{"id":20929,"date":"2026-02-10T22:54:46","date_gmt":"2026-02-10T22:54:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nationalgunowner.org\/index.php\/2026\/02\/10\/dana-walden-faces-disneys-franchise-and-streaming-reckoning\/"},"modified":"2026-02-10T22:54:58","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T22:54:58","slug":"dana-walden-faces-disneys-franchise-and-streaming-reckoning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationalgunowner.org\/index.php\/2026\/02\/10\/dana-walden-faces-disneys-franchise-and-streaming-reckoning\/","title":{"rendered":"Dana Walden Faces Disney\u2019s Franchise and Streaming Reckoning"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
With Disney\u2019s leadership reshuffle underway, Dana Walden emerges as the executive who will decide which stories actually matter next. Leonardo MUNOZ \/ AFP via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWhat now<\/span>?\u201d It\u2019s the first question that crops up between cause and effect. It\u2019s the exact question Disney employees are asking from behind the hallowed walls of the Magic Kingdom. It\u2019s the gaping unknown gnawing at the certainty-seeking minds of Hollywood observers. <\/span>In a digital world, Disney\u2019s dividends are driven by the steel and wood of its roller coasters.\u00a0<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

\n<\/section>\n

Bob Iger<\/a> will hand the reins<\/a> of The Walt Disney Company<\/a> to Parks & Experiences head Josh D\u2019Amaro next month. This we saw coming. In 2023, Disney announced a <\/span>$60 billion investment into Parks & Experiences over 10 years. D\u2019Amaro\u2019s division recently topped $10 billion in quarterly revenue for the first time and accounts for 60 percent of Disney\u2019s profit.<\/p>\n

Content may no longer be the great equalizer in today\u2019s fragmented media landscape. But content still drives Disney\u2019s famous flywheel. Consumers love going to the parks because it is an extension of their favorite characters: Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, Avatar Flight of Passage, etc. That\u2019s why co-chairman of Disney Entertainment and TV head honcho Dana Walden<\/a>\u2019s elevation to Disney\u2019s first president and chief creative officer is the real intrigue.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Walden\u2019s promotion falls directly in line with the rest of Hollywood\u2019s recent <\/span>anointment of veteran television executives to oversee all content<\/span><\/a>. At a time when Kathleen Kennedy is vacating the top spot at Lucasfilm, Kevin Feige doesn\u2019t feel quite as invincible as he once did, Pixar is attempting to get its groove back, and Walden will now be above Disney Studios Content Chairman and film unit maestro Alan Bergman<\/a>, Disney\u2019s future is as malleable as it has ever been in the 21st century.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Film is the foundational launching pad for multimedia franchises bred to be milked for every last drop. Disney is responsible for four of the 10 highest-ranking films on Greenlight Analytics\u2019 \u201cTheatrical Intent\u201d list over the last five years. It may be an unfamiliar stage for Walden. But she knows storytelling, and streaming is the needle mover with more long-term economic upside, even if it will never be considered grand and prestigious.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Here is where the \u201cwhat now?\u201d question begins to sprout tendrils. Disney\u2019s future won\u2019t depend solely on who makes the opening remarks on quarterly earnings calls. Instead, its prospects will rise and fall with the types of stories it chooses to tell and how it builds value from them beyond the screen.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Warner Bros. Discovery <\/span>tried and failed<\/span><\/a> to be a one-stop shop for Netflix<\/a> competitors. Now here\u2019s Disney\u2014the cleanest and most easily understood brand in Hollywood history\u2014struggling with general entertainment after investing tens of billions into it. Walden\u2019s content track record across her Fox and Disney tenures is wildly enviable. <\/span>24, Modern Family, American Horror Story, Family Guy, Bob\u2019s Burgers, 9-1-1, This Is Us, Only Murders in the Building, Paradise, The Bear<\/span><\/i>, etc. These hits sell ad time and chew up engagement. But, as many have already pointed out, they don\u2019t inspire theme park rides and merchandise sales (though now I can\u2019t stop imagining a Carmy Berzatto attraction where park guests share cigarettes and panic attacks in a dirty kitchen). Hulu is great at surfacing long-running sitcoms and procedurals from broadcast television, but hasn\u2019t yet mastered making its own versions at scale. Its absorption into Disney+ speaks volumes about its scalable strategic value.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Disney is in a difficult position as a franchise-forward media company<\/a> that has <\/span>arguably <\/span>invested too much in non-core generalist fare to turn back now. Fox, Hulu and sports have been essential loss leaders, debt-ridden albatrosses, or something in the middle, depending on who you ask.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

If D\u2019Amaro revisits Iger 2.0\u2019s early Sun Valley comments <\/span>entertaining the idea of selling off brands<\/span><\/a> that don\u2019t brighten Disney\u2019s halo effect, where does that leave Disney\u2019s content engines? The same question is just as compelling if he doesn\u2019t. As sports media rights trampoline into even more expensive territory, scripted content will continue to lose airtime.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

That speaks to an ongoing streaming dilemma. Can Walden juice time spent on Disney\u2019s streaming platforms, which have <\/span>remained flat for roughly two years<\/span><\/a>? Back in the heyday of cable, the Disney Channel would deliver a handful of modestly budgeted hit original movies each year that became reliable assets. Why and how this <\/span>model has been abandoned<\/span><\/a> in favor of much more expensive streaming exclusive films is a mystery to me. (Though the <\/span>Descendants <\/span><\/i>and <\/span>Zombies<\/span><\/i> movies seem to be doing well).\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Disney announced a $1.5 billion investment in <\/span>Fortnite <\/span><\/i>maker Epic Games<\/a> back in 2024, though no substantial film\/TV projects have come from it. D\u2019Amaro oversees video games, and Walden has the creative chops to spin something new out of something old. Video games have replaced superheroes as Hollywood\u2019s shiny new funnel of blockbuster IP, necessitating a bold step into this arena sooner rather than later.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Paramount has <\/span>Sonic<\/span><\/i> (and soon <\/span>Call of Duty<\/span><\/i>), Warner Bros. has <\/span>A Minecraft Movie <\/span><\/i>and <\/span>The Last of Us<\/span><\/i>, Universal has a <\/span>fledgling Nintendo universe<\/span><\/a>, Sony has Zach Cregger\u2019s new <\/span>Resident Evil <\/span><\/i>movie, and Netflix has been dabbling in video game properties for a while. Despite rampant rumors over the years, a <\/span>Kingdom Hearts <\/span><\/i>video game adaptation has never reached Disney\u2019s screens. That game already boasts a successful roadmap, built-in fan base, and irresistible wish fulfillment. It\u2019s the type of splashy, Disney universe-reinforcing project that splits the difference between modernity and recycling. Not for nothing, it\u2019s also a worthy attempt at stretching beyond superheroes. (The <\/span>same thinking goes for anime<\/span><\/a>, albeit with lower floors and ceilings for now.)\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We know it\u2019s always more valuable to fully own IP in-house. But it\u2019s not always realistic. <\/span>Disney+\u2019s hit <\/span>Bluey<\/span><\/i><\/a> is licensed (with a film adaptation in the works), and Disney recently <\/span>acquired the <\/span>Impossible Creatures <\/span><\/i>book series<\/span><\/a>. Continuing to eye the market for strategically aligned opportunities to add new toys to the sandbox is a likely (and needed) path. It sets a new tone for a new era.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And this wouldn\u2019t be Disney without returning to the well of success at least once. <\/span>Encanto <\/span><\/i>is the <\/span>most popular streaming movie ever<\/span><\/a> in the U.S., according to Nielsen data. Its muted box office was the result of a COVID-depressed theatrical marketplace, not an indictment on its quality. The overall audience response has made that clear.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Greenlighting a sequel wouldn\u2019t just be a brand-safe, house-style move. It would be a signal flare that Walden and her team understand the value of original storytelling, discovery and franchise expansion. For a company stuck in a tug-of-war with the past, <\/span>Encanto <\/span><\/i>sits at the intersection of fully owned in-house IP, streaming-era audience reach, multimedia franchise potential and risk vs safety.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Disney\u2019s next era is already underway. What will result depends on its ability to move beyond its standard way of doing things in order to cultivate new and existing stories while recognizing when\u2014and how\u2014they actually hit. <\/span><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"Dana<\/p><\/div>\n