Portal:Disney

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Introduction

The Walt Disney Studios corporate headquarters in Burbank, California, 2016

The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California. Disney was founded on October 16, 1923, by brothers Walt Disney and Roy Oliver Disney as Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio; it also operated under the names Walt Disney Studio and Walt Disney Productions before changing it to its current name in 1986. In 1928, Disney established itself as a leader in the animation industry with the short film Steamboat Willie. The film used synchronized sound to become the first post-produced sound cartoon, and popularized Mickey Mouse, who became Disney's mascot and corporate icon.

After becoming a major success by the early 1940s, Disney diversified into live-action films, television, and theme parks in the 1950s. However, following Walt Disney's death in 1966, the company's profits, especially in the animation division, began to decline. In 1984, Disney's shareholders voted Michael Eisner as CEO, who led a reversal of the company's decline through a combination of international theme park expansion and the highly successful Disney Renaissance period of animation in the 1990s. In 2005, under new CEO Bob Iger, the company continued to expand into a major entertainment conglomerate with the acquisitions of Pixar, Marvel Entertainment, Lucasfilm, and 21st Century Fox. In 2020, Bob Chapek became the head of Disney after Iger's retirement. However, Chapek was ousted in 2022 and Iger was reinstated as CEO.

The company is known for its film studio division, the Walt Disney Studios, which includes Walt Disney Pictures, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar, Marvel Studios, Lucasfilm, 20th Century Studios, 20th Century Animation, and Searchlight Pictures. Disney's other main business units include divisions in television, broadcasting, streaming media, theme park resorts, consumer products, publishing, and international operations. Through these divisions, Disney owns and operates the ABC television network; cable television networks such as Disney Channel, ESPN, Freeform, FX, and National Geographic; publishing, merchandising, music, and theater divisions; direct-to-consumer streaming services such as Disney+, ESPN+, Hulu, and Hotstar; and Disney Experiences, which includes several theme parks, resort hotels, and cruise lines around the world. (Full article...)

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Oswald the Lucky Rabbit is an anthropomorphic rabbit animated cartoon character created by Ub Iwerks and Walt Disney for films distributed by Universal Pictures in the 1920s and 1930s. Oswald was introduced in 1927 after Disney’s series of Alice Comedies had run its course. Disney signed a new contract with Universal Studios head Carl Laemmle where he would produce a series of cartoons for Charles B. Mintz and George Winkler. The first Oswald cartoon, Poor Papa, was rejected by the Universal studio heads due to poor production quality and the sloppiness and age of Oswald. After this, Disney, together with Ub Iwerks, created a second cartoon called Trolley Troubles featuring a much younger, neater Oswald. The short officially launched the series and proved to be Disney’s greatest success yet.

A few of Oswald’s adventures dealt with humor related to the procreative abilities of his species, as illustrated in the episode description of Poor Papa: “Oswald gets a visit from the stork... again and again and again. He has to resort to a variety of strategies to stop the continual flow of babies.” Trolley Troubles also showed Oswald surrounded by numerous baby rabbits, this time heckling him while on the job. Other cartoons, however, generally placed Oswald in more human-type conditions and situations.

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Credit: Janke

Randy Cartwright at the Disney Studio in 1991.

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These are images of Disneyland, Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, The Walt Disney Company, and Walt Disney in their respective articles.

Image 1A Disney Cruise Line bus which takes guests to and from Terminal 8 from Orlando International Airport; as well as around Walt Disney World. (from Disney Cruise Line)
Image 2Disney Magic at Port of Venice (from Disney Cruise Line)
Image 3Critter Country
(Splash Mountain; 1989–2023) (from Disneyland)
Image 4Map of the resort as of May 2015 (from Walt Disney World)
Image 5Disneyland fireworks from Sleeping Beauty Castle (from Disneyland)
Image 6Disney's childhood home (from Walt Disney)
Image 7Disney family at Schiphol Airport (1951) (from Walt Disney)
Image 8One of Disney's first animated characters Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, which Disney regained the rights to in 2006. The initial run of Oswald shorts by Disney have all entered the public domain as of January 1, 2024. (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 9Tomorrowland
(Space Mountain in 2010) (from Disneyland)
Image 10An aerial view of Disneyland in 2004 (from Disneyland)
Image 11Frontierland
(Big Thunder Mountain Railroad in 2008) (from Disneyland)
Image 12Roy E. Disney, Roy O. Disney's son, was head of the animation department until 2003. (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 13Walt (right) dressed as a gaucho next to Donald Duck in Argentina while on the company's South American goodwill trip in 1941. (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 14Bob Iger became CEO of Disney in 2005, expanding the company's properties (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 15Disney bought The Muppets from the Jim Henson Company in 2004. (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 16Walt (center) showing the plans of Disneyland to officials from Orange County in December 1954 (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 17Disney shows the plans of Disneyland to officials from Orange County in December 1954 (from Walt Disney)
Image 18Walt Disney (left) with his brother Roy O. Disney (right) and then Governor of Florida W. Haydon Burns (center) on November 15, 1965, publicly announcing the creation of Disney World (from Walt Disney World)
Image 19A portrait of Disney with cartoon representations of different nationalities on a 6-cent U.S. postage stamp, 1968 (from Walt Disney)
Image 20Roy O. Disney inspecting design plans on-site in Florida (from Walt Disney World)
Image 21Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge
(Star Wars: Millennium Falcon – Smugglers Run in 2019) (from Disneyland)
Image 22Disney drawing Goofy for a group of girls in Argentina, 1941 (from Walt Disney)
Image 23Disneyland Railroad Engine 2 at the New Orleans Square station. (from Disneyland)
Image 24Fantasmic! finale on July 4, 2010 (from Disneyland)
Image 25The Sherman Brothers in 2002. They composed many Disney songs in the 1960s. (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 26View of Disney Springs (from Walt Disney World)
Image 27Jeffrey Katzenberg was chairman of the Walt Disney Studios from 1984 to 1995. (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 28Disney security vehicle, picture taken July 2, 2009 in front of Epcot (from Walt Disney World)
Image 29Michael Eisner replaced Ron Miller as CEO. (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 30Disney in 1956 (from Walt Disney)
Image 31Walt Disney's business envelope featured a self-portrait, c. 1921 (from Walt Disney)
Image 32New Orleans Square
(the Haunted Mansion in the background and Fantasmic! viewing area in the foreground in 2010) (from Disneyland)
Image 33Disney (left) with his brother Roy O. Disney (right) and then Governor of Florida W. Haydon Burns (center) on November 15, 1965, publicly announcing the creation of Disney World (from Walt Disney)
Image 34The 2018 version of The Walt Disney World logo. (from Walt Disney World)
Image 35Disney in 1954 with Wernher von Braun (from Walt Disney)
Image 36Disney receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1964 from President Lyndon B. Johnson. (from Walt Disney)
Image 37Disney next to a cat and a drawing of Mickey Mouse (by Harris & Ewing), 1931 (from Walt Disney)
Image 38The "Happiest Homecoming on Earth" celebrated the 50th anniversary of the theme park. Sleeping Beauty Castle was altered for the occasion. (from Disneyland)
Image 39Grave of Walt Disney at Forest Lawn, Glendale (from Walt Disney)
Image 40Fantasyland
(Peter Pan's Flight in the foreground and the Matterhorn Bobsleds in the background) (from Disneyland)
Image 41Team Disney – The Michael D. Eisner Building, the main building at the Walt Disney Studios, which houses the offices of Disney's CEO and several other senior corporate officials. (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 42Mickey's Toontown
(pictured in 2010) (from Disneyland)
Image 43The original logo of Walt Disney World from 1971 to the mid-1990s (from Walt Disney World)
Image 44Walt Disney (center) showing Orange County officials plans for Disneyland's layout, December 1954 (from Disneyland)
Image 45Wedding Pavilion at the Seven Seas Lagoon (from Walt Disney World)
Image 46Walt, Florida Governor W. Haydon Burns, and Roy announcing the plans for Disney World in November 1965 (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 47Overlay of Walt Disney's original 1966 plans for Disney World and the proposed EPCOT city (orange) and contemporary situation (blue) (from Walt Disney World)
Image 48Hollywood Studios' park icon, the Chinese Theatre (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 49Disneyland aerial view, 1963, which includes the new Melody Land Theater at the top of the photo (from Disneyland)
Image 50Main Street, U.S.A.
(2010) (from Disneyland)
Image 51Characters from Alice in Wonderland host "Disneyland Musical Chairs" at Coca-Cola Refreshment Corner, accompanied by a ragtime pianist in 2005. (from Disneyland)
Image 52Disney's video streaming subscription service Disney+ was launched in 2019, which has a total of over 135 million subscriptions as of June 2022. (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 53Disney with film roll and Mickey Mouse on his right arm in 1935 (from Walt Disney)
Image 54Main Street at Disneyland, as seen from a horseless carriage (from Disneyland)
Image 55Adventureland entrance
(2006) (from Disneyland)
Image 56The original animation building at the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California, which they fully moved into in 1940 (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 57Walt Disney introduces each of the seven dwarfs in a scene from the original 1937 Snow White theatrical trailer (from Walt Disney)
Image 58One of four arches welcoming guests to the resort (from Walt Disney World)
Image 59An aerial shot of Walt Disney World in 1982 (from Walt Disney World)
Image 60Excerpt of Steamboat Willie (1928), the first Mickey Mouse sound cartoon. (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 61Disney's promotional logo for its centennial. (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 62The 1996 version of The Walt Disney World logo (from Walt Disney World)
Image 63The Walt Disney World Monorail System provides free transport across the resort.
Image 64Monorail Red travels over the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage in Tomorrowland in 2008. (from Disneyland)

Selected biography

John Alan Lasseter (born January 12, 1957) is an American animator, director and the chief creative officer at Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios. He is also currently the Principal Creative Advisor for Walt Disney Imagineering. Lasseter's first job was with The Walt Disney Company, where he became an animator. Next, he joined Lucasfilm, where he worked on the then-groundbreaking use of CGI animation. After the Graphics Group of the Computer Division of Lucasfilm was sold to Steve Jobs and became Pixar in 1986, Lasseter oversaw all of Pixar's films and associated projects as executive producer and he directed Toy Story, A Bug's Life, Toy Story 2, Cars, and Cars 2. He has won two Academy Awards, for Animated Short Film (Tin Toy), as well as a Special Achievement Award (Toy Story).

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Did you know (auto-generated)

... that John Oliver dared Disney to sue him over his version of Mickey Mouse?
... that some TikTokers make videos about whether to smash or pass Disney characters?
... that the ferry General Joe Potter at Walt Disney World is named in honor of Major General William Everett Potter?
... that Scarlett Johansson filed a lawsuit against The Walt Disney Company alleging that the release strategy for Black Widow breached her contract?
... that a revival of the comedy series Lizzie McGuire was ordered in 2019, but canceled mid-production after Disney deemed it not family-friendly enough?

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Come on, Pidge. the place is ours.

— Tramp, Lady and the Tramp

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More Did you know...

...that Dan Povenmire was at a Wild Thyme restaurant in South Pasadena, California, when he first drew the character Phineas Flynn?

...that Michael Eisner credited research economist Harrison Price with being "as much responsible for the success of the Walt Disney Co. as anybody except Walt Disney himself"?

...that the creator of Disney Series Doug and 101 Dalmatians, Jim Jinkins, has created an independent company, Cartoon Pizza.
... that Elsa the Snow Queen, a protagonist in Walt Disney's Frozen, was originally written as a villain?
... that Disney CEO Michael Eisner was struck with inspiration for the show, Adventures of the Gummi Bears when his son requested gummi bear candies one day.

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