File this under opinion. I often hear people comment, “Disney is too big to fail.” I do believe the company does well enough that it isn’t going to shut down anytime soon. However, I do think Disney is failing because it is too big.

Once upon a time, Disney focused on films, television, and theme parks. Even then, it almost went under a few decades back. The animation renaissance starting in 1989, merchandising, and theme park expansions saved it.

Fast forward to Bob Iger coming in as CEO and his quest to acquire as many IPs and franchises as possible. Initially, it worked. Disney got Pixar, and that was an improvement. Then they got Marvel, and again, it boosted the company initially. Then came Star Wars and, finally, the ridiculous amount of money they spent on Fox. With each new acquisition, Disney spread itself thinner and thinner.

Finally came Disney+. While Disney+ helped save the company during the pandemic, the streaming service is not the “win” Disney expected it to be and is one of the reasons Disney needs to cut $5.5 billion. Like other streaming services, the post-pandemic world and the glut of streaming options have not helped Disney. I would argue that Disney+ has hastened the decline of Pixar, Star Wars, and Marvel.

Just because you purchase a franchise does not mean you know how to run that franchise effectively. While Disney did great with Pixar initially, the bloom has rubbed off, and we have the box office bomb ‘Lightyear.’ Pixar, the one-time animation darling, has been reduced to direct to streaming or underperformance. My husband has been waiting for it to be absorbed into Disney Animation to save money.

Marvel. Again, this is another one that started strong, and except for a couple of films like ‘Spider-Man, No Way Home’ the returns have progressively dropped. Now animated Super Mario Bros has outperformed a Marvel film in the last few months!

Of all the upcoming Marvel projects, ‘Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 3’ was the one many thought would bring back the box office. Now, the predictions have shifted and may do worse than anticipated. Don’t even get me started on ‘The Marvels’ chances.

Star Wars was one of the world’s biggest franchises, and somehow Disney has found ways to turn people off from the films and shows. Even the one show they had that everyone seemed to love, ‘The Mandalorian, ‘ ended up with a massive decline in viewership during the last season.

The bigger you get as a company, the more you have to manage. The more money you can make, the more you must spend to maintain everything. Frankly, a lot of it comes down to Bob Iger. While initially, he did great with the Pixar, Marvel, and Star Wars acquisitions, as time went on, the value of those has dwindled and primarily due to the poor decisions made by Disney.

Then Iger spent over $70 billion on Fox. While they gained the rights back to ‘The Fantastic Four’ and ‘X-men,’ they still massively overspent. They’ve failed when they try to do their versions of popular IPs like ‘Home Alone‘ or ‘National Treasure.’ However, they did well overseas with ‘Avatar: The Way of Water‘ but not $70 billion.

Not everything can be Disneyfied.

We haven’t even talked about the theme parks. After the current projects are finished, other than meet and greets, there have been no other official announcements. Universal just opened Super Nintendo World at Universal Japan and Universal Hollywood. We know Epic Universe is coming to Orlando. More theme parks and Universal-themed attractions are being announced for Texas, Las Vegas, and more! Universal theme park attendance is up! Universal is also beating Disney in animation now as well.

Then there’s ESPN and Hulu. Both have been the focus of divesting rumors. Disney owns 2/3 of Hulu, and if Comcast insists they buy them out, Disney is obligated to do so.

Again. While I do believe that Disney is not going to fail, I also think that the repeated failure Disney has seen is due to its sheer size and the arrogance of its leadership.

Throw in the situation in Florida with Ron DeSantis and Reedy Creek. Bob Iger’s comments about Florida during the Annual Shareholder’s Meeting did not help. Now Iger’s allegedly trying to recruit lobbyists “to step up their efforts to influence the Republican-controlled state legislature and to target land use related bills that could hurt the company, among other measures.” This fight is not helping Disney.

Disney needs to cut $5.5 billion to keep itself going. Seven thousand jobs will be cut, and the second round of cuts, aka “the bloodbath,” is set to start tomorrow, with the Entertainment Division being the hardest hit.

Maybe Disney needs to consider selling off some of their acquisitions. Because going like they are, with diminishing returns, is not sustainable. They’re too big, and it’s causing them to fail.

Of course, this is all my opinion.

What do you think? Comment and let us know!