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Introduction

The Walt Disney Company is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate that is headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was founded on October 16, 1923, by brothers Walt Disney and Roy Disney as Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio; it also operated under the names Walt Disney Studio and Walt Disney Productions before changing its name to the Walt Disney Company 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.^{[citation needed]}

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 Marvel Studios, Lucasfilm, and 20th Century Studios. 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 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.^{[citation needed]} 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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Selected article

Donald Fauntleroy Duck is a cartoon character created in 1934 at Walt Disney Productions and licensed by The Walt Disney Company. Donald is an anthropomorphic white duck with a yellow-orange bill, legs, and feet. He typically wears a sailor suit with a cap and a black or red bow tie. Donald's most famous personality trait is his easily provoked and explosive temper. Along with his friend Mickey Mouse, Donald is one of the most popular Disney characters and was included in TV Guide's list of the 50 greatest cartoon characters of all time in 2002. Donald rose to fame with his comedic roles in animated cartoons. He first appeared in The Wise Little Hen (1934), but it was his second appearance in Orphan's Benefit which characterized him as a temperamental comic foil to Mickey Mouse. Throughout the 1930s, '40s and '50s he appeared in over 100 theatrical films, several of which were recognized at the Academy Awards. Donald was first a supporting character alongside Mickey, Goofy and Pluto, but was given his own series of films in 1937, starting with Don Donald. These films introduced Donald's girlfriend Daisy Duck and sometimes featured his three nephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie as recurring characters. After the 1956 film Chips Ahoy Donald appeared primarily in educational films before eventually returning to theatrical animation in 1983 with Mickey's Christmas Carol. His most recent theatrical appearance was in 1999's Fantasia 2000. Donald has also appeared in direct-to-video features such as Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas (1999) and The Three Musketeers (2004) as well as television programs such as DuckTales (1987–1990), Quack Pack (1998–2004) and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (2006–present).

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Credit: J-E Nyström

Carl Barks visiting Finland in June, 1994.

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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 1Disney'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 2View of Disney Springs (from Walt Disney World)
Image 3Disney bought The Muppets from the Jim Henson Company in 2004. (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 4Overlay 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 5Walt (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 6One of four arches welcoming guests to the resort (from Walt Disney World)
Image 7The original animation building at Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California, which they fully moved into in 1940 (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 8An aerial view of Disneyland in 2004 (from Disneyland)
Image 9Monorail Red travels over the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage in Tomorrowland in 2008. (from Disneyland)
Image 10Disney shows the plans of Disneyland to officials from Orange County in December 1954 (from Walt Disney)
Image 11Michael Eisner replaced Ron Miller as CEO. (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 12The "Happiest Homecoming on Earth" celebrated the 50th anniversary of the theme park. Sleeping Beauty Castle was altered for the occasion. (from Disneyland)
Image 13Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge
(Star Wars: Millennium Falcon – Smugglers Run in 2019) (from Disneyland)
Image 14The 2018 version of The Walt Disney World logo. (from Walt Disney World)
Image 15Walt Disney's business envelope featured a self-portrait, c. 1921 (from Walt Disney)
Image 16Main Street, U.S.A.
(2010) (from Disneyland)
Image 17Grave of Walt Disney at Forest Lawn, Glendale (from Walt Disney)
Image 18Critter Country
(Splash Mountain; 1989–2023) (from Disneyland)
Image 19Wedding Pavilion at the Seven Seas Lagoon (from Walt Disney World)
Image 20A portrait of Disney with cartoon representations of different nationalities on a 6-cent U.S. postage stamp, 1968 (from Walt Disney)
Image 21Disney security vehicle, picture taken July 2, 2009 in front of Epcot (from Walt Disney World)
Image 22The original logo of Walt Disney World from 1971 to the mid-1990s (from Walt Disney World)
Image 23Adventureland entrance
(2006) (from Disneyland)
Image 24One of Disney's first animated characters Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, which Disney lost the rights to until 2006. (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 25Disney family at Schiphol Airport (1951) (from Walt Disney)
Image 26Alice and characters from her movie host "Disneyland Musical Chairs" at Coca-Cola Refreshment Corner, accompanied by a ragtime pianist in 2005. (from Disneyland)
Image 27Disney's childhood home (from Walt Disney)
Image 28Walt, Florida Governor W. Haydon Burns, and Roy announcing the plans for Disney World in November 1965 (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 29Excerpt of Steamboat Willie (1928), the first Mickey Mouse sound cartoon. (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 30Jeffrey Katzenberg was chairman of Walt Disney Studios from 1984 to 1995. (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 31Map of the resort as of May 2015 (from Walt Disney World)
Image 32Disneyland fireworks from Sleeping Beauty Castle (from Disneyland)
Image 33Roy E. Disney, Roy O. Disney's son, was head of the animation department until 2003. (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 34Walt (center) showing the plans of Disneyland to officials from Orange County in December 1954 (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 35Fantasyland
(Peter Pan's Flight in the foreground and the Matterhorn Bobsleds in the background) (from Disneyland)
Image 36Fantasmic! finale on July 4, 2010 (from Disneyland)
Image 37Disney's promotional logo for its centennial. (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 38Disney Magic at Port of Venice (from Disney Cruise Line)
Image 39New Orleans Square
(the Haunted Mansion in the background and Fantasmic! viewing area in the foreground in 2010) (from Disneyland)
Image 40Disneyland aerial view, 1963, which includes the new Melody Land Theater at the top of the photo (from Disneyland)
Image 41Disneyland Railroad Engine 2 at the New Orleans Square station. (from Disneyland)
Image 42Walt 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 43Tomorrowland
(Space Mountain in 2010) (from Disneyland)
Image 44Mickey's Toontown
(pictured in 2010) (from Disneyland)
Image 45An aerial shot of Walt Disney World in 1982 (from Walt Disney World)
Image 46Disney in 1954 (from Walt Disney)
Image 47Disney drawing Goofy for a group of girls in Argentina, 1941 (from Walt Disney)
Image 48A Disney Cruise Line bus which takes guest to and from Terminal 8 from Orlando International Airport; as well as around Walt Disney World. (from Disney Cruise Line)
Image 49Walt Disney (center) showing Orange County officials plans for Disneyland's layout, December 1954 (from Disneyland)
Image 50Roy O. Disney inspecting design plans on-site in Florida (from Walt Disney World)
Image 51Main Street at Disneyland, as seen from a horseless carriage (from Disneyland)
Image 52Frontierland
(Big Thunder Mountain Railroad in 2008) (from Disneyland)
Image 53Bob Iger became CEO of Disney in 2005, expanding the company's properties (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 54Walt Disney introduces each of the seven dwarfs in a scene from the original 1937 Snow White theatrical trailer (from Walt Disney)
Image 55Team 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 56The Walt Disney World Monorail System provides free transport across the resort.
Image 57The Sherman Brothers in 2002. They composed many Disney songs in the 1960s. (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 58Hollywood Studios' park icon, the Chinese Theatre (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 59The 1996 version of The Walt Disney World logo (from Walt Disney World)

Selected biography

John Alan Lasseter (born January 12, 1957) is an American animator, director and the chief creative officer at Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios. He is also currently the Principal Creative Advisor for Walt Disney Imagineering. Lasseter's first job was with The Walt Disney Company, where he became an animator. Next, he joined Lucasfilm, where he worked on the then-groundbreaking use of CGI animation. After the Graphics Group of the Computer Division of Lucasfilm was sold to Steve Jobs and became Pixar in 1986, Lasseter oversaw all of Pixar's films and associated projects as executive producer and he directed Toy Story, A Bug's Life, Toy Story 2, Cars, and Cars 2. He has won two Academy Awards, for Animated Short Film (Tin Toy), as well as a Special Achievement Award (Toy Story).

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Did you know (auto-generated)

... that Disney once created a political advertisement for Dwight D. Eisenhower (featured)?
... that, for the Space 220 Restaurant, Disney reached out to NASA engineers to understand what a space elevator might look like?
... 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 the ferry General Joe Potter at Walt Disney World is named in honor of Major General William Everett Potter?
... that before the Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza Manhattan opened, its workers were sent to Walt Disney World for training?
... that Scarlett Johansson filed a lawsuit against The Walt Disney Company alleging that the release strategy for Black Widow breached her contract?

Selected quote

If you can't say somethin' nice [pauses, both for drama and because both Thumper and the actor who played him couldn't remember his line], don't say nothin' at all. — Thumper, Bambi, 1942

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More Did you know...

...that Dan Povenmire was at a Wild Thyme restaurant in South Pasadena, California, when he first drew the character Phineas Flynn?

...that it took 16 years for the pilot episode of Phineas and Ferb to be picked up?

...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 Donald và bạn hữu (Vietnamese for "Donald and friends") is a bilingual weekly Disney comics magazine in Vietnamese and English published by Tre Publishing House in co-operation with The Saigon Times under license from the Walt Disney Company.
...that Walt Disney was an ambulance driver during World War One?

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Topics

The Walt Disney Company

Company
officials

Key	Founders Walt Disney Roy O. Disney CEO Bob Iger
Board of directors	Mark Parker (chair) Mary Barra Safra Catz Francis deSouza Michael Froman Bob Iger Maria Elena Lagomasino

Entertainment

Studios

General
Entertainment

Disney Branded Television	Disney Channel Disney Jr. Disney XD
ABC Entertainment Group	ABC ABC Daytime ABC News ABC Audio ABC News Radio Lincoln Square Productions ABC News Live ABC Family Worldwide Freeform
FX Networks	FX FXX FXM Onyx Collective
National Geographic Global Networks	National Geographic National Geographic Wild Nat Geo Mundo
Production studios	Disney Branded Television Disney Television Animation It's a Laugh Productions Disney Television Studios 20th Television 20th Television Animation Searchlight Television ABC Signature FX Entertainment FX Productions ABC Family Worldwide BVS Entertainment National Geographic Studios
Other units	BabyTV (US distribution) A&E Networks (50%)

Streaming

Distribution

International

EMEA
- France
- Italy
- CIS
- Portugal
India
- Disney Star
  - Disney+ Hotstar
  - Star Studios
Latin America
- Argentina
  - Patagonik Film Group (33.3%)
- Brazil
  - Rede Telecine (12.5%)

ABC TV Stations

Other assets

Movies Anywhere

Experiences

Parks and resorts	Disneyland Resort Disneyland Paris Hong Kong Disneyland Resort (43%) Shanghai Disney Resort (43%) Walt Disney Attractions Japan Walt Disney World Imagineering (The Muppets Studio)
Experiences	Adventures by Disney National Geographic Expeditions Disney Cruise Line Disney Vacation Club
Consumer Products	Disney Store (Outside US & Canada) Disney Publishing Worldwide Disney English NG Media Marvel Comics Disney Online Games & Interactive Experiences

ESPN Inc. (80%)

Other assets

Buena Vista
D23
Disney Institute
Disney Programs
- Disney College Program
- Disney International Programs
Disney University
Reedy Creek Energy Services

Former/defunct
units and
predecessors

Category

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.