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.
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. 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+, Star+, ESPN+, Hulu, and Hotstar; and Disney Experiences, which includes several theme parks, resort hotels, and cruise lines around the world. (Full article...)
Selected article
In 2009, The Walt Disney Company acquired Marvel Entertainment for US$4 billion; it has been a limited liability company (LLC) since then. For financial reporting purposes, Marvel is primarily reported as part of Disney's Consumer Products segment ever since Marvel Studios' reorganization from Marvel Entertainment into Walt Disney Studios.
Selected image
The pyramid outside Mexico (Epcot)
General images -
Selected biography
Did you know (auto-generated)
- ... that before the Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza Manhattan opened, its workers were sent to Walt Disney World for training?
- ... that some TikTokers make videos about whether to smash or pass Disney characters?
- ... that vaccine coverage at schools around the Disneyland Resort was too low for herd immunity when measles broke out in 2014?
- ... that Disney once created a political advertisement for Dwight D. Eisenhower (featured)?
- ... that Encanto's Mirabel is the first Disney heroine to wear glasses?
- ... that the ferry General Joe Potter at Walt Disney World is named in honor of Major General William Everett Potter?
Selected quote
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 when Sonny with a Chance actor Demi Lovato bowed out of season three, show-within-a-show So Random! was spun-off into its own sketch comedy series?
- ...that Disneyland has only ever had three unscheduled closures: In 1963 due to President Kennedy's Assassination; In August 1970 due to an invasion by Yippies and September 11, 2001.
- ... that Elsa the Snow Queen, a protagonist in Walt Disney's Frozen, was originally written as a villain?
- ... that the most valuable cartoon movie poster was a poster for the Walt Disney short, Alice's Day at the Sea (USA 1924), was sold in London England at $36534.00 in 1994.
Topics
Recognized content
Subcategories
Related portals
WikiProjects
- Parent projects
- Arts • Amusement Parks • Animation • Entertainment • Film • Television • Visual arts
- Main project
- Disney
- Sub-projects
- Disneyland • Pixar • Walt Disney World
- Related Projects
- Biography • Comics • Fictional characters • Media franchises • Music • Video games
Things you can do
- Requested articles: Walt Disney's Fun-to-Read Library, More...
- Stubs: Work on stubs in articles in Disney stubs.
- Attention: See Category:Disney articles needing attention for any articles which may require attention.
- AfD Discussions: Monitor Disney-related AfD discussions at Wikipedia:WikiProject Deletion sorting/Disney.
- Cleanup: A cleanup listing for this project is available. See also the list by category, the tool's wiki page and the index of WikiProjects.
- Infobox: See Category:Disney articles needing infoboxes for any articles which may require an infobox.
- Article alerts subpage - Monitor article alerts, for more information see Wikipedia:Article alerts
- Tag the talk pages of Disney-related articles with the {{WikiProject Disney}} banner.
- Rate the Unassessed Disney articles, Unknown-importance Disney articles and articles where an assessment has been requested.
- Notability: Articles with notability concerns, listed at WikiProject Notability
Associated Wikimedia
The following Wikimedia Foundation sister projects provide more on this subject:
-
Commons
Free media repository -
Wikibooks
Free textbooks and manuals -
Wikidata
Free knowledge base -
Wikinews
Free-content news -
Wikiquote
Collection of quotations -
Wikisource
Free-content library -
Wikiversity
Free learning tools -
Wikivoyage
Free travel guide -
Wiktionary
Dictionary and thesaurus