businessman.

- Walt Disney was
obsessed with quality,

regardless of cost,

and so poor Roy is constantly
looking for revenue.

- Walt's spending money
left, right, and center,

and Roy now has
to make ends meet.

And then suddenly,
the phone rings

and a lifeline is thrown to him,

and all he has to
do is just say yes.

[phone ringing]

- Hello.

Yes, this is him.

- [Narrator] A small doll maker
has called the Disney Studio

with a business proposition.

- For when?

Oh, not a problem at all.

[gentle music]

Walt, a minute?

- Let's add some more steam
lines to the hot dogs.

I want the audience
to smell them.

- I just got off the phone
with a New York merchandiser.

- The shoe there, it
looks a little off.

- He wants to produce
Mickey Mouse products.

Dolls, toys, things like that.

We get a fee for
every item sold.

- Sure, Roy.

Have at it.

Now the shadow...

- Walt only cared
about doing good work.

He didn't necessarily care about

how to monetize his
characters or his brand.

- [Narrator] Roy
signs an agreement

granting the New York
doll maker permission

to make a stuffed Mickey Mouse

in exchange for a percentage
of every item sold.

- In the 1920s, this
is a brand new idea.

- It's crazy now when you see

how much movie
merchandise is out there,

to realize that merchandise

wasn't something
that was thought of

when it came to producing films.

- Studios knew that they
could bring people in the door

with a new film, but then what?

The only product was
really the film itself.

- Consumerism and film,

those are still two
very separate entities.

Movies do not sell products.

Products do not sell movies.

- The potential for making money

through merchandising Mickey,

most of that came from
the toy companies.

- In the 1920s,
Americans have access

to this abundance of
manufactured goods

and there's all kinds of
toys that every kid wants.

The Erector Set, model trains,

all of this stuff we're
seeing for the first time

as a collective
community, as a nation.

- [Natalia] The toy industry

is a crowded and
competitive industry.

- And marketing is a new thing.

So as you go back
and look at ads,

they were very oriented

toward, "This product
will last you 30 years."

- Like, it's
literally describing

everything that this
product will do,

and cost a lot of
time and resources.

- But with Mickey Mouse,

the companies realized that
the hard work was done,

the marketing was done.

People knew who
Mickey Mouse was.

They just had to make
the toys of something

that people already love.

- [Narrator] In the first year,

Roy's deal with one
company brings in just $63,

a little over a thousand today.

- Merchandise that was
produced in the early years,

it was very limited.

It might be an occasional
doll, it could be a figurine.

There wasn't very much
that was produced,

but it was a bonus to Roy.

It was money that they
didn't have before.

- [Narrator] Roy realizes
Mickey Mouse toys

are a golden goose

and starts accepting
more licensing contracts.

- Opportunities came to
them by happenstance.

They weren't really
involved in the process.

- It was just,
"Give us the money,

go ahead, use the character."

[pensive music]

- The problem is this,
the merchandising vendors,

they don't have the
reverence and respect

for the intellectual
property of Mickey Mouse

that the Disneys do.

- Masks are 10 cents each.

I can do you two for 15.

Ah, Mickey Mouse doll.

One of our best sellers.

Almost sold out.

[suspenseful music]

- Can you believe this?

- His bestseller.

- Does this look
like Mickey to you?

- Walt, your cartoons
are awfully expensive.

That doll is the only
thing keeping us afloat.

- If we let these pretenders

do whatever they
want with Mickey,

kids won't even
recognize the real one.

What's Mickey worth then?

- Walt, from day one,

was obsessed with his
work being distinctive

in terms of quality.

So a junky Mickey Mouse doll

that looks nothing
like Mickey Mouse

really damages the reputation
of all of his work.

- Any piece of material
that is created

with the name of Disney

that doesn't meet
the Disney standard

that he's working so hard
to create within his studio,

is a threat to the thing

that he's creating
in the first place.

[dramatic music]

- Roy has to be thinking,

"You wanna have these
incredible flights of fancy?

That costs money.

I found you money.

If you want to
keep making Mickey,

this is the easiest
way to do it."

- You gonna buy that, or what?

- [Narrator] Walt and Roy Disney

are at loggerheads
over Mickey Mouse toys.

Where Roy sees a much
needed revenue stream,

Walt sees a drag
on his creation.

- Merchandising is
a brand new world.

No one knows how to navigate it.

- The problem is the quality.

Walt, from day one, has a vision
of excellence and quality,

and there's no quality
control in the merchandise.

- But Roy figures
this merchandise

is what's keeping us afloat.

So you have Roy pulling
in one direction

and Walt pulling
the other direction.

[tense music]

- Have a seat, we'll be
with you in a moment.

- Thank you.

- And then, enter a
stranger from Kansas City

named Kay Kamen.

- Kay Kamen is this
marketing whiz kid.

- He is an absolute
genius at moving product.

The kinda guy who can talk
a dog off of a meat truck,

as they would say.

- He had sort of a
scattershot early life.

He worked in the mills
braiding straw hats,

and then he got into the
children's clothing trade.

- [Narrator] Kay Kamen pioneered
a novel marketing technique

for a line of boys clothing

by creating a branded comic
strip character to sell it.

- He recognized
that entertainment

is what people would pay for.

That there was just
hopefully that little extra

that was the joy factor.

And a good character
could fulfill that.

- And he got wind of the
success of Mickey Mouse

and he thought this
was a character

that was going to make
the company, and himself,

a lot of money.

- He wears a middle part,

kinda like the guy
on your Pringles can,

suits that are out of date.

He's bristling with intense,
nervous, kinetic energy,

and he hasn't slept all night
in anticipation of this pitch.

[tense music]

- A Mr. Kay Kamen
is here to see you.

- Mr. Disney,

I believe your Mickey Mouse
is an untapped gold mine

and can make all of us rich
beyond our wildest dreams.

- Kamen saw a huge opportunity

to be out there, selling Mickey

and really supervising
the process,

making all of them
a lot of money.

- And he walks right into
their office and says,

"Give me control over
the merchandise."

- Roy, this is Mr. Kamen.

He says he can make us rich
beyond our wildest dreams.

[tense music]

- This actually happened.

He drains his savings,

he takes that cash, and
sews it into his coat.

This is a bizarre
turn of events.

[suspenseful music]

- Gentlemen,

hire me and I will
make you all this money

plus more than you can count.

- Roy's just gotta be
terribly impressed,

but Walt doesn't care,
he's the creative.

Money never matters to Walt.

- Mr. Kamen, that's
all well and good,

but what can you do about this?

- Kay Kamen realizes

he's actually been
taking the wrong tack.

- But he is totally
prepared for this.

- From his own prior practices,

he really understood the value
of protecting this character.

- And the brilliance
of Kay Kamen

is that he pivots on a dime.

[suspenseful music]

- Mr. Disney.

Under my watch,

you'll never see a second rate
Mickey doll like this again.

- How?

- Not a single piece of
merchandise will be made

without your personal approval.

[tense music]

- And in that moment,

Walt Disney realizes
that he and Kay Kamen

are singing from
the same hymn sheet

and that they both go to
the church of quality.

- Alright, Mr. Kamen, deal.

[uplifting music]

- [Narrator] Kamen is put in
charge of this new direction

overseeing Roy's toy rollout,

but with Walt's
emphasis on quality,

giving Walt the
assurance he needs

to pursue his next
big creative swing,

Technicolor.

- But Technicolor is
incredibly expensive.

It's a big, big risk.

- [Narrator] Making
color cartoons

will triple Disney's lab fees

and raise production costs,

putting even more pressure
on Disney merchandising

to bring in badly needed cash.

- Roy Disney was
under so much duress,

because his brother was
spending so much money.

Merchandise was sort of a
lifesaver for the company.

- You gotta remember,
those early opportunities

were keeping the studio
afloat financially.

[tense music]

- But Kay Kamen was fully aware

that Walt was expecting
him to maintain quality.

- He took a good look

at what kinds of
products were being made,

what was their quality,

and how did it fit in with
the values of the company.

- [Vendor] Evening, sir.

- You got a license for
all this Mickey stuff?

[tense music]

- [Vendor] Whoa, buddy.

- He goes to all of the
merchandising vendors

who are making substandard
products and he cleans house.

- My boss is gonna
have words with you.

- So that he can start again
with top quality merchandise.

- Tell him to call me.

Evening.

- But put yourself in
Roy Disney's shoes.

You're struggling,
you need money.

They had money coming in.

Kay Kamen comes in and
turns off the stream.

[gentle music]

- [Narrator] Kay Kamen, Disney's
new head of merchandising,

must now find a happy medium

between the competing interests
of the Disney brothers.

- How do you serve two masters?

- He needs to balance Walt's
protectiveness of Mickey Mouse

as well as Roy's need
to turn a profit.

And he was feeling
the tension of that.

- At the time that Kamen
joined the company,

there was a limited
number of options

for how merchandise was used.

- Movie studios
were thinking small.

They were thinking,
"Oh, we'll make a doll.

We'll make a game of the thing."

- It was very derivative.

You had the character,
you have a doll.

- He needs a big,
bold, brand new move.

[inspiring music]

- And then, Kay
Kamen had a vision

for how to brand Mickey Mouse
into something so much more

than just a toy for kids.

[dramatic music]

- So Mickey Mouse is the
first animated character

to adorn a licensed lunchbox.

Before that, we would
think of kid's lunchbox

and it would be something like a
plain, black, functional item.

Now, this became something

that you would buy
specifically for your child

because they're a fan of Mickey.

- Kamen's big idea

is that you can put
Mickey Mouse anywhere.

- Merchandising
could be anything.

It could be everything.

[uplifting music]

- [Narrator] Kamen embarks
on an unprecedented expansion

of movie merchandise,

turning products that have
never been branded before

into billboards
for Mickey Mouse.

- The idea of taking
a beloved character

and putting it on something
that wasn't a toy,

this was completely novel.

- [Narrator] Mickey Mouse's
image is so powerful,

it launches smaller
brands into the big time.

- The Hall brothers run
the Hallmark company

and they sign their first
ever licensing deal

to put Disney characters
on their greeting cards,

which turns Hallmark
into the juggernaut brand

that it is today.

- [Narrator] And even
rescue struggling companies

from financial collapse
during the depression,

like Lionel Trains
and Ingersoll Watches.

- So the Ingersoll
Watch Company,

part of the Depression,
really about to go broke,

start manufacturing a
new Mickey Mouse watch,

and unbelievably popular.

- By 1935, some 2.5 million
Mickey Mouse wrist watches

had been sold.

- And to this day, we all
wear Mickey Mouse watches.

- [Narrator] Kamen proves
that if you can sell it,

Mickey can adorn it.

Now, he has an even bolder idea:

to draw audiences into
a whole new market

and revolutionize one of
America's largest industries.

[pensive music]

- This way, Mrs. Post,

we're set up for you
in the sound stage.

- Marjorie Merriweather Post

was the head of General
Foods in the 1930s

and she's one of the most
powerful and wealthy women

in America at that time.

- General Foods is
a huge conglomerate.

They make everything
from Maxwell House Coffee

to Jello, and breakfast cereal,

Post Toasties breakfast cereal,

one of the biggest
brands in America.

[gentle music]

- Today's cereal
is marketed a lot

as, like, a kids fun product.

In the 1930s, that
was not the case.

- Breakfast cereal is a
staple of the American diet,

but mostly for adults and
mostly is a health food.

- It's cheap, it's shelf stable.

You can feed people for
a long period of time

for not a lot of money.

It's a depression-proof food.

- Kids are not seen as the
target demographic for cereal,

nor did they have any reason
to be excited about eating it.

- Marjorie Post is in
a real good position.

She doesn't need any help.

And it's kind of the brilliant
audacity of Kay Kamen

to say, "You could
be making money

selling this food to kids."

- In 1933, marketing
breakfast cereal to kids

would seem ridiculous.

You market to people who buy
the food, that's mom and dad.

The kids don't have any input

on what goes on
the kitchen table.

- Kay Kamen realizes that
this is an untapped market.

[gentle music]

- When Kamen added Mickey
Mouse onto this box,

cereal suddenly became not
just this bland breakfast food,

but a form of
entertainment for children.

[inpsiring music]

- [Narrator] Post
agrees to pay Disney

an unheard of $1.5 million

to license Mickey and friends
for her cereal boxes.

The deal sets the stage

for today's $40 billion
cereal industry.

- This is the first
of what we know today.

When you walk down the aisles

and there's the captain,
and there's the count.

And as I say that,

we all know what those
brands are, right?

The tiger, you know.

Where'd that all come from?

The mouse.

- [Narrator] Even as
he floods the market,

Kamen keeps his promise to
Walt to prioritize high quality

and a faithful depiction
of Mickey Mouse.

- Mickey has so much
influence throughout the world

that he has to be
careful what he endorses.

- Walt's got to
approve the merchandise

so his perfectionism and his
quality control could be there.

- Kamen controlled
who got the license,

he controlled the quality
of the merchandise,

and then it was his
own in-house artists

that designed all
of the artwork.

- Kay Kamen made
everything a standard.

The colors, the style, the ears.

So the thing that's
tying it all together

is the Disney look,
the Disney feel,

and that is what really took
the Disney merchandising side

over the top.

- [Narrator] Within four
years of Kamen's hiring,

Disney licensing
explodes by 10,000%

and Disney merchandise
becomes more lucrative

than the cartoons themselves.

[pensive music]

Now, with Kamen filling
the company's coffers,

Walt embarks on his
most audacious plan yet.

- He's gonna do the very first

animated, full-length
feature film,

"Snow White."

- [Narrator] If successful,

"Snow White and
the Seven Dwarves"

will propel animation forward

and open the door
to a new generation

of marketable Disney characters.

But by September 1937,

the project is nearing
financial disaster.

- "Snow White and
the Seven Dwarfs"

will cost $1.5 million

for the studio to
make in the 1930s,

which was $1.5 million that
they simply did not have.

- "Snow White" is a
financial money pit,

and so in this moment, Kay
Kamen has to be a savior.

[birds chirping]

- Coffee?

- No, thank you.

- Kamen was under huge
financial pressures at that time

because Walt's spending
was out of control.

[pensive music]

- [Kay] So what do you think
of the new Mickey samples?

- My daughter's been
playing with them,

but you know what
she really loves?

That new princess.

Mabel, come bring
that figure here.

[pensive music]

- Oh, I'm sorry.

They shouldn't have sent
that with the samples.

That's a prototype
for a future project.

It's not for sale.

- Up to this point,

any kind of merchandising
had followed the movie.

You put the movie out and
then you sold products,

because people like the movie.

it's always been about
extracting value

out of something
that already exists.

- I'm very sorry, sweetheart,

but I'm gonna have to
take that back with me.

- No, it's mine.

- Listen, your daddy
can buy you one

when the movie comes out.

- There's gonna be
a movie about her?

[suspenseful music]

- And then Kay Kamen has an idea

that will turn the movie
merchandising world on its head.

- You know what?

She can keep it.

[dramatic music]

- This is the big bang.

This is the moment that
changes marketing as we know it

and helps to make "Snow White"

the single most successful
movie of all time.

- Would you like
to know her name?

It's Snow White.

- [Narrator] On
December 21st, 1937,

Walt Disney's
moonshot production

of "Snow White and
the Seven Dwarves",

the first ever
animated feature film,

premieres in Los Angeles.

- The premier of "Snow White"
was this beautiful thing.

Everyone was wearing their tuxes

and their glitz and their glams.

Shirley Temple was there.

And boy, oh, boy, was
this movie a hit.

As soon as it got in
front of audiences,

we could not get enough.

- [Narrator] "Snow White" is
Walt Disney's masterpiece,

but behind the scenes, "Snow
White's" record smashing success

is Kay Kamen's
crowning achievement.

- Would you like
to know her name?

It's Snow White.

- Kay Kamen recognized,

"Wait a minute, we can
use this merchandise

to warm our audiences
up to the story

and build anticipation."

- His genius leap is that
he puts the product out

before the movie comes out.

- This little fellow is Bashful.

He's secretly in love
with Snow White.

- It's a promotional campaign
through these products.

The market was flooded

with more than 2,000
products for "Snow White".

There was all
manner of clothing.

There was dresses,
there was jewelry,

and it was hugely successful.

- They were making
"Snow White" costumes

and here we have some of
the beginnings of cosplay,

which by the 21st century,

is also going to be an important
pop cultural phenomenon

that Disney is gonna
play a key role in.

- [Narrator] And as the
film's run continues,

Kamen's formula creates a
perpetual engine of profit.

- You make some merchandise,
people get hyped for the movie,

the movie's a hit, you
make more merchandise.

- He created this feedback loop

of the audience wanting
to experience that film

over and over again
in different ways.

- The idea that merchandise
would be on the shelves

for weeks, or in
some cases months,

before that film release,

this had never been done.

It could have failed
spectacularly.

What it did instead,

was to rewrite how motion
picture merchandising was done

and how it has been
done ever since.

- Having merchandise
based on a movie

in the stores when
the movie comes out,

is commonplace now, with
films such as "Star Wars"

and the Marvel films,

and that's all
because of Kay Kamen.

- [Narrator] Kamen's
marketing magic

powers the Walt Disney Studio

with a steady flow of income

through the turbulence
of the war years.

- In the '40s, Disney had
a lot of ups and downs

and the merchandising aspect was
always there for the company

and kept things afloat
when things were rough.

- And it wasn't
just Mickey Mouse,

it was Donald Duck,

it was Goofy, "Pinocchio"
characters, "Bambi" characters.

And so being able
to tap into that

allowed Walt to keep
growing and expanding

his artistic vision.

[jazzy piano music]

[patrons laughing]

- In the fall of 1949,

Kay Kamen and his wife Katie

went to Paris to
talk to licensees.

Roy was also there on business

and Walt was in England
filming "Treasure Island".

- Hey, Kamen, you got any more
money in that jacket for this?

[laughing]

- [Narrator] 17 years
after joining Disney,

Kamen is selling a record $100
million in licensed goods.

- Cheers.
- [Walt] Ah, cheers.

[glasses clinking]

- He came along at
exactly the right time

and had the same
vision that Walt had.

He was the Walt Disney
of Disney merchandise.

- [Narrator] What
none of the men know

is that this is a
farewell dinner.

- Mm, gentlemen, I
better hit the road.

The wife wants to see the
Eiffel Tower one last time

before we head home.

I'll see you stateside.

- Can't wait.
- Safe travels.

One more?
- I'm good.

- Kamen never really got to see
how far the Disney brand went.

- When Kay and Katie came home,

their plane hit a
mountain off the Azores

and the plane crash killed
all 48 people aboard.

It was a tragic, tragic
ending to Kay Kamen's life.

And Walt and Roy were just
devastated by Kamen's passing.

- It really was Kay Kamen
that was responsible

for making merchandise
one of the tent poles

of Disney as a brand.

And Roy figures, "Okay, I guess
we have to fill his shoes."

- I've arranged meetings

with the five biggest
marketing firms in the country.

We'd better move quickly.

- But Walt knows nobody,
not even Roy Disney,

was as adept at bringing
money into the Disney door.

Kay Kamen was irreplaceable.

[suspenseful music]

- Cancel all the meetings, Roy.

- [Narrator] Without Kay Kamen,

money from Disney merchandising
begins to plateau.

- So they have a problem.

Kay Kamen truly
changed the game

and merchandise has gone
from a bit of a crutch,

to a tent pole.

They don't want merchandising,

they absolutely needed it.

And Kay Kamen was
really one of a kind.

No one can just
step into his shoes.

- Certainly, Disney
merchandising went on,

no question.

And Roy had a
bigger role to play,

because somebody had
to fill that void.

- [Narrator] Adding
to Roy's woes

is Walt's newest, most
expensive dream yet.

- Now he's giving
us a theme park,

a park that tells stories.

Disneyland.

- Disneyland is gonna be 12
times the cost of "Snow White".

- [Narrator] Needing
to tap new sources

of merchandising and
production revenue,

[magical music]

the Disneys strike a
deal with the ABC network

to create a weekly TV show.

- [Announcer] Walt
Disney's Disneyland.

- [Narrator] In
exchange for help

with funding the
park's construction.

- And part of that TV show is
gonna be sort of this homage

to the American West and
American folk heroes.

[inspiring music]

- [Director] Davy Crockett,
scene 12, take one.

Mark, action.

[suspenseful music]

Cut.

- Norman.

The shot feels flat.

- [Narrator] With his TV series,

Walt is once again
raising the creative bar.

- Walt does his shoots like
he was making a movie,

but he's making a
television show.

He's gonna film
things on location.

That's a huge departure

from what people had
been used to at the time.

In its first iteration,

TV was basically an
outgrowth of radio.

You had basically live programs

in front of studio audiences.

- "Ed Sullivan", "Jackie
Gleason", "I love Lucy".

The shows were shot on
exactly the same set,

exactly the same stage,

week after week,
or day after day.

- Television was
not about quality,

television was about cheapness.

Not with Walt Disney.

- Let's put the
camera on a track

and dolly along with
Crockett as he walks.

- You wanna shoot the
whole sequence again?

That'll put us into overtime.

- Don't worry about that.

I want to feel like we're
in the woods with him.

- The "Davy Crockett"
show has a budget

that Walt would exceed
by about double,

and it's not just double

what is budgeted
for "Davy Crockett",

it's more than double
than what's being spent

on any other television
episodes at the time.

- "I love Lucy" was spending
50,000 on an episode.

For three episodes
of "Davy Crockett",

Walt is spending 700,000.

[pensive music]

The problem is this:

Walt and Roy don't know
how to monetize TV yet.

How do you see a return
on that investment?

- Walt, Walt!

[suspenseful music]

We need to talk about
this Crockett show.

- Kay Kamen was gone and
television's a whole new market,

and the studio didn't
have his vision

to figure out, what's
gonna be the merchandise?

Like, what are you gonna imagine

children are gonna
be screaming for?

- We're hundreds of
thousands in the hole, Walt.

If you wanna make movies,
stick to making movies.

- Leave the creative
decisions to me, Rory.

- It's bigger than
the creative, Walt.

Please, open your eyes.

The studio is bleeding cash.

We're building a theme
park for God's sakes.

Something needs to start
making money around here

or we won't be making anything.

- Roy is apoplectic.

You are spending
the budget of movies

to make an episode
of television.

We are going to lose our shirts.

Disney doesn't just need money.

They need to find it quickly.

- Turn!

- [Narrator] On
December 15th, 1954,

the first episode of
Disney's "Davy Crockett"

three-part mini series
premieres on ABC.

40 million viewers, about one
in four Americans, tune in.

- People of the 1950s,

they were getting
this A-class content,

which was worthy of
being shown in a cinema,

in their living room.

- The thing is, once again,

much like the runaway
budget of "Snow White",

Walt kinda loses his mind

when it comes to his
budgets for television.

- Look at the numbers.

They don't lie.
- It's not that bad, Roy.

- Not that bad? Are you looking
at what I'm looking at?

- It's a good show.

- If you're looking
at "Davy Crockett"

from a television
return standpoint,

Walt has yet again dug
his studio into a hole.

[suspenseful music]

- [Secretary] Sorry
to interrupt.

These calls have been
coming in all morning.

- Thank you.

From Wanamaker's department
store in Philadelphia.

Something about fur hats?

- Davy Crockett.

What do they want?

- They wanna know if we have
raccoon hats they can sell.

Apparently, they have
customers clamoring for them.

Marshall Fields in Chicago,

Neiman Marcus in Texas,

Macy's in New York.

Everybody wants these hats.

- Because the whole country's
in love with Davy Crockett.

- "Davy Crockett" turned
out to be much bigger

than the studio had anticipated,

because now you had the
added medium of television.

- Movies had a
slower distribution,

so its fandom sort
of moved in waves.

Whereas with television,
it was instantaneous.

Everybody went home,
watched "Davy Crockett".

Everybody caught fever that
night at the exact same moment.

- And that was an
entirely new phenomenon

that Disney was
not prepared for.

- And suddenly, you have this
amazing character with his hat

and every kid in
America wants one.

- [Narrator] Thanks to
years of watching Kay Kamen

work his merchandising magic,

the Disneys recognized
the opportunity at hand.

- He realized the
power of merchandising

could mingle into every
corner of what he was doing.

It didn't just have to
be Mickey Mouse's face.

I can have really,
really grounded tales

and people still
want a piece of that.

- [Narrator] Disney begins
selling raccoon skin caps

as official, licensed
"Crockett" merchandise.

- Over 5,000 caps were
being sold every day.

- The demand for "Davy Crockett"
caps became so extreme

that raccoon skins

literally just disappeared
off of the market.

- This was the first time ever

that something on television
made people go out

and buy something to
capture the magic of TV.

- If you read the newspapers
from 1954 at Christmastime,

every single letter that
a child writes in to Santa

is asking for a
Davy Crockett cap.

The entire country is
collectively playacting

as Davy Crockett.

- [Narrator] And the
company finds other ways

to leverage the
"Crockett" property,

making millions
off of recordings

of the "Davy Crockett"
theme song,

promotional tours of
its star, Fess Parker,

and a ticketed
re-release of the series

as a full length feature
in movie theaters.

- It eclipsed anything that

had come before in pop culture.

- "Davy Crockett" amounts
to what we can understand

to be the first real
popular, cultural craze.

[gentle music]

- [Narrator] Crockett's
phenomenal success

has awakened something
in Walt Disney.

- In the early years, he
didn't necessarily care

about creating this industry
of merch around his films.

- He sees the potential
of merchandise

as so much more than
something to play with.

- For Walt, it still
wasn't about the money,

it was about the
new possibilities

that came out of it.

- Merchandise can immerse people

in the kind of rich experience
that they know they'll get

when they go to
see a Disney movie

or when they walk
into a Disney park.

- It's really this moment
where Walt realizes

the absolutely unique
power his brand has,

'cause no one else
has entertainment

cornered in every direction.

- He sees the different
components of the company

working with each other.

Now you have a character
who can be on a TV show

and in a film, and
an action figure,

and you can meet them in
person at the Disney parks.

And there's really no
end to what you can do

with this singular character.

- In creating all these Disney
productions and experiences,

people could live
in a Disney world.

[inspiring music]

- [Narrator] Walt's concept
will become known in the future

as a synergy map,

a plan for synchronizing
and maximizing success.

- Disney finds a way to
synergistically touch

every part of Americans' lives,

and it becomes this
incredible juggernaut.

- [Narrator] Disney's model
will spark a global industry

of licensed characters.

- George Lucas with
the "Star Wars" films,

Mattel with Barbie,

Nintendo with its products.

Now most companies
want to emulate Disney,

whether they'll say so or not.

- [Narrator] But Disney remains
the world's leading licenser

with 60 billion per
year in global sales.

- Nowadays, where we can find

our favorite movie
or movie characters

as an action figure,
a breakfast serial,

a cartoon, and a video game,

it's hard to believe that there
was ever a time in Hollywood

where merchandising just
really wasn't a thing.

When you really try to wrap
your head around the impact

of the decisions made by Roy
and Walt Disney or Kay Kamen,

[laughing]
[glasses clink]

so many of the things that we
see in our day-to-day lives

wouldn't be there without them.

[dramatic music]

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