The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Walt Disney or simply Disney (), is an American diversified multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate, headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California. It is the world's largest independent media conglomerate in terms of revenue ahead of NBCUniversal and WarnerMedia, which are owned by telecommunications giants Comcast and AT&T respectively. The company that bears the Walt Disney Company name today was formed on January 5, 1996 by the merger between the original Walt Disney Company and Capital Cities/ABC Inc.. The former of which was founded on October 16, 1923 – by brothers Walt and Roy Disney – as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, and established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into live-action film production, television, and theme parks. The company also operated under the names The Walt Disney Studio and then Walt Disney Productions and for a short period Disney Enterprises until changing its official name to The Walt Disney Company in 1986. The latter of which being founded on April 5, 1946 in Albany, New York, and being best-known for its purchase of the much larger ABC network. The merged company has since expanded its existing operations and also started divisions focused upon the theater, radio, music, publishing and online media industries.
Since their merger with ABC, Disney has created and acquired corporate divisions in order to market more mature content than is typically associated with its flagship family-oriented brands. The company is best known for the products of its film studio, Walt Disney Studios, which is today one of the largest and best-known studios in American cinema. Disney's other three main divisions are Walt Disney Parks, Experiences and Consumer Products, Disney Media Networks, and Disney Direct-to-Consumer and International. Disney also owns and operates the ABC broadcast network; cable television networks such as Disney Channel, ESPN, A&E Networks, and Freeform; publishing, merchandising, music, and theater divisions; and owns and licenses Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, a group of 14 theme parks around the world.
The company has been a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average since 1991. Mickey Mouse, a cartoon created in 1928, is the signature mascot and emblem for Disney, and one of the world's most recognizable characters.
Disney's Adventures of the Gummi Bears was an animated series set in
medieval England relating the adventures of a community of
humanoid bears who call themselves "the Gummies." (In their language, the word simply means "our people.") The bears live in the forest, where they have appointed themselves the secret defenders of the human kingdom of Dunwyn. The eccentric and intensely loyal Gummi Bears have a special power that helps them in dangerous situations. Many of their adventures involve two
human friends, Calvin and Princess Calla, the only humans aware of the bears' existence. The show was created by
The Walt Disney Company, and loosely inspired by the
gummi bear candies; Disney CEO
Michael Eisner was struck with inspiration for the show when his son requested the candies one day. The series premiered on
NBC on September 14, 1985, and continued to air on
ABC, running for 65 half-hour installments over six seasons, concluding on December 7, 1991, as part of the
Disney Afternoon television syndication package.
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.
- ... 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.
