Portal:Disney

Portal topics: Activities; Culture; Geography; Health; History; Mathematics; Nature; People; Philosophy; Religion; Society; Technology; Random portal

Introduction

The Walt Disney Studios corporate headquarters in Burbank, California, 2016

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 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 it 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.

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 Pixar, Marvel Entertainment, Lucasfilm, and 21st Century Fox. 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, the 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+, ESPN+, Hulu, and Hotstar; and Disney Experiences, which includes several theme parks, resort hotels, and cruise lines around the world. (Full article...)

Refresh with new selections below (purge)

Selected article

WALL-E, promoted with an interpunct as WALL·E, is a 2008 American computer-animated science fiction film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and directed by Andrew Stanton. The story follows a robot named WALL-E, who is designed to clean up a waste-covered Earth far in the future. He eventually falls in love with another robot named EVE, and follows her into outer space on an adventure that changes the destiny of both his kind and humanity. After directing Finding Nemo, Stanton felt Pixar had created believable simulations of underwater physics and was willing to direct a film largely set in space. Most of the characters do not have actual human voices, but instead communicate with body language and robotic sounds, designed by Ben Burtt, that resemble voices. In addition, it is the first animated feature by Pixar to have segments featuring live-action characters. Walt Disney Pictures released it in the United States and Canada on June 27, 2008. The film grossed US$23.1 million on its opening day, and $63 million during its opening weekend in 3,992 theaters, ranking #1 at the box office. This ranks as the fourth highest-grossing opening weekend for a Pixar film as of May 31, 2009. Following Pixar tradition, WALL-E was paired with a short film, Presto, for its theatrical release. WALL-E has been met with overwhelmingly positive reviews among critics. It grossed $534 million worldwide, won the 2008 Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film, the 2009 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form, the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature as well as being nominated for five other Academy Awards at the 81st Academy Awards. WALL-E ranks first in TIME's "Best Movies of the Decade."

More selected articles • Read more

Selected image

Credit: AmericaSings

Sleeping Beauty Castle as decorated for Disneyland's fiftieth birthday.

More selected pictures • Read more...

General images - load new batch

These are images of Disneyland, Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, The Walt Disney Company, and Walt Disney in their respective articles.

Image 1Disney family at Schiphol Airport (1951) (from Walt Disney)
Image 2Grave of Walt Disney at Forest Lawn, Glendale (from Walt Disney)
Image 3Disney bought The Muppets from the Jim Henson Company in 2004. (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 4Walt Disney's business envelope featured a self-portrait, c. 1921 (from Walt Disney)
Image 5Wedding Pavilion at the Seven Seas Lagoon (from Walt Disney World)
Image 6Disney Magic at Port of Venice (from Disney Cruise Line)
Image 7Walt Disney introduces each of the seven dwarfs in a scene from the original 1937 Snow White theatrical trailer (from Walt Disney)
Image 8Map of the resort as of May 2015 (from Walt Disney World)
Image 9The Sherman Brothers in 2002. They composed many Disney songs in the 1960s. (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 10The Walt Disney World Monorail System provides free transport across the resort.
Image 11New Orleans Square
(the Haunted Mansion in the background and Fantasmic! viewing area in the foreground in 2010) (from Disneyland)
Image 12Walt (center) showing the plans of Disneyland to officials from Orange County in December 1954 (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 13Excerpt of Steamboat Willie (1928), the first Mickey Mouse sound cartoon. (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 14Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge
(Star Wars: Millennium Falcon – Smugglers Run in 2019) (from Disneyland)
Image 15Characters from Alice in Wonderland host "Disneyland Musical Chairs" at Coca-Cola Refreshment Corner, accompanied by a ragtime pianist in 2005. (from Disneyland)
Image 16The 1996 version of The Walt Disney World logo (from Walt Disney World)
Image 17Tomorrowland
(Space Mountain in 2010) (from Disneyland)
Image 18Disney (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 19Critter Country
(Splash Mountain; 1989–2023) (from Disneyland)
Image 20Bob Iger became CEO of Disney in 2005, expanding the company's properties (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 21Fantasyland
(Peter Pan's Flight in the foreground and the Matterhorn Bobsleds in the background) (from Disneyland)
Image 22Monorail Red travels over the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage in Tomorrowland in 2008. (from Disneyland)
Image 23Walt 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 24Disney shows the plans of Disneyland to officials from Orange County in December 1954 (from Walt Disney)
Image 25The "Happiest Homecoming on Earth" celebrated the 50th anniversary of the theme park. Sleeping Beauty Castle was altered for the occasion. (from Disneyland)
Image 26View of Disney Springs (from Walt Disney World)
Image 27Jeffrey Katzenberg was chairman of the Walt Disney Studios from 1984 to 1995. (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 28Disney in 1954 (from Walt Disney)
Image 29Disney's childhood home (from Walt Disney)
Image 30The original animation building at the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California, which they fully moved into in 1940 (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 31Main Street, U.S.A.
(2010) (from Disneyland)
Image 32The 2018 version of The Walt Disney World logo. (from Walt Disney World)
Image 33One 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 have all entered the public domain as of January 1, 2024. (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 34Disneyland aerial view, 1963, which includes the new Melody Land Theater at the top of the photo (from Disneyland)
Image 35Disneyland Railroad Engine 2 at the New Orleans Square station. (from Disneyland)
Image 36Overlay 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 37An aerial view of Disneyland in 2004 (from Disneyland)
Image 38Frontierland
(Big Thunder Mountain Railroad in 2008) (from Disneyland)
Image 39A 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 40Main Street at Disneyland, as seen from a horseless carriage (from Disneyland)
Image 41One of four arches welcoming guests to the resort (from Walt Disney World)
Image 42Disney drawing Goofy for a group of girls in Argentina, 1941 (from Walt Disney)
Image 43Michael Eisner replaced Ron Miller as CEO. (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 44Walt, Florida Governor W. Haydon Burns, and Roy announcing the plans for Disney World in November 1965 (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 45Adventureland entrance
(2006) (from Disneyland)
Image 46Disneyland fireworks from Sleeping Beauty Castle (from Disneyland)
Image 47Disney security vehicle, picture taken July 2, 2009 in front of Epcot (from Walt Disney World)
Image 48The original logo of Walt Disney World from 1971 to the mid-1990s (from Walt Disney World)
Image 49Walt Disney (center) showing Orange County officials plans for Disneyland's layout, December 1954 (from Disneyland)
Image 50Walt (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 51Roy E. Disney, Roy O. Disney's son, was head of the animation department until 2003. (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 52An aerial shot of Walt Disney World in 1982 (from Walt Disney World)
Image 53Mickey's Toontown
(pictured in 2010) (from Disneyland)
Image 54Team 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 55Roy O. Disney inspecting design plans on-site in Florida (from Walt Disney World)
Image 56A portrait of Disney with cartoon representations of different nationalities on a 6-cent U.S. postage stamp, 1968 (from Walt Disney)
Image 57Disney'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 58Hollywood Studios' park icon, the Chinese Theatre (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 59Disney's promotional logo for its centennial. (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 60Fantasmic! finale on July 4, 2010 (from Disneyland)

Selected biography

Miley Ray Cyrus (born Destiny Hope Cyrus; November 23, 1992) is an American actress and pop singer-songwriter. She achieved wide fame for her role as Miley Stewart/Hannah Montana on the Disney Channel sitcom Hannah Montana. Cyrus recorded music for the soundtracks, Hannah Montana (2006) and Hannah Montana 2/Meet Miley Cyrus (2007), released by Walt Disney Records. With the success of the Hannah Montana franchise she established herself as a teen idol. In 2007, Cyrus signed to Hollywood Records to pursue a solo career. She embarked upon the Best of Both Worlds Tour the same year, in which she performed as both herself and in character as Hannah Montana. The tour was eventually turned into a high-grossing concert film titled Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert (2008). In July 2008, Cyrus released her first solo album, Breakout (2008), which was commercially successful. She began her foray into film by providing the voice of "Penny" in the animated film Bolt (2008). Cyrus earned a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song for her performance of Bolt's theme song, "I Thought I Lost You". She also reprised her role as Miley Stewart/Hannah Montana in Hannah Montana: The Movie (2009). The Hannah Montana: The Movie' soundtrack introduced her to new audiences within country and adult contemporary markets.

More selected biographies • Read more

Did you know (auto-generated)

... that Disney once created a political advertisement for Dwight D. Eisenhower (featured)?
... that Scarlett Johansson filed a lawsuit against The Walt Disney Company alleging that the release strategy for Black Widow breached her contract?
... that some TikTokers make videos about whether to smash or pass Disney characters?
... that the ferry General Joe Potter at Walt Disney World is named in honor of Major General William Everett Potter?
... that a revival of the comedy series Lizzie McGuire was ordered in 2019, but canceled mid-production after Disney deemed it not family-friendly enough?
... 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?

Selected quote

Mickey Mouse is the most famous mouse in the whole world and an icon for the whole family.

— VH1

More selected quotes • More at Wikiquote

More Did you know...

...that former Disney animator Jack Dunham created the official rooster mascot for St-Hubert, a Canadian BBQ restaurant chain?

...that Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest won an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects?

...that Newsies is based on the true story of the Newsboys Strike of 1899 in New York City.
...that the earliest accounts of the stories of Mulan state that she lived during the Northern Wei dynasty (386–534).
... that Disney CEO Michael Eisner was struck with inspiration for the show, Adventures of the Gummi Bears when his son requested gummi bear candies one day.

More did you know facts

Topics

Recognized content

Extended content

This is a list of recognized content, updated weekly by JL-Bot (talk · contribs) (typically on Saturdays). There is no need to edit the list yourself. If an article is missing from the list, make sure it is tagged (e.g. {{WikiProject Disney}}) or categorized correctly and wait for the next update. See WP:RECOG for configuration options.