Portal:Disney

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 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’s namesake film studio division 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 operating 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...)

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Selected article

Captain Jack Sparrow is a fictional character and the central protagonist of the Pirates of the Caribbean film series created by screenwriters Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio, portrayed by Johnny Depp. He is first introduced in the film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003). He later appears in the sequels Dead Man's Chest (2006), At World's End (2007), and On Stranger Tides (2011). Jack Sparrow was originally conceived as a supporting character. He was brought to life by the actor Johnny Depp, who based his characterization on The Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards and cartoon character Pepé Le Pew. The series Pirates of the Caribbean was inspired by a Disney theme park ride, and in 2006, when the ride was revamped, the character of Jack Sparrow was introduced to it. Jack Sparrow is also the subject of a children's book series, Pirates of the Caribbean: Jack Sparrow, which chronicles his teenage years and the character has also appeared in numerous video games. In the context of the films, Sparrow is one of the Brethren Court, the Pirate Lords of the Seven Seas. He can be treacherous and survives mostly by using wit and negotiation rather than weapons or force, preferring to flee most dangerous situations and fight only when necessary. Sparrow is introduced seeking to regain his ship, the Black Pearl, from his mutinous first mate, Hector Barbossa, and attempts to escape his blood debt to the legendary Davy Jones while battling the East India Trading Company.

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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.

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

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 John Oliver dared Disney to sue him over his version of Mickey Mouse?
... that the horses pulling the Disneyland Main Street Vehicles' streetcars include Belgians, Brabants, Clydesdales, Percherons, and Shires?
... that Scarlett Johansson filed a lawsuit against The Walt Disney Company alleging that the release strategy for Black Widow breached her contract?
... that cyclist Mike Allen compared participating in the Olympics to Disneyland?
... that Disney+ released a promotional poster for the Doctor Who Christmas special "Joy to the World" with the title spelled incorrectly?
... 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

Once upon a time, in a cabin in the snow, two cousins who didn't trust each other were trying to steal the bag of money sitting on the floor in front of me. So neither one of them went to sleep because neither one of them could be trusted. The end!

— Mickey Mouse

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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 the Phineas and Ferb season two premiere was the most watched cable telecast on Friday, March 13, 2009?

...that as a result of her performance in Mary Poppins, Julie Andrews won the 1964 Academy Award for Best Actress and the 1965 Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy.
...that Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest set several records in its first three days, with an opening weekend of $136 million.
...that Walt Disney was an ambulance driver during World War One?

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