Eh, I'm not sure it's very likely at all. Let me ask you this: when the New York Yankees have a crappy stretch, what's the most iconic MLB franchise? Still the Yankees. Same goes for Disney and animation. Sure, they may have rough stretches now and again, but the throne is still waiting for them when they get their shit in order. So much of entertainment is about the brand.
pretty much. you need a very early POD (relatively speaking) to keep Disney out of the running. things could easily have gone over badly for Walt, but i wouldn't begin to speculate on when that could be 1) because i don't know Walt Disney's personal history well enough to judge exactly when and 2) i'm feeling a little muddled after work and apparently not getting enough sleep last night
i can't remember if it came up in the thread before, but another important thing to remember is that Walt made a point of elevating animation to into a high art--that, more than anything else, is of key importance here since Disney not doing that would probably mean that animation really
does match the reputation it still has IOTL, that it's basically just pointless and stupid and only ever meant for children. this is even more important because, understandably, Disney was a big influence on many later animators who matched or even exceeded Walt himself (depending on opinion) and were either directly inspired by him (such as Osamu Tezuka, which would have drastic effects on the entire anime industry) or worked for Disney before setting off on their own (such as Don Bluth, who was a Disney animator before starting his own studio and even outcompeted Disney for a time)