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Walt Disney arrived in California in the summer of 1923 with a lot of hopes but little else. He had made a cartoon in Kansas City about a little girl in a cartoon world, called Alice’s Wonderland, and he decided that he could use it as his “pilot” film to sell a series of these “Alice Comedies” to a distributor. Soon after arriving in California, he was successful. A distributor in New York, M. J. Winkler, contracted to distribute the “Alice Comedies” on October 16, 1923, and this date became the start of the Disney company. Originally known as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, with Walt Disney and his brother, Roy, as equal partners, the company soon changed its name, at Roy’s suggestion, to the Walt Disney Studio.
Walt Disney made his Alice Comedies for four years, but in 1927, he decided to move instead to an all-cartoon series. To star in this new series, he created a character named Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. Within a year, Walt made 26 of these Oswald cartoons, but when he tried to get some additional money from his distributor for a second year of the cartoons, he found out that the distributor had gone behind his back and signed up almost all of his animators, hoping to make the Oswald cartoons in his own studio for less money without Walt Disney. On rereading his contract, Walt realized that he did not own the rights to Oswald-the distributor did. It was a painful lesson for the young cartoon producer to learn. From then on, he saw to it that he owned everything that he made.
The original Disney Studio had been in the back half of a real estate office on Kingswell Avenue in Hollywood, but soon Walt had enough money to move next door and rent a whole store for his studio. That small studio was sufficient for a couple of years, but the company eventually outgrew it and Walt had to look elsewhere. He found an ideal piece of property on Hyperion Avenue in Hollywood, built a studio, and in 1926 moved his staff to the new facility.
It was at the Hyperion Studio, after the loss of Oswald, that Walt had to come up with a new character, and that character was Mickey Mouse. With his chief animator, Ub Iwerks, Walt designed the famous mouse and gave him a personality that endeared him to all. Ub animated two Mickey Mouse cartoons, but Walt was unable to sell them because they were silent films, and sound was revolutionizing the movie industry. So, they made a third Mickey Mouse cartoon, this time with fully synchronized sound, and Steamboat Willie opened to rave reviews at the Colony Theater in New York November 18, 1928. A cartoon star, Mickey Mouse, was born. The new character was immediately popular, and a lengthy series of Mickey Mouse cartoons followed.
Not one to rest on his laurels, Walt Disney soon produced another series — the Silly Symphonies — to go with the Mickey series. It featured different casts of characters in each film and enabled the animators to experiment with stories that relied less on the gags and quick humor of the Mickey cartoons and more on mood, emotion, and musical themes. Eventually the Silly Symphonies turned into the training ground for all Disney artists as they prepared for the advent of animated feature films. Flowers and Trees, a Silly Symphony and the first full-color cartoon, won the Academy Award® for Best Cartoon for 1932, the first year that the Academy offered such a category. For the rest of that decade, a Disney cartoon won the Oscar® every year.
While the cartoons were gaining popularity in movie houses, the Disney staff found that merchandising the characters was an additional source of revenue. A man in New York offered Walt $300 for the license to put Mickey Mouse on some pencil tablets he was manufacturing. Walt Disney needed the $300, so he said okay. That was the start of Disney merchandising. Soon there were Mickey Mouse dolls, dishes, toothbrushes, radios, figurines-almost everything you could think of bore Mickey’s likeness. The first Mickey Mouse book was published in 1930, as was the first Mickey Mouse newspaper comic strip.
In 1934, Walt Disney informed his animators one night that they were going to make an animated feature film, and then he told them the story of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. There were some skeptics in the group, but before long everyone had caught Walt’s enthusiasm, and work began in earnest. It took three years, but at Christmas time, 1937, the film was finished, and it was a spectacular hit. Snow White soon became the highest grossing film of all time, a record it held until it was surpassed by Gone With the Wind. Now Walt Disney’s studio was on a firmer footing. The short cartoons paid the bills, but Walt knew that future profits would come from feature films.
Work immediately began on other feature projects, but just as things were looking rosy, along came World War II. The next two features, Pinocchio and Fantasia, were released in 1940. They were technical masterpieces, but their costs were too high for a company losing most of its foreign markets because of the war. Dumbo was made in 1941 on a very limited budget, but Bambi, in 1942, was another expensive film, and caused the studio to retrench. It would be many years before animated features of the highest caliber could be put into production.
During the war, Walt Disney made two films in South America, Saludos Amigos and The Three Caballeros, at the request of the State Department. His studio concentrated on making propaganda and training films for the military. When the war ended, it was difficult for the Disney Studio to regain its pre-war footing. Several years went by with the release of “package” features-films such as Make Mine Music and Melody Time, containing groups of short cartoons packaged together. Walt also moved into live action production with Song of the South and So Dear to My Heart, but because audiences expected animation from Walt Disney, these films included animated segments. Walt opened some new doors by beginning the award-winning True-Life Adventure series featuring nature photography of a style never seen before.
1950 saw big successes at Disney-the first completely live action film, Treasure Island, the return to classic animated features with Cinderella and the first Disney television show at Christmas time. The Company was moving forward again. After two Christmas specials, Walt Disney went onto television in a big way in 1954 with the beginning of the Disneyland anthology series. This series eventually would run on all three networks and go through six title changes, but it remained on the air for 29 years, making it the longest-running primetime television series ever. The Mickey Mouse Club, one of television’s most popular children’s series, debuted in 1955 and made stars of a group of talented Mouseketeers.
Walt Disney was never satisfied with what he had already accomplished. As his motion pictures and television programs became successful, he felt a desire to branch out. One area that intrigued him was amusement parks. As a father, he had taken his two young daughters to zoos, carnivals and other entertainment enterprises, but he always ended up sitting on the bench as they rode the merry-go-round and had all the fun. He felt that there should be a park where parents and children could go and have a good time together. This was the genesis of Disneyland. After several years of planning and construction, the new park opened July 17, 1955.
Disneyland was a totally new kind of park. Observers coined the term “theme park,” but even that does not seem to do Disneyland justice. It has been used as a pattern for every amusement park built since its opening, becoming internationally famous, and attracting hundreds of millions of visitors. Walt said that Disneyland would never be completed as long as there was imagination left in the world, and that statement remains true today. New attractions are added regularly, and Disneyland still is as popular as it was in 1955.
The 1950s saw the release of the classic 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, the first in a series of wacky comedies The Shaggy Dog and a popular TV series about the legendary hero Zorro. In the 1960s came Audio-Animatronics®, pioneered with the Enchanted Tiki Room at Disneyland and then four shows at the 1964 New York World’s Fair, and Mary Poppins, perhaps the culmination of all Walt Disney had learned during his long movie-making career. But the ’60s also brought the end of an era: Walt Disney died December 15, 1966.
Plans that Walt left behind carried the company for a number of years under the supervision of Roy Disney. The Jungle Book in 1967 and The Aristocats in 1970 showed that the Company could still make animated classics, and The Love Bug in 1969 was the highest grossing film of the year. Disney got into educational films and materials in a big way with the start of an educational subsidiary in 1969.
After the success of Disneyland, it was only natural for Walt to consider another park on the East Coast. Prior to his death the Company purchased land in Florida, and the Walt Disney World project, located on some 28,000 acres near Orlando, was announced. It opened October 1, 1971. In Florida, the Company had the space it lacked in California. Finally there was room to create a destination resort, unencumbered by the urban sprawl that had grown up around Disneyland. Walt Disney World would include not only a Magic Kingdom theme park like Disneyland but also hotels, campgrounds, golf courses, and shopping villages. It did not take long for Walt Disney World to become the premier vacation destination in the world.
Roy O. Disney, who after Walt’s death oversaw the building and financing of Walt Disney World, died late in 1971, and for the next decade the Company was led by a team including Card Walker, Donn Tatum and Ron Miller — all originally trained by the Disney brothers. One of Walt Disney’s last plans had been for the Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow, or EPCOT, as he called it. While he died before the plans could be refined, they were brought out again in a few years, and in 1979 ground was broken for the new park in Florida. Epcot Center, a combination of Future World and World Showcase representing an investment of over a billion dollars, opened to great acclaim October 1, 1982.
WED Enterprises (later renamed Walt Disney Imagineering), the design and development division for the parks, had several projects in the works during the early 1980s. In addition to designing Epcot, it was hard at work on plans for Tokyo Disneyland, the first foreign Disney park. Tokyo Disneyland opened April 15, 1983, and was an immediate success in a country that had always loved anything Disney. Now that the Japanese had their own Disneyland, they flocked to it in increasing numbers.
Moviemaking also was changing in America in the early 1980s. Audiences were diminishing for the family films that had been the mainstay of the Company for many years, and Disney was not meeting the competition for films that attracted the huge teenage and adult market. To reverse that trend, Disney established a new label, Touchstone Pictures, with the release of Splash in 1984. At the same time, because of the widespread perception that Disney stock was undervalued relative to the company’s assets, two “corporate raiders” attempted to take over Disney. The efforts to keep the company from being broken up ended when Michael Eisner and Frank Wells became chairman and president, respectively.
The new management team immediately saw ways for Disney to maximize its assets. The Company had left network television in 1983 to prepare for the launch of a cable network, The Disney Channel. While the pay-TV service was successful, Eisner and Wells felt Disney should have a strong network presence as well, so in 1985 Disney’s Touchstone division began the immensely successful Golden Girls, followed in 1986 by a return to Sunday night television with the Disney Sunday Movie (later The Magical World of Disney and The Wonderful World of Disney). Films from the Disney library were selected for the syndication market, and some of the classic animated films were released on video cassette. Using the sell-through technique, Disney classics soon reached the top of the all-time best seller lists.
At Disneyland, new collaborations with filmmakers George Lucas and Francis Coppola brought Captain EO and Star Tours to the park, and Splash Mountain opened in 1989. Disney’s Grand Floridian Beach and Caribbean Beach Resorts opened at Walt Disney World in 1988, and three new gated attractions opened in 1989: the Disney/MGM Studios Theme Park, Pleasure Island, and Typhoon Lagoon. More resort hotels opened in 1990 and 1991.
Filmmaking hit new heights in 1988 as Disney for the first time led Hollywood studios in box-office gross. Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Good Morning, Vietnam, Three Men and a Baby, and later, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, Dick Tracy, Pretty Woman and Sister Act, passed the $100 million milestone. Disney moved into new areas by starting Hollywood Pictures and acquiring the Wrather Corp. (owner of the Disneyland Hotel) and television station KHJ (Los Angeles), which was renamed KCAL. In merchandising, Disney purchased Childcraft and opened numerous highly successful and profitable Disney Stores.
Disney animation began reaching even greater audiences, with The Little Mermaid being topped by Beauty and the Beast which was in turn topped by Aladdin (1992). Hollywood Records was formed to offer a wide selection of recordings ranging from rap to movie soundtracks. New television shows, such as Live With Regis and Kathy Lee, Empty Nest, Dinosaurs and Home Improvement, expanded Disney’s television base. For the first time, Disney moved into publishing, forming Hyperion Books, Hyperion Books for Childre and Disney Press, which released books on Disney and non-Disney subjects. In 1991, Disney purchased Discover magazine, the leading consumer science monthly. As a totally new venture, Disney was awarded in 1993 the franchise for a National Hockey League team, the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim.
Over in France, the park now known as Disneyland Paris opened on April 12, 1992. Eagerly anticipated, the beautifully designed park attracted almost 11 million visitors during its first year. Disneyland Paris is complemented by six uniquely designed resort hotels and a campground. Dixie Landings and Port Orleans, and a well-received Disney Vacation Club enlarged lodging possibilities at the Walt Disney World Resort, while Mickey’s Toontown and the Indiana Jones Adventure helped increase attendance at Disneyland. Walt Disney World opened the All-Star Resorts, Wilderness Lodge, the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, Blizzard Beach, the BoardWalk Resort, the Coronado Springs Resort, the Disney Institute, Downtown Disney West Side and redesigned Tomorrowland in the Magic Kingdom.
The Disney success with animated films continued in 1994 with The Lion King, which soon became one of the highest-grossing films of all-time. It was followed by Pocahontas in 1995, The Hunchback of Notre Dame in 1996, Hercules in 1997, Mulan in 1998, Tarzan in 1999 and Fantasia/2000 at the turn of the century. Toy Story pioneered computer-animation techniques, and was followed by a successful sequel. Disney also continued its strong presence in children’s animated programs for television, and found success with sequels to animated features released directly to the video market.
In 1994, Disney ventured onto Broadway with a very successful stage production of Beauty and the Beast, followed in 1997 by a unique staging of a show based on The Lion King and in 2000 by Aida. By restoring the historic New Amsterdam Theatre on 42nd Street, Disney became the catalyst for a successful makeover of the famous Times Square area. A musical version of The Hunchback of Notre Dame opened in Berlin, Germany.
By 1996, there were more than 450 Disney Stores worldwide, and by 1999 that number was up to 725. In Florida, the first home sites were sold in the new city of Celebration, located next to Walt Disney World. Eventually, 20,000 people will call Celebration their home. After the death of the owner Gene Autry, Disney acquired the California Angels baseball team to add to its hockey team, and in 1997 opened Disney’s Wide World of Sports at Walt Disney World.
Early in 1996, Disney completed its acquisition of Capital Cities/ABC. The $19 billion transaction, second-largest in U.S. history, brought the country’s top television network to Disney, in addition to 10 TV stations, 21 radio stations, seven daily newspapers and ownership positions in four cable networks.
Recent years have seen the release of a group of very popular live action films, such as Mr. Holland’s Opus, The Rock, Ransom, Flubber, Con Air, Armageddon, and culminating in the hugely successful The Sixth Sense, which soon reached the 10th spot among the all-time highest grossing releases. Computer animation was showcased in A Bug’s Life and Dinosaur.
A whole new park, Disney’s Animal Kingdom opened at Walt Disney World in 1998. With a gigantic Tree of Life as its centerpiece, the park was Disney’s largest, spanning 500 acres. A major attraction was the Kilimanjaro Safaris, where Guests could experience live African animals in an amazingly accurate reproduction of the African savannah. An Asian area opened at Animal Kingdom in 1999. In California, Tomorrowland at Disneyland was redesigned.
As the world moved toward a new century, Epcot became the host of Millennium Celebration, Test Track (the longest and fastest Disney park attraction) opened, and other attractions were revised and updated. The Walt Disney Company welcomed a new president — Robert A. Iger — and the Company reached the $25 billion revenue threshold for the first time.
Disney regional entertainment expanded with DisneyQuest and the ESPN Zone in 1998, and that same year, the Disney Magic, the first of two luxury cruise ships made its maiden voyage to the Caribbean, stopping at Disney’s own island paradise, Castaway Cay.
2000 opened with the release in IMAX theaters of an almost totally new version of Fantasia entitled Fantasia/2000. Other classically animated features were The Emperor’s New Groove, Atlantis: The Lost Empire, Lilo & Stitch, Treasure Planet and Brother Bear. Continuing collaborations with Pixar brought the computer-animated blockbuster, Monsters, Inc. Popular live action productions continued with Remember the Titans, Mission to Mars, Pearl Harbor, The Princess Diaries, and The Rookie. The new cable network, SoapNet, was launched, and award-winning productions on ABC included The Miracle Worker, Anne Frank, and Child Star: The Shirley Temple Story.
DVD releases became increasingly popular, especially when the company began adding generous amounts of bonus material for viewers. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’ DVD in 2001 sold more than one million units on the first day of release.
For the first time, in 2001, Walt Disney Attractions opened two new theme parks in the same year. In February, Disney’s California Adventure opened after several years of major construction which transformed the entire Anaheim area. The new park celebrates the history, culture and spirit of California, with areas ranging from a Hollywood Pictures Backlot to the amusements of Paradise Pier. Joining it was an upscale shopping area, Downtown Disney and the Grand Californian Hotel, celebrating the Craftsman style of architecture. Across the Pacific in Japan, Tokyo DisneySea opened in September, looking to the myths, legends and lore of the ocean as the inspiration for its attractions and shows. March, 2002, saw the opening of another foreign park, Walt Disney Studios, featuring the history and lore and excitement of the movies, adjacent to Disneyland Paris. Ground was broken in January, 2003, for Hong Kong Disneyland.
In 2001, the entire Walt Disney Company honored the 100th Anniversary of the birth of its founder, Walt Disney. The celebration, called “100 Years of Magic,” was centered at the Disney-MGM Studios theme park in Florida, and included several parades, an exhibit of archival memorabilia and the installation of a gigantic Mickey’s sorcerer cap in the Chinese Theater plaza.
2003 saw two Disney films grossing over $300 million at the box office — Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl and Disney-Pixar’s Finding Nemo. In fact, Disney became the first studio in history to surpass $3 billion in global box office. In October, Mission: Space opened at Epcot to great acclaim, and the following month the Company celebrated the 75th anniversary of Mickey Mouse. As the year drew to a close the Pop Century Resort opened at Walt Disney World.
After years of partnering, Disney acquired The Muppets and Bear in the Big Blue House in April 2004. Senator George Mitchell became chairman of the board, and movie theaters welcomed The Incredibles. ABC had a rebirth with such popular series as Desperate Housewives, Lost and Grey’s Anatomy.
A major anniversary came in 2005 as Disneyland celebrated its 50th, and all of the Disney theme parks joined in a Happiest Celebration on Earth. A brand new theme park, Hong Kong Disneyland, opened in September and the fall saw the successful releases of Chicken Little and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Robert Iger took over as CEO on October 1 with the retirement of Michael Eisner.
2006 saw High School Musical air on Disney Channel and become an overnight sensation. In May, Disney made a major purchase of Pixar Animation Studios, at the same time gaining the services of Ed Catmull and John Lasseter to be creative heads of Disney Feature Animation. Disney-Pixar’s Cars was released in June. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest beat Company records to become the company’s highest grossing feature after its July release. Disney parks celebrated the Year of a Million Dreams with special promotions.
With 2007 came another popular release from Pixar, Ratatouille, and Disney had its first co-production in China— The Secret of the Magic Gourd. The year ended with the hits Enchanted and National Treasure: Book of Secrets. The third Pirates of the Caribbean feature, subtitled At World’s End, became the top-grossing film of the year internationally. Disney Channel reached new heights with High School Musical 2, and Hannah Montana shot Miley Cyrus to stardom. In the summer, Disney acquired Club Penguin. At the parks, Disney built on the Pixar brand with the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage at Disneyland, The Seas with Nemo and Friends at Epcot and Finding Nemo — The Musical at Disney’s Animal Kingdom.
At the Disney parks in 2008, Disney-MGM Studios was renamed Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Toy Story Midway Mania! opened there and at Disney’s California Adventure, and It’s a Small World opened at Hong Kong Disneyland. The company reacquired ownership of the Disney Stores’ retail locations from The Children’s Place, and the first Disney-operated language training center, Disney English, opened in China. In theaters, audiences flocked to WALL•E and Bolt. Tinker Bell, the first of a series of Disney Fairies films, was released, and Camp Rock and Phineas and Ferb debuted on Disney Channel. The Little Mermaid opened on Broadway.
The big news in 2009 was the acquisition of Marvel Entertainment. Theaters presented Up (which would win two Oscars), the first Disneynature film, Earth, and a return to hand-drawn animation with The Princess and the Frog. The first Disney film locally produced in Russia, The Book of Masters, was released. D23: The Official Disney Fan Club launched, Disney twenty-three magazine began publication, and the first biennial D23 Expo was held in Anaheim. Bay Lake Tower opened at Walt Disney World, and a Disney Vacation Club section was added to the Grand Californian Hotel. Disney XD replaced Toon Disney, and at the end of the year the company mourned the passing of Roy E. Disney.
In business news in 2010, the company sold Miramax. Alice in Wonderland and Toy Story 3 were released, and they would go on to win two Oscars each. The latter picture would become the highest grossing animated film of all time. Also on movie screens were Tangled and Tron: Legacy. Video gamers entered the world of Epic Mickey, and World of Color debuted at the renamed Disney California Adventure.
The year 2011 saw the launch of the Disney Dream and the repositioning of the Disney Wonder to the West Coast. The company purchased the rights to the Avatar franchise for theme parks, the Aulani Resort opened in Hawaii, The Little Mermaid: Ariel’s Undersea Adventure debuted at Disney California Adventure, and groundbreaking ceremonies were held for Shanghai Disneyland. In theaters, Disney began distributing DreamWorks films, with The Help winning wide acclaim and a Supporting Actress Oscar for Octavia Spencer. Disney films included Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Winnie the Pooh, The Muppets (Oscar for Best Song), and Cars 2. In New York, Sister Act opened on Broadway and Peter and the Starcatcher off-Broadway.
In theaters in 2012 were John Carter, Marvel’s The Avengers, Brave, Wreck-It Ralph, Frankenweenie, and Lincoln (DreamWorks). Bob Iger took on the additional title of chairman of the board, and Alan Horn became chairman of Walt Disney Studios. The Disney Junior cable channel replaced SOAPnet. On Broadway, Newsies opened and won two Tony Awards. Cars Land opened at Disney California Adventure, and the Disney Fantasy set sail. At the Walt Disney World Resort, Disney’s Art of Animation Resort, an enlarged and enhanced Fantasyland, and a new Test Track opened. D23 sponsored a Treasures of the Walt Disney Archives exhibit at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum. The big corporate news was the acquisition of Lucasfilm, Ltd.
For nine decades, The Walt Disney Company has succeeded in making its name preeminent in the field of family entertainment. From humble beginnings as a cartoon studio in the 1920s to today’s major corporation, it continues its mandate of providing quality entertainment for the entire family.
IMPORTANT DATES IN THE HISTORY OF THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY
| October 16, 1923 | Walt signed a contract with M. J. Winkler to produce a series of “Alice Comedies” — the date used as the start of the Disney company first known as “The Disney Brothers Studio” | |
| March 1, 1924 | Release of first Alice Comedy – “Alice’s Day at Sea.” | |
| January, 1926 | The Disneys move to their new studio at 2719 Hyperion. The name of the company is changed from “The Disney Brothers Studio” to “Walt Disney Studios”. | |
| September 5, 1927 | Release of first “Oswald the Lucky Rabbit” cartoon. | |
| November 18, 1928 | Steamboat Willie is released at the Colony Theatre in New York — the first Mickey Mouse cartoon released, also the first appearance of Minnie Mouse. | |
| August 22, 1929 | The Skeleton Dance, the first Silly Symphony, is released. | |
| December 16, 1929 | The Disney brothers’ partnership is replaced by four companies: Walt Disney Productions, Ltd.; Walt Disney Enterprises; Liled Realty and Investment Company; and the Disney Film Recording Company. | |
| January 13, 1930 | Mickey Mouse comic strip begins. | |
| September 5, 1930 | The Chain Gang, first appearance of Pluto, is released. He did not receive the name Pluto until The Moose Hunt (1931). | |
| November, 1930 | First Disney book (Mickey Mouse Book). | |
| July 30, 1932 | Flowers and Trees, first full-color cartoon and first Academy Award winner, is released. | |
| November 15, 1932 | Art School formed at Disney Studio to train animators. | |
| May 27, 1933 | Three Little Pigs, Academy Award winner, is released. | |
| June, 1933 | First Mickey Mouse watch is sold by Ingersoll. | |
| June 9, 1934 | The Wise Little Hen, first appearance of Donald Duck, is released. | |
| February 23, 1935 | The Band Concert, first Mickey Mouse cartoon in color, is released. | |
| December 21, 1937 | Release of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, first feature-length animated film, at the Carthay Circle Theatre. | |
| February 7, 1940 | Release of Pinocchio. | |
| April 2, 1940 | Walt Disney Productions issues its first stock. | |
| May 6, 1940 | Move of the Disney Studio to Burbank completed. | |
| November 13, 1940 | Release of Fantasia | |
| August 17, 1941 | Walt and artists leave on a goodwill trip to South America. | |
| December 8, 1941 | The U.S. Army moves onto the Disney Studio lot. | |
| January 1, 1943 | Der Fuehrer’s Face, Academy Award winner, is released. | |
| November 12, 1946 | Song of the South released. | |
| December 21, 1948 | Release of Seal Island, first True-Life Adventure. | |
| October, 1949 | Walt Disney Music Company formed. | |
| July 19, 1950 | Release of Treasure Island, first completely live- action feature. | |
| December 25, 1950 | One Hour in Wonderland first television show. | |
| December 16, 1952 | WED Enterprises founded by Walt. | |
| February 5, 1953 | Peter Pan is released. | |
| February 18, 1953 | Release of first People and Places film — “The Alaskan Eskimo.” | |
| November 10, 1953 | Release of The Living Desert, first film distributed by the new Buena Vista Distribution Company. | |
| October 27, 1954 | First airing of Disneyland television show. | |
| December 15, 1954 | Davy Crockett story is told on the Disneyland show. | |
| December 23, 1954 | Release of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea | |
| July 17, 1955 | Opening of Disneyland. | |
| October 3, 1955 | First program of the Mickey Mouse Club television series. | |
| October 10, 1957 | First program of the Zorro television series. | |
| March 19, 1959 | Release of The Shaggy Dog, first of a series of wacky comedies. | |
| June 14, 1959 | Vice-President Nixon dedicates Monorail. Matterhorn and Submarine Voyage open also at Disneyland. | |
| June 23, 1963 | Enchanted Tiki Room opens at Disneyland, first use of Audio-Animatronics figures. | |
| April 22, 1964 | Four Disney exhibits open at the New York World’s Fair. | |
| August 29, 1964 | Release of Mary Poppins. | |
| February 3, 1965 | WED Enterprises incorporated as a subsidiary of Walt Disney Productions (WED was personally owned by Walt from 1952 to 1965.) | |
| July 23, 1965 | MAPO incorporated. | |
| December 15, 1966 | Walt Disney dies. | |
| March 13, 1969 | Release of The Love Bug. | |
| June 25, 1969 | Walt Disney Educational Materials Co. incorporated. | |
| December 25, 1969 | “Disney on Parade” debuts in Chicago. | |
| June 22, 1970 | Establishment of the Walt Disney Archives. | |
| June 17, 1971 | 100,000,000th guest welcomed at Disneyland. | |
| October 1, 1971 | Opening of Walt Disney World. | |
| December 20, 1971 | Roy O. Disney dies. | |
| January 26, 1972 | The Mouse Factory debuts on television. | |
| October 16, 1973 | 50th Anniversary of Walt Disney Productions. | |
| March 22, 1975 | Walt Disney World Village opens. | |
| June, 1975 | America on Parade debuts for the Bicentennial at Disneyland and Walt Disney World | |
| January 17, 1977 | The new Mickey Mouse Club airs. | |
| November 18, 1978 | Mickey Mouse celebrates 50th birthday. | |
| July 17, 1980 | Disneyland celebrates 25th anniversary. | |
| October, 1980 | First Home Video titles released. | |
| December 3, 1980 | Tokyo Disneyland groundbreaking and site dedication. | |
| October 1, 1982 | EPCOT Center opens. | |
| April 15, 1983 | Tokyo Disneyland opens. | |
| April 18, 1983 | The Disney Channel begins broadcasting. | |
| May 25, 1983 | New Fantasyland opens at Disneyland. | |
| March 9, 1984 | Release of first Touchstone film, Splash. | |
| June 9, 1984 | Donald Duck celebrates 50th birthday. | |
| September 23, 1984 | Michael Eisner and Frank Wells become Chairman and President of Walt Disney Productions. | |
| September 14, 1985 | First Saturday morning animated TV shows air; “Golden Girls” debuts. | |
| February 2, 1986 | The Disney Sunday Movie debuts on television. | |
| February 6, 1986 | Walt Disney Productions name changed to The Walt Disney Company. | |
| March 25, 1986 | 500,000,000th guest to a Disney park welcomed. | |
| September 4, 1986 | Airing of syndicated Disney features and TV shows begins. | |
| January 9, 1987 | Star Tours, built in collaboration with George Lucas, opens at Disneyland. | |
| February 11, 1987 | The Walt Disney Company re-incorporated in Delaware. | |
| March 24, 1987 | Euro Disneyland agreement signed in France. | |
| March 28, 1987 | First Disney Store opens, in Glendale Galleria. | |
| May 5, 1987 | First Disney Dollars sold at Disneyland. | |
| September 21, 1987 | DuckTales released in syndication. | |
| January 21, 1988 | The Wrather Corp. (including the Disneyland Hotel) is acquired. | |
| February 2, 1988 | First filming done at The Disney/MGM Studios. | |
| May 26, 1988 | Childcraft is acquired. | |
| June 21, 1988 | Who Framed Roger Rabbit released. | |
| October 1, 1988 | Caribbean Beach Resort opens. | |
| October 16, 1988 | First Disney/Soviet Film Festival opens. | |
| December 2, 1988 | TV station KHJ acquired. | |
| February 1, 1989 | Hollywood Pictures begins operations. | |
| May 1, 1989 | Opening of Disney/MGM Studio Theme Park and Pleasure Island. | |
| June 1, 1989 | Opening of Typhoon Lagoon. | |
| July 17, 1989 | Splash Mountain opens at Disneyland. | |
| September 1, 1989 | Disneyland welcomes 300,000,000th guest. | |
| December 1, 1989 | KHJ-TV changes its call letters to KCAL-TV. | |
| January 1, 1990 | Hollywood Records begins operation | |
| July 18, 1990 | Release of Hollywood Pictures’ first film, “Arachnophobia.” | |
| August 26, 1990 | Disneyland begins a 5-year sponsorship of the Pigskin Classic football game at Anaheim Stadium. | |
| September 10, 1990 | Premiere of The Disney Afternoon syndicated TV programming. | |
| November, 1990 | Yacht and Beach Club Resorts open at Walt Disney World. | |
| May 6, 1991 | The Walt Disney Company joins the Dow Jones Industrial Average. | |
| May 29, 1991 | 100,000,000th guest welcomed at Tokyo Disneyland. | |
| September 26, 1991 | Hyperion Books publishes its first book. | |
| April 12, 1992 | Euro Disney opens. | |
| October 10, 1992 | Approval of The Mighty Ducks hockey franchise by the NHL Board of Governors. | |
| December 31, 1992 | Stopped operating the Queen Mary in Long Beach | |
| June 30, 1993 | The Walt Disney Company acquires Miramax Film Corp. | |
| October 8, 1993 | Inaugural Game of The Mighty Ducks vs. The Detroit Red Wings at The Anaheim Pond. | |
| April 18, 1994 | Beauty and the Beast stage show opens on Broadway. | |
| June 15, 1994 | Release of The Lion King | |
| November 4, 1994 | The first Walt Disney Gallery opens at the MainPlace Mall in Santa Ana, California. | |
| December 5, 1994 | Disney Interactive formed. | |
| April 1, 1995 | Blizzard Beach opens at Walt Disney World | |
| May 18, 1995 | Agreement to purchase 25% of the California Angels baseball team from Gene Autry | |
| July 31, 1995 | Agreement to purchase Capital Cities/ABC for $19 billion | |
| September, 1995 | Disney Online, a business unit of Disney Interactive, is founded. | |
| October 1, 1995 | The Disney Channel begins operation in the UK. | |
| October 2, 1995 | Michael Ovitz becomes President of the Walt Disney Company. | |
| January 4, 1996 | Stockholders approve Disney merger with Capital Cities/ABC | |
| January 27, 1996 | Inaugural race of the Indy Racing League Indy 200 at Walt Disney World Speedway | |
| February 22, 1996 | Disney Online launches Disney.com on the World Wide Web | |
| February 9, 1996 | Final FCC approval of and filing of merger documents for completion of the acquisition of Capital Cities/ABC. | |
| February 9, 1996 | The Disney Institute opens at Walt Disney World. | |
| April 18, 1996 | Disney announced the purchase of Dream Quest Images, a visual-effects studio in Simi Valley, California. | |
| June 18, 1996 | The Haber family is the first to move into their new home in Celebration. | |
| July 17, 1996 | Disney announced plans for Disney’s California Adventure in Anaheim. | |
| November 18, 1996 | Debut of Radio Disney on the ABC Radio Networks. | |
| November 25, 1996 | The Main Street Electrical Parade makes its final appearance at Disneyland. | |
| March 28, 1997 | Disney’s Wide World of Sports baseball stadium opened to the public for the first time (Atlanta Braves/Cincinnati Reds exhibition game). | |
| March 31, 1997 | Disney Online introduces Disney’s Daily Blast website. | |
| April 2, 1997 | Inauguration ceremony officially opened the New Amsterdam Theatre in New York City. | |
| June 1, 1997 | Lyric Street Records founded as a country music label. | |
| September 15, 1997 | Downtown Disney West Side opens at Walt Disney World. | |
| November 13, 1997 | The Lion King stage production opens on Broadway. | |
| March 23, 1998 | ESPN Magazine debuts. | |
| April 22, 1998 | Opening of Disney’s Animal Kingdom at Walt Disney World. | |
| June 19, 1998 | Release of Mulan. | |
| June 19, 1998 | First Disney Quest opens at Downtown Disney West Side at Walt Disney World. | |
| June 24, 1998 | 600,000,000th guest welcomed at Walt Disney World. | |
| July 12, 1998 | First ESPN Zone opens in Baltimore, MD. | |
| July 30, 1998 | Disney Magic cruise ship departs on its inaugural cruise. | |
| January 12, 1999 | Launch of “GO” Network | |
| January 15, 1999 | All-Star Movies Resort opens at Walt Disney World | |
| March 1, 1999 | Asia opens at Disney’s Animal Kingdom | |
| March 31, 1999 | Disney completes the purchase of the Anaheim Angels | |
| May 1, 1999 | Mickey MouseWorks debuts on television | |
| June 18, 1999 | Tarzan released | |
| August 6,1999 | The Sixth Sense released, and becomes the Company’s highest-grossing live-action film | |
| August 15, 1999 | Maiden voyage of the Disney Wonder | |
| September 29, 1999 | Euro Disney announces plans for its second gate, The Disney Studios, to open in the Spring of 2002. | |
| October 1, 1999 | Millennium Celebration begins at Epcot | |
| November 18, 1999 | GO.com stock begins trading on the New York Stock Exchange | |
| November 24, 1999 | Toy Story 2 opens with Disney’s highest weekend gross | |
| January 1, 2000 | Fantasia 2000 is released in IMAX theaters | |
| March 23, 2000 | Aida opens on Broadway | |
| February 8, 2001 | Disney’s California Adventure opens | |
| April 16, 2001 | Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge opens | |
| May 25, 2001 | Pearl Harbor is released | |
| June 15, 2001 | Atlantis: The Lost Empire is released | |
| September 4, 2001 | Tokyo DisneySea opens | |
| October 24, 2001 | Fox Family Channel acquired and renamed ABC Family Channel | |
| November 2, 2001 | Monsters Inc. released | |
| November, 2001 | The Baby Einstein Company acquired | |
| December 5, 2001 | 100th anniversary of Walt Disney’s birth | |
| March 16, 2002 | Walt Disney Studios, Paris, opens | |
| June 21, 2002 | Lilo & Stitch is released | |
| August 2, 2002 | Signs is released | |
| November 27, 2002 | Treasure Planet is released | |
| May 22, 2003 | Disney sells the Anaheim Angels. | |
| May 30, 2003 | Finding Nemo is released, becoming Disney’s highest grossing animated film. | |
| July 9, 2003 | Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl is released, and became Disney’s highest-grossing live action film. | |
| November 18, 2003 | Mickey Mouse celebrates his 75th anniversary with the unveiling of 75 Mickey statues at Walt Disney World. | |
| December 14, 2003 | Pop Century Resort opens at Walt Disney World. | |
| March 3, 2004 | Senator George J. Mitchell becomes Chairman of the Board of The Walt Disney Company. | |
| April 2004 | Disney acquires the Muppet properties and Bear in the Big Blue House. | |
| September 22, 2004 | Lost debuts on ABC. | |
| October 3, 2004 | Desperate Housewives debuts on ABC. | |
| November 5, 2004 | The Incredibles is released. | |
| February 25, 2005 | Disney sells The Mighty Ducks hockey team. | |
| March 27, 2005 | Grey’s Anatomy debuts on ABC. | |
| May 5, 2005 | Happiest Celebration on Earth begins at all Disney theme parks to honor 50 years of Disneyland. | |
| June 15, 2005 | Adventures by Disney runs their first trip with paying guests. | |
| September 12, 2005 | Hong Kong Disneyland opens. | |
| October 1, 2005 | Robert A. Iger becomes Chief Executive Officer of The Walt Disney Company. | |
| October 12, 2005 | Disney is first to license TV episodes, from ABC and Disney Channel series, for download on Apple’s iTunes Music Store. | |
| November 4, 2005 | Chicken Little is released. | |
| December 9, 2005 | The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is released. | |
| January 20, 2006 | High School Musical airs and breaks all Disney Channel records, with its soundtrack going platinum. | |
| March 14, 2006 | High School Musical is the first full-length movie to be sold via digital download, on Apple’s iTunes Music Store, followed by theatrical features in September. | |
| March 24, 2006 | Hannah Montana debuts on Disney Channel. | |
| May 5, 2006 | Disney purchases Pixar Animation Studios. | |
| July 7, 2006 | Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest is released, and soon becomes the company’s highest-grossing release. | |
| September 28, 2006 | Ugly Betty debuts on ABC. | |
| October 1, 2006 | The Year of a Million Dreams begins at the Disney parks with special prizes for guests. | |
| January 1, 2007 | John E. Pepper, Jr., becomes chairman of the board. | |
| June 11, 2007 | Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage opens at Disneyland. | |
| June 29, 2007 | The Secret of the Magic Gourd, first Disney co-production in China, is released. | |
| June 29, 2007 | Ratatouille, from Pixar, is released. | |
| August 1, 2007 | Club Penguin acquired. | |
| August 17, 2007 | High School Musical 2 set cable records on its premiere on Disney Channel. | |
| October 16, 2007 | Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert begins sold-out tour to 69 cities. | |
| November 3, 2007 | The Little Mermaid begins previews as a stage show on Broadway. | |
| November 21, 2007 | Enchanted is released. | |
| December 21, 2007 | National Treasure: Book of Secrets is released. | |
| January 7, 2008 | Disney-MGM Studios is renamed Disney’s Hollywood Studios. | |
| February 1, 2008 | Phineas and Ferb debuts on Disney Channel after an August 2007 preview. | |
| April 3, 2008 | The Disney Stores North America are re-acquired from The Children’s Place. | |
| June 27, 2008 | WALL•E, from Pixar, is released, later winning an Academy Award. | |
| October 2008 | First Disney-operated language training center, Disney English, opens in China. | |
| October 28, 2008 | Tinker Bell, the first of a series of Disney Fairies films, is released. | |
| February 13, 2009 | Disney XD launches, replacing Toon Disney on cable television. | |
| March 10, 2009 | D23: The Official Disney Fan Club launches. | |
| April 22, 2009 | Disneynature label launched with release of Earth. | |
| April 30, 2009 | Disney becomes an equity owner of Hulu. | |
| May 29, 2009 | Up, from Pixar, is released, which would win two Oscars. | |
| August 4, 2009 | Bay Lake Tower opens at Disney’s Contemporary Resort. | |
| September 10, 2009 | The first D23 Expo is held in Anaheim. | |
| October 1, 2009 | The Walt Disney Family Museum, operated by the Walt Disney Family Foundation, opens in San Francisco after a preview day on September 19. | |
| October 29, 2009 | First Disney film locally produced in Russia – Kniga Masterov (The Book of Masters) – is released. | |
| December 11, 2009 | The Princess and the Frog is released. | |
| December 16, 2009 | Roy E. Disney dies. | |
| December 31, 2009 | Disney’s acquisition of Marvel Entertainment is completed. | |
| March 5, 2010 | Alice in Wonderland is released; it would go on to win 2 Oscars. | |
| June 18, 2010 | Toy Story 3, from Pixar, is released; it would win 2 Oscars and become the highest-grossing animated film of all time. | |
| October 8, 2010 | The first live action Hindi film released by Disney in India, Do Dooni Chaar (Two Times Two Equals Four), is released. | |
| November 24, 2010 | Tangled is released. | |
| December 2010 | Disney sells Miramax to an investor group. | |
| January 26, 2011 | Maiden voyage of the Disney Dream. | |
| February 18, 2011 | The first DreamWorks motion picture is released under the Touchstone banner (I Am Number Four). | |
| April 7, 2011 | Official groundbreaking of the Shanghai Disney Resort. | |
| May 20, 2011 | Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides is released. | |
| June 24, 2011 | Cars 2, from Pixar, is released. | |
| August 29, 2011 | Aulani, A Disney Resort and Spa opens in west Oahu’s Ko Olina Resort & Marina. | |
| March 1, 2012 | Maiden voyage of the Disney Fantasy. | |
| March 23, 2012 | Disney Junior replaces SOAPnet on cable television. | |
| March 29, 2012 | Opening night of Newsies on Broadway. | |
| May 4, 2012 | Marvel’s The Avengers is released. | |
| June 22, 2012 | Brave, from Pixar, is released. | |
| September 8, 2012 | Grand Opening of the first Disney Baby Store in Glendale, California. | |
| October 30, 2012 | The Walt Disney Company announces its agreement to purchase Lucasfilm Ltd. | |
| November 2, 2012 | Wreck-It Ralph is released. |