Land of the Giants, the Vox Media Podcast Network’s award-winning narrative franchise, today announced the launch of its tenth season, The Disney Dilemma. Produced in collaboration with New York Magazine’s entertainment brand, Vulture, the six-episode series will explore Disney’s trajectory from a small animation studio to one of the largest companies in the world and dig into the leadership struggles and competition it currently faces as it looks toward the future. Co-hosted by Vulture’s entertainment-industry columnist Joe Adalian, staff writer Rebecca Alter, film critic Bilge Ebiri, and senior reporter Chris Lee, the season will feature interviews with former Disney executives and employees, animators, directors, producers, journalists, and more. Episodes will cover how Disney’s cable expansion turbocharged the business, theme parks and the brand of nostalgia, the evolution of animation, betting on live-action franchises such as Marvel and Star Wars, succession challenges, and the streaming wars.
“The Walt Disney company was founded just over 100 years ago, and with each passing decade its properties and products have consumed an increasing amount of our attention,” explains Vulture editor-in-chief Neil Janowitz. “Over the past five years, the company has reached a fascinating inflection point with big decisions looming about the direction of many of its core businesses. The two central questions of this moment — What does the Disney brand stand for right now? Where is it headed? — made the iconic company a perfect subject for this Vulture collaboration.”
Land of the Giants is Vox Media’s narrative franchise about big technology and its impact on our lives. In previous seasons, the show has told the stories of companies like Meta, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, Google, Tesla, and Twitter, and explored the evolving markets of dating apps and food delivery. The trailer for Land of the Giants: The Disney Dilemma is available here, with the first episode out today. Listen to the trailer and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts to receive new episodes automatically.
About Vulture: Vulture is the entertainment-and-culture outlet of New York Magazine with authentic, relatable, and comprehensive coverage of TV, movies, music, art, books, theater, comedy, and podcasts, among other media and pursuits, all delivered with wit, insight, criticism, and the appropriate amount of appreciation.
About Land of the Giants: The Disney Dilemma: Big tech is transforming every aspect of our world. But how, and at what cost? This season of Land of the Giants — The Disney Dilemma — focuses on Disney’s ability to weather the ups and downs of the business cycle and changing tastes and explores what has kept it successful for over 100 years. The entertainment giant has leveraged nostalgia and its intellectual property to build a beloved brand, but after an acquisition spree that included Marvel, Lucasfilm, and 20th Century Fox, can it sustain both high quality and brand loyalty on a scale that keeps it growing? Who is Disney now, and can the company compete against the tech giants in a battle for our attention and dollars?
About the Vox Media Podcast Network: Named by Adweek as 2021’s “Hottest in Podcasts,” the Vox Media Podcast Network has over 150 active shows featuring industry-leading editorial voices and storytellers from Vox Media’s networks and beyond. From daily news and tech to culture and sports, and talk and interview shows to rich narrative storytelling, the Vox Media Podcast Network is one of the largest, fastest-growing, and most topically diverse collections of premium podcasts. Learn more about the Vox Media Podcast Network here.