Portal:Disney

Introduction

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 complex 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 later operated under the names Walt Disney Studio and Walt Disney Productions before adopting 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 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 sector, 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 from 1989 to 1999. In 2005, under the new CEO Bob Iger, the company continued to expand into a major entertainment conglomerate with the acquisitions of Pixar in 2006, Marvel Entertainment in 2009, Lucasfilm in 2012, and 21st Century Fox in 2019. 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.

Disney operates the largest television and film studio in Hollywood. Walt Disney Studios 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 operating 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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Toy Story is a 1995 American computer-animated family film, the first Disney/Pixar film to be made, as well as the first feature film in history to be made entirely with CGI. Directed by John Lasseter and featuring the voices of Tom Hanks and Tim Allen, the film was co-produced by Ralph Guggenheim and Bonnie Arnold and was distributed by Walt Disney Pictures. It was written by Lasseter, Joss Whedon, Andrew Stanton, Joel Cohen, and Alec Sokolow, and featured music by Randy Newman. Toy Story follows a group of toys who come to life whenever humans are not present, focusing on Woody, a pull-string cowboy doll (Hanks), and Buzz Lightyear, an astronaut action figure (Allen). The top-grossing film on its opening weekend, Toy Story went on to earn over $191 million in the United States and Canada during its initial theatrical release and took in more than $361 million worldwide. Although the film was a huge box office success, the film is currently Pixar's lowest grossing film while this film's second sequel Toy Story 3 is their highest grossing film earning over $1 billion worldwide. View-Master released a 3 reel set in 3D in 1995 prior to release of 3D films. The film was so successful it prompted a sequel released in 1999, Toy Story 2. Eleven years later, on June 18, 2010, an additional film, Toy Story 3, was also released. Both sequels were instant hits and garnered critical acclaim similar to the first. The film was selected into the National Film Registry as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" in 2005, its first year of eligibility.

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Pixar Animation Studios is an American CGI animation film studio based in Emeryville, California, United States. Pixar became a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company in 2006. The studio has earned twenty-four Academy Awards, seven Golden Globes, and three Grammys, among many other awards and acknowledgments. Its films have made over $6.3 billion worldwide.

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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 1View of Disney Springs (from Walt Disney World)
Image 2Walt (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 3Hollywood Studios' Park icon, the Chinese Theatre (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 4An aerial shot of Walt Disney World in 1982 (from Walt Disney World)
Image 5Walt Disney's business envelope featured a self-portrait, c. 1921 (from Walt Disney)
Image 6The Sherman Brothers in 2002. They composed many Disney songs in the 1960s. (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 7Disney (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 8Disney security vehicle, picture taken July 2, 2009 in front of Epcot (from Walt Disney World)
Image 9The 1996 version of The Walt Disney World logo (from Walt Disney World)
Image 10A 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 11Fantasmic! finale on July 4, 2010 (from Disneyland)
Image 12An aerial view of Disneyland in 2004 (from Disneyland)
Image 13Characters from Alice in Wonderland host "Disneyland Musical Chairs" at Coca-Cola Refreshment Corner, accompanied by a ragtime pianist in 2005. (from Disneyland)
Image 14Map of the resort as of May 2015 (from Walt Disney World)
Image 15Disney in 1954 with Wernher von Braun (from Walt Disney)
Image 16Main Street at Disneyland, as seen from a horseless carriage (from Disneyland)
Image 17Disney bought The Muppets from the Jim Henson Company in 2004. (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 18Adventureland entrance
(from Disneyland)
Image 19The 2018 version of The Walt Disney World logo. (from Walt Disney World)
Image 20Disney's promotional logo for its centennial. (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 21Overlay 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 22Disneyland aerial view, 1963, which includes the new Melody Land Theater at the top of the photo (from Disneyland)
Image 23Bayou Country
(Tiana's Bayou Adventure) (from Disneyland)
Image 24Disney drawing Goofy for a group of girls in Argentina, 1941 (from Walt Disney)
Image 25Grave of Walt Disney at Forest Lawn, Glendale (from Walt Disney)
Image 26Disney receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1964 from President Lyndon B. Johnson. (from Walt Disney)
Image 27Walt 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 28Bob Iger became CEO of Disney in 2005, expanding the company's properties (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 29Disneyland Railroad Engine 2 at the New Orleans Square station. (from Disneyland)
Image 30Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge
(Star Wars: Millennium Falcon – Smugglers Run) (from Disneyland)
Image 31Mickey's Toontown
(Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway) (from Disneyland)
Image 32Walt Disney (center) showing Orange County officials plans for Disneyland's layout, December 1954 (from Disneyland)
Image 33Walt (center) showing the plans of Disneyland to officials from Orange County in December 1954 (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 34Jeffrey Katzenberg was chairman of the Walt Disney Studios from 1984 to 1995. (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 35The original logo of Walt Disney World from 1971 to the mid-1990s. This logo is still used on retro merchandise. (from Walt Disney World)
Image 36Frontierland
(Big Thunder Mountain Railroad) (from Disneyland)
Image 37Team 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 38Roy O. Disney inspecting design plans on-site in Florida (from Walt Disney World)
Image 39Disney with film roll and Mickey Mouse on his right arm in 1935 (from Walt Disney)
Image 40Walt, Florida Governor W. Haydon Burns, and Roy announcing the plans for Disney World in November 1965 (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 41Disney'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 42Disney's childhood home (from Walt Disney)
Image 43Disney shows the plans of Disneyland to officials from Orange County in December 1954 (from Walt Disney)
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 45Fantasyland
(Peter Pan's Flight in the foreground and the Matterhorn Bobsleds in the background) (from Disneyland)
Image 46Disney family at Schiphol Airport (1951) (from Walt Disney)
Image 47A portrait of Disney with cartoon representations of different nationalities on a 6-cent U.S. postage stamp, 1968 (from Walt Disney)
Image 48New Orleans Square
(the Haunted Mansion) (from Disneyland)
Image 49The Walt Disney World Monorail System provides free transport across the resort.
Image 50One of four arches welcoming guests to the resort (from Walt Disney World)
Image 51The original animation building at the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California, which they fully moved into in 1940 (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 52Disneyland fireworks from Sleeping Beauty Castle (from Disneyland)
Image 53Roy E. Disney, Roy O. Disney's son, was head of the animation department until 2003. (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 54Excerpt of Steamboat Willie (1928), the first Mickey Mouse sound cartoon. (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 55Disney Magic at Port of Venice (from Disney Cruise Line)
Image 56Walt Disney introduces each of the seven dwarfs in a scene from the original 1937 Snow White theatrical trailer (from Walt Disney)
Image 57Monorail Red travels over the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage in Tomorrowland in 2008. (from Disneyland)
Image 58Tomorrowland
(Space Mountain in 2010) (from Disneyland)
Image 59Wedding Pavilion at the Seven Seas Lagoon (from Walt Disney World)
Image 60Michael Eisner replaced Ron Miller as CEO. (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 61One 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 has entered the public domain as of January 1, 2024. (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 62Main Street, USA
(2010) (from Disneyland)

Selected biography

Dan Povenmire (b. 1963) is an American television director, writer, producer, storyboard artist, and actor associated with several animated television series, best known as the co-creator of the Disney animated series Phineas and Ferb in which he also voices the show's villain, Heinz Doofenshmirtz. Povenmire grew up in Mobile, Alabama, where he was a talented art student who spent summers outdoors and making movies. Povenmire attended the University of South Alabama before deciding to pursue a film career and transferring to the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts. Povenmire has been a long-time contributor to the animation business, working on several different animated television series such as The Simpsons, Rocko's Modern Life and SpongeBob SquarePants. He was a longtime director on the prime time series Family Guy, where he was nominated for an Annie Award in 2005. He left the series to create Phineas and Ferb with Jeff "Swampy" Marsh. Povenmire has been nominated for several awards for his work on the show, including a BAFTA, an Annie, and three Emmy Awards.

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Did you know (auto-generated)

... that Disney+ released a promotional poster for the Doctor Who Christmas special "Joy to the World" with the title spelled incorrectly?
... that a reviewer for Rolling Stone said that a 2024 concert tour by Weezer resembled a cross between an Iron Maiden concert and the Disneyland attraction Star Tours?
... that cyclist Mike Allen compared participating in the Olympics to Disneyland?
... 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 horses pulling the Disneyland Main Street Vehicles' streetcars include Belgians, Brabants, Clydesdales, Percherons, and Shires?

Selected quote

Pretty, huh? I'll bet a lot of you folks don't believe that, about a wish comin' true, do ya? Well, I didn't, either. Of course, I'm just a cricket singing my way from hearth to hearth, but let me tell you what made me change my mind...

— Jiminy Cricket, Pinocchio

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

...that Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disneyland was inspired by the Neuschwanstein Castle in Southern Germany.
...that the earliest accounts of the stories of Mulan state that she lived during the Northern Wei dynasty (386–534).
...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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