Disney Grows Up: Kidulting, Collectibles, and the Toys That Started It All (Ep. 117)
Disney is leaning harder than ever into adult collectors, and Jim Hill and Lauren Hersey look at how "kidulting" is reshaping the company's merchandise strategy. They also dig into Disney's upcoming anniversary-driven retail plans, the unusual merchandising challenge surrounding Walt Disney Animation Studios' Hexed, and the growing importance of collectibles aimed squarely at grown-up fans. Then Jim heads back to the earliest days of Disney toys for the story of Marx, Disney Kins, a massive West Virginia toy factory, and one tiny Timothy Mouse who may have gone on a very unexpected adventure.
HIGHLIGHTS
• Disney's Hexed faces an unusually compressed merchandise rollout after a major character change late in production.
• Star Wars prepares for its 50th anniversary with new theatrical activity and a major consumer-products push.
• Disney is already looking ahead to Mickey's 100th and Marvel's 90th as year-long merchandising opportunities.
• "Kidulting" is becoming an increasingly important part of Disney's strategy as adults drive demand for toys, dolls, collectibles, and premium collaborations.
• From limited-edition dolls to high-end fashion partnerships, Disney is finding new ways to reach fans wherever they already shop.
• Listener Mike inspires a look back at Louis Marx and Company, one of Disney's earliest major toy partners.
• The Marx factory in Glen Dale, West Virginia once became one of the world's largest toy-manufacturing operations.
• Jim revisits Disney Kins, the tiny hand-painted figures that brought Mickey, Ludwig Von Drake, classic animated characters, and more to toy shelves beginning in the 1960s.
• A childhood encounter with a very small Timothy Mouse Disney Kin gives Jim one of his more unusual collecting stories.
HOSTS
• Jim Hill - X/Twitter: @JimHillMedia | Instagram: @JimHillMedia | jimhillmedia.com
• Lauren Hersey - X/Twitter: @laurenhersey2 | Instagram: @lauren_hersey_
FOLLOW
• Facebook: @JimHillMediaNews
• YouTube: @jimhillmedia
• TikTok: @jimhillmedia
• Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/jimhillmedia/
SUPPORT
Support the show and access bonus episodes and additional content at https://www.patreon.com/jimhillmedia.
PRODUCTION CREDITS
Edited by Dave Grey
Produced by Eric Hersey - https://strongmindedagency.com
SPONSOR
Plan your next Disney or Universal vacation with Be Our Guest Vacations, a platinum-level EarMarked Disney travel agency and Universal Preferred Platinum planning partner. Their vacation-planning services come at no additional cost to you.
If you would like to sponsor a show on the Jim Hill Media Podcast Network, reach out today. https://www.jimhillmedia.com/sponsor/
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
