Walt Disney Studios (division)
| File:The Walt Disney Studios logo.svg | |
| Company type | Division |
|---|---|
| Industry | Entertainment |
| Founded | 1923 |
| Headquarters | , U.S. |
Key people | Alan Horn (chairman) Alan Bergman (president) Sean Bailey (president, motion picture production) |
| Products | Motion pictures, music publishing, stage productions |
| Services | Studio production, distribution |
| Owner | The Walt Disney Company |
| Divisions | Walt Disney Pictures Distribution (Touchstone Pictures) Disneynature Walt Disney Animation Studios Disney Music Group Disney Theatrical Group Kingdom Comics[1] |
| Subsidiaries | Lucasfilm[2] Pixar Animation Studios |
| Website | Official website |
The Walt Disney Studios is an American production company, owned by The Walt Disney Company. The studio, known for its film division, which is one of Hollywood's major film studios, is based at the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California. Walt Disney Studios' film division is a member of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA).[3] The Studios generated an estimated income of $618 million during the 2011 fiscal year.[4]
History
The Buena Vista Motion Pictures Group was formed by Joe Roth in 1998 to unite the Touchstone, Hollywood, and Disney film studios and lead by David Vogel.[5] This was in order to centralize the various production units and to make live-action film production within Disney more cost-efficient.[citation needed]
In 2003, the first PG-13–rated film was released under the Walt Disney Pictures imprint, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, a film based on the famous Disneyland attraction.[citation needed] Film director M. Night Shyamalan, who had done The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, Signs and The Village with Disney clashed with the Group's executives during pre-production of his 2006 film, Lady in the Water. Shyamalan left the studio after Nina Jacobson and others became, in Shyamalan's eyes, overly critical of his script, which would eventually be produced by Warner Bros. Shyamalan is quoted in a book about the difficult period that he "had witnessed the decay of her creative vision right before his own wide-open eyes. She didn't want iconoclastic directors. She wanted directors who made money." In her own defense, Jacobson said, "in order to have a Hollywood relationship more closely approximate a real relationship, you have to have a genuine back and forth of the good and the bad. Different people have different ideas about respect. For us, being honest is the greatest show of respect for a filmmaker."[6]
In July 2006 Disney announced a shift in strategy of releasing more Disney-branded (i.e. Walt Disney Pictures) films and fewer Touchstone titles. The move was expected to reduce the Group's work force by approximately 650 positions worldwide.[7] In April 2007, Disney retired the Buena Vista brand.[8] The Studio launched Kingdom Comics division in May 2008 led by writer-actor Ahmet Zappa, TV executive Harris Katleman and writer-editor Christian Beranek. Kingdom was designed to create new properties for possible film development and reimagine and redevelop existing Disney library movies with Disney Publishing Worldwide getting a first look for publishing.[1]
On February 9, 2009, DreamWorks SKG entered a 7-year, 30-picture distribution deal with the Touchstone Pictures imprint starting in 2011.[9] On December 31, 2009, The Walt Disney Company purchased Marvel Entertainment for $4 billion. Both Marvel and Disney have stated that the merger would not affect any preexisting deals with other film studios for the time being,[10] although Disney said they will consider distributing future Marvel Studios projects with their own studios once the current deals expire.[11] On October 18, 2010, Disney bought the distribution rights for The Avengers and Iron Man 3 from Paramount Pictures.[12] On October 30, 2012, Lucasfilm agreed to be purchased by The Walt Disney Company and a Star Wars trilogy was announced[2] and was finalized on December 4.[13] Disney agreed on December 4th to have Netflix as its exclusive U.S. subscription television service for first run Walt Disney Pictures, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar Animation Studios, Marvel Studios and Disneynature feature movies starting in 2016 to replace its agreement ending in 2015 with Starz.[14]
Studio structure
| Studio units[15] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Film imprints and studios | Disney Music Group | Disney Theatrical Group | Disney Studio Services[16][17] | Other |
| Walt Disney Pictures Walt Disney Animation Studios Pixar Animation Studios Disneynature Lucasfilm Distribution: Touchstone Pictures |
Walt Disney Records Hollywood Records Disney Music Publishing |
Disney Theatrical Productions Disney on Broadway Disney on Ice Disney Live! |
Studio Production Services Walt Disney Studios (Burbank) Golden Oak Ranch The Prospect Studios Disney Digital Studio Services[18] |
Kingdom Comics[1] |
Former units include:
Studios
Walt Disney Studios is the main production arm for Disney's motion pictures. Walt Disney Pictures is a film imprint that encompasses the release of its own productions, in addition to films produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar Animation Studios.[citation needed] Another film imprint, Touchstone Pictures, releases films for more mature audiences including films produced by DreamWorks Pictures.[19] In 2009, Disney acquired Marvel Entertainment, in addition to purchasing full ownership rights to Marvel Studios' films in 2010.[12] Disneynature is an independent film label devoted to nature documentary productions. In December 2012, Disney purchased Lucasfilm and its intellectual properties.[13]
Hollywood Pictures was another division of Disney, in which, like Touchstone, produced films for mature audiences, but was shut down in 2007. In 1993, Disney acquired Miramax Films, and its Dimension Films label, but Dimension became a part of The Weinstein Company in 2005 and Miramax was sold to Filmyard Holdings in 2010. From 2007 to 2010, Disney and ImageMovers ran a joint motion capture animation facility; ImageMovers Digital.[20][21]
All film productions mentioned above are distributed theatrically by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures and on home media platforms by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment.[citation needed]
Disney Music Group
Disney Music Group is a music production group led by Ken Bunt, that consists of multiple record labels — Walt Disney Records and Hollywood Records — and publishing identities that handle Disney's music.
Disney Theatrical Group
Disney Theatrical Group is the division producing live theatrical and stage events. It is currently under the leadership of Thomas Schumacher. The Disney Theatrical Productions division has been responsible for the production of many different musicals, touring events, ice shows and other live theatrical events. Their shows include: Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, Aida, Tarzan, Mary Poppins, Newsies and numerous incarnations of Disney on Ice.
See also
References
- ^ a b c Kit, Borys (May 29, 2008). "Disney draws up plans for graphic novel biz". The Hollywood Reporter. Reuters. Retrieved October 3, 2012.
- ^ a b "Disney purchases Lucasfilm, announces new Star Wars". 3 News. October 30, 2012. Retrieved October 30, 2012.
- ^ "Motion Picture Association of America – About Us". MPAA. Retrieved May 27, 2012.
- ^ "The Walt Disney Company: 2011 Annual Financial Report" (PDF). The Walt Disney Company. Retrieved December 30, 2012. Pages 12, 32.
- ^ Disney War, by James Stewart, 2005. Page 301.
- ^ Los Angeles Times (June 23, 2006): "Book Tells of Breakup with Disney"
- ^ "Schaeffer's Upon Further Review Highlights the Following Stocks: Abbott Laboratories, Bank of America, Knight Capital Group, and Walt Disney". Boston.com. Business Wire News Releases/Schaeffer's Investment Research. July 19, 2006. Retrieved December 6, 2012.
- ^ Fixmer, Andy (April 25, 2007). "Disney to Drop Buena Vista Brand Name, People Say". Bloomberg Television. Retrieved August 8, 2007.
- ^ "The Walt Disney Company: 2011 Annual Financial Report" (PDF). The Walt Disney Company. Retrieved December 30, 2012. Page 12.
- ^ Vejvoda, Jim (August 31, 2009). "The Disney/Marvel Deal: What It Means for Movies". Ign.com. Retrieved May 23, 2012.
- ^ Fixmer, Andy; Sarah Rabil (September 1, 2009). "Disney's Marvel Buy Traps Hollywood in Spider-Man Web (Update2)". Bloomberg. Retrieved May 23, 2012.
- ^ a b Kim Masters (October 18, 2010). "Disney to Distribute Marvel's 'The Avengers,' 'Iron Man 3'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved October 18, 2010.
- ^ a b Patten, Dominic (December 4, 2012). "Disney-Lucasfilm Deal Cleared By Feds". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved December 5, 2012.
- ^ Crowe, Deborah (December 4, 2012). "Disney, Netflix Sign Distribution Deal". Los Angeles Business Journal. Retrieved December 6, 2012.
- ^ "The Walt Disney Studios – Our Businesses". The Walt Disney Company. The Walt Disney Studios. Retrieved May 28, 2012.
- ^ "The Walt Disney Studios". The Walt Disney Studios.com. The Walt Disney Studios. Retrieved June 2, 2012.
- ^ "Disney Studios Services". go.com. The Walt Disney Company. Retrieved June 2, 2012.
- ^ "Disney Digital Studio Services". Disney Digital Studio.com. Disney. Retrieved June 2, 2012.
- ^ Variety: Disney signs deal with DreamWorks; Company will handle distribution for films, Variety, February 9, 2009
- ^ "Disney, "Polar Express" director in animation deal". Reuters. February 5, 2007. Retrieved November 21, 2010.
- ^ Finke, Nikki (March 12, 2010). "Disney Closing Zemeckis' Digital Studio". Deadline.com. Retrieved November 21, 2010.
