What if Apple acquired The Walt Disney Company?

Inspiration came from MarvelDCandFantasyFanBoy12’s idea.

“Analysts at RBC Capital Markets conducted a study to find out whether the acquisition of The Walt Disney Company by [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Inc. Apple Inc.] could be real,” Plugged In wrote. The amount of the proposed deal could be at least $200-$275 billion.

"The resulting company will be huge, and its financial capabilities will make it possible to revolutionize services, as well as the production of devices and content. If something can scare both Silicon Valley and Hollywood, then this is exactly such a combination," the experts explained.

In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic when the closure of Disney parks made The Walt Disney Company lost $1.4 billion and another $2.8 billion of revenue in November, and the company laid off 32,000 employees until March 2021, it could be possible that Apple would have the best chance to acquire the House of Mouse. (Even though Steve Jobs died of cancer at the age of 56 on October 5, 2011.)

But what if the acquisition of The Walt Disney Company by Apple happened to be very true?

If Apple buys Disney, here’s what the changes would be like in the future.

List of changes

 * Apple would buy The Walt Disney Company for $275 billion on January 9, 2023.
 * Apple would reduce the dependence of its business on iPhone sales, accounting more than 60% of all incomes.
 * Apple would be driving the development of services. With the slowdown in the smartphone market, Apple developing other directions and various services (including Apple Music) would be very important for the company. Disney, with its huge library of content and subscription media channels, would come in handy.
 * AppleTV+ would merge with Disney+ and end their deal with Peanuts, meaning that HBO Max would make a new deal with the latter.
 * Apple would be able to compete with Netflix and Amazon. By combining technological expertise with a library of content and experience in its production, the company could become a notable player in the streaming market. RBC wrote: “None of the players individually entered this market, possibly due to high competition. At the same time, the combined company would have a ready-made video distribution tool (via devices sold by Apple and the iTunes store), as well as a huge library of ready-made content and the capacity to produce films and TV shows.”
 * Disney shareholders Apple would direct financial benefits. If acquired by Disney, earnings per share would rise up to 18%.
 * The deal would be completed on November 20, 2023.
 * The pre-2023 Disney library would now be owned by Apple.
 * Disney's film and television units would include the Apple byline on its logos.
 * 20th Century Animation would be reshaped into a full-fledged major animation studio managed by Chris Wedge (co-president), Carlos Saldanha (CEO), and Seth MacFarlane (CCO), and would move its headquarters to Glendale, California (replacing DisneyToon Studios), with the Century City studio remaining as an additional office.
 * Disney would acquire Reel FX Creative Studios and would be rebranded as Spotlight Digital Images (SDI), becoming a computer animation unit of 20th Century Animation.
 * SDI would provide animation for 20th Century Animation’s upcoming computer-animated feature films.
 * As a result of the closure of Blue Sky Studios, many of its employees would be transferred to 20th Century Animation, while others went to work for SDI.
 * Blue Sky Studios would later be absorbed into 20th Century Animation as an in-name-only unit. After the studio's absorption, 20th Century would produce new content based on Blue Sky’s legacy properties including Ice Age, Robots and Rio.
 * The Walt Disney Company would acquire NBCUniversal from Comcast on December 18, 2023 and was to be completed on January 12, 2025.
 * Disney would have full ownership of Hulu after the studio’s acquisition of NBCUniversal.
 * Universal Pictures would be renamed to Universal Studios. (Not to be confused with the theme park by the same name.)
 * Universal Pictures Home Entertainment would revert back to Universal Studios Home Entertainment as a brand label of Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment.
 * Universal Television would be renamed to Universal Television Studios.
 * Universal Animation Studios would be shut down and would have Illumination be rebranded as Universal Animation, with Illumination Mac Guff being rebranded Universal Digital Images (UDI) as a computer animation unit of Universal.
 * Disney would acquire Amblin Partners and would take over full control of the studio. As a result, Reliance Entertainment, eOne and Alibaba Pictures would end their deal with Amblin, meaning that films produced by Amblin Partners under the Amblin Entertainment label would be distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures through Universal Studios.
 * Amblin Partners would be renamed to The Amblin Company.
 * DreamWorks Pictures (including DreamWorks Animation) would be spun-off as separate units under Walt Disney Studios.
 * DreamWorks Pictures would reunite with DreamWorks Animation after years of separation.
 * DreamWorks Pictures would be renamed to DreamWorks Studios.
 * DreamWorks Television and Amblin Television would split up, resulting in DreamWorks and Amblin to become separated from their television divisions.
 * Disney would re-release all of DreamWorks animated films on Disney DVD, Disney Blu-Ray, 4K Ultra HD and Digital Copy in 2026.
 * Paramount's distribution rights to the 2006-2012 film library would be transferred to Disney.
 * 20th Century Studios would regain the distribution rights to the 2013-2017 film library, while Universal would keep the rights to the 2019-2025 film library.
 * All of DreamWorks animated films and shows would be exclusively available on Disney+, while Fast & Furious Spy Racers and Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous would be transferred to Peacock.
 * Disney would gain rights to Hulk from Marvel: the first two Hulk films (2003-2008), and The Incredible Hulk (1978–1982), the Universal-distributed films from Lucasfilm: the first two American Graffiti films (1973-1979), Howard the Duck (1986), and Radioland Murders (1994), and the Oswald the Lucky Rabbit theatrical short films (1927-1938).
 * Disney would acquire Aardman Animations and would gain rights to the DreamWorks-released films: Chicken Run (2000), Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005) and Flushed Away (2006). Plus, Aardman would return to DreamWorks Animation to produce films together again without the studio’s executive meddling.
 * Disney would also acquire Mercury Filmworks and rename the studio as Mercury Animation Studios.
 * Mercury Animation Studios would provide animation for future 2D animated films and shows.
 * Woody Woodpecker would have his copyright expired by 2025 and Disney would have Oswald as the new mascot of Universal Studios.
 * Jennifer Lee would finally bring 2D traditional animation back to the millennium age of American animation again, in which Walt Disney Animation Studios and DreamWorks Animation would return to produce hand-drawn animated films, while Pixar Animation Studios, Universal Animation and 20th Century Animation would continue producing computer-animated films.

Trivia

 * Despite these changes, Apple would still be one of the biggest major technologies in media industry, since it would still own film studios (Walt Disney Pictures, 20th Century Studios and Universal Studios) and broadcast networks (ABC, FX and NBC), as well as several major cable channels (such as ESPN, Disney Channel, Disney XD, Disney Junior, Freeform, Syfy, USA Network, Bravo, E!, Oxygen and Universal Kids) and several theme parks (Disney Parks and Universal Parks & Resorts).