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History of Walt Disney Company

From the very beginning, Disney's founder Walter Elias Disney fostered the spirit of creativity, innovation and excellence that continues to underlie all of the company's success.

Walt arrived in California in the summer of 1923 with dreams and determination, but little else. He had made a short film in Kansas City about a little girl in a cartoon world, called Alice's Wonderland, and he planned to use it as his "pilot" film to sell a series of these Alice Comedies to a distributor. On October 16, 1923, a New York distributor, M. J. Winkler, contracted to release the Alice Comedies, and this date became the formal beginning of The Walt Disney Company. Originally known as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, with Walt Disney and his brother Roy as equal partners, the company soon changed its name, at Roy's suggestion, to the Walt Disney Studio, which was initially housed in a succession of storefront buildings in Hollywood before becoming established on Hyperion Avenue.

Walt made his Alice Comedies for four years, constantly pushing the visual bounds – as well as the studio's finances – with innovative effects. In 1927, he decided to move to an all-cartoon series, and for its star he created a character named Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. Within a year, Walt made 26 Oswald cartoons, but when he tried to get some additional money from Winkler for a second year of the cartoons, he found out that the distributor had gone behind his back and signed up almost all of his animators, hoping to make the Oswald cartoons in his own studio for less money without Walt. Since the distributor owned the rights to Oswald, there was nothing Walt could do. It was a painful lesson for the young cartoon producer. From then on, he saw to it that he owned everything that he made.

Walt now had to come up with a new character. With his chief animator, Ub Iwerks, Walt designed a mouse whom Walt first wanted to name Mortimer, but his wife Lilly preferred Mickey. And so a star was born. Ub animated two Mickey Mouse cartoons. But the first film with synchronized sound – The Jazz Singer – had premiered, and Walt decided that his studio should make the first sound cartoon. So, the studio poured all of its resources into a third Mickey Mouse cartoon before the first two were released, this one with fully synchronized sound. Steamboat Willie opened to rave reviews at the Colony Theater in New York November 18, 1928. Mickey Mouse was an immediate sensation around the world, and a series of Mickey Mouse cartoons followed.

Not one to rest on his laurels, Walt Disney soon produced another series -- the Silly Symphonies. Each of the films in this series featured different casts of characters, enabling the animators to experiment with stories that relied less on the gags and quick humor of the Mickey cartoons and more on mood, emotion, and musical themes. Eventually the Silly Symphonies turned into the training ground for all Disney artists, as they prepared for the advent of animated feature films. Flowers and Trees, a Silly Symphony and the first full-color cartoon, won the Academy Award for Best Cartoon for 1932, the first year that the Academy offered such a category. For the rest of that decade, a Disney cartoon won the Oscar every year. The most sensational one was released in 1933 -- Three Little Pigs. This was a breakthrough in character animation and provided something of an anthem for fighting the Great Depression – "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?" The animated short was so popular, it sometimes was listed above the feature film on theater marquees.

While the studio's cartoons were gaining popularity in movie houses, they also generated interest in related merchandise. As Walt recounted, "A fellow kept hanging around my hotel waving $300 at me and saying that he wanted to put the mouse on paper tablets for school children. As usual, Roy and I needed money, so I took the $300." This was the start of Disney's consumer products business. Soon there were Mickey Mouse dolls, dishes, toothbrushes, radios, figurines -- almost everything imaginable bore Mickey's likeness. The first Mickey Mouse book was published in 1930, as was the first Mickey Mouse newspaper comic strip.

One night in 1934, Walt brought his animators together to tell them they were going to make an animated feature film, and proceeded to act out the story of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. At the time, this was a radical concept. Most people thought that a cartoon couldn't hold an audience's attention beyond the usual eight-minute running time. It took three years and severely taxed the resources of the studio, but at Christmas time, 1937, the film was finished, and it was a spectacular hit. Snow White became the highest grossing film of all time, a record it held until it was surpassed by Gone With the Wind. Work immediately began on other feature projects and the company moved to its current site in Burbank, California. But, with the advent of World War II, the company lost access to most of its foreign markets. Consequently, its next two features, Pinocchio and Fantasia, which were released in 1940, were unable to recoup their production costs. Both were masterpieces that would be phenomenally profitable in subsequent releases in the decades to come, but their immediate effect was to put the studio at some financial risk. Then came Dumbo in 1941, which was produced on a very limited budget and was profitable. This was followed by Bambi, which was another expensive film and came in 1942 after the U.S. had entered the war. For the next number of years, Walt would have to restrain his animation ambitions. However, it is remarkable to consider how far he had taken the art form in little more than a decade. From the "rubber hose" animation of Steamboat Willie to the extraordinary imagery and emotional storytelling of the company's first five feature length films, the studio had revolutionized animation forever.

During the war, Walt Disney made two films about South America, Saludos Amigos and The Three Caballeros, at the request of the State Department. His studio also concentrated on producing propaganda and training films for the military. When the war ended, it was difficult for the Disney Studio to regain its pre-war footing. Several years went by during which the studio released "package" feature films, such as Make Mine Music and Melody Time, containing groups of short cartoons. Walt also moved into live action production, with Song of the South and So Dear to My Heart, which also included animated segments. Walt further branched out with the award-winning True-Life Adventure series, featuring dramatic nature photography of a style never seen before.

1950 saw three landmark achievements – the studio's first completely live action film, Treasure Island, the return to classic animated features with Cinderella and the first Disney television show at Christmas time. Unlike the heads of the other Hollywood studios, Walt saw the potential of television and, after another Christmas special, in 1954 he launched the Disneyland anthology series, famously featuring the first television mini-series – Davy Crockett. The Disneyland series would eventually run on all three networks and go through six title changes, but it remained on the air for 29 years, making it the longest-running prime-time television series in history. The Mickey Mouse Club, one of television's most popular children's series, debuted in 1955, and made stars of a number of talented Mouseketeers.

Walt Disney was always anxious to try something new. And so, as his motion pictures and television programs achieved steady success, he looked for other entertainment mountains to climb. One area that intrigued him was amusement parks. As a father, he had taken his two young daughters to zoos, carnivals, and parks, but he always ended up sitting on a bench as they rode the merry-go-round and had all the fun. He felt that there should be a place where parents and children could have a good time together. This was the genesis of Disneyland. After several years of planning and construction, the new park opened July 17, 1955.

Disneyland was a totally new kind of entertainment experience.. It was like entering the movie screen and being able to fly with Peter Pan, explore the Wild West with Davy Crockett and have a wild tea party with the Mad Hatter. Disneyland has served as the inspiration for every amusement park built since its opening, attracting hundreds of millions of visitors from around the world. Walt said that Disneyland would "never be completed … as long as there is imagination left in the world," and that statement remains true today. New attractions are added regularly, and Disneyland has steadily grown in popularity since its widely watched opening, which was co-hosted on television by future American president Ronald Reagan.

The studio continued to produce highly popular filmed entertainment, with animated films like Lady and the Tramp and Sleeping Beauty, live action films 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and The Shaggy Dog, and a popular TV series about the legendary hero, Zorro. In the 1960s came more classic films, like 101 Dalmatians and Pollyanna At Disneyland, Walt pioneered the use of Audio-Animatronics, first at the park's Enchanted Tiki Room, and then in four shows at the 1964 New York World's Fair. Also in 1964 came Mary Poppins, which was Walt Disney's crowning achievement as a filmmaker, combining live action, animation and animatronics to tell a classic story for the entire family. Just two years later came the end of an era, as Walt Disney died December 15, 1966. It was said at the time that he was probably the best known individual in the world.

Roy Disney, who was older than Walt and had been planning to retire, took over supervision of the company, The Jungle Book in 1967 and The Aristocats in 1970 showed that the company was still the leader in animation, and The Love Bug in 1969 was the highest grossing film of the year. Disney also established itself in the area of educational films and materials with the start of an educational subsidiary in 1969.

Prior to Walt's death, the company had purchased land in Florida to fulfill Walt's next major project – the development of 28,000 acres that would dwarf the 400 acres of Disneyland. Roy was determined to realize his brother's vision, and honored him by naming it Walt Disney World. It opened October 1, 1971 with a Disneyland-style theme park, hotels, campgrounds, golf courses, shopping villages and a monorail connecting them all. This was to be a destination resort, removed from the urban sprawl that had grown up around Disneyland. It did not take long for Walt Disney World to become the world's premier vacation destination.

Roy Disney died just two months after realizing his brother's final dream. For the next decade the company was led by a team including Card Walker, Donn Tatum, and Ron Miller, all originally trained by the Disney brothers. One of Walt Disney's last plans had been for what he called the Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow, or EPCOT. While he died before the plans could be refined, they became the inspiration for the second major phase of development at Walt Disney World, and in 1979 ground was broken for the new park in Florida. EPCOT Center, a combination of Future World and World Showcase and representing an investment of over one billion dollars, opened to great acclaim October 1, 1982.

WED Enterprises (later renamed Walt Disney Imagineering), the design and development division for the parks, had several projects in the works during the early 1980s. In addition to designing Epcot, it planned Tokyo Disneyland, the first foreign Disney park, which opened April 15, 1983. It was an immediate success in a country that had always loved anything Disney. Now that the Japanese had their own Disneyland, they flocked to it in increasing numbers. Tokyo Disneyland set a range of theme park attendance records and on one memorable day actually sold more mouse ear hats than there were people in the park!

In an effort to expand its business, Disney initiated the Disney Channel in 1983 and established a new film label, Touchstone Pictures, with the release of Splash in 1984. However, because of the widespread perception that Disney stock was undervalued relative to the company's assets, in 1984 there were attempts to stage hostile takeovers of the company. These efforts were rebuffed and, in October, Michael Eisner and Frank Wells became chief executive officer and president, respectively.

The new management team immediately saw ways for Disney to maximize its assets. They established Touchstone Television to produce network TV shows, beginning with the immensely successful Golden Girls, followed in 1986 by a return to Sunday night television with the Disney Sunday Movie (later The Magical World of Disney and The Wonderful World of Disney). Films from the Disney library were selected for the television syndication market, and some of the classic animated films were released on video cassette. Eventually, the company pioneered the "sell-through" approach of pricing video releases at lower prices and Disney classics were suddenly setting a whole new kind of box office record as they reached a new generation of kids, who could watch them in the convenience of their home.

At Disneyland, collaborations with filmmakers George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola contemporized the park with Captain EO and Star Tours, while Splash Mountain opened in 1989. Walt Disney World experienced a major expansion, with Disney's Grand Floridian and Caribbean Beach Resorts opening in 1988 and, in 1989, the introduction of three new gated attractions: the Disney/MGM Studios Theme Park, Pleasure Island and Typhoon Lagoon.

Filmmaking hit new heights in 1988 as, for the first time, Disney led all the Hollywood studios in box-office gross, with Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Good Morning, Vietnam, Three Men and a Baby each earning more than $100 million at the U.S. box office. In merchandising, Disney opened numerous highly successful Disney Stores.

Disney animation experienced a renaissance. In 1989, The Little Mermaid reminded the world that animation wasn't just for kids. In 1991, Beauty and the Beast became the only animated film ever to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. In 1992, Aladdin became the first animated film to gross more than $200 million in the U.S. and, in 1994, The Lion King shattered records, grossing $312 million in the U.S. and $783 million worldwide.

Meanwhile, Hollywood Records was formed to offer a wide selection of music, ranging from rap to movie soundtracks. New television shows, such as Live with Regis and Kathie Lee, Empty Nest, Dinosaurs and Home Improvement, expanded Disney's television base. Disney moved into publishing, forming Hyperion Books, Hyperion Books for Children, and Disney Press, which released books on Disney and non-Disney subjects. In 1991, as a totally new venture, Disney was awarded in 1993 the franchise for a National Hockey League team in Anaheim, the Mighty Ducks, named after a popular Walt Disney Pictures film, which the company operated until selling it in 2005.

In France, the park now known as Disneyland Resort Paris opened on April 12, 1992. This spectacular new Disneyland attracted almost 11 million visitors during its first year. Disneyland Paris is complemented by six uniquely designed resort hotels and a campground and is now the most visited tourist attraction in all of Europe. At the Walt Disney World Resort, six new resort hotels were opened during the 1990s, as well as new attractions at all the theme parks, while such enhancements as Mickey's Toontown and the Indiana Jones Adventure helped fulfill Disneyland's mandate that it would "never be completed."

Disney's leadership in animation continued with Pocahontas in 1995, The Hunchback of Notre Dame in 1996, Hercules in 1997, Mulan in 1998, Tarzan in 1999 and Fantasia/2000 at the turn of the century. In 1995, in partnership with Pixar Animation, the company released the first computer-animated feature film, Toy Story. This was followed by a series of highly successful Disney/Pixar collaborations, a bug's life, Toy Story 2, Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo and The Incredibles.

In 1994, Disney ventured onto Broadway with the stage production of Beauty and the Beast, followed in 1997 by The Lion King, which won the Tony Award for best musical. Aida was Disney Theatrical's first production not based on an animated film and, in 2006, Tarzan opened on The Great White Way. By restoring the historic New Amsterdam Theater on 42nd Street, Disney became the catalyst for a successful makeover of the famous Times Square area.

In 1996, the first home sites were sold in the new city of Celebration, Florida, a model community built on Disney property that will one day be home to 20,000 people. That year, Disney also invested in the California Angels and saw the team win the 2002 World Series before selling it in 2003.

However, by far the biggest event of 1996 was Disney's acquisition of Capital Cities/ABC. The $19 billion transaction, which at the time was the second largest in U.S. history, brought the ABC television network to Disney, in addition to 10 TV stations, 21 radio stations, seven daily newspapers, and ownership positions in the cable networks A&E, Lifetime, History Channel and the powerhouse sports network, ESPN. Today, it is estimated that ESPN alone is worth the Cap Cities/ABC acquisition price.

A whole new park, Disney's Animal Kingdom, opened at Walt Disney World in 1998. With a gigantic Tree of Life as its centerpiece, the park was Disney's largest, spanning 500 acres. A major attraction was the Kilimanjaro Safaris, where guests could experience live animals in a highly accurate reproduction of the African savannah. An Asian area opened at Animal Kingdom in 1999.

Also in 1998, the company entered the cruise line business with the launch of the Disney Magic, which was joined one year later by the Disney Wonder. Both ships tour the Caribbean, stopping at Disney's own island paradise, Castaway Cay.
In 2001, Walt Disney Attractions, for the first time, opened two new theme parks in the same year. In February, Disney's California Adventure began operation, transforming Disney's Anaheim property into a true resort destination with two theme parks, an upscale shopping area called Downtown Disney and three hotels, including the new Grand Californian Hotel. In September, Tokyo DisneySea opened, highlighting the myths, legends and lore of the ocean. March, 2002, saw the opening of another overseas park, Walt Disney Studios, adjacent to Disneyland Paris.

The company's film studio, which has been number one or two at the U.S. box office for 13 of the past 16 years, had a particularly banner year in 2003, with Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl and Disney-Pixar's Finding Nemo both grossing more than $300 million at the U.S. box office.. That year, Disney became the first studio in history to surpass $3 billion in global box office.

On October 1, 2005, Robert Iger assumed the position of chief executive officer, becoming only the seventh individual to lead the company in its entire history. Iger quickly established his intention to take advantage of emerging technologies in order to connect with consumers in new ways. Within weeks of becoming CEO, he arranged for Disney to become the first broadcaster to have its TV shows made available on Apple's iPod. Iger also emphasized his determination to grow the company by building on its legacy of great creativity and his first major initiative, announced in January 2006, was the acquisition of creative powerhouse Pixar Animation. The Disney/Pixar partnership had been one of the most successful in film history and, by acquiring the studio, the continuation of Disney's animation legacy is all but assured. Iger also orchestrated another much smaller, but highly significant, animation acquisition, as Disney bought the rights to Walt's original creation – Oswald the Lucky Rabbit.

Disney's performance during Iger's first year was stellar, with record revenues, record cash flow and record net earnings for fiscal year 2006. These financial results were driven in large measure by the company's outstanding creative product, such as the films Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest and Cars, ABC's Desperate Housewives, Lost and Grey's Anatomy Disney Channel's High School Musical and Hannah Montana, ESPN's popular sports coverage and, of course, the beloved attractions at Disney theme parks.

As much as the company has changed since its Oswald days, much has remained the same, as it continues to be dedicated to providing innovative, quality entertainment for all members of the family, across America and around the world.

Walt Disney Company