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Introduction
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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 Oliver Disney as Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio; it also operated under the names Walt Disney Studio and Walt Disney Productions before changing to 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.[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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In 1998 Disneyland was renamed Disneyland Park in order to distinguish it from the larger Disneyland Resort complex. Today, there are three other parks which share the Disneyland name, Disneyland Resort Paris in Paris, France, Hong Kong Disneyland Resort in Hong Kong, China, and Tokyo Disneyland in Tokyo, Japan. These resorts are in addition to Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, whose Disneyland-like park is called the Magic Kingdom.
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![Ollie Johnston in his home workshop in 1989.](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ac/OLLIE1989.jpg/200px-OLLIE1989.jpg)
Oliver Martin Johnston, Jr. (October 31, 1912 – April 14, 2008) was an American motion picture animator. He was one of Disney's Nine Old Men, and the last surviving at the time of his death. He was recognized by The Walt Disney Company with its Disney Legend Award in 1989. His work was recognized with the National Medal of Arts in 2005.
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Did you know (auto-generated)
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- ... 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 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 ferry General Joe Potter at Walt Disney World is named in honor of Major General William Everett Potter?
- ... that in response to Disney's stance on Florida's House Bill 1557, also known as the "Don't Say Gay" bill, Pixar employees stated that Disney removes LGBT references from the studio's films?
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More Did you know...
- ... that Huey, Dewey, and Louie were originally named after two political figures and an animator of the time. Huey was named after Huey Long (1893–1935) of Louisiana. Dewey was named after Admiral George Dewey (1837–1917) of the Spanish–American War. Louie was named after animator Louie Schmitt (1908–1993).
- ...that the Phineas and Ferb season two premiere was the most watched cable telecast on Friday, March 13, 2009?
- ...that Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disneyland was inspired by the Neuschwanstein Castle in Southern Germany.
- ...that the structure of the Epcot's Mexico pavilion was designed by architect and structural engineer Arturo Dulzaides in 1984.
- ...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?
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
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- 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
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