Media OwnershipO The Disney Brothers’ Cartoon Studios was founded in 1923 by Walt and

Roy O. DisneyO In 1930 disputes over finance led to the studios being renamed ‘Walt

Disney Productions’O After Walt Disney’s death in 1966 popularity decreased and Disney

invested more in live actions movies. During this time the Animation Studios was strongly considered to be shut down, however Roy E. Disney intervened and studios became known as ‘Walt Disney Television Animation’

O In the 1990s the animation department was then officially formalised as a subsidiary department of the company, due to its new found success, and named ‘Walt Disney Feature Animation’

O Their main headquarters are in the Roy E. Disney Animation building, in Burbank, California but there are also studios in Japan, Canada, Australia, France

O The first film they released was Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937 and their most recent film being Frozen in 2013

O They also make shirt films, the first being Alice Comedies, Mickey Mouse Cartoons and the Silly Symphonies and the newest being Get a Horse! (Another Mickey mouse cartoon)

O Michael Eisner (former Walt Disney CEO) said “The Disney Stores promote the consumer products which promote the (theme) parks which promote the television shows. The television shows promote the company”

Synergy in Toy Story 3:O Digital 3D re-release of ‘Toy Story’ and ‘Toy Story 2’ - teaser trailers

for ‘Toy Story 3’O Blue Ray/DVD combo release of the films included ‘ The making of

Toy Story 3’O Disney Interactive Studios released ‘Toy Story 3: The Video Game’

prior to the releaseO ABC’s Dancing With the Start’ featured a performance from the filmO Sneak peeks were shown on Disney Channel as well as a ‘Toy Story’

day. Showing the first two films and sneak peeks of the thirdO Facebook allowed Disney to create an App to let users pre-order

‘Toy Story 3’ tickets

Cross Media Convergence

SynergyO Disney has sometimes worked for other studios to assist

in production for example ‘Who Framed Roger Rabbit’ with warner brothers where they provided animation, layout, animatics and story boards (for animated parts), and special effects.

O They have also collaborated with Walt Disney Creative Studio and Walt Disney Imagineering to create attractions at Disney theme parks like ‘Stitch Live!’ at Walt Disney Studios Park.

Cross Media Convergence in Toy Story 3:O Toy Story 3 was released by Walt Disney however it was

produced by Pixar Animation StudiosO The film was released in Disney Digital 3D, RealID and

IMAX 3D formatsO This was the first film to be released theatrically with

Dolby Surround 7.1 sound

Film and New Media Technologies

Toy Story:O It was released in a standard DVD edition, two-disc Blu-ray,

and in a four-disc Blu-ray/DVD/Digital Copy combo pack. O A 10-disc Toy Story trilogy Blu-ray box set arrived on store

shelves and a 3D version of the Blu-ray was released O On its first week of release it sold 3,859,736 units ranking

No.1 for the week and immediately becoming the best-selling animated film of 2010 in terms of units sold . It became the best-selling DVD of 2010 in terms of units sold as well as selling about 4.0 million Blu-ray units, ranking as the fourth best-selling film of 2010.

O In the U.K., it broke the record for the largest first day ever for animated feature, both on DVD and Blu-ray, in terms of sales revenue.

O Additionally, on its first day of release on iTunes, it immediately became the most downloaded Disney film ever.

The Spread of Technology

The spread of technology means that people can access films in many different ways as when a film comes out they can see it in the cinema in not just 2D but also in 3D, in some places 4D, and in an IMAX cinema. On the other hand for watching it at home you could buy the DVD or Blu-Ray, watch it on T.V, or now online via websites like Netfilx, however this can be taken advantage of as there are illegal websites where you can watch the films for free which means money is lost for production companies. Furthermore the way you can buy films had changed as before you would have to go into a shop to buy or rent as film whereas now you can buy the DVD’s online from amazon or just download it from iTunes.

Technological Convergence

A major institute like Disney will have a lot of money so can use technological advances to their advantage, therefor:O They can advertise on billboards, restaurants, pop-

ups, social networking sites, background scene of a website etc.

O They can make games on their film to promote it (to promote Toy Story 3 Disney Interactive Studios released ‘Toy Story 3: The Video Game’ prior to the release)

O It can be sold/watched on a number of mediums such as: DVD, Blue ray, 3D or Netflix

This could therefore result in a higher profit.

TargetingThere are a number of ways big industries like Disney can advertise to their target audience:O They could put the trailer in the break of a

programme they know there target audience would watch.

O Use social networking sites for teenagers as stereotypically teenagers spend a lot of time of them.

Toy Story:O Sneak peeks were shown on Disney Channel as well

as a ‘Toy Story’ day. Showing the first two films and sneak peeks of the third

O Facebook allowed Disney to create an App to let users pre-order ‘Toy Story 3’ tickets

My Media ConsumptionThere are many ways I have watch films as the technological advances mean that new ways are constantly coming about. DVDs I mostly buy DVDs and most recently I bought ‘The Perks of being a Wallflower’, ‘The Diary of Bridget Jones’ and ‘Struck by lightening’.CinemaI go to the cinema a lot due to the atmosphere but also the quality of the film as the screen shows the film a lot better than on a TV or Computer Screen. Most recently I’ve seen ‘Frozen’, ‘Bad Neighbours’ and ‘Anchor Man 2: The Legend Continues’. Demand/TelevisionThe TV shows lots of films on channels such a ‘Film4’ but also the likes of BBC 1 and ITV and E4 show films as well, most recently being ‘Employee of the Month’ and also ‘There’s something about Mary’. Furthermore due to technological advance I can get the iplayer on my TV which means I can catch up on films that have been on the BBC.Computer/InternetThe most common way I watch films is on my computer through Netflix as this was there are thousands on films all online in one place but it also gives me a chance to choose what film I want to watch from new releases like ‘American Hustle’ to older films from the 80s like ‘The Breakfast Club’.