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Introduction

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 Disney as Disney Brothers Studio; it also operated under the names Walt Disney Studio and Walt Disney Productions before changing its name to the Walt Disney Company 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 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. 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+, Star+, 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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Steamboat Willie (1928) is an animated cartoon featuring Mickey Mouse and the first appearance by Minnie Mouse released on November 18, 1928. It was the first Mickey Mouse cartoon released -- Mickey had appeared in two earlier efforts Plane Crazy and The Gallopin' Gaucho. It was also the first Disney cartoon to feature synchronized sound. Disney used Pat Powers' Cinephone system, created by Powers using Lee De Forest's Phonofilm system without giving De Forest any credit. Steamboat Willie premiered at New York's 79th Street Theatre, and played ahead of the independent film Gang War. Steamboat Willie was an immediate hit while Gang War is all but forgotten today.

The cartoon was written and directed by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. The title is a parody of the Buster Keaton film Steamboat Bill Jr. Music for Steamboat Willie was put together by Wilfred Jackson, one of Disney's animators -- not, as sometimes reported, by Carl Stalling -- and comprises popular melodies including "Steamboat Bill" and "Turkey in the Straw".

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Credit: JeffChristiansen

Minnie Mouse in the Disney Dreams Come True parade at Magic Kingdom.

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

Selected biography

Ubbe Ert Iwwerks (March 24, 1901 – July 7, 1971), known as Ub Iwerks (/ˈʌb ˈaɪwɜːrks/), was an American animator, cartoonist, character designer, inventor, and special effects technician. Born in Kansas City, Missouri, Iwerks grew up with a contentious relationship with his father, who abandoned him as a child. Iwerks met fellow artist Walt Disney while working at a Kansas City art studio in 1919. After briefly working as illustrators for a local newspaper company, Disney and Iwerks ventured into animation together. Iwerks joined Disney as chief animator on the Laugh-O-Gram shorts series beginning in 1922, but a studio bankruptcy would cause Disney to relocate to Los Angeles in 1923. In the new studio, Iwerks continued to work with Disney on the Alice Comedies as well as the creation of the Oswald the Lucky Rabbit character. Following the first Oswald short, both Universal Pictures and the Winkler Pictures production company insisted that the Oswald character be redesigned. At the insistence of Disney, Iwerks designed a number of new characters for the studio, including designs that would be used for Clarabelle Cow and Horace Horsecollar.

One of Iwerks' most long-lasting contributions to animation was a refined version of a sketch drawn by Disney that would later go on to become Mickey Mouse. Iwerks went on to do much of the animation for the early Mickey Mouse and Silly Symphonies cartoons, including Steamboat Willie, The Skeleton Dance and The Haunted House, before a fallout with Disney led to Iwerks' resignation from the studio in January 1930. Iwerks' final Mickey Mouse cartoon would be 1930's The Cactus Kid. Following his separation with Disney, Iwerks, operating under Iwerks Studio, would go on to create the characters Flip the Frog and Willie Whopper along with the ComiColor Cartoons series as part of a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, but the new studio failed to rival its competitors. Iwerks would go on to direct two Looney Tunes cartoon shorts for Leon Schlesinger Productions and several Color Rhapsody cartoons for Screen Gems before joining Disney again in 1940, after which he worked with special visual effects on productions such as 1946's Song of the South.

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Did you know (auto-generated)

... that before the Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza Manhattan opened, its workers were sent to Walt Disney World for training?
... 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 the ferry General Joe Potter at Walt Disney World is named in honor of Major General William Everett Potter?
... that before Foster City was built on Brewer Island, unsuccessful proposals included a hog farm, two military air bases, two civilian airports, and an entertainment complex larger than Disneyland?
... 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?

Selected quote

I have a feeling that Zurg is planning his most diabolical scheme yet.

— Buzz Lightyear

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More Did you know...

...that producers hope to use Good Luck Charlie "to debunk the myth that Disney never has the mom in the picture"?

...that Tomorrow's Pioneers is a television program for children produced by Hamas?

...that Walt Disney's grandson Walter Elias Disney Miller produced a film about his grandfather called Walt - The Man Behind the Myth?
...that press releases for the Phineas and Ferb episode "Lawn Gnome Beach Party of Terror" detailed a cut subplot where the character Lawrence Fletcher searches for a rare bottle cap?

... that in 1989, a black-and-white drawing from Walt Disney's "Orphan's Benefit" (USA 1934), depicting Donald Duck being punched by an orphan, raised $280,000 at Christie's London, England.

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