HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational
mass media Mass media refers to a diverse array of media technologies that reach a large audience via mass communication. The technologies through which this communication takes place include a variety of outlets. Broadcast media transmit information ...
and
entertainment Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and interest of an audience or gives pleasure and delight. It can be an idea or a task, but is more likely to be one of the activities or events that have developed over thousa ...
conglomerate Conglomerate or conglomeration may refer to: * Conglomerate (company) * Conglomerate (geology) * Conglomerate (mathematics) In popular culture: * The Conglomerate (American group), a production crew and musical group founded by Busta Rhymes ** Co ...
headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in
Burbank, California Burbank is a city in the southeastern end of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located northwest of downtown Los Angeles, Burbank has a population of 107,337. The city was named after David Burbank, w ...
. Disney was originally founded on October 16, 1923, by brothers
Walt Walt is a masculine given name, generally a short form of Walter, and occasionally a surname. Notable people with the name include: People Given name * Walt Arfons (1916-2013), American drag racer and competition land speed record racer * Walt Bel ...
and Roy O. Disney as the Disney Brothers Studio; it also operated under the names the Walt Disney Studio and Walt Disney Productions before changing its name to the Walt Disney Company in 1986. Early on, the company established itself as a leader in the
animation industry Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most anima ...
, with the creation of the widely popular character
Mickey Mouse Mickey Mouse is an animated cartoon Character (arts), character co-created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. The longtime mascot of The Walt Disney Company, Mickey is an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic mouse who typically wears red sho ...
, who is the company's mascot, and the start of animated films. After becoming a major success by the early 1940s, the company started to diversify into live-action films,
television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...
, and theme parks in the 1950s. Following Walt's death in 1966, the company's profits began to decline, especially in the animation division. Once Disney's shareholders voted in
Michael Eisner Michael Dammann Eisner (born March 7, 1942) is an American businessman and former chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of The Walt Disney Company from September 1984 to September 2005. Prior to Disney, Eisner was president of rival film st ...
as the head of the company in 1984, the studio began to see an overwhelming amount of success during a period called the Disney Renaissance. In 2005, under new CEO
Bob Iger Robert Allen Iger (; born February 10, 1951) is an American businessman who is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of The Walt Disney Company. He previously served as the President of ABC Television between 1994 and 1995 and the President and Ch ...
, the company started to expand and acquire other corporations.
Bob Chapek Robert Alan Chapek (born 1960) is an American media executive who was the chief executive officer (CEO) of The Walt Disney Company from 2020 to 2022. Before becoming CEO, Chapek had a 26-year career with The Walt Disney Company, beginning in th ...
became the head of Disney in 2020 after Iger's retirement. Iger would be reinstated as CEO after Chapek was ousted in 2022. Since the 1980s, Disney has created and acquired corporate divisions in order to market more mature content than is typically associated with its flagship family-oriented brands. The company is known for its
film studio A film studio (also known as movie studio or simply studio) is a major entertainment company or motion picture company that has its own privately owned studio facility or facilities that are used to make films, which is handled by the production ...
division Walt Disney Studios, which includes
Walt Disney Pictures Walt Disney Pictures is an American film production company and subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, which is owned by The Walt Disney Company. The studio is the flagship producer of live-action feature films within the Walt Disney Studios uni ...
,
Walt Disney Animation Studios Walt Disney Animation Studios (WDAS), sometimes shortened to Disney Animation, is an American animation studio that creates animated features and short films for The Walt Disney Company. The studio's current production logo features a scene fro ...
, Pixar,
Marvel Studios Marvel Studios, LLC (originally known as Marvel Films from 1993 to 1996) is an American film and television production company that is a subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, a division of the Walt Disney Company. Marvel Studios produces the Mar ...
,
Lucasfilm Lucasfilm Ltd. LLC is an American film and television production company and a subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, which is a business segment of The Walt Disney Company. The studio is best known for creating and producing the ''Star Wars'' and ' ...
,
20th Century Studios 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Disn ...
,
20th Century Animation 20th Century Animation, Inc. (originally known as Fox Family Films, Fox Animation Studios, and 20th Century Fox Animation and sometimes referred to as Fox Animation) is an American animation studio located in Century City, Los Angeles. Formed i ...
, and
Searchlight Pictures Searchlight Pictures, Inc. is an American film production company and a subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, which is part of the Walt Disney Company. Founded in 1994 as Fox Searchlight Pictures, Inc. for 20th Century Fox (later 20th Century Stu ...
. Disney's other main business units include divisions in television, broadcasting, streaming media, theme park resorts, consumer products, publishing, and international operations. Through these various segments, Disney owns and operates the ABC broadcast network; cable television networks such as
Disney Channel Disney Channel, sometimes known as simply Disney, is an American pay television channel that serves as the flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney General Entertainment Content division of The Walt Disney Compan ...
,
ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
, Freeform, FX, and
National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly the ''National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as NAT GEO) is a popular American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. Known for its photojournalism, it is one of the most widely ...
; publishing, merchandising, music, and theater divisions;
direct-to-consumer Direct-to-consumer (DTC) or business-to-consumer (B2C) is the business model of selling products directly to customers and thereby bypassing any third-party retailers, wholesalers, or any other middlemen. Direct-to-consumer sales are usually tr ...
streaming services such as
Disney+ The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and interest of an audience or gives pleasure and deligh ...
, Star+,
ESPN+ ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
,
Hulu Hulu () is an American subscription streaming service majority-owned by The Walt Disney Company, with Comcast's NBCUniversal holding a minority stake. It was launched on October 29, 2007 and it offers a library of films and television serie ...
, and Hotstar; and Disney Parks, Experiences and Products, which includes several theme parks, resort hotels, and cruise lines around the world. Disney is one of the biggest and most well-known companies in the world and has been ranked number 53 on the 2022 ''
Fortune 500 The ''Fortune'' 500 is an annual list compiled and published by ''Fortune'' magazine that ranks 500 of the largest United States corporations by total revenue for their respective fiscal years. The list includes publicly held companies, along ...
'' list of biggest companies in the United States by revenue. Since its founding, the company has won a total of 135
Academy Awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
, with 26 awarded to Walt. The company has also been said to have produced some of the
greatest films of all time This is a list of films considered the best in national and international surveys of critics and the public. Some surveys focus on all films, while others focus on a particular genre or country. Voting systems differ, and some surveys suffer ...
as well as revolutionizing the theme park industry. Disney has been criticized for alleged plagiarism, depicting racial stereotypes in the past, and both including and lacking
LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...
-related elements in its films. The company, which has been public since 1940, trades on the
New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed c ...
(NYSE) with ticker symbol DIS and has been a component of the
Dow Jones Industrial Average The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), Dow Jones, or simply the Dow (), is a stock market index of 30 prominent companies listed on stock exchanges in the United States. The DJIA is one of the oldest and most commonly followed equity inde ...
since 1991. In August 2020, just under two-thirds of the stock was owned by large financial institutions.


History


1923–1934: Founding, Mickey Mouse, and ''Silly Symphonies''

At
Laugh-O-Gram Studio The Laugh-O-Gram Studio (also called Laugh-O-Gram Studios) was a short-lived film studio located on the second floor of the McConahay Building at 1127 East 31st in Kansas City, Missouri that operated from June 28, 1921 to November 20, 1923. ...
, a film studio in Kansas City founded by
Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...
and his friend and animator Ub Iwerks, Walt made a short film entitled '' Alice's Wonderland.'' It featured child actress
Virginia Davis Virginia Davis (December 31, 1918 – August 15, 2009) was an American child actress in films. She is best known for working with Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks on the animated short series Alice Comedies, in which she portrayed the protagonist Alic ...
interacting with animated characters. In 1923, soon after the short was made, Laugh-O-Gram Studio went bankrupt, but the short later became a hit after New York film distributor
Margaret J. Winkler Margaret J. Winkler Mintz (April 22, 1895 – June 21, 1990) was a key figure in silent animation history, having a crucial role to play in the histories of Max and Dave Fleischer, Pat Sullivan, Otto Messmer, and Walt Disney. She was the first ...
purchased it. Walt signed a contract to create six '' Alice Comedies'' series, with an option for two further series of six episodes each. Before the signing, Walt decided to move to
Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...
to join his brother Roy O. Disney because Roy had
tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...
. This allowed them to co-found the Disney Brothers Studio on October 16, the official start of the company, to produce the films. Walt later convinced Iwerks and Davis' family to move to Hollywood as well. In January 1926, the Disney studio on Hyperion Street was completed, and The Disney Brothers Studio's name was changed to Walt Disney Studio. After producing several Alice films for the next four years, Winkler handed the role of distributing films to her husband,
Charles Mintz Charles Bear Mintz (November 5, 1889 – December 30, 1939)''Social Security Death Index, 1935–2014''. Social Security Administration. was an American film producer and distributor who assumed control over Margaret J. Winkler's Winkler Pictu ...
. In 1927, Mintz asked for a new series of films under
Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...
to be made. In response, Walt created his first series of fully animated films, featuring the character
Oswald the Lucky Rabbit Oswald the Lucky Rabbit (also known as Oswald the Rabbit or Oswald Rabbit) is a cartoon character created in 1927 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks for Universal Pictures. He starred in several animated short films released to theaters from 1927 to 19 ...
. Walt Disney Studio would create 26 films with Oswald in them. In 1928, Walt wanted a larger fee for his films, but Mintz wanted to reduce the price. Soon after Walt found out that Universal owned the
intellectual property rights Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, cop ...
to Oswald, Mintz threatened to produce the films without him if he did not take the reductions in payment. Walt declined, and Mintz signed four of the Walt Disney Studio's primary animators to start his own studio; Iwerks would be the only top animator to stay with the Studio. Because of the loss of Oswald, Walt and Iwerks replaced him with a mouse originally named
Mortimer Mouse The Mickey Mouse universe is a fictional shared universe which is the setting for stories involving Disney cartoon characters Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Pluto, Goofy, and many other characters. The universe originated from the ''Mickey Mouse'' an ...
. The character's name would be changed after Walt's wife urged him to change it to
Mickey Mouse Mickey Mouse is an animated cartoon Character (arts), character co-created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. The longtime mascot of The Walt Disney Company, Mickey is an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic mouse who typically wears red sho ...
, who is now the company's mascot. In May, the studio made two
silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, when ...
s, '' Plane Crazy'' and ''
The Gallopin' Gaucho ''The Gallopin' Gaucho'' is the second short film featuring Mickey Mouse to be produced, following ''Plane Crazy'' and preceding ''Steamboat Willie''. The Disney studios completed the silent version in August 1928, but did not release it in order ...
'', with the character as test screenings. Later, the studio created its first sound film and third short to the Mickey series '' Steamboat Willie.'' It was made with
synchronized sound Synchronized may refer to: *Synchronization (US) or ''synchronisation'' (UK), the coordination of events to operate a system in unison * ''Synchronized'' (album), a 2002 album by Sheavy *Synchronised (horse) (2003–2012), a racehorse *, a programm ...
, creating the first post-produced sound cartoon. Pat Powers’ distribution company would distribute the film, and ''Steamboat Willie'' became an immediate hit, leading the way for the companies dominance in the animation industry. The sound was created using Powers’ Cinephone system, which used
Lee de Forest Lee de Forest (August 26, 1873 – June 30, 1961) was an American inventor and a fundamentally important early pioneer in electronics. He invented the first electronic device for controlling current flow; the three-element "Audion" triode va ...
's Phonofilm system. The company successfully re-released the two earlier films with synchronized sound in 1929. After the release of ''Steamboat Willie'' at the Colony Theater in New York, Mickey Mouse became an immensely popular character. Disney would go on to make several cartoons featuring him and other characters. In August, Disney began the '' Silly Symphony'' series with
Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...
signing on as the series' distributor, because Walt and Roy felt that they were not getting their share of the profits with Powers. Powers would then sign off Iwerks, who would later start his own studio. Carl Starling was said to have played a pivotal role in getting the series started and composed the music for the earlier films in the series, but would later leave the company after Iwerks did. In September, theater manager Harry Woodin requested permission to start a Mickey Mouse Club at his theater, the Fox Dome, to boost attendance. Walt agreed, but David E. Dow started the first ever club at Elsinore Theatre before Woodin could start his. It is unknown why Woodin did not create the first one, but on December 21, the first ever meeting for the club at Elsinore had around 1,200 children in attendance. The Mickey Mouse Clubs ended up spanning over 800 theaters across the country, with one million kids as members. On July 24, Joseph Conley, president of
King Features Syndicate King Features Syndicate, Inc. is a American content distribution and animation studio, consumer product licensing and print syndication company owned by Hearst Communications that distributes about 150 comic strips, newspaper columns, editoria ...
, mailed the Disney studio asking for them to make a Mickey Mouse comic strip. They started in November and sent samples of the strip to them, which were approved. On December 16, the Walt Disney Studios partnership was reorganized as a corporation with the name of Walt Disney Productions, Limited, with a merchandising division –
Walt Disney Enterprises Disney Consumer Products, Inc. is the retailing and licensing subsidiary of the Disney Parks, Experiences and Products segment of The Walt Disney Company. Previously, Consumer Products was a segment of Disney until 2016, then a unit of Disney Con ...
, and two subsidiaries – Disney Film Recording Company, Limited; and Liled Realty and Investment Company, for real estate holdings. Walt and his wife held 60 percent (6,000 shares) of the company and Roy owned 40 percent. The comic strip ''
Mickey Mouse Mickey Mouse is an animated cartoon Character (arts), character co-created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. The longtime mascot of The Walt Disney Company, Mickey is an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic mouse who typically wears red sho ...
'' debuted on January 13, 1930, in the '' New York Daily Mirror'' and by 1931, the strip was published in 60 newspapers in the U.S., as well as papers in twenty other countries. After finding out that coming out with
merchandise Merchandising is any practice which contributes to the sale of products to a retail consumer. At a retail in-store level, merchandising refers to displaying products that are for sale in a creative way that entices customers to purchase more i ...
for the characters would generate more revenue for the company, Walt met a man at a hotel in New York who asked him for the license to put Mickey Mouse on some writing tablets that he was manufacturing for $300. Walt agreed and Mickey became the first licensed character ever, beginning the start of Disney merchandising. In 1933, Walt asked a man who owned a Kansas City advertising firm named
Kay Kamen Herman "Kay" Kamen (born Herman Samuel Kominetzky; January 27, 1892 – October 28, 1949) was an American merchandising executive, noted primarily for his work with the Walt Disney Company. He promoted Mickey Mouse – the most popular cartoon cha ...
to run Disney's merchandising. He agreed and was considered to completely transform Disney's merchandising. Within a year, Kamen had 40 licenses for Mickey and within two years, $35 million worth of sales were made. In 1934, Walt claimed that he made more money from the merchandising of Mickey than from the Mickey films. Later, as a part of Disney's merchandising push, the Waterbury Clock Company created a Mickey Mouse watch. It became so popular that it saved Waterbury from bankruptcy during the
Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
. During a promotional event at Macy's, 11,000 Mickey Mouse watches sold in one day and within two years, 2.5 million watches were sold. As Mickey started to become more of the heroic type instead of a mischievous mouse, Disney needed another character that could produce gags. When Walt was listing to the radio, he heard the voice of Clarence Nash and invited him to the studio. After hearing his voice again, Walt wanted to use it for a talking duck named
Donald Duck Donald Fauntleroy Duck is a cartoon character created by The Walt Disney Company. Donald is an anthropomorphic white duck with a yellow-orange bill, legs, and feet. He typically wears a sailor shirt and cap with a bow tie. Donald is known fo ...
, who would be the studio's new gag character. Donald made his first appearance in 1934 in '' The Wise Little Hen.'' Though he did not become popular as fast as Mickey did, he got his own featured role in ''
Donald and Pluto ''Donald and Pluto'' is a 1936 animated short film produced by Walt Disney Productions and distributed by United Artists. The film stars Donald Duck, employed as a plumber, and Mickey's dog Pluto as his assistant. The film was directed by Ben Sha ...
'' (1936) and eventually got his own series. After a fallout with Colombia Pictures for the ''Silly Symphonies'', Walt signed a distribution contract with
United Artist United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the studi ...
from 1932 to 1937 to distribute the series. In 1932, Disney signed an exclusive contract with Technicolor through the end of 1935 to produce cartoons in color, beginning with '' Flowers and Trees'' (1932), which was part of the ''Silly Symphonies''. The film was the first ever full-color cartoon and won the
Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
for the Best Cartoon later that year. In 1933, '' The Three Little Pigs'' became another popular ''Silly Symphonies'' and also won the Academy Award for Best Cartoon. The song from the film " Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?", composed by
Frank Churchill Frank Edwin Churchill (October 20, 1901 – May 14, 1942) was an American film composer and songwriter. He wrote most of the music for films directed by Walt Disney, such as ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'', ''Dumbo'', ''Bambi'', '' The Adve ...
, who also wrote other ''Silly Symphonies'' songs, became popular throughout the 1930s and remained one of the most well-known Disney songs. Films from ''Silly Symphonies'' would go on to win the Best Cartoon award from 1931 to 1939, except for in 1938 when another Disney film ''
Ferdinand the Bull Ferdinand is a Germanic name composed of the elements "protection", "peace" (PIE "to love, to make peace") or alternatively "journey, travel", Proto-Germanic , abstract noun from root "to fare, travel" (PIE , "to lead, pass over"), and "co ...
'' won it.


1934–1949: The Golden Age of Animation, strike, and World War II

In 1934, Walt decided to make Disney's first ever feature-length animated film, ''
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" is a 19th-century German fairy tale that is today known widely across the Western world. The Brothers Grimm published it in 1812 in the first edition of their collection ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'' and numbered as Ta ...
,'' and told his animators by acting out the story. Roy tried to stop Walt from making it saying it would bankrupt the studio, and Hollywood called it "Disney's Folly", but Walt continued production on the film. Walt decided to go for a realistic approach to the film and created scenes from the film as if it were live action. During the process of making the film, they created the multiplane camera, which was pieces of glass with drawings on them set at different distances, to create an illusion of depth for the backgrounds. After United Artist attempted to attain future television rights to the Disney shorts, Walt signed a distribution contract with
RKO Radio Pictures RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, was an American film production and distribution company, one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orphe ...
on March 2, 1936. They ended up exceeding their original budget for ''Snow White'' of $150,000 by ten times the amount at $1.5 million. It took them three years to make, debuting on December 12, 1937. It became the highest-grossing film of all time up to that point at $8 million ; after several re-releases, the film would gross a total of $998,440,000 in the U.S. adjusted for inflation. After the profits of ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'', Disney financed the construction of a new studio complex of 51 acres (20.6 ha) in
Burbank Burbank may refer to: Places Australia * Burbank, Queensland, a suburb in Brisbane United States * Burbank, California, a city in Los Angeles County * Burbank, Santa Clara County, California, a census-designated place * Burbank, Illinois, ...
, California, which the company fully moved into in 1940. On April 2 of the same year, Disney had its
initial public offering An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investment ...
, with the common stock remaining with Walt and his family. Walt did not want to go public, but the company needed the money. Shortly before ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs release, work on their next films '' Pinocchio'' and '' Bambi'' began, with Bambi being postponed. Though ''Pinocchio'' would win the Academy Awards for Best Song and Best Score, along with being said to have made groundbreaking achievements in animation, it would end up doing poorly in the box office during its release on February 23, 1940, because its international releases were cut off due to
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. Disney's next film ''
Fantasia Fantasia International Film Festival (also known as Fantasia-fest, FanTasia, and Fant-Asia) is a film festival that has been based mainly in Montreal since its founding in 1996. Regularly held in July of each year, it is valued by both hardcore ...
'' was also a box-office bomb, but made great achievements by creating Fantasound, an early development surround sound, to produce the films' soundtrack, making it the first commercial film shown in stereo. In 1941, Disney would have a major setback when 300 of its 800 animators, led mainly by one of the companies top animators Art Babbit, would go on strike for five weeks for unionization, because of the amount of payment some of them were getting. Walt thought that the people on strike were secretly Communist and would end up firing many of the studios' animators, including some of its best ones. Roy would try to get the company's main distributors to invest in the film company, trying to secure more production funds for the studio which could no longer afford to offset production costs with employee layoffs, but was unsuccessful in getting anyone. During the premiere of '' The Reluctant Dragon,'' Disney's fourth film where
Robert Benchley Robert Charles Benchley (September 15, 1889 – November 21, 1945) was an American humorist best known for his work as a newspaper columnist and film actor. From his beginnings at ''The Harvard Lampoon'' while attending Harvard University, thro ...
would tour the Disney Studio, protesters from the strike showed up; the film would fall $100,000 short of its production cost. While negotiations were being made for the strike, Walt accepted an offer from the Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs to make a goodwill trip, along with some of his animators, to South America, making sure Walt would be gone during the deal because he knew the results would not be in his favor. During the twelve weeks there, they would start plotting for films and were inspired by the music. As a result of the strike, the studio recognized the
Screen Cartoonist's Guild Screen Cartoonist's Guild (SCG) was an American labor union formed in 1938 in Los Angeles, California. The SCG was formed in the aftermath of protests at Van Beuren Studios and Fleischer Studios, and represented workers and resolved issues at maj ...
after being compelled to by Federal mediators and loss several animators, leaving the company with only 694 employees. To recover from their financial losses, Disney would create their fifth animated film, '' Dumbo,'' in a rush with a lower budget. ''Dumbo'' performed successfully at the box office and would be a much needed financial gain for the company. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, many of the companies animators would be drafted into the army. Later, 500 soldiers from the
United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
began to occupy the studio for eight months to protect a nearby Lockheed aircraft plant. While they were there, they would fix equipment in large soundstages and convert storage sheds into ammunition depots. On December 8, the Navy asked Walt to create propaganda films to gain support for the war. He agreed and signed a contract with
them Them or THEM, a third-person plural accusative personal pronoun, may refer to: Books * ''Them'' (novel), 3rd volume (1969) in American Joyce Carol Oates' ''Wonderland Quartet'' * '' Them: Adventures with Extremists'', 2003 non-fiction by Welsh ...
to create 20 war-related shorts for $90,000. Most of the company's employees got to work on the project and created films such as '' Victory Through Air Power'' and included some of the company's characters in several of the films. In August, 1942, ''Bambi'' was finally released as Disney's sixth animated film and did not do well in the box office. In 1943, Disney would go on to make ''
Saludos Amigos ''Saludos Amigos'' (Spanish language, Spanish for "Greetings, Friends") is a 1942 American Live-action animated film, live-action/animated anthology film produced by Walt Disney and released by RKO Pictures, RKO Radio Pictures. It is the List of ...
'' and '' The Three Caballeros'' after their visit to South America, but they would do poorly upon their releases. The two films were "
package films An anthology film (also known as an omnibus film, package film, or portmanteau film) is a single film consisting of several shorter films, each complete in itself and distinguished from the other, though frequently tied together by a single theme ...
", several short cartoons grouped together to make a feature film, which Disney would go on to make more of such as '' Make Mine Music'' (1946)'', Fun and Fancy Free'' (1947)'','' '' Melody Time'' (1948)'','' and ''
The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad ''The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad'' is a 1949 American animated anthology film produced by Walt Disney Productions, released by RKO Radio Pictures and directed by Clyde Geronimi, Jack Kinney and James Algar with Ben Sharpsteen as production ...
'' (1949) to try to recover from their financial losses. As less expensive to make, the studio started production on live-action films, with a mixture of animation, starting with ''
Song of the South ''Song of the South'' is a 1946 American Live-action animated film, live-action/animated musical film, musical drama film directed by Harve Foster and Wilfred Jackson; produced by Walt Disney and released by RKO Pictures, RKO Radio Pictures. ...
,'' which would later become Disney's most controversial film. Because the company was short on money, in 1944, they planned to re-release their feature films, which would create much needed revenue. In 1948, Disney began the nature documentary series, ''
True-Life Adventures ''True-Life Adventures'' is a series of short and full-length nature documentary films released by Walt Disney Productions between the years 1948 and 1960. The first seven films released were thirty-minute shorts, with the subsequent seven films ...
,'' which would run until 1960 and win eight Academy Awards. In 1949, while production on the animated film '' Cinderella'' was happening, the
Walt Disney Music Company Walt is a masculine given name, generally a short form of Walter (name), Walter, and occasionally a surname. Notable people with the name include: People Given name * Walt Arfons (1916-2013), American drag racer and competition land speed record r ...
was founded in order to help with profits for merchandising, which the music from ''Cinderella'' was hoped to be a hit.


1950–1967: Live-action films, television, Disneyland, and Walt Disney's death

In 1950, Disney's first animated film in eight years ''Cinderella'' was released and was considered a return to form for Disney. It would be Disney's best box office success since ''Snow White,'' making a total of $8 million in its first year in the box office and costing $2.2 million to make. Walt had not been as involved as he was with the previous films because he was distracted with trains and made a trip to England to create Disney's first ever fully live-action film '' Treasure Island''. Because it was a success, he went back to England to produce '' The Story of Robin Hood and His Merry Men''. In 1950, the television industry began to grow, and Disney got in it on Christmas Day when NBC aired the company's first television production
One Hour in Wonderland ''One Hour in Wonderland'' is a 1950 television special made by Walt Disney Productions. It was first seen on Christmas Day, 1950, over NBC (4–5 pm in all time zones) for Coca-Cola, and was Walt Disney's first television production. It featured ...
, which was a promotional program for Disney's next animated film ''
Alice in Wonderland ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (commonly ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English novel by Lewis Carroll. It details the story of a young girl named Alice who falls through a rabbit hole into a fantasy world of anthropomorphic creatur ...
'' and sponsored by
Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlanta ...
. During his trip in England, ''Alice in Wonderland'' was released and came as disappointment to the company falling $1 million short of the production budget. Upon his return, Walt started thinking about an
amusement park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, as well as other events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central ...
he wanted to build called Mickey Mouse Park, an eight-acre (3.2 ha) piece of land near the studio with attractions such as a steamboat ride, but business kept getting in the way and production for a third British film ''
The Sword and the Rose ''The Sword and the Rose'' is a family/adventure film produced by Perce Pearce and Walt Disney and directed by Ken Annakin. The film features the story of Mary Tudor, a younger sister of Henry VIII of England. Based on the 1898 novel '' When Kn ...
'' began. Walt would only supervise over it, but it would be financed by a new subsidiary of Disney called Walt Disney British Films Limited. Walt recalled that he first came up with the idea of an amusement park during one of his visits to
Griffith Park Griffith Park is a large municipal park at the eastern end of the Santa Monica Mountains, in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. The park includes popular attractions such as the Los Angeles Zoo, the Autry Museum of the Ameri ...
with his daughters. He said that he watched them ride the
carousel A carousel or carrousel (mainly North American English), merry-go-round (List of sovereign states, international), roundabout (British English), or hurdy-gurdy (an old term in Australian English, in South Australia, SA) is a type of amusement ...
there and said that he thought there "should be... some kind of amusement enterprise built where the parents and the children could have fun together.” As Walt continued to think about Mickey Mouse Park, he changed the name to Disneylandia before changing it to its final name
Disneyland Disneyland is a amusement park, theme park in Anaheim, California. Opened in 1955, it was the first theme park opened by The Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney. Disney in ...
. Because Roy was doubtful about the park, Walt would form a new privately owned company called Walt Disney Enterprise on December 16, 1952, to fund the park. Shortly after, its name would change to Walt Disney Incorporated before changing its name to WED Enterprises (now Walt Disney Imagineering) in November 1953. He hired a group of designers to work on the plans and those who worked on it became dubbed as " Imagineers". Ever since Walt came up with the idea of a park, he and his friends would visit parks in the U.S. and Europe to get ideas on how to build one. His plan to have the park built in Burbank near the studio quickly changed when he realized that 8 (3.2 ha) acres would not be enough land. He acquired 160 acres (65 ha) of orange groves in
Anaheim Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the 10th-most p ...
, southeast of Los Angeles in neighboring
Orange County Orange County most commonly refers to: *Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area Orange County may also refer to: U.S. counties *Orange County, Florida, containing Orlando *Orange County, Indiana *Orange County, New ...
, at $6,200 per acre to build the park. As construction on the park began on July 12, 1954, Walt wanted it to be done by 1955, with storytelling attractions and areas, as well as being clean and perfect. They designed the park to have guests enter into
Main Street U.S.A. Main Street, U.S.A. is the first "themed land" inside the main entrance of the many theme parks operated or licensed by The Walt Disney Company around the world. Main Street, U.S.A. is themed to resemble American small towns during the early 20t ...
, themed to resemble American small towns during the early 20th Century based largely off of Walt's hometown in Marceline, Missouri, and walk down the street into the central hub, from which different themed lands branched out. At the end of the street in the central hub, would be a 77 ft (23 m) tall
Sleeping Beauty Castle Sleeping Beauty Castle is a fairy tale A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic (paranormal), magic ...
inspired by the
Neuschwanstein Castle Neuschwanstein Castle (german: Schloss Neuschwanstein, , Southern Bavarian: ''Schloss Neischwanstoa'') is a 19th-century historicist palace on a rugged hill above the village of Hohenschwangau near Füssen in southwest Bavaria, Germany. The pa ...
in Germany and based on the castle from the Disney film of the same name, which would be released four years later. The four original different themed lands of the park that branched out from the hub would consist of Frontierland, themed to the
American Frontier The American frontier, also known as the Old West or the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of United States territorial acquisitions, American expansion in mainland North Amer ...
of the 19th century; Adventureland, resembling a wild tropical jungle;
Fantasyland Fantasyland is one of the "themed lands" at all of the Magic Kingdom-style parks run by The Walt Disney Company around the world. It is themed after Disney's animated fairy tale films. Each Fantasyland has a castle, as well as several gentle ri ...
, based on Disney's animated fairy tale films; and Tomorrowland, depicting views of the future, especially that of the
Space Age The Space Age is a period encompassing the activities related to the Space Race, space exploration, space technology, and the cultural developments influenced by these events, beginning with the Sputnik_1#Launch_and_mission, launch of Sputnik 1 ...
. In total, by the time the park opened, it cost the company $17 million to construct. In February 1953, Disney's next animated film '' Peter Pan'' was released and had been a success, but Walt wanted to figure out how to improve animation without raising the cost. When Disney wanted to create a feature with two short films, '' The Living Desert'', for the ''True-Life'' documentary, RKO's lawyer believed it would break the 1948 antitrust Supreme Court ruling if it sold as a package. Roy thought the company would do fine without RKO and the company created its own distribution company,
Buena Vista Distribution Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, formerly known as Buena Vista Pictures Distribution, Inc. until 2007, is an American film distribution studio within the Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution division of The Walt Disney Company. It ha ...
, named after the street where the studio was located, to distribute their own films from then on. In 1954, Disney's first American live action film ''
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea ''Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas'' (french: Vingt mille lieues sous les mers) is a classic science fiction adventure novel by French writer Jules Verne. The novel was originally serialized from March 1869 through June 1870 in Pierre-J ...
'' was released, which was one of the first films to use
CinemaScope CinemaScope is an anamorphic lens series used, from 1953 to 1967, and less often later, for shooting widescreen films that, crucially, could be screened in theatres using existing equipment, albeit with a lens adapter. Its creation in 1953 by ...
. From the early to mid-1950s, Walt began to devote less attention to the animation department, entrusting most of its operations to his key animators the
Nine Old Men Disney's Nine Old Men were Walt Disney Productions' core animators, some of whom later became directors, who created some of Disney's most famous animated cartoons, from '' Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'' (1937) onward to ''The Rescuers'' (197 ...
, although he was always present at story meetings. Instead, he started concentrating on other things such as television and Disneyland. To get money to create the park, the company decided to promote it through a television series. After trying to get NBC and CBS to sign on, in 1954,
ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...
made a deal with Disney for an hour-long weekly series starting in October called ''
Disneyland Disneyland is a amusement park, theme park in Anaheim, California. Opened in 1955, it was the first theme park opened by The Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney. Disney in ...
,'' an
anthology series An anthology series is a radio, television, video game or film series that spans different genres and presents a different story and a different set of characters in each different episode, season, segment, or short. These usually have a differ ...
consisting of animated cartoons, live-action features, other materials from the studio's library, and would go through four segments of the four different areas of the amusement park. The series was a success and garnered over 50% of viewers in their time slot, along with increasing audiences and praise from critics. In August, Walt formed another company
Disneyland, Inc. Disneyland, Inc. (DLI) was a corporation formed to finance, build and run Disneyland park in Anaheim, California. History Start up Disneyland, Inc. was incorporated in the State of California in 1951 by Walt Disney. A companion company owned on ...
to finance the theme park, with Disney, himself, Western Publishing, which had been the publisher of Disney books for over twenty years, and ABC all holding stock in the company. In October, with the success of ''Disneyland,'' ABC allowed Disney to produce another series ''
The Mickey Mouse Club ''The Mickey Mouse Club'' is an American variety television show that aired intermittently from 1955 to 1996 and returned to social media in 2017. Created by Walt Disney and produced by Walt Disney Productions, the program was first televised fo ...
'', a
variety show Variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is entertainment made up of a variety of acts including musical theatre, musical performances, sketch comedy, magic (illusion), magic, acrobatics, juggling, and ventriloquism. It is ...
specifically for kids, showing things such as a daily Disney cartoon, a children's newsreel, and a talent show. It would consist of a host and talented kids and adults called "Mousketeers" and "Mooseketeers", respectively. After the first season, over 10 million children and half as many adults watched it every day, 2 million Mickey Mouse ears, which the cast wore, had sold, and the shows theme song "
Mickey Mouse March "(The) Mickey Mouse March" is the opening theme for ''The Mickey Mouse Club'' television show, which aired in the United States from October 1955 to 1959, on the ABC television network. (The first two lines are: ''Who’s the leader of the club tha ...
", written by Jimmie Dodd one of the show's main host, had become a classic. On December 15, 1954, ''Disneyland'' aired an episode of the five-part
miniseries A miniseries or mini-series is a television series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. "Limited series" is another more recent US term which is sometimes used interchangeably. , the popularity of miniseries format h ...
''
Davy Crockett David Crockett (August 17, 1786 – March 6, 1836) was an American folk hero, frontiersman, soldier, and politician. He is often referred to in popular culture as the "King of the Wild Frontier". He represented Tennessee in the U.S. House of Re ...
,'' which starred Fess Parker as
Crockett Crockett may refer to: People and fictional characters *Crockett Gillmore (born 1991), American National Football League player *Crockett Johnson, pen name of David Johnson Liesk (1906-1975), American cartoonist and children's book illustrator *C ...
. According to writer Neal Gabler, " tbecame an overnight national sensation", selling 10 million Crockett coonskin caps. The shows theme song "
The Ballad of Davy Crockett "The Ballad of Davy Crockett" is a song with music by George Bruns and lyrics by Thomas W. Blackburn. It was introduced on ABC's television series ''Disneyland'', in the premiere episode of October 27, 1954. Fess Parker is shown performing the ...
" had spread throughout American pop culture as much as the ''Three Little Pig's "''Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf''"'' did, selling 10 million records''.'' The ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'' called it "the greatest merchandising fad the world had ever seen". In June 1955, Disney's 15th animated film, '' Lady and the Tramp,'' was released and did better in the box office than any other Disney films since ''Snow White''. On Sunday, July 17, 1955, Disneyland opened with only Main Street completely done and the other lands offering some rides, coming to a total of 20
attractions Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism m ...
. At the time, it cost $1 to get into the park and guests had to pay for each individual ride. They were ready for 11,000 guests, but around 28,000 people showed up, because of a rush of counterfeit tickets. The opening was aired on ABC with actors
Art Linkletter Arthur Gordon Linkletter (born Gordon Arthur Kelly or Arthur Gordon Kelly; sources differ; July 17, 1912 – May 26, 2010) was a Canadian-born American radio and television personality. He was the host of ''House Party'', which ran on CBS radio a ...
, Bob Cummings, and
Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...
, who were all friends of Walt, hosting it. It garnered over 90 million viewers, becoming the largest live broadcast to that date. The opening was so disastrous and rushed, it became dubbed as "Black Sunday" by the employees. Restaurants ran out of food, the Mark Twain Riverboat began to sink a little, several ride malfunctions occurred, and the drinking fountains were not working in the 100 °F. (38 °C) heat. Within its first week of being open, Disneyland had 161,657 guests show up, and by its first month of being open, the park had over 20,000 visitors each day. After its first year, 3.6 million people had visited the park, and after its second year 4 million more guests came, making it more popular than places such as the
Grand Canyon The Grand Canyon (, yuf-x-yav, Wi:kaʼi:la, , Southern Paiute language: Paxa’uipi, ) is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in Arizona, United States. The Grand Canyon is long, up to wide and attains a depth of over a m ...
and Yellowstone Park. That year Disney had a gross total of $24.5 million compared to the $11 million the previous year. Though Walt was more busy with the park than the films, the company would stay busy and produce an average of five releases per year throughout the 1950s and 60s. The animated films created were features such as ''Sleeping Beauty'' (1959), '' One Hundred and One Dalmatians'' (1961), and '' The Sword in the Stone'' (1963). While ''Sleeping Beauty'' was a financial loss for the company, and Disney's highest production costs for a film up to that point at $6 million, ''One Hundred and One Dalmatians'' introduced a new way of animating using the
xerography Xerography is a dry photocopying technique. Originally called electrophotography, it was renamed xerography—from the roots el, ξηρός, label=none ''xeros'', meaning "dry" and -γραφία ''-graphia'', meaning "writing"—to emphasize ...
process to electromagnetically transfer the drawings to animation cels. In 1956, the
Sherman brothers The Sherman Brothers were an American songwriting duo that specialized in musical films, made up of Robert B. Sherman (December 19, 1925 – March 6, 2012) and Richard M. Sherman (born June 12, 1928). Together they received various accolades in ...
,
Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...
and
Richard Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Frankish language, Old Frankish and is a Compound (linguistics), compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language, Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' an ...
, were asked to create the theme song for the television series '' Zorro''. Disney would later hire them as exclusive staff songwriters, which would be a ten-year association. They wrote many of the songs for Disney's films at the time and some for the theme parks, with several of them being hits. In the late 1950s, Disney would venture into the
comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...
genre with the live-action films '' The Shaggy Dog'' (1959), which became the highest grossing film in the U.S. and Canada for Disney at over $9 million, and ''The Absent Minded Professor'' (1961), both starring
Fred MacMurray Frederick Martin MacMurray (August 30, 1908 – November 5, 1991) was an American actor. He appeared in more than one hundred films and a successful television series, in a career that spanned nearly a half-century. His career as a major film le ...
. Disney also made several live-action films based on children's books including ''
Pollyanna ''Pollyanna'' is a 1913 novel by American author Eleanor H. Porter, considered a classic of children's literature. The book's success led to Porter's soon writing a sequel, ''Pollyanna Grows Up'' (1915). Eleven more ''Pollyanna'' sequels, know ...
'' (1960) and ''
Swiss Family Robinson ''The Swiss Family Robinson'' (German: ''Der Schweizerische Robinson'') is a novel by Johann David Wyss, first published in 1812, about a Swiss family of immigrants whose ship en route to Port Jackson, Australia, goes off course and is shipwreck ...
'' (1960). Child actor
Hayley Mills Hayley Catherine Rose Vivien Mills (born 18 April 1946) is an English actress. The daughter of Sir John Mills and Mary Hayley Bell, and younger sister of actress Juliet Mills, she began her acting career as a child and was hailed as a promising ...
would star in ''Pollyanna'', where she would win the Academy Juvenile Award, and five other Disney films, including her dual role as the twins in ''The Parent Trap'' (1961). Another child actor
Kevin Corcoran Kevin Anthony "Moochie" Corcoran (June 10, 1949 – October 6, 2015) was an American child actor, director and producer. He appeared in numerous Disney projects between 1957 and 1963, leading him to be honored as a Disney Legend in 2006. Hi ...
was a prominent figure in many of the live-action Disney films, first appearing in a serial for ''The Mickey Mouse Club,'' where he would play a boy named Moochie, a nickname that would stay with him. He worked alongside Mills in ''Pollyanna'' and starred in features such as '' Old Yeller'' (1957), ''
Toby Tyler ''Toby Tyler or 10 Weeks with a Circus'', also known simply as ''Toby Tyler'', is a 1960 American drama film directed by Charles Barton and starring Kevin Corcoran, Henry Calvin, Gene Sheldon, and Richard Eastham. It was produced by Walt Dis ...
'' (1960), and ''Swiss Family Robinson''. In 1964, the live action/animation
musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...
''
Mary Poppins It may refer to: * ''Mary Poppins'' (book series), the original 1934–1988 children's fantasy novels that introduced the character. * Mary Poppins (character), the nanny with magical powers. * ''Mary Poppins'' (film), a 1964 Disney film sta ...
'' was released and became the highest grossing film of the year. It won five Academy Awards, including Best Actress for
Julie Andrews Dame Julie Andrews (born Julia Elizabeth Wells; 1 October 1935) is an English actress, singer, and author. She has garnered numerous accolades throughout her career spanning over seven decades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Fi ...
as
Poppins ''Poppins'' is a 2012 Indian Malayalam-language anthology film directed by V. K. Prakash. It stars ten lead actors, appearing as five couples; the characters are played by Kunchacko Boban and Nithya Menen, Jayasurya and Meghna Raj, Indrajith an ...
and Best Song for the Sherman Brothers', who also won Best Score for the film, " Chim Chim Cher-ee". Throughout the 1960s, Dean Jones, who was called "the figure who most represented Walt Disney Productions in the 1960s" by ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'', starred in ten Disney films, which included ''
That Darn Cat! ''That Darn Cat!'' is a 1965 American thriller comedy film directed by Robert Stevenson Robert Stevenson may refer to: * Robert Stevenson (actor and politician) (1915–1975), American actor and politician * Robert Stevenson (civil engineer) ...
'' (1965), '' The Ugly Dachshund'' (1966), and ''
The Love Bug ''The Love Bug'' is a 1968 American comedy film directed by Robert Stevenson and the first in a franchise by Walt Disney Productions and distributed by Buena Vista Distribution that starred an anthropomorphic pearl-white, fabric-sunroofed 1963 ...
'' (1968) and its second sequel
Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo ''Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo'' is a 1977 American comedy adventure film and the third installment of ''The Love Bug'' film series made by Walt Disney Productions starring Herbie—the white 1963 Volkswagen racing Beetle with a mind of its own. I ...
(1977). Disney's last child actor of the 1960s would be
Kurt Russell Kurt Vogel Russell (born March 17, 1951) is an American actor. He began acting on television at the age of 12 in the Westerns on television, western series ''The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters (TV series), The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters'' (19 ...
, who had signed a ten-year contract with the company. He featured in films such as ''
The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes ''The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes'' is a 1969 American science fiction comedy film starring Kurt Russell, Cesar Romero, Joe Flynn and William Schallert. It was produced by Walt Disney Productions and distributed by Buena Vista Distribution Compan ...
'' (1969), '' The Horse in the Gray Flannel Suit'' (1968) alongside Dean Jones, ''
The Barefoot Executive ''The Barefoot Executive'' (also known as ''The Rating Game'') is a 1971 American comedy film starring Kurt Russell, Joe Flynn, Wally Cox, Heather North, Harry Morgan, and John Ritter (in his film debut), about a pet chimpanzee, named Raffles, ...
'' (1971), and '' The Strongest Man in the World'' (1975). In late 1959, Walt had an idea to build another park in
Palm Beach, Florida Palm Beach is an incorporated town in Palm Beach County, Florida. Located on a barrier island in east-central Palm Beach County, the town is separated from several nearby cities including West Palm Beach and Lake Worth Beach by the Intracoas ...
, called the City of Tomorrow, a city that would be full of technological improvements. In 1964, the company chose land southwest of
Orlando, Florida Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County, Florida, Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Greater Orlando, Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, acco ...
, as the area to build the park and quickly acquired 27,000 acres (10,927 ha) of land for it. On November 15, 1965, Walt, along with Roy and Florida's current governor at the time
Haydon Burns William Haydon Burns (March 17, 1912 – November 22, 1987) was an American politician. He was Mayor of Jacksonville, Florida from 1949 to 1965, and served as the 35th Governor of Florida from 1965 to 1967. Early life Born in Chicago, Illinois ...
, announced the plans for another park called Disney World, which included the
Magic Kingdom Magic Kingdom Park, previously known as Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom (1971–1994) and The Magic Kingdom (1994–2017), is a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida, near Orlando, Florida. Owned and operated by The W ...
—‌a larger and more elaborate version of Disneyland‍, with golf courses and resort hotels near it—‌and the City of Tomorrow, which would be at the heart of the park. By 1967, the company had made several expansions to Disneyland including a new area called
New Orleans Square New Orleans Square is a themed land found at Disneyland Park in Anaheim, California. Based on 19th-century New Orleans, Louisiana, the roughly three-acre area was the first land to be added to Disneyland after the park's opening, at a cost of $ ...
, which would be filled with mostly shops and would be based on the look of
New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster.
; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...
. Through 1966 to 1967 they added three more rides It's a Small World, the Disneyland Railroad, and
Pirates of the Caribbean ''Pirates of the Caribbean'' is a Disney media franchise encompassing numerous theme park rides, a series of films, and spin-off novels, as well as a number of related video games and other media publications. The franchise originated with th ...
. In all, the expansion costed $20 million, which was $3 million more than it cost to make the park. They also added several other rides before then such as Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room, which was the first attraction to use audio-animatronics; Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress, which debuted at the
1964 New York World's Fair The 1964–1965 New York World's Fair was a world's fair that held over 140 pavilions and 110 restaurants, representing 80 nations (hosted by 37), 24 US states, and over 45 corporations with the goal and the final result of building exhibits or ...
before moving to Disneyland in 1967; and Dumbo the Flying Elephant, which opened a month after the park did. On November 20, 1964, Walt sold most of WED Enterprise to Walt Disney Productions for $3.75 million after being persuaded to by Roy, who thought that Walt having his own company would cause legal problems. Walt formed a new company called Retlaw to handle his personnel business, primarily the Disneyland Railroad and the
Disneyland Monorail The Disneyland Monorail System (originally named the Disneyland ALWEG Monorail System) is an attraction and transportation system at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California, United States. It was the first daily operating monorail in the W ...
. When the company started looking for someone to sponsor the project, Walt renamed the City of Tomorrow to
EPCOT Epcot, stylized in all uppercase as EPCOT, is a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida. It is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Parks, Experiences and Products division. Inspired by an unreal ...
, which stood for Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow. Because Walt had been a heavy smoker since World War I, his health started declining, and he visited the St. Joseph Hospital on November 2, 1966, for testing. The doctors discovered a walnut-sized spot on his left lung and removed it a few days later, finding out it was cancerous. After two weeks, he was released from the hospital, but overgrown lymph nodes showed that he did not have much longer to live. On December 15, 1966, at the age of 65, Walt died of circulatory collapse, caused by lung cancer.


1967–1984: Roy O. Disney's leadership and death, Walt Disney World, animation industry decline, and Touchstone Pictures

In 1967, the last two films Walt had worked on were released, the animated film ''The Jungle Book'', which would be Disney's most successful film for the next two decades, and the live-action musical ''
The Happiest Millionaire ''The Happiest Millionaire'' is a 1967 American musical film starring Fred MacMurray, based upon the true story of Philadelphia millionaire Anthony Drexel Biddle. The film, featuring music by the Sherman Brothers, was nominated for an Academy A ...
''. After Walt's death, the company largely abandoned the animation industry, but would still make several live-action films. Its staff in the field of animation began to decline from 500 workers to 125 employees, with the company only hiring 21 people from 1970 to 1977. Disney's first post-Walt animated film '' The Aristocats'' was released in 1970, where
Dave Kehr David Kehr (born 1953) is an American museum curator and film critic. For many years a critic at the ''Chicago Reader'' and the ''Chicago Tribune,'' he later wrote a weekly column for ''The New York Times'' on DVD releases. He later became a c ...
of ''
Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...
'' said, "the absence of his alt'shand is evident." That following year the
anti-fascist Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were ...
musical '' Bedknobs and Broomsticks'' was released and won the Oscar for Best Special Visual Effects. By the time Walt had died, Roy was ready to retire, but wanted to keep Walt's legacy alive and became the first
CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...
and
chairman of the board The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...
of the company. In May 1967, he got a legislation passed by Florida's legislatures to grant Disney World to have its own quasi-government agency in an area called the Reedy Creek Improvement District, and he later changed the name from Disney World to Walt Disney World to remind people it was Walt's dream. Over time, EPCOT became less of the City of Tomorrow and developed more into another amusement park. After 18 months of construction that cost around $400 million, Walt Disney World's first park the Magic Kingdom, along with
Disney's Contemporary Resort Disney's Contemporary Resort, originally to be named Tempo Bay Hotel and previously the Contemporary Resort Hotel, is a resort located at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida. Opened on October 1, 1971, the hotel is one of two or ...
and Disney's Polynesian Resort, opened on October 1, 1971, with 10,400 visitors. A parade with over 1,000 band members, along with 4,000 Disney entertainers and choir from the U.S. Army, marched down Main Street led by composer Meredith Wilson. Unlike Disneyland, the icon of the park would be the Cinderella Castle instead of the Sleeping Beauty Castle. Three months later on Thanksgiving day, cars wanting to get into the Magic Kingdom were stretched miles along the interstate. On December 21, 1971, Roy died of
cerebral hemorrhage Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), also known as cerebral bleed, intraparenchymal bleed, and hemorrhagic stroke, or haemorrhagic stroke, is a sudden bleeding into the tissues of the brain, into its ventricles, or into both. It is one kind of bleed ...
at the St. Joseph Hospital. After Roy's death, Donn Tatum, who was a senior executive for 25 years and former president of Disney, became the first non-Disney family member to become CEO and chairman of the board of the company, with Card Walker, who had been with the company since 1938, becoming president of the company. By June 30, 1973, Disney had over 23,000 employees and had a gross total of $257,751,000 over a nine months period, which is a raise compared to the year before when they made $220,026,000. In November, Disney released another animated film ''Robin Hood'', which became Disney's biggest international grossing movie at $18 million. Throughout the 1970s, Disney released several more live-action films such as ''The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes'' sequel '' Now You See Him, Now You Don't,'' ''The Love Bug's'' two sequels '' Herbie Rides Again'' (1974) and ''Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo'' (1977)'','' ''
Escape to Witch Mountain ''Escape to Witch Mountain'' is a science fiction novel written by Alexander Key in 1968. It was adapted for film by Disney as ''Escape to Witch Mountain'' in 1975 which spawned the ''Witch Mountain'' franchise. The novel was illustrated by L ...
'' (1975), and '' Freaky Friday'' (1976). In 1976, Card Walker took over as CEO of the company, with Tatum staying as the chairman until 1980 when Walker would replace him. In 1977, Roy E. Disney, Roy O. Disney's son and the only Disney working for the company, would resign from his job as an executive of the company because of disagreements with decisions the company was making. In 1977, Disney created the successful animated film '' The Rescuers,'' grossing $48 million at the box office. The live-acton/animated musical ''
Pete's Dragon ''Pete's Dragon'' is the title of two Disney live-action films: * ''Pete's Dragon'' (1977 film) * ''Pete's Dragon'' (2016 film) {{Short pages monitor {{DEFAULTSORT:Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, 1923 establishments in California 1940s initial public offerings American companies established in 1923 Companies based in Burbank, California Companies in the Dow Jones Industrial Average Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange Conglomerate companies established in 1923 Conglomerate companies of the United States Entertainment companies based in California Entertainment companies established in 1923 Culture of Hollywood, Los Angeles Mass media companies established in 1923 Mass media companies of the United States Multinational companies headquartered in the United States