In 1453, Mehmed the Conqueror set out to do what no other Ottoman Sultan had done: capture Constantinople. The Byzantine Empire’s capital had been besieged numerous times, but had only been captured once before by Christians during the Fourth Crusade of 1204. For days, the Turks threw everything at the city, but the heavily fortified walls would not fall. Meanwhile, a strange debate was taking place inside the imperial city. Byzantine senators and philosophers were engaged in a heated debate: not about how to shore up their defences and protect the public, but something rather different: the sex of angels. Were they male or female? A few days later, the walls were breached and everyone was killed, effectively marking the end of the last remains of the Roman empire.

Apocryphal or not, it is a perfect illustration of how focusing on trivial things can have far-reaching consequences. In this case, the end of the longest-lasting empire in recorded history.

A lot of businessmen have a copy of Sun-Tzu’s The Art of War on their desk for smug points. Perhaps I should recommend a book on the siege of Constantinople to Bob Iger? Because nothing sums up a modern-day empire in decline like Disney.

The animation company that started when two brothers sold a short live-action cartoon for $1,500 has evolved into a multinational corporation. It has done so by exercising a vice-like grip on the world of entertainment.

The Walt Disney Company is arguably the largest and, some would say, the finest exponent of a practice known as ‘vertical integration’. In other words, they have taken complete control of the supply chain. As such, they have direct ownership of the companies that create and produce all their film and television content. This is then marketed and distributed globally by Disney before being broadcast on affiliated networks, such as ABC. Blu-ray and DVDs are manufactured by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment and often shipped to Disney retail stores. Merchandise can often be found in Disney’s numerous hotels and theme parks

But all is not well in the land of make-believe. In recent years, its stocks have been on more of a rollercoaster ride than one of its own theme park rides.

In the last two years, Disney’s share price has fallen fifty per cent, from an all-time high of almost $200 per share in March 2021 to $110 last month. It reached a seven-year low during the final quarter of 2022, finishing the year trading at just $86 per share. The weak valuation reflects a growing lack of investor confidence in the company.

The obvious question to ask is: why?

In truth, Disney has been haemorrhaging money for years. The decision to buy up every possible studio and all intellectual property available at considerable expense and merge them into some kind of monolithic corporate monopoly, makes sense from a business perspective. But it is only good as long as it makes a profit. Two famous titles under their ownership are Marvel and Star Wars.

At first, Marvel was a fantastic investment, becoming one of the biggest cinematic franchises in history, and making an obscene amount of money for the company. That is, until Phase Four, when Shang Chi, Black Widow, and The Eternals all failed to break even. Wakanda Forever and Thor: Love and Thunder were barely successful once you realise a quarter of a billion dollars was invested in each one. But let’s be honest, taking $760 million at the box office compared with a $250 million budget might sound impressive, but once you factor in promotion, it isn’t the win Disney thinks it is.

Then we have Lucasfilm. Honestly, when was the last time you got excited about a new Star Wars movie? More importantly, when did you last go to the cinema to watch one? The Rise of Skywalker was a commercial disaster, merely reflecting the financial decline of the sequel trilogy. And just to rub salt into the wounds, Solo became the first Star Wars film in history to lose money. Disney’s plan to turn Star Wars into a new Marvel-type cash cow was about as realistic as Steven Seagal’s hairline.

Under Kathleen Kennedy’s direction, one of cinema’s most recognisable franchises has been reduced to a collection of increasingly poor quality movies and meaningless spin-off TV shows on an unprofitable streaming service.

It’s rumoured Disney might be selling off the IP, something unthinkable a few years ago. George Lucas should buy it back at a low price and trash everything they’ve done.

When it comes to TV, Disney Plus has hardly been a commercial success. It initially got off to a good start when the service launched in 2020. But a lot of that was due to Covid and a global pandemic meant we had little choice but to plunder the content archives of streaming services. For a short while, Disney found themselves with a captive audience. But the strategy of firing out as much content as possible regardless of quality just added to the problem. She-Hulk, Ms.Marvel and Hawkeye tainted the brand even more, and the production costs were not recouped through the subscription fee. It explains the $4 billion loss last year. Few companies, let alone one as large as Disney, can sustain that kind of loss for very long.

Theme parks suffered the same fate as Covid, being shut down for most of the same year. But just as visitors began to return, they decided to pick a fight with Ron DeSantis over a law they had no reason at all to be involved with. The result? Removal of a special tax-exempt status meant higher operating costs and increased admission fees at the resorts.

As soon as you get involved in politics, you risk making enemies out of very powerful people. You also divide your audience. Coming down on one side of a controversial issue means the other side will just hate you.

When Bob Chapek joined as CEO, he initially stayed out of the culture war, keeping the company politically neutral. It didn’t take long for social justice warriors moonlighting as Disney employees to push him into an embarrassing reversal.

Disney has been entertaining generations of children ever since Mickey Mouse sailed down the river in Steamboat Willie. For decades, it helped stir their sense of adventure and imagination. They told stories that allowed children to explore their aspirations, imparted wisdom and knowledge, and motivated and inspired them to take on new challenges in their lives. Disney was once the gold standard in animation. Now it is a brand in terminal decline, going from failure to failure, pandering to a handful of progressive activists by needlessly inserting itself into the culture wars. By riding on the success of legacy franchises, Disney is standing on the shoulders of giants, yet they can’t see what’s in front of them.

I say this not as someone who wants to see them crash and burn; I want them to be successful. They will not last if they continue in this manner. Bob Chapek is out, replaced by former CEO Bob Iger. His job is to make the company profitable again.

The irony is that Iger was responsible for most of the issues Chapek attempted to clear up.

But hey ho, its off to work he goes.