US: Disney nears $30bn of licensed sales
Retail sales of licensed Disney merchandise is expected to break records and top $30 billion in global retail sales, up from $27 billion last year, and up from $13 billion just five years before that.
A big source of that growth includes the Disney Princess franchise, which brings together and revives the classic princess characters, and newer brands like High School Musical.
Disney is expanding on the success of the Princess franchise with a new Fairies franchise, and continuing to grow Pixar brands like Cars and Toy Story. These brands make Disney the world's top licensor, according to the International Licensing Industry Merchandiser's Association.
High School Musical and Hannah Montana brought in some $400 million in 2007 but are expected to bring in $2.7 billion this year.
There are more tween franchises in the works including the Jonas Brothers' big TV movie, Camp Rock, which launches in the US on June 20th.