History of The Walt Disney Studios

ExcerptedfromTheWaltDisney

addi:onalmoneyfromWinklerfor

Notonetorestonhislaurels,Walt

CompanyArchives

asecondyearofthecartoons,he

Disneysoonproducedanother

foundoutthatthedistributorhad

series,theSillySymphonies.Eachof

WaltDisneyarrivedinCaliforniain
thesummerof1923withdreams
anddetermina:on,butli=leelse.
HehadmadeashortlminKansas
Cityaboutali=legirlinacartoon
world,calledAlice'sWonderland,
andheplannedtouseitashis
"pilot"lmtosellaseriesofthese
AliceComediestoadistributor.On
October16,1923,aNewYork
distributor,M.J.Winkler,
contractedtoreleasetheAlice
Comedies,andthisdatebecame
theformalbeginningofTheWalt
DisneyCompany.Originallyknown
astheDisneyBrothersCartoon
Studio,withWaltDisneyandhis
brotherRoyasequalpartners,the

gonebehindhisbackandsignedup thelmsinthisseriesfeatured
almostallofhisanimators,hoping

dierentcastsofcharacters,

tomaketheOswaldcartoonsinhis
ownstudioforlessmoneywithout

enablingtheanimatorsto
experimentwithstoriesthatrelied

Walt.Sincethedistributorowned

lessonthegagsandquickhumorof

therightstoOswald,therewas

theMickeycartoonsandmoreon

nothingWaltcoulddo.Itwasa

mood,emo:on,andmusical

painfullessonfortheyoungcartoon themes.EventuallytheSilly
producer.Fromthenon,hesawto

Symphoniesturnedintothetraining

itthatheownedeverythingthathe groundforallDisneyar:sts,asthey
made.

preparedfortheadventof

Waltnowhadtocomeupwitha

animatedfeaturelms.Flowersand

nameMor:mer,buthiswifeLilly

1932,therstyearthatthe

Trees,aSillySymphonyandtherst
newcharacter.Withhischief
animator,UbIwerks,Waltdesigned fullcolorcartoon,wonthe
amousewhomWaltrstwantedto AcademyAwardforBestCartoonin
preferredMickey.Andsoastarwas Academyoeredsuchacategory.
Fortherestofthatdecade,aDisney
born.UbanimatedtwoMickey

companysoonchangeditsname,at Mousecartoons.Buttherstlm
Roy'ssugges:on,totheWaltDisney withsynchronizedsoundTheJazz

cartoonwontheOscareveryyear.
Themostsensa:onalone,Three

Li;lePigs,wasreleasedin1933.
Studio,whichwasini:allyhousedin Singerhadpremiered,andWalt
Thiswasabreakthroughin
asuccessionofstorefrontbuildings decidedthathisstudioshouldmake
characteranima:onandprovided
therstsoundcartoon.So,the
inHollywoodbeforebecoming
somethingofananthemforgh:ng
studiopouredallofitsresources
establishedonHyperionAvenue.
intoathirdMickeyMousecartoon theGreatDepression"Who'sAfraid
WaltmadehisAliceComediesfor
beforethersttwowerereleased, oftheBigBadWolf?"Theanimated
fouryears,constantlypushingthe
shortwassopopular,itsome:mes
thisonewithfullysynchronized
visualboundsaswellasthestudio's
sound.SteamboatWillieopenedto waslistedabovethefeaturelmon
nanceswithinnova:veeects.In
ravereviewsattheColonyTheater theatermarquees.
1927,hedecidedtomovetoanall
inNewYorkNovember18,1928.
Onenightin1934,Waltbroughthis
cartoonseries,andforitsstarhe
MickeyMousewasanimmediate
animatorstogethertotellthem
createdacharacternamedOswald
sensa:onaroundtheworld,anda theyweregoingtomakean
theLuckyRabbit.Withinayear,
seriesofMickeyMousecartoons
animatedfeaturelm,and
Waltmade26Oswaldcartoons,but
followed.
proceededtoactoutthestoryof
whenhetriedtogetsome
1

SnowWhiteandtheSevenDwarfs.

artforminli=lemorethana

Waltsawthepoten:aloftelevision

Atthe:me,thiswasaradical

decade.Fromthe"rubberhose"

and,aderanotherChristmas

concept.Mostpeoplethoughtthat

anima:onofSteamboatWillieto

special,in1954helaunchedthe

acartooncouldn'tholdan

theextraordinaryimageryand

Disneylandanthologyseries,

audience'sa=en:onbeyondthe

emo:onalstorytellingofthe

famouslyfeaturingtherst

usualeightminuterunning:me.It company'srstvefeaturelength
tookthreeyearsandseverelytaxed lms,thestudiohadrevolu:onized

televisionminiseriesDavyCrocke;.

theresourcesofthestudio,butin

anima:onforever.

December1937,thelmwas

highlypopularlmed

Duringthewar,WaltDisneymade

nished,anditwasaspectacular

twolmsaboutSouthAmerica,
hit.SnowWhitebecamethehighest SaludosAmigosandTheThree
grossinglmofall:me,arecordit Caballeros,attherequestofthe
heldun:litwassurpassedbyGone
WiththeWind.Workimmediately

StateDepartment.Hisstudioalso

concentratedonproducing
beganonotherfeatureprojectsand propagandaandtraininglmsfor
thecompanymovedtoitscurrent
themilitary.Whenthewarended,it
siteinBurbank,California.But,with wasdicultfortheDisneyStudioto
theadventofWorldWarII,the

companylostaccesstomostofits
foreignmarkets.Consequently,its
nexttwofeatures,Pinocchioand
Fantasia,whichwerereleasedin
1940,wereunabletorecouptheir
produc:oncosts.Bothwere
masterpiecesthatwouldbe

nancialrisk.ThencameDumboin
1941,whichwasproducedona
verylimitedbudgetandwas
protable.Thiswasfollowedby
Bambi,anotherexpensivelmthat
camein1942adertheU.S.had
enteredthewar.Forthenext
numberofyears,Waltwouldhave
torestrainhisanima:onambi:ons.
However,itisremarkableto
considerhowfarhehadtakenthe

entertainment,withanimatedlms
likeLadyandtheTrampand
SleepingBeauty,liveac:onlms
20,000LeaguesUndertheSeaand
TheShaggyDog,andapopularTV
seriesaboutthelegendaryhero,
Zorro.Inthe1960scamemore
classiclms,like101DalmaOans
andPollyanna.In1964cameMary

regainitsprewarfoo:ng.Several

Poppins,WaltDisney'scrowning

yearswentbyduringwhichthe

achievementasalmmaker,

studioreleased"package"feature

combiningliveac:on,anima:on

lms,suchasMakeMineMusicand andanimatronicstotellaclassic
MelodyTime,containinggroupsof

storyfortheen:refamily.Justtwo

shortcartoons.Waltalsomoved

yearslatercametheendofanera,

intoliveac:onproduc:on,with

asWaltDisneydiedonDecember

SongoftheSouthandSoDearto
phenomenallyprotablein
MyHeart,whichalsoincluded
subsequentreleasesinthedecades animatedsegments.Waltfurther
tocome,buttheirimmediateeect branchedoutwiththeaward
wastoputthestudioatsome

Thestudiocon:nuedtoproduce

winningTrueLifeAdventureseries,
featuringdrama:cnature
photographyofastyleneverseen
before.

15,1966.Itwassaidatthe:me
thathewasprobablythebest
knownindividualintheworld.
RoyDisney,whowasolderthan
Waltandhadbeenplanningto
re:re,tookoversupervisionofthe
companyTheJungleBookin1967
andTheAristocatsin1970showed

1950sawthreelandmark

thatthecompanywass:llthe

achievements:thestudio'srst

leaderinanima:on,andTheLove

completelyliveac:onlm,Treasure Bugin1969wasthehighest
Island,thereturntoclassic
animatedfeatureswithCinderella

grossinglmoftheyear.RoyDisney
diedjusttwomonthsaderrealizing

andtherstDisneytelevisionshow hisbrother'snaldreamin1971,
atChristmas:me.Unliketheheads WaltDisneyWorldinOrlando,
oftheotherHollywoodstudios,
2

Florida.

Inaneorttoexpanditsbusiness,

Disneyanima:onexperienceda

restoringthehistoricNew

Disneyini:atedtheDisneyChannel renaissance.In1989,TheLi;le

AmsterdamTheateron42ndStreet,

in1983andestablishedanewlm

Disneybecamethecatalystfora

Mermaidremindedtheworldthat

label,TouchstonePictures,withthe anima:onwasn'tjustforkids.In

successfulmakeoverofthefamous

releaseofSplashin1984.However, 1991,BeautyandtheBeastbecame TimesSquarearea.

becauseofthewidespread
percep:onthatDisneystockwas

theonlyanimatedlmevertobe
nominatedfortheAcademyAward

undervaluedrela:vetothe

forBestPicture.In1992,Aladdin

company'sassets,in1984there

becametherstanimatedlmto

werea=emptstostagehos:le
takeoversofthecompany.These
eortswererebuedand,in
October,MichaelEisnerandFrank

withPiratesoftheCaribbean:The

CurseoftheBlackPearlandDisney/
grossmorethan$200millioninthe Pixar'sFindingNemobothgrossing
U.S.and,in1994,TheLionKing
morethan$300millionattheU.S.
sha=eredrecords,grossing$312

millionintheU.S.and$783million

Wellsbecamechiefexecu:veocer worldwide.
andpresident,respec:vely.

Thecompany'slmstudiohada
par:cularlybanneryearin2003,

boxoce.Thatyear,Disney
becametherststudioinhistoryto
surpass$3billioninglobalbox

Meanwhile,HollywoodRecordswas oce.

Thenewmanagementteam
formedtooerawiderselec:onof OnOctober1,2005,RobertIger
immediatelysawwaysforDisneyto music.
assumedtheposi:onofchief
maximizeitsassets.Filmsfromthe Disney'sleadershipinanima:on
execu:veocer,becomingonlythe
Disneylibrarywereselectedforthe con:nuedwithPocahontasin1995, seventhindividualtoleadTheWalt
televisionsyndica:onmarket,and TheHunchbackofNotreDamein
DisneyCompanyinitsen:re
someoftheclassicanimatedlms 1996,Herculesin1997,Mulanin
history.Igerquicklyestablishedhis
werereleasedonvideocasse=e.

Eventually,thecompanypioneered
the"sellthrough"approachof
pricingvideoreleasesatlower
pricesandDisneyclassicswere
suddenlysekngawholenewkind

1998,Tarzanin1999andFantasia/

inten:ontotakeadvantageof

2000attheturnofthecentury.In

emergingtechnologiesinorderto

1995,inpartnershipwithPixar

connectwithconsumersinnew

Anima:on,thecompanyreleased

ways.Igeralsoemphasizedhis

therstcomputeranimatedfeature determina:ontogrowthecompany
lm,ToyStory.Thiswasfollowedby bybuildingonitslegacyofgreat

ofboxocerecordastheyreached aseriesofhighlysuccessfulDisney/ crea:vityandhisrstmajor

anewgenera:onofkids,whocould Pixarcollabora:ons,abug'slife,Toy ini:a:ve,announcedinJanuary
watchthemintheconvenienceof
Story2,Monsters,Inc.,Finding
2006,wastheacquisi:onof
theirhome.

NemoandTheIncredibles.

crea:vepowerhousePixar

Filmmakinghitnewheightsin1988 In1994,Disneyventuredonto
Anima:on.
as,fortherst:me,Disneyledall
Broadwaywiththestageproduc:on 2007wasaverysuccessfulyearfor
theHollywoodstudiosinboxoce ofBeautyandtheBeast,followedin thestudiosegmentwithlmslike
gross,withWhoFramedRoger

1997byTheLionKing,whichwon
Rabbit,GoodMorning,Vietnam,
theTonyAwardforbestmusical.
ThreeMenandaBabyeachearning AidawasDisneyTheatrical'srst
morethan$100millionattheU.S. produc:onnotbasedonan
boxoce.

animatedlmand,in2006,Tarzan
openedonTheGreatWhiteWay.By
3

PiratesoftheCaribbean:AtWorlds
End,Ratatouille,Enchantedand
NaOonalTreasure:BookofSecrets
toppingtheboxoce.
Disneynature,therstnewDisney

brandedlmlabelinover60years,

Entertainment,aglobalbrandwith

DisneysAliceinWonderland

wascreatedinApril2008to

aworldrenownedlibraryof

becameTheWaltDisneyStudios

producenaturedocumentariesfor

charactersincludingIronMan,

biggestinterna:onalsuccess

thebigscreen.

SpiderMan,XMen,Captain

genera:ngmorethan$1billionat

InFebruary2009,Disneymadea

America,Fantas:cFourandThor.

theglobalboxoce,whileDisney/

AndinOctober,TheWaltDisney
longtermdistribu:onagreement
withStevenSpielberg,StaceySnider CompanynamedRichRoss
chairmanofTheWaltDisney
andTheRelianceAnilDhirubhai

PixarsToyStory3becamethe
highestgrossinganimatedlmofall
:mewithover$1billioninglobal

Studios,overseeingthemovie,

receipts.Asaresultoftheir

musicandtheatricalopera:onsof

individualsuccess,Disneybecame

DreamWorksStudiosunderthe

thecompany.

therststudioinhistorytohave

TouchstonePicturesbanner.In

2010hasbeenanothersignicant

two$1billionlmsinoneyear.

August,DisneyacquiredMarvel

yearforthestudioslmbusiness.

AmbaniGrouptomarketand
distributeliveac:onlmsfrom