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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
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
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