One More Record Year

Okay, ESPN is taking on huge amounts of water, but there's good news in other parts of the Diz Co. kingdom.

... “For the second year in a row, the Walt Disney Studios has reached a new high at the box office thanks to an absolutely stellar collection of releases from Disney, Disney Animation, Pixar, Marvel and Lucasfilm,” Disney Studios chairman Alan Horn said Wednesday in a statement. “This success is a testament to the refined talent and innovative work the entire studio team puts into making these world-class cinematic experiences.”

Disney boasts no fewer than four of the top-grossing 2016 movies so far (three earned north of $1 billion) — Captain America: Civil War ($1.15 billion), Zootopia ($1.023 billion), Finding Dory ($1.022 billion) and The Jungle Book ($966 billion).

Revenue for 2016 also includes $736.6 million carryover ticket sales for Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which was released in December 2015 and earned $2.068 billion worldwide. ...

So lessee. Three pictures with over a billion dollars in grosses, and another that's an eyelash away from ten figures.

The Mouse is going to pay close attention to muscle men in spandex and animated characters. And since cartoons are a major driver of profits, we can expect robust employment for animation artists working for Walt Disney Animation Studios, Walt Disney Television Animation, Disney Toon Studios, and Pixar.

Unsurprisingly, Diz Co. expects to end the year with a high kick, rolling out Dr. Strange, Moana, and Rogue One in the last quarter of 2016.