I was reading an article from Fortune yesterday about Disney (NYSE: DIS) and Bob Iger. When I got to the end of it, I had the biggest feeling of deja vu that I had ever experienced. Yes, I had heard it all before.

You've heard it all before, too, I'm willing to bet. Here's the basic gist of the piece: Bob Iger knows what he's doing. He's a genius. He's a creative powerhouse, a business wunderkind, a man who has studied the Disney brand, knows it inside and out, and is capable of leveraging that brand over multiple platforms to create immense economic value for shareholders. You know the examples,: you've got your Jonas Brothers, your Miley Cyrus, your Zac Efron and the whole High School Musical gang migrating from Disney Channel to concert stages to DVD releases to the silver Iger was the prescient exec who realized that Pixar should be acquired (take that, Michael Eisner!).

Only problem is, none of this seems to be working. I base this statement on the fact that Disney really hasn't broken out of a really long-term range. I honestly have to wonder if shareholders will ever see Disney at better than $50 per share in their lifetime. I can't be the only one wondering this. That's why I get a little annoyed when I read puff pieces like this one on Iger. Is he really that much of a visionary? And is he doing anything that original? Did he invent the concept of synergy? As far as I know, he did not. One of the main points of the article centered on the major franchises that Disney has going for it. Just once, I'd love to hear about Disney's plans to take one of its existing Disney Channel properties that has not hit franchise status and turn it into the next Hannah Montana phenomenon. To be fair, there may have been a few articles here and there on the subject, but none have studied it to my satisfaction, certainly.

Anyone looking for a reason to buy Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) shares now has three: The Jonas Brothers.

Kevin, Joe and Nick Jonas are in the words of Portfolio.com "poised to become a nine figure franchise" for the media company.

The biggest band few over the age of 15 care about recently released "A Little Bit Longer", their second for Disney's Hollywood Records. It immediately went platinum and then quickly became the most-downloaded album on iTunes, according to the magazine. Then there is the sold out tour, the book commemorating the sold-out tour and the 3D movie of said tour.

If that's not milking the franchise, I don't know what is.

The Jonas boys, who took in $12 million last year, also are wholesome enough to allay the concerns of parents worried about the recent R-rated behavior of Disney teen queen Miley Cyrus. She apparently is dating one of the Jonas boys, each of whom wears purity rings symbolizing their commitment to sexual abstinence. I know the Portfolio article specifies the identity of the brother but I have decided I have more important things to do than remember it.

Anyone like me who scoffs at the Jonas' bland of sweet inoffensive pop should remember that they are not the target audience. My niece Danielle, 12, is that audience. She thinks the Jonas' are the best thing since sliced bread -- make that bread itself. She has pictures of the Jonas' in her room including one she drew herself. Danielle is even trying to learn the guitar.

The Jonas Brothers. who play their own instruments, show no signs of slowing. For some handy Jonas figures check this out. Disney will continue to profit from their success as it tries to duplicate it many times over.

Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) continues to defy skeptics, posting second-quarter profit that beat Wall Street expectations thanks to fee increases at ESPN and a robust business at the theme parks.

Net income at the second-largest media company rose 9% to $1.28 billion, or 66 cents a share, from $1.18 billion, or 57 cents, a year earlier. Excluding one-time items, profit was 62 cents, two cents better than Wall Street forecasts, according to Bloomberg News. Sales rose 2.1% to $9.24 billion. The stock, though, is down in after-hours trading for reasons that are not clear.

Among the highlights:

• Media Networks revenue for the quarter increased 8% to $4.1 billion and segment operating income increased 9% to $1.5 billion helped by growth at ESPN and the Disney Chanel.
  
• Parks and Resorts revenue increased 5% to $3.0 billion and segment operating income increased 3% to $641 million amid higher ticket prices and guest spending at Walt Disney World.
• Studio entertainment and consumer products showed declines amid lower box office receipts and the disappointing performance of "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian."

Disney has so many ways of making money that if one business falters, the others take up the slack. That's why it remains the best managed of any media company and the one stock in the sector that remains a buy.

There's good news and bad news for shareholders of Disney (NYSE: DIS). The good news, according to data published in this Hollywood Reporter article, is that the latest Disney Channel movie, Camp Rock, achieved better ratings than the first High School Musical movie. Rock attracted 8.9 million eyeballs while the first Musical brought in about 7.7 million viewers. The bad news is that Rock unfortunately couldn't match the success of the second Musical project, which captured the attention of over 17 million viewers.

This movie is extremely important. Disney execs want to find out if they truly know the formula for creating new fads for the kids. This is definitely a strong start, although I thought the movie's ratings might come a little closer to the second Musical film since all we've been hearing about lately is how hot the Jonas Brothers act is right now. It at least should have brought in over 10 million viewers.

I don't know, maybe it's me, but I just don't feel the same kind of buzz for this project as I do for the Musical franchise. Here comes the interesting part: Can Disney grow the movie from here? That will depend on how fickle the Disney Channel audience actually is. Don't fool yourself, the powers that be at Disney are under pressure to form a suitable pipeline of intellectual properties to replace the aging Musical and Hannah Montana brands. Make no mistake, they are aging quickly, as these kinds of things don't have terribly high half-lives.

Shareholders will want to see the Jonas Brothers and Camp Rock really grow into a merchandising phenomenon in the coming months. No matter what, though, the cable channel is a great asset, and it is a strong competitor of Viacom's (NYSE: VIA) Nickelodeon network.

Disclosure: I own Disney; positions can change at any time.

I knew Disney (NYSE: DIS) was an awesome licensor of its content. Still, I was pretty happy when I read the following Hollywood Reporter piece about the Mouse and its success at growing retail sales of its merchandise. Disney is looking at revenues of $30 billion at retail channels based on products bearing its logo and characters to be booked by the end of its current fiscal year. That would represent a magical double-digit growth rate of 12% if the figure is reached.

Merchandise sales based on characters and intellectual properties owned by companies such as Time Warner (NYSE: TWX), which licenses heroes such as Batman, and Viacom's (NYSE: VIA) Nickelodeon, which has had great success with SpongeBob SquarePants, don't compare.

The article rightfully reminds readers that the total amount generated in retail sales is only an indication of how seemingly popular a company's brands are in the marketplace. It does not point to the amount of revenues or profit a company books on the sales (Disney will only receive a small percentage of those sales, perhaps between 5% and 15%).

The important thing I take away from this as a shareholder is that Disney is doing a reasonably good job of milking its franchises. As one might expect, the usual suspects were cited as drivers: Hannah Montana, High School Musical, the Jonas Brothers music project, and Disney Princesses are doing the heavy lifting for Disney's consumer-products division, along with a property that continues to surprise me: Cars. Amazing that the latter remains a popular seller in the boys category.

Shares of The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS), along with the other media conglomerates, have been pummeled this year amid concerns about slowing advertising sales and the Hollywood writers' strike. Though the declines are understandable for other companies, such as Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX), they are overblown in the case of the house built by Mickey.

For one thing, the weak dollar makes Disney's resorts, particularly Florida's Walt Disney World, attractive for visitors from overseas. About 2.7 million of the 45.1 million in visitors to the Orlando area -- where Disney World is based -- come from overseas. About 53% of them came from Western Europe and 26% came from Canada, according to the Orlando Convention and Visitors Bureau. It would stand to reason that some of the drop off in domestic visitors could be made up from people from outside the U.S.

It doesn't seem that long ago that Hilary Duff was The The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) Channel's shining -- well more like blinding -- star. Hilary had it all: talent, looks, and an innocence that emanates only from Disney Channel stars. But once Duff's 65-episode Disney series Lizzie McGuire peaked in 2001, she went on to other things, including a 2003 album that reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200 (the project sold 3.7 million copies), an Elizabeth Arden fragrance, a clothing line, and another album that debuted earlier this year. What that meant for Disney was that Hilary was out. It didn't take long for someone else to move in -- Miley Cyrus.

You're probably wondering why that name sounds so familiar. Well, it's because Miley Cyrus is the daughter of country singer Billy Ray Cyrus, best known for his top 40 hit "Achy Breaky Heart." Not only are both father and daughter singers, but they are also actors and show off both of their talents, together, on Disney Channel's new hit show Hannah Montana. The show premiered with 5.5 million viewers and 2.3 million tweens (kids 9-14) and became basic cable's top series in the tween demo in its first seven weeks. On the show, Miley plays a teenager trying to lead a normal life while hiding her secret, alter-ego rock star persona Hannah Montana from her classmates. Billy Ray plays her father (you can't get anymore true-to-life than that).

How are Miley and Hannah doing? According to Fortune, "The Disney Channel Hannah Montana series hasn't just been a huge hit with kids and 'tweens; it's become a ubiquitous franchise." The 2006 Hannah Montana soundtrack entered the Billboard 200 at No. 1 and has gone double platinum, with 2.2 million copies sold since October. Hannah clothes are already the No. 1 tween brand at Macy's, and her new double-CD set that serves as a soundtrack and showcase for the actress, Hannah Montana 2: Meet Miley Cyrus, has outsold American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson's new album, both released June 26, by 34,000 copies.

As if that isn't enough for a 14-year-old, Miley's The Best of Both Worlds tour kicks off October 18 and features songs that showcase Miley Cyrus as an artist as well as Hannah Montana. This best of both worlds concept seems to be a smart move for a budding star, since she is establishing her career as a solo artist (Miley Cyrus) as well as a Disney star (Hannah Montana). In a few years, she may be able to drop the whole Hannah persona and continue a singer/actress career as Miley. But for the time being, It makes you wonder if there will be any room in toy and department stores for anything without the Hannah brand-stamp come holidays. Looks like Disney Channel has become nothing more than Miley's kingdom.

Zac Efron has been turned into a plastic doll. Not only Zac Efron, but all the leads from the new film Hairspray. At this point, two questions probably come to mind:

1. Who is Zac Efron?
2. Why does he matter?

If you can already answer either of these questions, you are either one of the 100 million people who have seen the Disney (NYSE: DIS) film High School Musical or something HSM-related, or you are one of the millions of people who have heard of the film-turned-Broadway-musical-turned-back-to-film Hairspray, which opened in theaters Friday. What is interesting about Zac Efron is that while his only acknowledgment in the Hairspray trailer is within a list of names trailing the major celebrities, Efron should be a featured star.

If you have never heard of High School Musical, let me get you up to speed. The Disney Channel original movie, featuring Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens (a budding superstar with a gold debut album, figured to have earned $2 million last year), has sold over 7 million DVDs. The High School Musical soundtrack was the No. 1 CD last year, selling more than 3.7 million copies. The film was exported to 100 nations, launched an arena tour and "High School Musical: The Ice Tour," and will by followed by the sequel, High School Musical 2, due out this August. This is all, of course, in addition to your licensed merchandise. Yeah, I guess you could call it a franchise.

In essence, High School Musical has become a worldwide brand phenomenon, propelling Zac Efron to the forefront of popularity for a good segment of the population. Hairspray, on the other hand, is really Efron's ticket to breaking out from under Disney and reaching a different, older demographic. It is also rumored that Zac Efron will star in the remake of the musical movie Footloose. Apparently Efron is the go-to guy when it comes to musicals. So, whether or not you've seen or heard Efron, there's a pretty good chance you will sometime in the near future.

It seems like Play Along, a division of Jakks Pacific (NASDAQ: JAKK) and the makers of the 12" inch tall Hairspray dolls, are onto a good thing turning Efron into a collectible. Especially since his role in the film, about which co-star Nikki Blonsky raves, "He just jumps off the screen and right into every girl's heart," undoubtedly contributed to the film's weekend gross of $27.8 million. While loyal Disney kids may or may not see Hairspray, it's likely that their next visit to Toys 'R' Us will result in a quest for the plastic Efron, and now you newly exposed adults will be able to relate to their kids for $14.99 (or a singing version for $20-25).

Maybe Zac Efron is more doll-worthy than we may think.

Tracy Lapa is an AOL Money & Finance intern who recently graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a B.A. in Communications.

Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) today reported better-than-expected second quarter results helped by the strong performance from its studio entertainment and television networks businesses.

Net income was $931 million, or 44 cents per share, up 27 percent compared with $737 million, or 37 cents, a year earlier, Revenue rose 1 percent to $8.07 billion. Analysts were expecting profit of 36 cents on revenue of $8.1 billion, according to Thomson Financial.

Will investors have to wish upon a star for better returns? The company should answer these and many other questions in the upcoming conference call. All times are eastern.

4;30- Hold music is catchy, hip and unfamiliar. "High School Musical" maybe? Anyway, I am officially old.

Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) today reported better-than-expected second quarter results helped by the strong performance from its studio entertainment and television networks businesses.

Net income was $931 million, or 44 cents per share, compared with $737 million, or 37 cents, a year earlier, Revenue rose 1 percent to $8.07 billion. Analysts were expecting profit of 36 cents on revenue of $8.1 billion, according to Thomson Financial.

Will investors have to wish upon a star for better returns? The company should answer these and many other questions in the upcoming conference call. All times are eastern.

4;30- Hold music is catchy, hip and unfamiliar. "High School Musical" maybe? Anyway, I am officially old.

Thomas Skaggs introduces Lowell Singer, the former analyst just named Vp of IR.

Bob Iger,

These results are evident of our ability to nuture great creativity. They also validate strategic vision and quality of Disney management team. On the creative front, this is an exciting time for us. "It is simply great"," he said of Pirates movie. Also lauded Rataoulle. Releasing Blue-Ray version of Pirates movie .

Disney channel continues to deliver. We are capturing the interest of pre-schoolers with Playhouse Disney's MIckey Mouse Club House. There's a new WInnie the Poo show.,

ABC- Solid ahead of upfronts. Current upfront is strong. Among networks, ABC reaches more affluent families.

Disney theme parks are doign well. Consumer products are exceeding expectations. Merchandise for Cars is expected to inrease substantially this year.