Togzhan Yerzhankyzy | 06.12.2025
How Disney Turns Nostalgia into Profit
Every adult and child knows at least one Disney movie or soundtrack. From a child singing a Frozen song, to an adult remembering The Lion King’s every moment. Visiting Disneyland is a lifelong dream for a lot of people. The original Disneyland in California attracts almost 30 million visitors per year, proving Disney's power. Disney keeps shaping memories. So, how has the company managed to maintain interest among both children and adults even after decades?
The Walt Disney Company is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered in Burbank, California. It started its journey back in 1923, and even after a decade, it still holds its audience. Disney’s movies and cartoons, like Cinderella, Peter Pan, and The Lion King, shaped the childhood of a lot of generations. Through those legendary stories and songs, they created emotional memories that lasted for years. Then, the company realised that the biggest strength was not just making the animation, but nostalgia.
Watching Disney movies often becomes the most cheerful memories in our life, movie night with your family, having your favourite princess, it all creates a warm connection between the audience and the Disney company. As people grow up, emotional connection continues. Disney understands this, and tries to sell not only movies, but also it sells memories. Adults often want to go back to their childhood; they want to go back to the movies that they grew up with. As a result, they re-watch one of the Disney movies and reminisce about their happy days as a child.
However, Disney also has a younger generation as its audience. A lot of children are familiar with Disney, because often parents want to share their favourite childhood movie with their kids, so that their child also feels that emotion that they felt. And it also brings Disney even more audience. And Disney built an entire business around this idea.
One of the clearest examples is live-action remakes of popular cartoons. Instead of creating new characters or new stories, the company makes a live-action adaptation of one of the popular stories. For example, in Beauty and the Beast live action in 2017, Disney gained globally about $1.263 billion in box office revenue. Additionally, The Lion King was the highest-grossing remake ever, over $1.6 billion. Live-action remakes always lead to significant success because those stories were popular and successful decades ago, so the risk of failure is extremely low. Such a remake makes the old audience, adults who watched the cartoon version a long time ago, come back, and the new audience, the new generation, come to watch live-action versions of popular stories. This dual audience multiplies revenue. This is again evidence that nostalgia has financial power and Disney uses it correctly.
Walt Disney also has Disneyland, which is also beloved as 'the happiest place on earth', known for its fairytale castles, shows, and themed lands. Disneyland is the most profitable idea of the company. They turned all the places, all the castles, and even the food from their favourite movies into reality, showing that the Disney world can not only be viewed through the screen, but also that you can experience everything in real life and see everything with your own eyes or even try the favourite food of your favourite character. By giving a chance to feel all the emotions in real life, Disney was able to attract the attention of a million people. Adults who grew up watching Disney movies often bring their children to parks. This creates a cycle of loyalty between generations. This cycle continues; as a result, the popularity of Disneyland will never fade, but the turnaround will only flourish. Now there are 12 Disneylands spread across 6 resorts globally, located in the USA, France, Japan, and China. Moreover, Disney also makes sure that people get the most out of their emotions when visiting the park, arranging different shows, carnivals and different attractions so that people want to return there all the time to experience those emotions again.
All children want to receive a toy of their favourite character or clothes to look like them. It can be any princess doll or Peter Pan costume. Adults often buy items not because they need them, but because they feel emotionally connected to the characters. They want to experience their favourite childhood moments by buying their favourite doll or toy just to remember old times. And this leads to the fact that the characters that Disney creates are also the main source of income. Because characters like Mickey Mouse, Cinderella or The Little Mermaid are no longer just fictional characters, but cultural icons. That is the reason why when Disney launches a new project, they also launch clothes, toys, and albums related to the project, to multiply the profit.
Finally, Disney uses its strategy of turning nostalgia into profit very effectively and carefully. By remaking popular stories in live action, by giving opportunity for audience to visit Disney World in real life and by turning characters into cultural icons, Disney constantly brings adults back to their childhood, while presenting timeless stories to a new audience. Thus, a global company like Disney retains its image and its popularity for a long time, gaining more and more fans globally. As long as people cherish the memories created by Disney, the company will continue to grow, proving that nostalgia is not just a feeling but one of the most powerful tools in the modern entertainment business.
The Walt Disney Company is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered in Burbank, California. It started its journey back in 1923, and even after a decade, it still holds its audience. Disney’s movies and cartoons, like Cinderella, Peter Pan, and The Lion King, shaped the childhood of a lot of generations. Through those legendary stories and songs, they created emotional memories that lasted for years. Then, the company realised that the biggest strength was not just making the animation, but nostalgia.
Watching Disney movies often becomes the most cheerful memories in our life, movie night with your family, having your favourite princess, it all creates a warm connection between the audience and the Disney company. As people grow up, emotional connection continues. Disney understands this, and tries to sell not only movies, but also it sells memories. Adults often want to go back to their childhood; they want to go back to the movies that they grew up with. As a result, they re-watch one of the Disney movies and reminisce about their happy days as a child.
However, Disney also has a younger generation as its audience. A lot of children are familiar with Disney, because often parents want to share their favourite childhood movie with their kids, so that their child also feels that emotion that they felt. And it also brings Disney even more audience. And Disney built an entire business around this idea.
One of the clearest examples is live-action remakes of popular cartoons. Instead of creating new characters or new stories, the company makes a live-action adaptation of one of the popular stories. For example, in Beauty and the Beast live action in 2017, Disney gained globally about $1.263 billion in box office revenue. Additionally, The Lion King was the highest-grossing remake ever, over $1.6 billion. Live-action remakes always lead to significant success because those stories were popular and successful decades ago, so the risk of failure is extremely low. Such a remake makes the old audience, adults who watched the cartoon version a long time ago, come back, and the new audience, the new generation, come to watch live-action versions of popular stories. This dual audience multiplies revenue. This is again evidence that nostalgia has financial power and Disney uses it correctly.
Walt Disney also has Disneyland, which is also beloved as 'the happiest place on earth', known for its fairytale castles, shows, and themed lands. Disneyland is the most profitable idea of the company. They turned all the places, all the castles, and even the food from their favourite movies into reality, showing that the Disney world can not only be viewed through the screen, but also that you can experience everything in real life and see everything with your own eyes or even try the favourite food of your favourite character. By giving a chance to feel all the emotions in real life, Disney was able to attract the attention of a million people. Adults who grew up watching Disney movies often bring their children to parks. This creates a cycle of loyalty between generations. This cycle continues; as a result, the popularity of Disneyland will never fade, but the turnaround will only flourish. Now there are 12 Disneylands spread across 6 resorts globally, located in the USA, France, Japan, and China. Moreover, Disney also makes sure that people get the most out of their emotions when visiting the park, arranging different shows, carnivals and different attractions so that people want to return there all the time to experience those emotions again.
All children want to receive a toy of their favourite character or clothes to look like them. It can be any princess doll or Peter Pan costume. Adults often buy items not because they need them, but because they feel emotionally connected to the characters. They want to experience their favourite childhood moments by buying their favourite doll or toy just to remember old times. And this leads to the fact that the characters that Disney creates are also the main source of income. Because characters like Mickey Mouse, Cinderella or The Little Mermaid are no longer just fictional characters, but cultural icons. That is the reason why when Disney launches a new project, they also launch clothes, toys, and albums related to the project, to multiply the profit.
Finally, Disney uses its strategy of turning nostalgia into profit very effectively and carefully. By remaking popular stories in live action, by giving opportunity for audience to visit Disney World in real life and by turning characters into cultural icons, Disney constantly brings adults back to their childhood, while presenting timeless stories to a new audience. Thus, a global company like Disney retains its image and its popularity for a long time, gaining more and more fans globally. As long as people cherish the memories created by Disney, the company will continue to grow, proving that nostalgia is not just a feeling but one of the most powerful tools in the modern entertainment business.
