Welcome to the 97th issue of B.

We are just barely into the New Year, but when I try to think of words I heard most frequently last year, dopamine comes to mind first. This hormone gets mentioned so much probably because both the supply and demand sides of the content market are endlessly in pursuit of more fun and more entertainment. In Korea, the market is often referred to as the “attention economy” or “addiction economy.” It has become the norm to quickly consume content and get validated through likes rather than slowly explore the nature of something. Against this backdrop, many creative industries have become more entertainment-driven, too; we are in an era when everything from fashion and make-up to news and knowledge must feel fun. Play has come to be synonymous with technology, content, and value.

When it comes to entertainment, Disney is the golden child. There are many ways to describe Disney: the Magic Kingdom, a large media corporation, and a mega intellectual property mogul. However, if I had to pick one word that best describes the spirit of this 100-year-old company, it would be entertainment. “We have always tried to be guided by the basic idea that, in the discovery of knowledge, there is great entertainment?as, conversely, in all good entertainment, there is always some grain of wisdom, humanity, or enlightenment to be gained.”

If what Walt Disney said here is true, the type of entertainment that Disney chases is nothing like the dopamine-driven one. Lifelong Disney fans often connect values like positivity, courage, optimism, happiness, and a sense of life to the type of entertainment Disney provides.

Of these values, happiness is an important keyword for Disney. The company commits itself to bringing happiness to people of all ages through top-class entertainment. Though the word happiness is hard to interpret (and some doubt that it even exists), Disney has a wizard-like ability to manifest this abstract concept into tangible reality. Amid all the nuanced definitions of happiness, Disney’s idea of the emotion is closer to being in a state of feeling safe and secure, not a state of elation. The animations, films, and musicals, as well as the theme parks?the ultimate confluence of it all?separate and protect anyone who enters the world of Disney from elements that evoke negative feelings. Lifting people up with positivity and showing them that the world is worth living in, that they can fill their life up with good memories. This is the heart of the Disney mantra.

The Disney sense of happiness started with classic animations like Mickey Mouse, The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, and The Lion King, and it now includes the acquired worlds of Pixar, Marvel, and Star Wars?all of which serve as the engine for Disney’s expansive worldview. And the soundtracks, books, merchandise, and theme parks continue to remind and reproduce that joy. This cycle, designed by Disney, works in interesting ways in people’s lifestyles: Some people might have been exposed to Disney as a child and then, after a period of cynicism in adolescence, were reminded of old memories and started to consume the content again in collage. Others might have been ambivalent to Disney until they became parents or grandparents and experienced the brand’s power for the first time later in life. In this tightly woven worldview, people get to meet Disney in different stages of life, and their impressions of the brand are all very different. I think this universal yet personal brand experience is the secret behind Disney’s success, a company that is 100 years in the making.

Eunsung Park
Editor in Chief