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Disney Publishing Worldwide (DPW), formerly known as The Disney Publishing Group and Buena Vista Publishing Group, is the publishing subsidiary of
Disney Parks, Experiences and Products Disney Parks, Experiences and Products, Inc., formerly Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Worldwide, Inc. and informally known as Disney Parks, is one of The Walt Disney Company's five major business segments and a subsidiary. It was founded on Apri ...
, a subsidiary of
The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
. Its imprints include Disney Editions, Disney Press, Kingswell, Freeform, and Hyperion Books for Children. It has creative centers in
Glendale Glendale is the anglicised version of the Gaelic Gleann Dail, which means ''valley of fertile, low-lying arable land''. It may refer to: Places Australia * Glendale, New South Wales ** Stockland Glendale, a shopping centre *Glendale, Queensland, ...
,
California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
, and in
Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
,
Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
.


History

In 1990, Disney Consumer Products discontinued its license for ''
Topolino ''Topolino'' (from the Italian name for Mickey Mouse) is an Italian digest-sized comic series featuring Disney comics. The series has had a long running history, first appearing in 1932 as a comics magazine. It is currently published by Panini ...
'', an Italian Mickey Mouse magazine. This led Michael Lynton, the
Disney Consumer Products 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 ...
business development director, to start up its own Magazine Group with the similarly outlaid ''
Disney Adventures ''Disney Adventures'' (also short-formed as ''D.A.'') was an American children's entertainment and educational magazine published twelve (later ten) times per year by Disney Publishing Worldwide, a subsidiary of Disney Consumer Products, a unit o ...
''. Through Walt Disney Publications, Inc., Disney Publishing launched
Disney Comics Disney comics are comic books and comic strips featuring characters created by the Walt Disney Company, including Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Uncle Scrooge. The first Disney comics were newspaper strips appearing from 1930 on, starting with ...
in the United States. That same year, Disney began publishing ''Disney Adventures''. In 1991, Disney Publishing purchased ''
Discover Discover may refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''Discover'' (album), a Cactus Jack album * ''Discover'' (magazine), an American science magazine Businesses and brands * DISCover, the ''Digital Interactive Systems Corporation'' * Di ...
'' magazine from Family Media, placing it within its Magazine Group and purchased the ''
FamilyFun ''FamilyFun'' is a family magazine published 8 times annually by Dotdash Meredith. History and profile Launched in 1991 by Jake Winebaum, ''FamilyFun'' is written for parents with children aged 3 to 12, and focuses on family cooking, vacations, p ...
Magazine'' after its second issue from
Jake Winebaum Jake Winebaum (born 1959) is an American entrepreneur. Winebaum is the founder of FamilyFun magazine, Business.com, Brighter.com and co-founder of eCompanies and Applied Cognition. Early life Winebaum’s father, Sumner, was an advertising e ...
.


Incorporated

The Disney Publishing Group (DPG) was incorporated in January 1992, and included the already formed Hyperion Books,
Hyperion Books for Children Disney Publishing Worldwide (DPW), formerly known as The Disney Publishing Group and Buena Vista Publishing Group, is the publishing subsidiary of Disney Parks, Experiences and Products, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company. Its imprints inclu ...
,
Disney Press Disney Publishing Worldwide (DPW), formerly known as The Disney Publishing Group and Buena Vista Publishing Group, is the publishing subsidiary of Disney Parks, Experiences and Products, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company. Its imprints inclu ...
and its units. In 1994, DPG launched the Mouse Works and Fun Works divisions in February and November, respectively, in order to publish interactive children books. By April, the Magazine Group agreed with
Ziff-Davis Ziff Davis, Inc. is an American digital media and internet company. First founded in 1927 by William Bernard Ziff Sr. and Bernard George Davis, the company primarily owns technology-oriented media websites, online shopping-related services, and ...
Publishing Company to a joint venture publication, ''
Family PC ''FamilyPC'' was a monthly American computer magazine published from 1994 to 2001. The collaboration between Disney Publishing Worldwide, The Disney Publishing Group and Ziff-Davis was a brainchild of Jake Winebaum, with Robin Raskin serving as it ...
'', to be launched in September. In June, Lynton left his position as senior vice president of DPG to become president of Disney's
Hollywood Pictures Hollywood Pictures was an American film production label of Walt Disney Studios, founded and owned by The Walt Disney Company. Established on February 1, 1989, by then-Disney CEO Michael Eisner and then-studio chief Jeffrey Katzenberg, Hollywood ...
. In March 1995, with the market too crowded with Disney books, DPG merged Hyperion Books for Children with the Disney Press units. In August, Disney Magazine Publishing was reorganized into three divisions, each headed by a vice president/group publisher: Disney Family Magazines, Disney Kids Magazines, and Disney Special Interest Magazines. Family Magazines and Special Interest Magazines were expected to acquire additional publications beyond their single titles, ''Family Fun'' and ''Discover'' respectively. Special Interest Magazines' publisher was assigned responsibility for the
Discovery Channel Discovery Channel (known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery) is an American cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav. , Discovery Channe ...
TV show, ''
Discover Magazine ''Discover'' is an American general audience science magazine launched in October 1980 by Time Inc. It has been owned by Kalmbach Publishing since 2010. History Founding ''Discover'' was created primarily through the efforts of ''Time'' mag ...
''. Kids Magazines included the newly developed Big Time weekly newspaper supplement to have a Fall 1996 launch. Magazine President Jake Winebaum was transferred to head up
Disney Online Disney Interactive is an American video game and internet company that oversaw various websites and interactive media owned by The Walt Disney Company. History 1995–1996: Formation and beginnings In December 1994, Disney announced that it wa ...
. On May 11, 1998, Disney Publishing was renamed Buena Vista Publishing Group.


Disney Publishing Worldwide

In April 1999, Buena Vista Publishing Group changed its name to Disney Publishing Worldwide, Inc. (DPW) with Hyperion Books transferred to Disney's ABC Television Group. Disney Publishing launched its first original
comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...
, ''
W.I.T.C.H. ''W.I.T.C.H.'' (stylised as ''W.i.t.c.h.'') is an Italian fantasy Disney comics series created by Elisabetta Gnone, Alessandro Barbucci, and Barbara Canepa. The series features a group of five teenage girls who become the guardians of the classi ...
'', in 2001. It was successful, selling one million copies per month by August 2004, and was adapted into an
animated series An animated series is a set of animated works with a common series title, usually related to one another. These episodes should typically share the same main characters, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series can have either ...
. In mid-2001, DPW and
Baby Einstein Baby Einstein (stylized as baby einstein) is an American franchise and line of multimedia products, including home video programs, CDs, books, flashcards, toys, and baby gear that specialize in interactive activities for infants and toddlers ...
(which Disney acquired later that year) agreed to publish a baby book line to introduce fine art, foreign languages, poetry, and classical music.
Gemstone Publishing Gemstone Publishing is an American company that publishes comic book price guides. The company was formed by Diamond Comic Distributors President and Chief Executive Officer Steve Geppi in 1994 when he bought Overstreet. Gemstone published licens ...
licensed the rights to publish
Disney comics Disney comics are comic books and comic strips featuring characters created by the Walt Disney Company, including Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Uncle Scrooge. The first Disney comics were newspaper strips appearing from 1930 on, starting with ...
from DPW beginning in June 2003. Following its collapse in June 2004, the
CrossGen Cross Generation Entertainment or CrossGen was an American comic book publisher and entertainment company that operated from 1998 to 2004. The company's assets were acquired by The Walt Disney Company in 2004, and designated to Disney Publishing ...
trademark and properties were purchased by DPW's educational publishing division that November for its reading aids, with additional publications based on CrossGen books. The Disney Consumer Products'
Disney Fairies ''Disney Fairies'' is a The Walt Disney Company, Disney Media franchise, franchise created in 2005. The franchise is built around the character of Tinker Bell from Walt Disney Pictures, Disney's 1953 animated film ''Peter Pan (1953 film), Peter Pa ...
franchise Franchise may refer to: Business and law * Franchising, a business method that involves licensing of trademarks and methods of doing business to franchisees * Franchise, a privilege to operate a type of business such as a cable television p ...
debuted in September 2005, when Disney Publishing unveiled the novel ''Fairy Dust and the Quest for the Egg'' paired with a virtual world. The first book in The Kingdom Keepers series, based on
Disney Parks Disney Parks, Experiences and Products, Inc., formerly Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Worldwide, Inc. and informally known as Disney Parks, is one of The Walt Disney Company's five major business segments and a subsidiary. It was founded on Apri ...
and
Disney Villains This is a list of Disney villain characters often based on animated fictional characters who have been featured as part of the Disney character line-up. Some of these villain characters have appeared in sequels, video games, comic books, stage pr ...
, was released August 29, 2005. In 2005, ''Discover Magazine'' was sold to Bob Guccione Jr. and the ''Disney'' magazine was shut down. In February 2006, ''Wondertime'' magazine, which focused on mothers of children up to age six, was launched. DPW licensed out CrossGen to Checker Publishing Group to reprint comic book series as trade paperback editions starting in February 2007. In February 2007, Disney merged its kids and family focused television, online, radio, and publishing businesses' advertising sales and promotion teams into Disney Media Advertising Sales and Marketing Group, all of which were overseen by the presidents of
Disney Channels Worldwide Disney Branded Television is a unit of Disney General Entertainment Content which oversees development and production of content geared towards children, teenagers and families for Disney+, Disney Channel, Disney Junior and Disney XD. The unit al ...
,
Walt Disney Internet Group Disney Interactive is an American video game and internet company that oversaw various websites and interactive media owned by The Walt Disney Company. History 1995–1996: Formation and beginnings In December 1994, Disney announced that it wa ...
, and DPW. DPW canceled ''Disney Adventure'' with its November 2007 issue. By 2009, Disney Publishing Worldwide was organized into three divisions: Global Book Group, Disney English, and Global Magazines with four revenue areas: Global Magazines, Global Books, U.S. Magazines, and
Disney English Disney English () was a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide's Disney Learning division that specialized in English language training for young learners, ages 2 to 12, in China using Disney characters. Founded in 2008 in Shanghai, its class ...
. Disney Publishing launched Disney Digital Books on September 29 with five hundred books online. In 2009, Disney Press released ''Fairest of All: A Tale of the Wicked Queen'', the first of the Villains book series written by Serena Valentino. Disney Publishing Worldwide (India), a division of Walt Disney Company (India), announced a licensing agreement in April 2009 with local publisher Junior Diamond to publish Disney comic books, in both English and Hindi. On December 8, 2010, DPW's India unit signed a multi-year contract with
India Today Group 01 or '01 may refer to: * The year 2001, or any year ending with 01 * The month of January * 1 (number) Music * 01'' (Richard Müller album), 2001 * ''01'' (Son of Dave album), 2000 * ''01'' (Urban Zakapa album), 2011 * ''O1'' (Hiroyuki Sawano ...
to print and distribute
Disney comics Disney comics are comic books and comic strips featuring characters created by the Walt Disney Company, including Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Uncle Scrooge. The first Disney comics were newspaper strips appearing from 1930 on, starting with ...
in India. With few books issued under the imprint, Marvel Worldwide and Disney Books Group relaunched the
Marvel Press Marvel Press is the prose novel imprint for Marvel Comics jointly published with Disney Books. Background Marvel first licensed two prose novels to Bantam Books, which published '' The Avengers Battle the Earth Wrecker'' by Otto Binder (1967) and ...
imprint in 2011 with the Marvel Origin Storybooks line. In November DPW announced a new publication, ''FamilyFun Kids'', a bi-monthly magazine with kids' craft, games, puzzles, and recipes. In January 2012, DPW agreed to sell ''Family Fun Magazine'' to the
Meredith Corporation Meredith Corporation was an American media conglomerate based in Des Moines, Iowa, that owned magazines, television stations, websites, and radio stations. Its publications had a readership of more than 120 million and paid circulation of more ...
. By September 2012, the White Plains, New York office was closed with staff being moved to Glendale after less than 5 years after moving from New York City. Fifty sales and marketing staff moved to New York City to join editors that remained there. In July 2012, Andrew Sugerman was promoted to EVP, Disney Publishing Worldwide and the headquarters for the business was relocated to Glendale, CA to sit within Disney Consumer Products. In January 2013, DPW launched the Never Girls book series, an extension of the Disney Fairies franchise, with publishing partner
Random House Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...
. With the June 2013 announcement of the Hyperion Books division sale, Hyperion's adult trade book list was sold to Hachette Book Group. Books related to existing
Disney–ABC Television Group Disney General Entertainment Content, doing business as Walt Disney Television, is an American entertainment company that oversees television content and assets owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company. Forming the company's General Enterta ...
properties, young adult titles, and Disney-Hyperion imprint and titles were transferred to DPW. By January 2014, the Kingswell name was selected as a placeholder imprint name for the Hyperion titles withheld from the Hyperion division sale; Kingwell Avenue was Disney's location before moving to Hyperion Avenue. In November 2013, Disney Publishing revived
Disney Comics Disney comics are comic books and comic strips featuring characters created by the Walt Disney Company, including Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Uncle Scrooge. The first Disney comics were newspaper strips appearing from 1930 on, starting with ...
as an imprint in the US for sporadic publishing. The imprint's first publication was the ''
Space Mountain Space Mountain is a space-themed indoor roller coaster attraction located at five of the six Disneyland-style Disney Parks. Although all five versions of the attraction are different in nature, all have a similar conical exterior façade that is ...
'' graphic novel, its first original graphic novel, released on May 7, 2014. Disney Publishing Worldwide transferred the Disney Fairies franchise main publishing license to
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers Little, Brown and Company is an American publishing company founded in 1837 by Charles Coffin Little and James Brown in Boston. For close to two centuries it has published fiction and nonfiction by American authors. Early lists featured Emily ...
in January 2014 except for the Never Girls series. DPW announced in April 2014 that
Del Rey Books Del Rey Books is a branch of Ballantine Books, which is owned by Random House and, in turn, by Penguin Random House. It is a separate imprint established in 1977 under the editorship of author Lester del Rey and his wife Judy-Lynn del Rey. It ...
would publish a new line of canon
Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop-culture Cultural impact of S ...
books under the
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 ' ...
Story Group from September onward on a bi-monthly schedule while previous, non-canon, Expanded Universe material would be reprinted under the Star Wars Legends banner. Disney Publishing has been a focus for Disney Consumer Products to launch new franchises. In May 2014, DPW released the first book in the Waterfire Saga mermaid book series, along with a song and music videos. Disney's first deal with Stan Lee's
POW! Entertainment POW! Entertainment Inc. is an American media production company formed in 2001 by Gill Champion, Arthur Lieberman and former Marvel Comics editor and publisher Stan Lee. POW! is made up of two companies: POW! Entertainment, Inc. (POW! Inc.), a ...
resulted in The Zodiac Legacy book series, with the first novel released in January 2015 through DPW. The Never Girls chapter series reached the ''New York Times'' Best Sellers List - Children's Series on the week of August 10. Disney Learning launched its Disney Imagicademy program on December 11. At that time, DPW was organized into three main units: Core Publishing, Digital Publishing, and Disney Learning. Between 2012 and 2015, Disney Publishing Worldwide's Digital Publishing group developed and distributed more than 100 top ranked Apps across Apple iOS and Google Android making it one of the largest kids & family App publishers in the world. Disney Consumer Products and Interactive Media (DCPI) was formed in June 2015 as merger of Disney Consumer Products and Disney Interactive with Disney Publishing Worldwide reporting to the co-chairs of DCPI. DPW launched Star Darlings, its first franchise under DCPI, on September 15, 2015, with two books. In October 2015, Disney Publishing announced the launch of the Freeform imprint to coincide with the relaunch of ABC Family as Freeform. This imprint was to be headed up by editor-in-chief and associate publisher Emily Thomas Meehan and would focus on young-adult and teen crossover fiction and nonfiction working with Freeform channel partners to develop new
intellectual property 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 ...
from both developing and bestselling authors. The first book from Freeform was ''Two Truths and a Lie'', written by
Melissa de la Cruz Melissa de la Cruz (born 1971) is a Filipina-American writer known for young adult fiction. Her young-adult series include ''Au Pairs'', the '' Blue Bloods'', and ''The Beauchamp Family''. Early life and education Melissa de la Cruz was born in ...
and
Margaret Stohl Margaret Stohl (; born 1967) is an American novelist. She is the author of 14 novels, as well as 5 volumes of comics and several videogames. She lives in Santa Monica, California. Early life and education Margaret Stohl was born in Pasadena, ...
, and was the first in a trilogy. Disney-Hyperion started a new imprint,
Rick Riordan Presents Rick Riordan Presents is a book imprint of Disney-Hyperion (Disney Publishing Worldwide) that was launched in 2018 and is led by Stephanie Owens Lurie. The line publishes books that utilize the mythology of various cultures and countries in its ...
, for middle grade readers featuring mythology-based books by September 2016. Riordan would act as in a curator-type role and his editor, Stephanie Owens Lurie, would be editorial director of the imprint. The imprint was planned to be launched with two books in 2018. By April 2017, the imprint had acquired three titles for its 2018 launch with audio rights sold to Listening Library. Riordan Presents first book, ''
Aru Shah and the End of Time ''Aru Shah and the End of Time'' is a 2018 American literature, American-fantasy literature, fantasy-adventure novel written by Roshani Chokshi and published in March 2018 by Disney-Hyperion. It is the first of many "Rick Riordan Presents" impri ...
'', will be written by
Roshani Chokshi Roshani Chokshi (born February 14, 1991) is an American children's book author and a New York Times bestselling author. Personal life Chokshi's mother is Filipino and her father is Indian, both immigrants to the United States. She grew up spe ...
to be published in April 2018 and will be the first in a quartet of novels. The other two, Yoon Ha Lee 's ''Dragon Pearl'' Korean folklore novel and Jennifer Cervantes's Mayan based ''Storm Runner'' novel, will be stand-alone novels released in September 2018. As part of
The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
's March 2018 strategic reorganization, Disney Consumer Products and Interactive Media was merged into Walt Disney Parks and Resorts segment and renamed
Disney Parks, Experiences and Products Disney Parks, Experiences and Products, Inc., formerly Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Worldwide, Inc. and informally known as Disney Parks, is one of The Walt Disney Company's five major business segments and a subsidiary. It was founded on Apri ...
. With the
acquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney The acquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney was announced on December 14, 2017, and was completed on March 20, 2019. Among other key assets, the acquisition of 21st Century Fox by the Walt Disney Company included the 20th Century Fox film and ...
by August 2019,
National Geographic Partners National Geographic Partners, LLC is a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which owns 73% of shares) and the namesake non-profit scientific organization National Geographic Society (which owns 27%). The company oversees all commercial ...
publishing operations, NG Media, were transferred to Disney Publishing while ending Traveler magazine's US edition. With group publisher Mary Ann Naples exiting to
Hachette Books Hachette Books, formerly Hyperion Books, is a general-interest book imprint of the Perseus Books Group, which is a division of Hachette Book Group and ultimately a part of Lagardère Group. Established in 1990, Hachette publishes general-intere ...
, in May Disney Publishing promoted two to take up Naples duties. Lynn Waggoner continued as vice president and global publisher, franchise while adding Disney Press, Marvel Press, Lucasfilm Press, and Disney Editions imprints. Emily Thomas Meehan moved up from director, editor-in-chief and associate publisher of the Disney Book Group to vice president and publisher of Hyperion, original content strategy and IP development. In February 2020,
Hachette Book Group Hachette Book Group (HBG) is a publishing company owned by Hachette Livre, the largest publishing company in France, and the third largest trade and educational publisher in the world. Hachette Livre is a wholly owned subsidiary of Lagardère Grou ...
acquired 1,000 titles for young readers from Disney Book Group. These books will be re-released by
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers Little, Brown and Company is an American publishing company founded in 1837 by Charles Coffin Little and James Brown in Boston. For close to two centuries it has published fiction and nonfiction by American authors. Early lists featured Emily ...
. In 2022, it was announced that
Penguin Random House Penguin Random House LLC is an Anglo-American multinational corporation, multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate publishing company formed on July 1, 2013, from the merger of Penguin Group and Random House. On April 2, 2020, Bertels ...
will take over distribution of Disney Publishing Worldwide titles from 2023 onwards.


Franchises

Disney Publishing launched unplanned franchises starting with ''
W.I.T.C.H. ''W.I.T.C.H.'' (stylised as ''W.i.t.c.h.'') is an Italian fantasy Disney comics series created by Elisabetta Gnone, Alessandro Barbucci, and Barbara Canepa. The series features a group of five teenage girls who become the guardians of the classi ...
'' in 2001. DPW's educational division purchased the CrossGen comic book assets in November 2004. DPW was then drafted as an outlet for Disney Consumer Products' planned franchises:
Disney Fairies ''Disney Fairies'' is a The Walt Disney Company, Disney Media franchise, franchise created in 2005. The franchise is built around the character of Tinker Bell from Walt Disney Pictures, Disney's 1953 animated film ''Peter Pan (1953 film), Peter Pa ...
,
Disney Bunnies 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 their extensions), the Never Girls book series, and Disney Princess Palace Pets apps. DPW started to originate planned franchises with the ''Waterfire Saga'' in 2014 and ''The Zodiac Legacy'' and ''Star Darlings'' in 2015. *''
CrossGen Cross Generation Entertainment or CrossGen was an American comic book publisher and entertainment company that operated from 1998 to 2004. The company's assets were acquired by The Walt Disney Company in 2004, and designated to Disney Publishing ...
'' – purchased franchise in November 2004 for reading aids plus development of other assets by Hyperion Books for Children. Its ''
Abadazad ''Abadazad'' is an American comic book written by J.M.DeMatteis and drawn by Mike Ploog, with color by Nick Bell. Published in 2004 by Crossgen Comics to rave reviews, the series halted after three issues when Crossgen went out of business.
'' fantasy series was reworked as a prose/comic hybrid format releasing two volumes in June 2006 of a planned series of eight volumes, up from the original four. The franchise was restarted as an imprint by
Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...
in March 2011. *'' The Kingdom Keepers'' – a seven-book series based on the Disney parks features holographic guardians fight against some of the
Disney Villains This is a list of Disney villain characters often based on animated fictional characters who have been featured as part of the Disney character line-up. Some of these villain characters have appeared in sequels, video games, comic books, stage pr ...
called Overtakers. The first book was released August 29, 2005. *''Twisted Tales'' – started as a book series with various authors writing twists on Disney films. Current contributors include authors Liz Braswell, Elizabeth Lim, and Jen Calonita. *''Star Darlings'' – launched with two chapter books in . *''
W.I.T.C.H. ''W.I.T.C.H.'' (stylised as ''W.i.t.c.h.'') is an Italian fantasy Disney comics series created by Elisabetta Gnone, Alessandro Barbucci, and Barbara Canepa. The series features a group of five teenage girls who become the guardians of the classi ...
'' – launched as a comic book in 2001 and expanded with an
animated series An animated series is a set of animated works with a common series title, usually related to one another. These episodes should typically share the same main characters, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series can have either ...
in 2004. *''Waterfire Saga'' – launched with the first novel of a
tetralogy A tetralogy (from Greek τετρα- ''tetra-'', "four" and -λογία ''-logia'', "discourse") is a compound work that is made up of four distinct works. The name comes from the Attic theater, in which a tetralogy was a group of three tragedies ...
in May 2014. *''The Zodiac Legacy'' – expected franchise launched as a book series in January 2015.


Waterfire Saga

Waterfire Saga is a Disney Publishing franchise based on
mermaid In folklore, a mermaid is an aquatic creature with the head and upper body of a female human and the tail of a fish. Mermaids appear in the folklore of many cultures worldwide, including Europe, Asia, and Africa. Mermaids are sometimes asso ...
s launched in May 2014 as a multimedia release around a core book series.


Waterfire history

The Waterfire Saga was developed by Disney Publishing's various departments after some years of considering doing a mermaid mythology project. A 200-page franchise bible was compiled that included cultures, story arcs, images of the undersea world and its inhabitants, and main character profiles. In the summer of 2011, Global Books' publisher Suzanne Murphy approached
Jennifer Donnelly Jennifer Donnelly (born August 16, 1963) is an American writer of young adult fiction best known for the historical novel '' A Northern Light''. ''A Northern Light'' was published as ''A Gathering Light'' in the U.K. There, it won the 2003 Car ...
to write the book series. Donnelly agreed. In early 2014, Disney Publishing Worldwide announced the launch of the Waterfire Saga. By March 2014, Donnelly had already finished work on the first two books and had started on the third. The first novel, ''Deep Blue'', was released under the Disney-Hyperion imprint on May 6, 2014, with a print run of 250,000 copies and a national book tour. The novel's marketing plan included advertising in print, TV, and in-theater;
ABC Family The American cable television, cable and satellite television network that is now known as Freeform (TV channel), Freeform was originally launched as the CBN Satellite Service on April 29, 1977, and has gone through several different owners (and s ...
and
Hollywood Records Hollywood Records is an American record label of the Disney Music Group. The label focuses in pop, rock, alternative, hip hop, and country genres, as well as specializing in mature recordings not suitable for the flagship Walt Disney Records l ...
would run additional promotions as well as a retail floor display with riser. A song and music videos were included in the simultaneous e-book edition release. The book was released simultaneously in the United Kingdom, Italy, and Spain. Other foreign editions were to be released in late 2014 and early 2015. The second book in the series, ''Rogue Wave'', was released in January 2015. In 2015, DPW's Milan comic unit was scheduled to start issuing comics and graphic novels to expand the franchise. ''Dark Tide'' was released Summer 2015 and the final book, ''Sea Spell'' was released in Summer 2016.


Plot

Merpeople came into existence after their ancestors' island of Atlantis was destroyed. The four-book series centers around six mermaids who try to save their world. ''Deep Blue'' initially focuses on Serafina, a mermaid of the Mediterranean Sea, who has a premonitory dream about an ancient evil returning on the eve of her betrothal. Her mother is hit by assassin's
poisoned arrow Arrow poisons are used to poison arrow heads or darts for the purposes of hunting and warfare. They have been used by indigenous peoples worldwide and are still in use in areas of South America, Africa and Asia. Notable examples are the poisons se ...
, which confirms the dream. She has additional visions that lead her to find five other mermaids across the world's oceans. The six bond and find a world threatening conspiracy.


Additional media

An audio book version of ''Deep Blue'' was recorded by
Bea Miller Beatrice Annika Miller (born February 7, 1999) is an American singer and actress. She came in ninth place on season two of ''The X Factor'' (US) when she was 13 years old. She was later signed to Hollywood Records. Her debut EP '' Young Blood'' ...
released through Listening Library. In 2015, DPW's Milan comic unit was to begin issuing yet to be announced comics and graphic novels to expand the franchise. The song “Open Your Eyes” was issued through
Hollywood Records Hollywood Records is an American record label of the Disney Music Group. The label focuses in pop, rock, alternative, hip hop, and country genres, as well as specializing in mature recordings not suitable for the flagship Walt Disney Records l ...
, and is sung by Bea Miller.


Zodiac Legacy

The Zodiac Legacy is a superhero franchise created by
Stan Lee Stan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber ; December 28, 1922 – November 12, 2018) was an American comic book writer, editor, publisher, and producer. He rose through the ranks of a family-run business called Timely Publications which ...
that debuted in illustrated novels published by Disney Publishing with
POW! Entertainment POW! Entertainment Inc. is an American media production company formed in 2001 by Gill Champion, Arthur Lieberman and former Marvel Comics editor and publisher Stan Lee. POW! is made up of two companies: POW! Entertainment, Inc. (POW! Inc.), a ...
under the Disney Press imprint. Working with Stan Lee on the books are co-writer
Stuart Moore Stuart Moore is an American writer and editor of comic books and novels. Career Stuart Moore's writing includes ''Civil War'', the first in a line of prose novels from Marvel Comics, and two stories for Amazon's Kindle Worlds program: ''X-O M ...
and
Andie Tong Andie Tong is a comic book artist, known for his work on books such as ''Green Lantern: Legacy'', ''Legend of Shang-Chi'', ''Tron: Betrayal'', ''Spectacular Spider-Man UK'', ''The Batman Strikes!'' and ''Tangent Comics#Earth-9, Tangent: Superman' ...
, artist. The first illustrated novel, ''The Zodiac Legacy: Convergence'' was released on January 27, 2015. The second novel in the illustrated series, ''The Dragon's Return'', was released on January 26, 2016. ''Dragon's Return'' made the New York Times best seller list for the week ending January 30, 2016. With
Papercutz :PAPERCUTZ (stylized as :papercutz or :PAPERCUTZ) is a Portuguese electronic music act formed as a side project in Porto that became a fully active band in 2008. Bruno Miguel is the only official member of Papercutz and solely responsible for ...
, the first Zodiac Legacy graphic novel, ''Tiger Island'', hit the stands on March 30, 2016, with the writing team joined by artist Paris Cullins. In early April 2017, the third and final book in the trilogy, ''The Balance of Power'', was released. By that time, a second Papercutz graphic novel in the series was released with art from P.H. Marcondes. In July 2017, the third graphic novel was released. Plot: The series follows a Chinese-American eighth grader from Philadelphia going on a Hong Kong class trip. He finds himself involved with an ancient secret unleashing twelve Zodiac magical superpowers. The eighth grader, Steven, has to deal with being a superhero and how that effects him family and friends as he ends up in the middle of a worldwide adventure. With the second book, Steven attempts to keep his allies together as they enter a grey area.


Star Darlings

Star Darlings is a Disney Publishing multimedia franchise based on an original wish-granting fey people called the Starlings. Star Darlings is a trademark of Star Darlings, LLC. owned by DPW. Barry Waldo was selected to manage the franchise, which is an inspirational brand targeted at tweens designed to: "celebrate their individuality, make positive choices, and turn their wishes into reality".
Justice Justice, in its broadest sense, is the principle that people receive that which they deserve, with the interpretation of what then constitutes "deserving" being impacted upon by numerous fields, with many differing viewpoints and perspective ...
is the franchise's primary retail partner carrying
Jakks Pacific Jakks Pacific, Inc. is an American company that designs and markets toys and consumer products, with a range of products that feature numerous children's toy licenses. The company is named after its founder, Jack Friedman, who had previously fou ...
doll line, clothing, and books.
Disney Store The Disney Store is a chain of specialty stores selling only Disney related items, many of them exclusive, under its own name and Disney Outlet. It was a business unit of Disney Consumer Products with the Disney Parks, Experiences and Products seg ...
s would carry a limited product line. The Star Darlings plot is about 12 young Starlings at Starling Academy on Starland who learn about Wishworld (Earth) and are selected to go on a secret mission there. Sage, Libby and Leona are the Star Darlings up first for books with the other nine being Adora, Astra, Cassie, Clover, Gemma, Piper, Scarlet, Tessa and Vega.


Star Darlings history

Shana Muldoon first registered a trademark for the Star Darling name in 2009, but it was considered abandoned for lack of use on . Shana Muldoon Zappa, Ahmet Zappa, and Disney Publishing began development in 2011 on Star Darlings. On , Star Darlings, LLC filed to register the trademark with two extensions granted with the last given on . The franchise was announced at the D23 convention in and launched on with two chapter books ''Sage and the Journey to Wishworld'' and ''Libby and the Class Election''.
Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' (or ''Kirkus Media'') is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus (1893–1980). The magazine is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fic ...
found the first volume, ''Sage and the Journey to Wishworld'', to be "complicated, retrograde, and very sparkly" and for ages seven to eleven. On September 24, 2015, a social media event and a press day would be held for the franchise as part of its launch phase of the marketing campaign. Expected releases through November are the Jakks dolls at Justice, a storytelling and lifestyle app, music through Walt Disney Records and the first episode of a YouTube animated series. In 2016, two animated specials based on Star Darlings were broadcast on
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 ...
, ''Becoming Star Darlings'' on January 29 and ''Star Darlings Friendships'' on March 25. The TV specials featured a remixed version of the Star Darlings theme song by teen singer-songwriter
Skylar Stecker Skylar Star Stecker (born April 24, 2002) is an American singer and actress. In 2015, she released her debut studio album, ''This Is Me''. In March 2019, she independently released her second album, ''Redemption''. Life Born on April 24, 2002, in ...
. The remixed theme song was also featured in a music video. Another TV special, ''The Power of Twelve'' (22 minutes) was broadcast on Disney Channel on November 26, 2016. The future of this series is unknown as three books that were supposed to be released after ''Stealing Starlight'' were canceled, with no new franchise activity after its release on January 17, 2017. However, Shana Muldoon Zappa said on
Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
that there is "an exciting reason" for things being put on hold.


Units

*Core Publishing ** Disney Magazine Publishing, Inc. ***
Disney Comics Disney comics are comic books and comic strips featuring characters created by the Walt Disney Company, including Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Uncle Scrooge. The first Disney comics were newspaper strips appearing from 1930 on, starting with ...
**Disney Book Group (Disney Book Publishing, Inc.) ***Disney·Hyperion ****
Rick Riordan Presents Rick Riordan Presents is a book imprint of Disney-Hyperion (Disney Publishing Worldwide) that was launched in 2018 and is led by Stephanie Owens Lurie. The line publishes books that utilize the mythology of various cultures and countries in its ...
, imprint for middle grade readers featuring mythology-based books ***Disney·Jump at the Sun ***Disney-Lucasfilm Press ***
Disney Press Disney Publishing Worldwide (DPW), formerly known as The Disney Publishing Group and Buena Vista Publishing Group, is the publishing subsidiary of Disney Parks, Experiences and Products, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company. Its imprints inclu ...
***Disney Editions ***Disney Libri ***Disney Libros (Spain) ***
Marvel Press Marvel Press is the prose novel imprint for Marvel Comics jointly published with Disney Books. Background Marvel first licensed two prose novels to Bantam Books, which published '' The Avengers Battle the Earth Wrecker'' by Otto Binder (1967) and ...
***ABC Daytime Press ***
ESPN Books ESPN Books is a publishing company operated by ESPN Started in 2004, ESPN Books has published almost 20 books. ESPN Books also is in charge of producing ESPN's yearly sports encyclopedia. It also controls its own book club and in addition it ranks ...
***Kingswell ***Freeform ***National Geographic Books ***
National Geographic Maps National Geographic Maps, founded in 1915, is the commercial map publishing division of National Geographic, part of a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company and the National Geographic Society. Initially the in-house cartographic studio fo ...
*Digital Publishing - Disney Book Apps *Disney Learning, incorporated on as Disney Educational Publishing, Inc., and changed name by to Disney Learning **Disney Educational Productions **
Disney English Disney English () was a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide's Disney Learning division that specialized in English language training for young learners, ages 2 to 12, in China using Disney characters. Founded in 2008 in Shanghai, its class ...
**Disney Imagicademy is a program of Disney Learning consisting of a suite of mobile learning apps for kids with over thirty apps planned. The first two apps were the parent companion app and Mickey's Magical Math World on iPad. The parent companion app allows parent to track their kids' advancement on the apps.


Hyperion Books for Children

Hyperion Books for Children (HBC) and Disney Press were both launched in 1990. The Disney Publishing Group was incorporated in January 1992 and included the already formed Hyperion Books, Hyperion Books for Children, Disney Press, and other units. In March 1995 with the market too crowded with Disney books, Hyperion Books for Children merged with Disney Press. Hyperion Books for Children started a new imprint, Jump at the Sun, in September 1998 for the African-American children's market. DPW slated
Abadazad ''Abadazad'' is an American comic book written by J.M.DeMatteis and drawn by Mike Ploog, with color by Nick Bell. Published in 2004 by Crossgen Comics to rave reviews, the series halted after three issues when Crossgen went out of business.
four-book series from its
CrossGen Cross Generation Entertainment or CrossGen was an American comic book publisher and entertainment company that operated from 1998 to 2004. The company's assets were acquired by The Walt Disney Company in 2004, and designated to Disney Publishing ...
property for publication after purchasing the CrossGen assets under this imprint.


References


External links

*, consumer website * * * * * * franchise site {{Authority control 1991 establishments in California American companies established in 1991 Publishing companies established in 1991 Companies based in Glendale, California Publishing companies of the United States