If you make it to 100 years old, you’ve probably learned how to power through a few rough patches.

The Walt Disney Company is experiencing one right now, as seismic shifts in technology and how people consume media force it to make some of its most dramatic moves in decades.

• Once a money printer, ESPN’s future has never been more uncertain as people ditch cable for streaming. “While linear (television) remains highly profitable for Disney today, the trends being fueled by cord-cutting are unmistakable,” CEO Bob Iger said on Wednesday’s earnings call.
• Speaking of streaming, Disney and other new entrants have yet to make the economics work. The company announced Disney+ price hikes of up to 27% this week to squeeze more revenue out of its users. But it still does not expect its streaming business to be profitable until next year…at the earliest.

To be sure, every entertainment company is scrambling to reengineer business models as tech giants encroach on their turf and user-generated content snags eyeballs on social media platforms like TikTok. And they’re all dealing with a dual strike from Hollywood writers and actors that has frozen new content production.

But Disney also has a set of unique challenges it’s wishing would get resolved as it blows out the candles on its 100th birthday cake.

• A fight with FL Gov. Ron DeSantis: For decades, Disney and Florida were a dynamic duo whose private-public partnership created an economic powerhouse in central Florida. But after the company criticized DeSantis’s so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law, that friendship has frozen over, imperiling Disney’s growth in the state and ensnaring both parties in a nasty legal battle.
• Succession fiascos: CEO Bob Iger might be worse at picking a successor than Logan Roy. Here are all the times Iger has said he’d step down for fresh blood since assuming the position in 2005 (hint: It’s a lot). And when he finally did tap a successor in 2020, Bob Chapek, that did not go well. Iger returned to unseat Chapek just two years later and now expects to stay in the role until 2026.
• Franchise fatigue: Disney has ridden its Marvel and Star Wars films to remarkable box-office heights. But now it’s realizing that maybe people are bored of watching a team of superheroes raze New York City for the 25th time. Last month, Iger said Disney would pull back on making new Star Wars and Marvel content, but that leaves the question: What can replace its tired franchises as smash hits at theaters? Pixar isn’t exactly coming up clutch right now.

Looking ahead…as you’ll read in this newsletter, Disney has persevered through far more severe crises in its 100-year history and it may find itself in a healthier place not too far into the future.

As for the question that’s been on people’s minds for years—will Disney sell to Apple?—the rumor mill started churning again recently since Iger indicated that several of Disney’s TV assets, such as ABC, were up for sale. But Iger is staying mum, saying, “It’s not something we obsess about.”—NF

You already live life in GO mode, so make sure you maximize every step. HOKA just dropped a brand-new sneaker that’ll have you stepping into victory no matter where the day takes you.

Introducing the Mach X, which 3 (very lucky) Morning Brew team members gave a spin during the Brooklyn Mile earlier this month. Let’s just say: These kicks came to win.

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Add some winners to your sneaker lineup.

Disney likes to keep its image as clean as Cinderella’s stepmom wants her floors, so it’s notoriously difficult to use the company’s likeness without hearing from lawyers.

But in the US, copyrights only last 95 years on stuff made a long time ago. After that, the material, or intellectual property, falls into the public domain, meaning anyone can use it however they’d like. That’s why, before the company’s 100th birthday this October, we’ve started seeing NSFW depictions of classic Disney characters.

The prime example is Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey, a gory slasher film released in February after Winnie and his original storybook pals became free to use.

And a much bigger prize is coming next year for people hoping to flip Disney’s image on its head. Steamboat Willie, the 1928 short film which features the earliest version of Mickey (and Minnie), will enter the public domain on January 1, 2024.

But…Disney has another trick up its sleeve that could rein in anyone looking to make a twisted Mickey movie: trademarks. So, we asked an expert on intellectual property law what it would take to get a mouse slasher on the big screen. You can see what he had to say here.—ML

Donald Duck gets drafted, while Mickey Mouse scours the sky for enemy planes. This isn’t some militaristic fever dream…it’s typical Disney content from World War II.

During the global conflict, Disney channeled its creative juices to produce Uncle Sam-sponsored war propaganda to aid the country in defeating Nazism. The government contracts allowed the entertainment juggernaut to stay afloat in a trying time for its business. The studio tapped its iconic animated characters to implore the American public to buy war bonds, pay taxes, and partake in the war effort.

The result is pragmatism combined with some good old-fashioned fun: The wartime cartoons and print media are infused with patriotic PSAs while staying true to the brand’s comedic quirkiness, making for prime propaganda-tainment. Ultimately, they helped keep the company out of bankruptcy and raised audiences’ spirits during some of history’s darkest hours.

Learn more about this singular Disney era and take a look for yourself at the propagandistic animation it produced.—SK

If you want to approach planning your wedding in an emotionless, just-the-numbers way, Disney’s wedding brochure is the worst place you can start. The official division that plans and executes magical nuptials on the company’s properties, Disney’s Fairy Tale Weddings & Honeymoons, kicks off its downloadable brochure by telling couples, “This is more than just a wedding. It’s your fairytale powered by Disney.”

It shouldn’t be surprising that the entertainment conglomerate that owns most of our childhood memories would also slather on the storytelling to dominate the big adult day. Over 50,000 couples said “I do” in front of oversized duck characters between 1991 and 2018.

And, no matter how many times the internet freaks out about Disney Adults allegedly opting for $5,500 Minnie and Mickey appearances over food for guests, couples will still spend thousands to say exchange vows at the mouse’s house.

Read more about how much it costs to throw your dream wedding at Disney.

We interrupt this regularly scheduled newsletter with a trivia section. Just couldn’t save it ’til the end.

Here are eight questions about Disney—if you get ’em all right, you have officially earned your Disney Adult badge. The answers are at the bottom of the newsletter.

1. Name the one Disney princess based on a real person.
2. The director of The Jungle Book originally wanted which four people to voice the vultures in the movie?
3. A Disney movie did not win the first Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, which was handed out in 2002. Which movie did win?
4. Fill in the blank: The original five Avengers in Marvel Comics were Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, the Wasp, and _____.
5. Which one of the following animated movies has not gotten a live-action remake? Aladdin, Hercules, The Jungle Book, The Lion King.
6. Disney founded which professional sports team in 1993?
7. A Forbes magazine article from 2011 declared which Disney animal to be the richest fictional character of all time, with a fortune of $44.1 billion?
8. After Disney acquired Pixar for $7.4 billion in 2006, this Pixar owner became Disney’s largest shareholder.

Last year, Disney announced a new real estate venture, Storyliving by Disney, a set of planned communities across the US that will “bring the magic of Disney to people wherever they are,” according to Chairman of Disney Parks, Experiences and Products Josh D’Amaro. The first will be Cotino in Rancho Mirage, California, which is expected to feature restaurants and stores as well as programming and experiences in line with the Disney brand.

Disney’s latest real estate ambitions might seem out of the scope of a company that makes cartoons, but planned developments and self-governing districts are as much a part of Disney’s DNA as frogs asking for a kiss.

Building cities was a goal of Walt Disney’s from the very beginning, as the creation of EPCOT (the Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow) shows. Walt died before fulfilling his vision for a community of tomorrow, but Disney’s aspirations continued without him.

Disney heads to the Coachella Valley: See what the company’s cooked up and why some Disney fans say Walt would disapprove here.

Mesmerizing vid: Watch cruise ships enter and leave a port. Did you know they move sideways?

We’re all guilty: Why you don’t need to use that much laundry detergent.

Where are the women songwriters? This visualization reveals how men dominate the songwriting teams of top songs.

“Please stand away from the platform edge”: Meet the person behind the NYC subway announcements.

Meet Money with Katie: Her free weekly newsletter takes a hot new approach to budgeting, investing, taxes, and more. Subscribe today.

Brew crossword: Mary, being the boss puzzle-maker she is, spun up a delightful Disney-themed crossword for you today. Play it here.

Open House

Welcome to Open House, the only newsletter section that loves to remain on-theme. We’ll give you a few facts about a listing and you try to guess the price.

Today’s home is in the upscale Disney World Resort neighborhood, Golden Oaks. Most of this 9,254-square-foot mansion looks pretty normal, but it still has a few magical Easter eggs for Disney Adults. Amenities include:

• 7 beds, 7.5 baths
• Mary Poppins elevator
• Plenty of bronze statues to scare you at night

How much for this elevated mouse house?

Open House: $19 million

Disney trivia:

1. Pocahontas
2. The Beatles
3. Shrek
4. Ant-Man
5. Hercules
6. The Might Ducks of Anaheim (now known as the Anaheim Ducks)
7. Scrooge McDuck
8. Steve Jobs