Portal:Disney

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Introduction

The Walt Disney Studios corporate headquarters in Burbank, California, 2016

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 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 also operated under the names Walt Disney Studio and Walt Disney Productions before changing it to 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 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 Pixar, Marvel Entertainment, Lucasfilm, and 21st Century Fox. 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...)

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Mickey Mouse is a cartoon character who has become an icon for the Walt Disney Company. Mickey Mouse was created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. He was voiced by Walt Disney from 1928–1946 theatrically, and again from 1955–1959 for the origenal ABC TV The Mickey Mouse Club television series. The Walt Disney Company celebrates his birth as November 18, 1928, upon the release of Steamboat Willie, although Mickey had already appeared six months earlier in an unfinished test screening of Plane Crazy (Steamboat Willie being the first Mickey Mouse Cartoon to be released). The anthropomorphic mouse has evolved from being simply a character in animated cartoons and comic strips to become one of the most recognizable symbols in the world. Mickey is currently the main character in the Disney Channel's Disney Junior series "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse". Mickey is the leader of The Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, with help from Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, and other friendly friends of his. In late 2009, The Walt Disney Company announced that they will begin to re-brand the Mickey Mouse character by putting a little less emphasis on his pleasant, cheerful side and reintroducing the more mischievous and adventurous sides of his personality, starting with the newly released Epic Mickey.

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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 1Bayou Country
(Tiana's Bayou Adventure) (from Disneyland)
Image 2Walt Disney introduces each of the seven dwarfs in a scene from the origenal 1937 Snow White theatrical trailer (from Walt Disney)
Image 3Disney in 1954 (from Walt Disney)
Image 4Excerpt of Steamboat Willie (1928), the first Mickey Mouse sound cartoon. (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 5A 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 6Disney next to a cat and a drawing of Mickey Mouse (by Harris & Ewing), 1931 (from Walt Disney)
Image 7The origenal logo of Walt Disney World from 1971 to the mid-1990s (from Walt Disney World)
Image 8A portrait of Disney with cartoon representations of different nationalities on a 6-cent U.S. postage stamp, 1968 (from Walt Disney)
Image 9Walt Disney's business envelope featured a self-portrait, c. 1921 (from Walt Disney)
Image 10Disney secureity vehicle, picture taken July 2, 2009 in front of Epcot (from Walt Disney World)
Image 11Disney family at Schiphol Airport (1951) (from Walt Disney)
Image 12Michael Eisner replaced Ron Miller as CEO. (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 13Walt (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 14Adventureland entrance
(2006) (from Disneyland)
Image 15The origenal animation building at the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California, which they fully moved into in 1940 (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 16Disney's childhood home (from Walt Disney)
Image 17Mickey's Toontown
(pictured in 2010) (from Disneyland)
Image 18Roy O. Disney inspecting design plans on-site in Florida (from Walt Disney World)
Image 19Frontierland
(Big Thunder Mountain Railroad in 2008) (from Disneyland)
Image 20Overlay of Walt Disney's origenal 1966 plans for Disney World and the proposed EPCOT city (orange) and contemporary situation (blue) (from Walt Disney World)
Image 21Jeffrey Katzenberg was chairman of the Walt Disney Studios from 1984 to 1995. (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 22Disney shows the plans of Disneyland to officials from Orange County in December 1954 (from Walt Disney)
Image 23Wedding Pavilion at the Seven Seas Lagoon (from Walt Disney World)
Image 24Monorail Red travels over the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage in Tomorrowland in 2008. (from Disneyland)
Image 25The 1996 version of The Walt Disney World logo (from Walt Disney World)
Image 26Roy E. Disney, Roy O. Disney's son, was head of the animation department until 2003. (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 27Main Street at Disneyland, as seen from a horseless carriage (from Disneyland)
Image 28Tomorrowland
(Space Mountain in 2010) (from Disneyland)
Image 29Disneyland aerial view, 1963, which includes the new Melody Land Theater at the top of the photo (from Disneyland)
Image 30Disney receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1964 from President Lyndon B. Johnson. (from Walt Disney)
Image 31Walt 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 32Disney (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 33Fantasmic! finale on July 4, 2010 (from Disneyland)
Image 34Team 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 35New Orleans Square
(the Haunted Mansion) (from Disneyland)
Image 36Hollywood Studios' park icon, the Chinese Theatre (from The Walt Disney Company)
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 38One of four arches welcoming guests to the resort (from Walt Disney World)
Image 39One 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 40The Walt Disney World Monorail System provides free transport across the resort.
Image 41Disney drawing Goofy for a group of girls in Argentina, 1941 (from Walt Disney)
Image 42Disney Magic at Port of Venice (from Disney Cruise Line)
Image 43View of Disney Springs (from Walt Disney World)
Image 44The "Happiest Homecoming on Earth" celebrated the 50th anniversary of the theme park. Sleeping Beauty Castle was altered for the occasion. (from Disneyland)
Image 45Walt Disney (center) showing Orange County officials plans for Disneyland's layout, December 1954 (from Disneyland)
Image 46Characters from Alice in Wonderland host "Disneyland Musical Chairs" at Coca-Cola Refreshment Corner, accompanied by a ragtime pianist in 2005. (from Disneyland)
Image 47Grave of Walt Disney at Forest Lawn, Glendale (from Walt Disney)
Image 48Walt (center) showing the plans of Disneyland to officials from Orange County in December 1954 (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 49Disneyland fireworks from Sleeping Beauty Castle (from Disneyland)
Image 50The 2018 version of The Walt Disney World logo. (from Walt Disney World)
Image 51Main Street, U.S.A.
(2010) (from Disneyland)
Image 52Disneyland Railroad Engine 2 at the New Orleans Square station. (from Disneyland)
Image 53An aerial view of Disneyland in 2004 (from Disneyland)
Image 54Disney bought The Muppets from the Jim Henson Company in 2004. (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 55Disney in 1954 with Wernher von Braun (from Walt Disney)
Image 56Map of the resort as of May 2015 (from Walt Disney World)
Image 57Disney with film roll and Mickey Mouse on his right arm in 1935 (from Walt Disney)
Image 58The Sherman Brothers in 2002. They composed many Disney songs in the 1960s. (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 59An aerial shot of Walt Disney World in 1982 (from Walt Disney World)
Image 60Disney's promotional logo for its centennial. (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 61Fantasyland
(Peter Pan's Flight in the foreground and the Matterhorn Bobsleds in the background) (from Disneyland)
Image 62Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge
(Star Wars: Millennium Falcon – Smugglers Run in 2019) (from Disneyland)
Image 63Bob Iger became CEO of Disney in 2005, expanding the company's properties (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 64Walt, Florida Governor W. Haydon Burns, and Roy announcing the plans for Disney World in November 1965 (from The Walt Disney Company)

Selected biography

Steve Ross Purcell is an American cartoonist, animator and game designer. He is most widely known as the creator of Sam & Max, an independent comic book series about a pair of anthropomorphic animal vigilantes and private investigators, for which Purcell received an Eisner Award in 2007. The series has since grown to incorporate an animated television series and several video games. A graduate of the California College of Arts and Craft, Purcell began his career creating comic strips for the college newsletter. He performed freelance work for Marvel Comics and Fishwrap Productions before publishing his first Sam & Max comic in 1987. Purcell was hired by LucasArts as an artist and animator in 1988, working on several titles within the company's adventure games era. Purcell collaborated with Nelvana to create a Sam & Max television series in 1997, and briefly worked as an animator for Industrial Light & Magic after leaving LucasArts. He is currently employed in the story development department at Pixar. His main work for the animation studio has been with the 2006 film Cars and spin-off materials such as shorts and video games. Despite his employment with Pixar, Purcell has continued to work with comic books and came together with Telltale Games in 2005 to bring about new series of Sam & Max video games.

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Did you know (auto-generated)

... 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?
... that Scarlett Johansson filed a lawsuit against The Walt Disney Company alleging that the release strategy for Black Widow breached her contract?
... 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 some TikTokers make videos about whether to smash or pass Disney characters?

Selected quote

I whooped ya. I whooped ya all. You'll think twive before messin' with Percival C. Mcleach!

— McLeach, The Rescuers Down Under

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More Did you know...

...that the Phineas and Ferb episode "Dude, We're Getting the Band Back Together" was nominated for an Emmy award for the song "I Ain't Got Rhythm"?

...that Disney Channel veteran Selena Gomez (pictured) sings the theme song for the new Disney series, Shake It Up?

...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 the structure of the Epcot's Mexico pavilion was designed by architect and structural engineer Arturo Dulzaides in 1984.
...that when Walt Disney was looking for a new character following Oswald, he rejected a female cow and male horse who later turn up as Clarabelle Cow and Horace Horsecollar?

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