The Walt Disney Company is the greatest entertainment company of all time.

I apologize sincerely for my first lapse. It's explained in the comments. Now, onto arguments. I've tried to organize this as best I could. Overview: 1. My opponent never sets a clear metric for what exactly constitutes the "greatest" of anything, in this case, of entertainment companies. He uses scattered examples, but never provides a central definition of this term to clarify what we may use to objectively weigh greatness. At the point where we don't actually have a standard to measure greatness within the debate, we can't effectively debate the resolution. That's a reason to vote Con on face, as no matter what the Pro does, he can't actually prove that he's affirming. Furthermore, he becomes a moving target for me, as he could introduce new standards of "greatness" at any time since the scope of the debate hasn't been properly narrowed. 2. If my opponent tries to claim that "greatness" is "expanding the entertainments industry" and its "overall influence in different entertainment markets," then see my observation, as I address that there. Observation: I am not required to provide an independent counter-example of greatness in order to win this debate. I simply need to disprove my opponent's claims of greatness and/or convince the voters that we can't establish what "greatness" is anyway. I'll be doing both. On Contention 1: SUB A: 1. There are far more "influential" film companies to the history of animated film than the Disney company's full length feature release noted by my opponent. Take, for example, the innovators at Vitagraph who, in 1906, produced the first frame by frame animated film ever to be seen. Without their innovation, animation as we know it would not exist. The method used by Vitagraph in their film Humorous Phases of Funny Faces are still the same used today in animated feature films. (1) 2. Whether or not Snow White was the first animated feature film is up for debate. According to many film history aficionados, the first animated feature film was released in 1917 by Winsor McKay (Sinking of the Lusitania)—this assumes we define a feature film as a film produced with the intention of being the main form of entertainment in a single theatrical showing (as opposed to an introductory short film). (2) While not considered "full length," Snow White was in fact pre-dated by other animated feature films. Snow White was definitely not without its revolutionary aspects, but the animated feature film genre was, in fact, started by the likes of McKay and his European counterparts (like George Melies). SUB B: 1. Again my opponent makes the unwarranted assertion that a huge slice of the entertainment industry would not exist if Disney hadn't done "x" with it, when clearly Disney's ideas had predecessors that probably would have influenced the development of such entertainment exclusive of Disney's innovations. In fact, Disney took his inspiration for Disneyland from several pre-existing parks, including the famous Tivoli, in Denmark, which has been operational since 1843 (3). In fact, Denmark can also be credited with the first true amusement park, Bakken, which is still operational. On Contention 2: 1. At the moment, Disney is beating out Time Warner and Viacom as the largest media company in the world. However, is this a fact to be celebrated or to be concerned about? Is it acceptable in a free market economy to condone such a monopoly on goods and services? Furthermore, how does it follow that the company that owns the most is automatically the greatest? Coca-Cola is the largest beverage manufacturer in the world, but after reading about what happens in their factories in third world countries, I would have a very hard time assigning them the label of "greatest beverage manufacturer. " My opponent creates a false link between greatness and fiscal holdings. 2. If we look to philosophers like Noam Chomsky (who is argued by many to be the most important intellectual alive), he would tell us that vast control of mass media is incredibly detrimental to a free thinking society. Notice that Disney does not just deal in "entertainment. " As the largest media company in the world, they deal in the transfer of "factual information" and news as well, news that is nationally syndicated. It, along with Viacom and Time Warner, is the company responsible for the manipulation of mass media. Being a huge, daunting conglomeration (i. e. a monopoly) only aids it in manipulating the population. Furthermore, Disney would then be actively contributing to the suppression of information via its monopolistic hold on the news market (in conjunction with Viacom and Time Warner). (1) . http://en.wikipedia.org... (2) . http://www.fi.edu... (3) . http://www.weitzlux.com...