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Introduction

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

After becoming a major success by the early 1940s, Disney diversified into live-action films, television, and theme parks in the 1950s. However, following Walt Disney's death in 1966, the company's profits, especially in the animation division, began to decline. In 1984, Disney's shareholders voted Michael Eisner as CEO, who led a reversal of the company's decline through a combination of international theme park expansion and the highly successful Disney Renaissance period of animation in the 1990s. In 2005, under new CEO Bob Iger, the company continued to expand into a major entertainment conglomerate with the acquisitions of Marvel Studios, Lucasfilm, and 20th Century Studios. In 2020, Bob Chapek became the head of Disney after Iger's retirement. However, Chapek was ousted in 2022 and Iger was reinstated as CEO.

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

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Selected article

Donald Fauntleroy Duck is a cartoon character created in 1934 at Walt Disney Productions and licensed by The Walt Disney Company. Donald is an anthropomorphic white duck with a yellow-orange bill, legs, and feet. He typically wears a sailor suit with a cap and a black or red bow tie. Donald's most famous personality trait is his easily provoked and explosive temper. Along with his friend Mickey Mouse, Donald is one of the most popular Disney characters and was included in TV Guide's list of the 50 greatest cartoon characters of all time in 2002. Donald rose to fame with his comedic roles in animated cartoons. He first appeared in The Wise Little Hen (1934), but it was his second appearance in Orphan's Benefit which characterized him as a temperamental comic foil to Mickey Mouse. Throughout the 1930s, '40s and '50s he appeared in over 100 theatrical films, several of which were recognized at the Academy Awards. Donald was first a supporting character alongside Mickey, Goofy and Pluto, but was given his own series of films in 1937, starting with Don Donald. These films introduced Donald's girlfriend Daisy Duck and sometimes featured his three nephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie as recurring characters. After the 1956 film Chips Ahoy Donald appeared primarily in educational films before eventually returning to theatrical animation in 1983 with Mickey's Christmas Carol. His most recent theatrical appearance was in 1999's Fantasia 2000. Donald has also appeared in direct-to-video features such as Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas (1999) and The Three Musketeers (2004) as well as television programs such as DuckTales (1987–1990), Quack Pack (1998–2004) and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (2006–present).

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Credit: Coolcaesar

A headquarters of Disney Channel in Burbank, California.

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

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

Selected biography

Walter Elias Disney (/ˈdɪzni/; December 5, 1901 – December 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 producer, he holds the record for most Academy Awards earned and nominations by an individual, having won 22 Oscars from 59 nominations. He was presented with two Golden Globe Special Achievement Awards and an Emmy Award, among other honors. Several of his films are included in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress. Disney was the first person to be nominated for Academy Awards in six different categories, a record he shares with Alfonso Cuaron and George Clooney (although Kenneth Branagh later surpassed all three with nominations in seven categories).

Born in Chicago in 1901, Disney developed an early interest in drawing. He took art classes as a boy and got a job as a commercial illustrator at the age of 18. He moved to California in the early 1920s and set up the Disney Brothers Studio with his brother Roy. With Ub Iwerks, he developed the character Mickey Mouse in 1928, his first highly popular success; he also provided the voice for his creation in the early years. As the studio grew, he became more adventurous, introducing synchronized sound, full-color three-strip Technicolor, feature-length cartoons and technical developments in cameras. The results, seen in features such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), Pinocchio, Fantasia (both 1940), Dumbo (1941), and Bambi (1942), furthered the development of animated film. New animated and live-action films followed after World War II, including the critically successful Cinderella (1950) and Mary Poppins (1964), the latter of which received five Academy Awards.

In the 1950s, Disney expanded into the amusement park industry, and in July 1955 he opened Disneyland in Anaheim, California. To fund the project he diversified into television programs, such as Walt Disney's Disneyland and The Mickey Mouse Club. He was also involved in planning the 1959 Moscow Fair, the 1960 Winter Olympics, and the 1964 New York World's Fair. In 1965, he began development of another theme park, Disney World, the heart of which was to be a new type of city, the "Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow" (EPCOT). Disney was a heavy smoker throughout his life and died of lung cancer in December 1966 before either the park or the EPCOT project were completed.

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Did you know (auto-generated)

... that vaccine coverage at schools around the Disneyland Resort was too low for herd immunity when measles broke out in 2014?
... that Scarlett Johansson filed a lawsuit against The Walt Disney Company alleging that the release strategy for Black Widow breached her contract?
... that, for the Space 220 Restaurant, Disney reached out to NASA engineers to understand what a space elevator might look like?
... that some TikTokers make videos about whether to smash or pass Disney characters?
... that Encanto's Mirabel is the first Disney heroine to wear glasses?
... that John Oliver dared Disney to sue him over his version of Mickey Mouse?

Selected quote

Pretty, huh? I'll bet a lot of you folks don't believe that, about a wish comin' true, do ya? Well, I didn't, either. Of course, I'm just a cricket singing my way from hearth to hearth, but let me tell you what made me change my mind...

— Jiminy Cricket, Pinocchio

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More Did you know...

...that the Phineas and Ferb episode "Are You My Mummy?" originally aired as part of "Phineas and Ferb-urary," a special event which showed episodes of the series every night in February 2008 on Disney Channel?

...that it took 16 years for the pilot episode of Phineas and Ferb to be picked up?

...that Newsies is based on the true story of the Newsboys Strike of 1899 in New York City.
...Disneyland cost $17 million dollars to build?
...that Walt Disney was an ambulance driver during World War One?

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