Portal:Disney

Portal topics: Activities; Culture; Geography; Health; History; Mathematics; Nature; People; Philosophy; Religion; Society; Technology; Random portal

Introduction

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

After becoming a major success by the early 1940s, Disney diversified into live-action films, television, and theme parks in the 1950s. However, following Walt Disney's death in 1966, the company's profits, especially in the animation sector, 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 from 1989 to 1999. In 2005, under the new CEO Bob Iger, the company continued to expand into a major entertainment conglomerate with the acquisitions of Pixar in 2006, Marvel Entertainment in 2009, Lucasfilm in 2012, and 21st Century Fox in 2019. In 2020, Bob Chapek became the head of Disney after Iger's retirement. However, Chapek was ousted in 2022 and Iger was reinstated as CEO.

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

Refresh with new selections below (purge)

Selected article

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 Indiana Jones franchises, as well as its leadership in developing special effects, sound, and computer animation for films. Lucasfilm was founded by filmmaker George Lucas in 1971 in San Rafael, California; most of the company's operations were moved to San Francisco in 2005. Disney acquired Lucasfilm on October 30, 2012, for $4.05 billion in the form of cash and stock, with $1.855 billion in stock.

More selected articles • Read more

Selected image

Ollie Johnston in his home workshop in 1989.

Credit: Janke

Oliver Martin Johnston, Jr. (October 31, 1912 – April 14, 2008) was an American motion picture animator. He was one of Disney's Nine Old Men, and the last surviving at the time of his death. He was recognized by The Walt Disney Company with its Disney Legend Award in 1989. His work was recognized with the National Medal of Arts in 2005.

More selected pictures • Read more...

General images - load new batch

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

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

Selected biography

Jeff "Swampy" Marsh (born December 9, 1960) is an American television director, writer, producer, storyboard artist, and actor associated with several animated television series. Marsh was born in Santa Monica, California, where he grew up with a heavily blended family dynamic. Marsh has been and continues to be a driving force behind several animation projects, working for over six seasons on the animated television series The Simpsons. Marsh continued to work on other animated television series, including King of the Hill and Rocko's Modern Life, before moving to England in 1996. While in England, Marsh worked on several animated programs, including Postman Pat and Bounty Hamster, and worked for BKN New Media Ltd. to produce several feature films. After six years living in England, Marsh was asked by his longtime partner Dan Povenmire to help produce Phineas and Ferb in 2007, a concept the two had while working together on Rocko's Modern Life. Marsh accepted and moved back to the United States; the series has since garnered Marsh two Emmy Awards nominations for songwriting.

More selected biographies • Read more

Did you know (auto-generated)

... that Scarlett Johansson filed a lawsuit against The Walt Disney Company alleging that the release strategy for Black Widow breached her contract?
... that Disney+ released a promotional poster for the Doctor Who Christmas special "Joy to the World" with the title spelled incorrectly?
... that John Oliver dared Disney to sue him over his version of Mickey Mouse?
... that the ferry General Joe Potter at Walt Disney World is named in honor of Major General William Everett Potter?
... that a revival of the comedy series Lizzie McGuire was ordered in 2019, but canceled mid-production after Disney deemed it not family-friendly enough?

Selected quote

Come on, Goofy, it's a beautiful day! Let's go out and shoot some golf!

— Mickey Mouse

More selected quotes • More at Wikiquote

More Did you know...

...that former Disney animator Jack Dunham created the official rooster mascot for St-Hubert, a Canadian BBQ restaurant chain?

...that Tomorrow's Pioneers is a television program for children produced by Hamas?

...that The Nightmare Before Christmas was originally released by Touchstone Pictures, a label owned by the Walt Disney Company, because it was considered inappropriate to use the Walt Disney Pictures banner due to the darker content displayed in this film.
...that in May 1992, entertainment magazine The Hollywood Reporter reported that about 25% of Euro Disney's workforce — approximately 3,000 men and women — had resigned their jobs because of unacceptable working conditions.
... that Disney CEO Michael Eisner was struck with inspiration for the show, Adventures of the Gummi Bears when his son requested gummi bear candies one day.

More did you know facts

Topics

Recognized content

Extended content

This is a list of recognized content, updated weekly by JL-Bot (talk · contribs) (typically on Saturdays). There is no need to edit the list yourself. If an article is missing from the list, make sure it is tagged (e.g. {{WikiProject Disney}}) or categorized correctly and wait for the next update. See WP:RECOG for configuration options.