Ushering in a new era for disney with the Mandalorian

Disney+’s flagship programme The Mandalorian (2019-) is illustrative of their strategy which is ‘characterised by a constant and pervasive tension between innovation and control’ (Turow, 1984: 151). Disney’s $4.05 billion (Pomerantz 2012) purchase of Star Wars in 2012 initiated an expansion beyond its position as a ‘kids content’ brand (Entertainment Strategy Guy 2020), toward a ‘plurality of today’s must-watch franchises and cultural content’ (Ball 2019). Essentially providing ‘infinite inspiration and opportunities’ (The Walt Disney Company, 2013: 1) to branch into areas of commercial risk whilst maintaining control through its leveraging and extravagant marketing of well-known, beloved brands (see figure 1).

Figure 1

The Mandalorian highlights Disney’s focus on employing ‘superhero and sci-fi series and films to avoid a reputation as “just” a kid’s channel’ (Entertainment Strategy Guy 2020). Its TV-14 age rating and a $12.5 million an episode production cost (Clark 2019) represent how Disney seek to innovate past an era of limited quaintness by providing a diverse platform consisting of ‘various lands within the Disney streaming kingdom’ (Adalian 2020) (see figure 2). In a scene nearing the end of The Mandalorian’s first episode, the Mandalorian observes from afar as a ‘bounty droid’ takes out a group of goons in a highly militaristic display (see figure 3). The scene is illustrative of the series’ serious and aggressive tone due to a vast amount of violence and death throughout, as well as the cinematic redirection that momentarily suggests infanticide in the scenes conclusion.

Figure 2

Figure 3

Disney+ initially benefitted from their family friendly image having “signed up tens of millions of subscribers, here and around the world, largely on the strength of the Disney name and catalogue.” (Adalian 2020). However, whilst The Mandalorian serves to introduce Disney’s streaming identity with a departure from its twinkly past, subsequently risking damaging their favourability with parents, it maintains control by utilising their most lucrative IP which provides a guaranteed following “to deliver success within relatively safe margins” (Warner 2018: 29). Additionally, as evident in figure 1, Disney+’s interface mediates this risk through a careful structure that keeps potentially inappropriate content separate.
The show maintains control as it ‘relies on predictable formulas and routines previously proven profitable’ (Warner 2018: 27), this is represented in the show’s linear storytelling, seriality and the way in which it ‘frames the show in terms of Westerns’ (Mooney 2019). Disney’s ‘newest venture in vertical integration’ (McMurray 2019) allows them to exert creative control over their output and produce these ‘safe’ narrative forms with ease. Due to Disney’s coexisting horizontal integration, they are able recruit pre-affiliated talent such as Taika Waititi from Marvel and other areas of Disney owned IP, ensuring the employment and retention of ‘personnel that will maximize the chance of a particular product’s success’ (Turrow 1984:156-7).
Disney+’s venture into innovative and risky content continues with series like Wandavision (2021-) that mirror The Mandalorian’s mature nature using instead another of Disney’s most valuable IP’s Marvel. Furthermore, with its newest addition to the service, the ‘Star’ content hub, Disney further establishes that “the company does not want people to think that Disney Plus is only for families” (Barnes 2019). Though by employing the production and distribution methods mentioned “risks are taken to disrupt one status quo before ultimately installing another.” (Warner 2018: 33).
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Warner, Kristen (2018) ‘ABC: Crisis, Risk, and the Logics of Change’, in Derek Johnson (ed) From networks to Netflix: a guide to changing channels, (London: Routledge): pp 25-34
 
Teleography:
‘Chapter 1: The Mandalorian’, The Mandalorian, Disney+, 12 November 2019.
Wandavision, Disney+ (2021)