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Company Overview

Since its founding in 1923, The Walt Disney Company and its affiliated companies have
remained faithful to their commitment to produce unparalleled entertainment
experiences based on the rich legacy of quality creative content and exceptional
storytelling. The Walt Disney Company, together with its subsidiaries and affiliates, is a
leading diversified international family entertainment and media enterprise with ftheir
business segments: media networks, parks and resorts, studio entertainment and
consumer products.

The Walt Disney Studios

Mickey Mouse and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the world's first full-length
animated feature, the Disney name quickly became synonymous with quality
entertainment for the whole family.

The Walt Disney Studios distributes motion pictures under Walt

Disney Pictures - which includes Walt Disney Animation Studios,
Pixar Animation Studios and DisneyToon Studios - Touchstone
Pictures, Hollywood Pictures and Miramax Films. Walt Disney
Studios Motion Pictures International serves as the studio's
international distribution arm. Walt Disney Studios Home
Entertainment distributes Disney and other film titles to the rental
and sell-through home entertainment markets worldwide. Disney,
one of the largest producers of Broadway musicals, also
includes Disney Live Family Entertainment and Disney on Ice. Disney Music Group
distributes original music and motion picture soundtracks under Walt Disney
Records, Hollywood Records, and Lyric Street Records. Advancing its strategy of
developing outstanding creative content, Disney acquired renowned computer
animation leader Pixar in an all-stock transaction completed in May 2006. In February
2007, The Walt Disney Studios joined forces with Academy Award-winning director
Robert Zemeckis and his Image Movers partners/producers Jack Rapke and Steve
Starkey to form Image Movers Digital, a new state of the art studio devoted exclusively
to the production of performance capture projects.
Parks and Resorts

Disney's Parks and Resorts is not just home to Disney's beloved characters but the
place "Where Dreams Come True." The segment traces its roots to 1952, when Walt
Disney formed what is today known as Walt Disney Imagineering to build Disneyland
Park in Anaheim, California. 

Since then, Parks and Resorts has grown to encompass the world-
class
Disney Cruise Line, eight Disney Vacation Club resorts (with more
than 100,000 members), Adventures by Disney (immersive
Disney-guided travel around the world), and five resort locations
(encompassing 11 theme parks, including some owned or co-
owned by independent entities) on three continents:

Disneyland Resort, Anaheim, California

Walt Disney World Resort, Lake Buena Vista, Florida
Tokyo Disney Resort, Urayasu, Chiba
Disneyland Resort Paris, Marne La Valle, France
Hong Kong Disneyland, Penny's Bay, Lantau Island

Wherever the Guest experience takes place in parks, on the high seas, on a guided
their of exotic locales, through their vacation ownership program -- they remain
dedicated to the promise that their Cast members turn the ordinary into the
extraordinary. Making dreams come true every day is central to their global growth
strategy.

Disney Consumer Products 

Disney merchandising began in 1929 when Walt Disney was approached by a

businessman interested in placing Mickey Mouse on the cover of a children's writing
tablet. Disney Consumer Products and affiliates (DCP) extend the Disney brand to
merchandise ranging from apparel, toys, home décor and books and magazines to
interactive games, foods and beverages, stationery, electronics and fine art. This is
accomplished through DCP's various lines of business which include: Disney Toys,
Disney Apparel, Accessories & Footwear, Disney Food, Health & Beauty, Disney Home
and Disney Stationery.
Disney Publishing Worldwide (DPW) is the world's largest
publisher of children’s books and magazines, reaching more than
100 million readers each month in 75 countries. Disney's imprints
include Disney Libri, Hyperion Books for Children, Jump at the
Sun, Disney Press, and Disney Editions.

Other businesses involved in Disney's consumer products sales

are disneystore.com, the company's official shopping portal and the Disney stores retail
chain. The Disney stores retail chain, which debuted in 1987, is owned and operated by
an unaffiliated third party in Japan under a license agreement with The Walt Disney
Company. Disney owns and operates the Disney Store chain in North America and
Europe.

Media Networks

Media Networks comprise a vast array of broadcast, cable, radio, publishing and
Internet businesses. Key areas include: Disney-ABC Television Group, ESPN Inc., Walt
Disney Internet Group, ABC owned television stations, and a supporting headquarters
group. Marketing, research, sales and communications functions also exist within the
segment.

The Disney-ABC Television Group is home to all of Disney's

worldwide entertainment and news television properties. The
Group includes the ABC Television Network(including ABC
Daytime, ABC Entertainment Group and ABC News divisions);
theDisney Channels Worldwide global kids' TV business, ABC
Family and SOAPnet; as well as television distribution divisions
Disney-ABC Domestic Television and Disney-ABC ESPN
Television. The Disney-ABC Television Group also manages
the Radio Disney Network, general interest and non-fiction book
imprint Hyperion, as well the Company's equity interest in A&E
Television Networks.

ESPN, Inc., The Worldwide Leader in Sports, is the leading multinational, multimedia
sports entertainment company featuring the broadest portfolio of multimedia sports
assets with over 50 business entities. Sports media assets include ESPN on ABC, six
domestic cable television networks (ESPN, launched in 1979; ESPN2; ESPN Classic;
ESPNEWS; ESPN Deportes; ESPNU), ESPN HD and ESPN2 HD (high-definition
simulcast services of ESPN and ESPN2, respectively), ESPN Regional Television,
ESPN International (31 international networks and syndication), ESPN Radio,
ESPN.com, ESPN The Magazine, ESPN Enterprises, ESPN Zones (sports-themed
restaurants licensed by ESPN), and other growing new businesses including
ESPN360.com (Broadband), ESPN Mobile Properties (wireless), ESPN On Demand,
ESPN Interactive and ESPN PPV. Based in Bristol, Ct., ESPN is 80 percent owned by
ABC, Inc., which is an indirect subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company. The Hearst
Corporation holds a 20 percent interest in ESPN.

About Disney Interactive Media Group

The Disney Interactive Media Group (DIMG) is a segment of The Walt Disney Company
(NYSE: DIS) responsible for the creation and delivery of Disney branded interactive
entertainment and informational content across multiple platforms including online,
mobile and video game consoles around the globe. DIMG core businesses include
Disney Interactive Studios, which self publishes and distributes a broad portfolio of
multi-platform video games, mobile games and interactive entertainment worldwide; and
Disney Online, which produces the No. 1 Community-Family & Parenting Web site and
an industry-leading suite of online virtual worlds for kids and families.

Company History

From the very beginning, Disney's founder Walter Elias Disney fostered the spirit of
creativity, innovation and excellence that continues to underlie all of the company's
success.

Walt arrived in California in the summer of 1923 with dreams and determination, but
little else. He had made a short film in Kansas City about a little girl in a cartoon world,
called Alice's Wonderland, and he planned to use it as his "pilot" film to sell a series of
these Alice Comedies to a distributor. On October 16, 1923, a New York distributor, M.
J. Winkler, contracted to release the Alice Comedies, and this date became the formal
beginning of The Walt Disney Company. Originally known as the Disney Brothers
Cartoon Studio, with Walt Disney and his brother Roy as equal partners, the company
soon changed its name, at Roy's suggestion, to the Walt Disney Studio, which was
initially housed in a succession of storefront buildings in Hollywood before becoming
established on Hyperion Avenue.

Walt made his Alice Comedies for four years, constantly pushing the visual bounds as
well as the studio's finances with innovative effects. In 1927, he decided to move to an
all-cartoon series, and for its star he created a character named Oswald the Lucky
Rabbit. Within a year, Walt made 26 Oswald cartoons, but when he tried to get some
additional money from Winkler for a second year of the cartoons, he found out that the
distributor had gone behind his back and signed up almost all of his animators, hoping
to make the Oswald cartoons in his own studio for less money without Walt. Since the
distributor owned the rights to Oswald, there was nothing Walt could do. It was a painful
lesson for the young cartoon producer. From then on, he saw to it that he owned
everything that he made.

Walt now had to come up with a new character. With his chief animator, Ub Iwerks, Walt
designed a mouse whom Walt first wanted to name Mortimer, but his wife Lilly preferred
Mickey. And so a star was born. Ub animated two Mickey Mouse cartoons. But the first
film with synchronized sound The Jazz Singer had premiered, and Walt decided that
his studio should make the first sound cartoon. So, the studio poured all of its resources
into a third Mickey Mouse cartoon before the first two were released, this one with fully
synchronized sound. Steamboat Willie opened to rave reviews at the Colony Theater in
New York November 18, 1928. Mickey Mouse was an immediate sensation around the
world, and a series of Mickey Mouse cartoons followed.

Not one to rest on his laurels, Walt Disney soon produced another series -- the Silly
Symphonies. Each of the films in this series featured different casts of characters,
enabling the animators to experiment with stories that relied less on the gags and quick
humor of the Mickey cartoons and more on mood, emotion, and musical themes.
Eventually the Silly Symphonies turned into the training ground for all Disney artists, as
they prepared for the advent of animated feature films. Flowers and Trees, a Silly
Symphony and the first full-color cartoon, won the Academy Award for Best Cartoon for
1932, the first year that the Academy offered such a category. For the rest of that
decade, a Disney cartoon won the Oscar every year. The most sensational one was
released in 1933 -- Three Little Pigs. This was a breakthrough in character animation
and provided something of an anthem for fighting the Great Depression "Who's Afraid of
the Big Bad Wolf?" The animated short was so popular, it sometimes was listed above
the feature film on theater marquees.

While the studio's cartoons were gaining popularity in movie houses, they also
generated interest in related merchandise. As Walt recounted, "A fellow kept hanging
around my hotel waving $300 at me and saying that he wanted to put the mouse on
paper tablets for school children. As usual, Roy and I needed money, so I took the
$300." This was the start of Disney's consumer products business. Soon there were
Mickey Mouse dolls, dishes, toothbrushes, radios, figurines -- almost everything
imaginable bore Mickey's likeness. The first Mickey Mouse book was published in 1930,
as was the first Mickey Mouse newspaper comic strip.

One night in 1934, Walt brought his animators together to tell them they were going to
make an animated feature film, and proceeded to act out the story of Snow White and
the Seven Dwarfs. At the time, this was a radical concept. Most people thought that a
cartoon couldn't hold an audience's attention beyond the usual eight-minute running
time. It took three years and severely taxed the resources of the studio, but at
Christmas time, 1937, the film was finished, and it was a spectacular hit. Snow White
became the highest grossing film of all time, a record it held until it was surpassed by
Gone With the Wind. Work immediately began on other feature projects and the
company moved to its current site in Burbank, California. But, with the advent of World
War II, the company lost access to most of its foreign markets. Consequently, its next
two features, Pinocchio and Fantasia, which were released in 1940, were unable to
recoup their production costs. Both were masterpieces that would be phenomenally
profitable in subsequent releases in the decades to come, but their immediate effect
was to put the studio at some financial risk. Then came Dumbo in 1941, which was
produced on a very limited budget and was profitable. This was followed by Bambi,
which was another expensive film and came in 1942 after the U.S. had entered the war.
For the next number of years, Walt would have to restrain his animation ambitions.
However, it is remarkable to consider how far he had taken the art form in little more
than a decade. From the "rubber hose" animation of Steamboat Willie to the
extraordinary imagery and emotional storytelling of the company's first five feature
length films, the studio had revolutionized animation forever.

During the war, Walt Disney made two films about South America, Saludos Amigos and
The Three Caballeros, at the request of the State Department. His studio also
concentrated on producing propaganda and training films for the military. When the war
ended, it was difficult for the Disney Studio to regain its pre-war footing. Several years
went by during which the studio released "package" feature films, such as Make Mine
Music and Melody Time, containing groups of short cartoons. Walt also moved into live
action production, with Song of the South and So Dear to My Heart, which also included
animated segments. Walt further branched out with the award-winning True-Life
Adventure series, featuring dramatic nature photography of a style never seen before.

1950 saw three landmark achievements the studio's first completely live action film,
Treasure Island, the return to classic animated features with Cinderella and the first
Disney television show at Christmas time. Unlike the heads of the other Hollywood
studios, Walt saw the potential of television and, after another Christmas special, in
1954 he launched the Disneyland anthology series, famously featuring the first
television mini-series Davy Crockett. The Disneyland series would eventually run on all
three networks and go through six title changes, but it remained on the air for 29 years,
making it the longest-running prime-time television series in history. The Mickey Mouse
Club, one of television's most popular children's series, debuted in 1955, and made
stars of a number of talented Mouseketeers.

Walt Disney was always anxious to try something new. And so, as his motion pictures
and television programs achieved steady success, he looked for other entertainment
mountains to climb. One area that intrigued him was amusement parks. As a father, he
had taken his two young daughters to zoos, carnivals, and parks, but he always ended
up sitting on a bench as they rode the merry-go-round and had all the fun. He felt that
there should be a place where parents and children could have a good time together.
This was the genesis of Disneyland. After several years of planning and construction,
the new park opened July 17, 1955.

Disneyland was a totally new kind of entertainment experience. It was like entering the
movie screen and being able to fly with Peter Pan, explore the Wild West with Davy
Crockett and have a wild tea party with the Mad Hatter. Disneyland has served as the
inspiration for every amusement park built since its opening, attracting hundreds of
millions of visitors from around the world. Walt said that Disneyland would "never be
completed as long as there is imagination left in the world," and that statement remains
true today. New attractions are added regularly, and Disneyland has steadily grown in
popularity since its widely watched opening, which was co-hosted on television by future
American president Ronald Reagan.

The studio continued to produce highly popular filmed entertainment, with animated
films like Lady and the Tramp and Sleeping Beauty, live action films 20,000 Leagues
under the Sea and The Shaggy Dog, and a popular TV series about the legendary hero,
Zorro. In the 1960s came more classic films, like 101 Dalmatians and Pollyanna at
Disneyland, Walt pioneered the use of Audio-Animatronics, first at the park's Enchanted
Tiki Room, and then in four shows at the 1964 New York World's fair. Also in 1964
came Mary Poppins, which was Walt Disney's crowning achievement as a filmmaker,
combining live action, animation and animatronics to tell a classic story for the entire
family. Just two years later came the end of an era, as Walt Disney died December 15,
1966. It was said at the time that he was probably the best known individual in the
world.

Roy Disney, who was older than Walt and had been planning to retire, took over
supervision of the company, The Jungle Book in 1967 and The Aristocrats in 1970
showed that the company was still the leader in animation, and The Love Bug in 1969
was the highest grossing film of the year. Disney also established itself in the area of
educational films and materials with the start of an educational subsidiary in 1969.

Prior to Walt's death, the company had purchased land in Florida to fulfill Walt's next
major project the development of 28,000 acres that would dwarf the 400 acres of
Disneyland. Roy was determined to realize his brother's vision, and honored him by
naming it Walt Disney World. It opened October 1, 1971 with a Disneyland-style theme
park, hotels, campgrounds, golf courses, shopping villages and a monorail connecting
them all. This was to be a destination resort, removed from the urban sprawl that had
grown up around Disneyland. It did not take long for Walt Disney World to become the
world's premier vacation destination.
Roy Disney died just two months after realizing his brother's final dream. For the next
decade the company was led by a team including Card Walker, Donn Tatum, and Ron
Miller, all originally trained by the Disney brothers. One of Walt Disney's last plans had
been for what he called the Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow, or
EPCOT. While he died before the plans could be refined, they became the inspiration
for the second major phase of development at Walt Disney World, and in 1979 ground
was broken for the new park in Florida. EPCOT Center, a combination of Future World
and World Showcase and representing an investment of over one billion dollars, opened
to great acclaim October 1, 1982.

WED Enterprises (later renamed Walt Disney Imagineering), the design and
development division for the parks, had several projects in the works during the early
1980s. In addition to designing Epcot, it planned Tokyo Disneyland, the first foreign
Disney Park, which opened April 15, 1983. It was an immediate success in a country
that had always loved anything Disney. Now that the Japanese had their own
Disneyland, they flocked to it in increasing numbers. Tokyo Disneyland set a range of
theme park attendance records and on one memorable day actually sold more mouse
ear hats than there were people in the park!

In an effort to expand its business, Disney initiated the Disney Channel in 1983 and
established a new film label, Touchstone Pictures, with the release of Splash in 1984.
However, because of the widespread perception that Disney stock was undervalued
relative to the company's assets, in 1984 there were attempts to stage hostile takeovers
of the company. These efforts were rebuffed and, in October, Michael Eisner and Frank
Wells became chief executive officer and president, respectively.

The new management team immediately saw ways for Disney to maximize its assets.
They established Touchstone Television to produce network TV shows, beginning with
the immensely successful Golden Girls, followed in 1986 by a return to Sunday night
television with the Disney Sunday Movie (later The Magical World of Disney and The
Wonderful World of Disney). Films from the Disney library were selected for the
television syndication market, and some of the classic animated films were released on
video cassette. Eventually, the company pioneered the "sell-through" approach of
pricing video releases at lower prices and Disney classics were suddenly setting a
whole new kind of box office record as they reached a new generation of kids, who
could watch them in the convenience of their home.

At Disneyland, collaborations with filmmakers George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola
contemporized the park with Captain EO and Star Tours, while Splash Mountain
opened in 1989. Walt Disney World experienced a major expansion, with Disney's
Grand Floridian and Caribbean Beach Resorts opening in 1988 and, in 1989, the
introduction of three new gated attractions: the Disney/MGM Studios Theme Park,
Pleasure Island and Typhoon Lagoon.
Filmmaking hit new heights in 1988 as, for the first time, Disney led all the Hollywood
studios in box-office gross, with Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Good Morning, Vietnam,
Three Men and a Baby each earning more than $100 million at the U.S. box office. In
merchandising, Disney opened numerous highly successful Disney Stores.

Disney animation experienced a renaissance. In 1989, The Little Mermaid reminded the
world that animation wasn't just for kids. In 1991, Beauty and the Beast became the only
animated film ever to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. In 1992,
Aladdin became the first animated film to gross more than $200 million in the U.S. and,
in 1994, The Lion King shattered records, grossing $312 million in the U.S. and $783
million worldwide.

Meanwhile, Hollywood Records was formed to offer a wide selection of music, ranging
from rap to movie soundtracks. New television shows, such as Live with Regis and
Kathie Lee, Empty Nest, Dinosaurs and Home Improvement, expanded Disney's
television base. Disney moved into publishing, forming Hyperion Books, Hyperion
Books for Children, and Disney Press, which released books on Disney and non-Disney
subjects. In 1991, as a totally new venture, Disney was awarded in 1993 the franchise
for a National Hockey League team in Anaheim, the Mighty Ducks, named after a
popular Walt Disney Pictures film, which the company operated until selling it in 2005.

In France, the park now known as Disneyland Resort Paris opened on April 12, 1992.
This spectacular new Disneyland attracted almost 11 million visitors during its first year.
Disneyland Paris is complemented by six uniquely designed resort hotels and a
campground and is now the most visited tourist attraction in all of Europe. At the Walt
Disney World Resort, six new resort hotels were opened during the 1990s, as well as
new attractions at all the theme parks, while such enhancements as Mickey's Toontown
and the Indiana Jones Adventure helped fulfill Disneyland's mandate that it would
"never be completed."

Disney's leadership in animation continued with Pocahontas in 1995, The Hunchback of

Notre Dame in 1996, Hercules in 1997, Mulan in 1998, Tarzan in 1999 and
Fantasia/2000 at the turn of the century. In 1995, in partnership with Pixar Animation,
the company released the first computer-animated feature film, Toy Story. This was
followed by a series of highly successful Disney/Pixar collaborations, a bug's life, Toy
Story 2, Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo and The Incredibles.

In 1994, Disney ventured onto Broadway with the stage production of Beauty and the
Beast, followed in 1997 by The Lion King, which won the Tony Award for best musical.
Aida was Disney Theatrical's first production not based on an animated film and, in
2006, Tarzan opened on The Great White Way. By restoring the historic New
Amsterdam Theater on 42nd Street, Disney became the catalyst for a successful
makeover of the famous Times Square area.
In 1996, the first home sites were sold in the new city of Celebration, Florida, a model
community built on Disney property that will one day be home to 20,000 people. That
year, Disney also invested in the California Angels and saw the team win the 2002
World Series before selling it in 2003.

However, by far the biggest event of 1996 was Disney's acquisition of Capital
Cities/ABC. The $19 billion transaction, which at the time was the second largest in U.S.
history, brought the ABC television network to Disney, in addition to 10 TV stations, 21
radio stations, seven daily newspapers, and ownership positions in the cable networks
A&E, Lifetime, History Channel and the powerhouse sports network, ESPN. Today, it is
estimated that ESPN alone is worth the Cap Cities/ABC acquisition price.

A whole new park, Disney's Animal Kingdom, opened at Walt Disney World in 1998.
With a gigantic Tree of Life as its centerpiece, the park was Disney's largest, spanning
500 acres. A major attraction was the Kilimanjaro Safaris, where guests could
experience live animals in a highly accurate reproduction of the African savannah. An
Asian area opened at Animal Kingdom in 1999.

Also in 1998, the company entered the cruise line business with the launch of the
Disney Magic, which was joined one year later by the Disney Wonder. Both ships tour
the Caribbean, stopping at Disney's own island paradise, Castaway Cay. 
In 2001, Walt Disney Attractions, for the first time, opened two new theme parks in the
same year. In February, Disney's California Adventure began operation, transforming
Disney's Anaheim property into a true resort destination with two theme parks, an
upscale shopping area called Downtown Disney and three hotels, including the new
Grand Californian Hotel. In September, Tokyo Disney Sea opened, highlighting the
myths, legends and lore of the ocean. March, 2002, saw the opening of another
overseas park, Walt Disney Studios, adjacent to Disneyland Paris.

The company's film studio, which has been number one or two at the U.S. box office for
13 of the past 16 years, had a particularly banner year in 2003, with Pirates of the
Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl and Disney-Pixar's Finding Nemo both
grossing more than $300 million at the U.S. box office.. That year, Disney became the
first studio in history to surpass $3 billion in global box office.

On October 1, 2005, Robert Iger assumed the position of chief executive officer,
becoming only the seventh individual to lead the company in its entire history. Iger
quickly established his intention to take advantage of emerging technologies in order to
connect with consumers in new ways. Within weeks of becoming CEO, he arranged for
Disney to become the first broadcaster to have its TV shows made available on Apple's
iPod. Iger also emphasized his determination to grow the company by building on its
legacy of great creativity and his first major initiative, announced in January 2006, was
the acquisition of creative powerhouse Pixar Animation. The Disney/Pixar partnership
had been one of the most successful in film history and, by acquiring the studio, the
continuation of Disney's animation legacy is all but assured. Iger also orchestrated
another much smaller, but highly significant, animation acquisition, as Disney bought
the rights to Walt's original creation Oswald the Lucky Rabbit.

Disney's performance during Iger's first year was stellar, with record revenues, record
cash flow and record net earnings for fiscal year 2006. These financial results were
driven in large measure by the company's outstanding creative product, such as the
films Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest and Cars, ABC's Desperate
Housewives, Lost and Grey's Anatomy Disney Channel's High School Musical and
Hannah Montana, ESPN's popular sports coverage and, of course, the beloved
attractions at Disney theme parks.

As much as the company has changed since its Oswald days, much has remained the
same, as it continues to be dedicated to providing innovative, quality entertainment for
all members of the family, across America and around the world.

The Walt Disney Family Museum

Beginnings

Walter Elias Disney was born in Chicago on December 5, 1901, the fourth of Flora and
Elias Disney's five children. Of his siblings, Walt formed an especially close bond with
his brother Roy, eight and a half years his senior. They became best friends and, in
later years, business partners.
 
When Walt was four years old his family moved from Chicago to a farm in Marceline,
Misstheiri, where he enjoyed the idyllic rural life and first discovered his love of
drawing. Five years later the Disneys moved again, this time to the contrasting urban
environment of Kansas City. Elias had bought a Kansas City Star paper route, and
young Walt worked long hours delivering morning and evening papers while
simultaneously attending school. It was in Kansas City, too, that he discovered the
world of motion pictures, vaudeville, and amusement parks.
 
In 1917 Walt and his parents moved back to Chicago. When the United States entered
World War I, Roy joined the navy. Walt, too young for the armed forces, joined the Red
Cross instead. He arrived in France just after the Armistice and drove an ambulance
there for a year during the army's cleanup operation.
 
Upon his return to the States, Walt was determined to pursue a career as a cartoonist.
The Kansas City Film Ad Company, which produced advertising films for local
theaters, hired him, and here a momentous event occurred: Walt was introduced to the
world of animated cartoons. So intrigued was he that he experimented on his own,
then formed an animation studio: Laugh-O-gram Films Inc. But the little company soon
failed, and in 1923 Walt boarded a train to try his luck in Hollywood.

Hollywood

“I came to Hollywood and arrived here in August 1923 with forty dollars in my pocket
and a coat and a pair of trousers that didn’t match. And one half of my suitcase had
my shirts and underwear and things and the other half had my drawing materials. I
was a little discouraged with cartoons at that time. I thought I was getting into it too
late. In other words, I thought the cartoon business was established in such a way that
there was no chance to break into it. So I tried to get a job in Hollywood, working in the
picture business so I could learn it. I would have liked to have been a director, [but]
before I knew it I had my drawing board out. I started back at the cartoons and I was
able to secure a contract for twelve of these short films.”—Walt
 
“He was always worried, but always enthusiastic. Tomorrow was always gonna
answer all his problems.”—Roy
 
Arriving in Hollywood and finding no openings in the major movie studios, Walt
continued to pursue his idea for the Alice Comedies. Soon he had sold the series to a
national distributor, and he and his brother Roy established their new animation studio.
The Alice Comedies were a modest success and led to the creation of a new
character, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit—and then, at the end of the 1920s, the event that
would prove to be the turning point for the Walt Disney Studio: the birth of Mickey
Mouse.

New horizons in the 1930’s

"By nature, I'm an experimenter. So, with the success of Mickey, I was determined to
diversify. I had another idea - the Silly Symphonies - a series without a central
character, which would give me latitude to develop the animated cartoon medium."
 
"The first was The Skeleton Dance. The reaction was - why does Walt fool around with
skeletons? Give us more mice. So, for a while, it looked like the first Silly Symphony
would not get out of the graveyard. But once more, a showman came to the rescue.
Fred Miller, who was managing director of the Carthay Circle Theater in Los Angeles,
took a chance on the film. The Skeleton Dance got a wonderful reception, and
wonderful reviews. Thus was the series launched" - Walt
 
"At first the cartoon medium was just a novelty, but it never really began to hit until we
had more than tricks. We had to get beyond getting a laugh." - Walt
 
The 1930s witnessed a phenomenal creative explosion at the Walt Disney Studio. The
Mickey Mouse series continued, building on Mickey's success in 1928 and '29 and
producing new cartoons that were increasingly fresh, funny, and popular. At the same
time, Walt launched a new series in 1929: the Silly Symphonies. These innovative
cartoons, founded on the bond between animation and music, flourished during the
1930s and allowed Walt to explore new creative horizons. They brought a new level of
prestige to the Disney studio and to animation itself.

The move to features

“The short subject was just filler on any program. So I just felt I had to diversify my
business and get into these other things that would give me a better chance. Now if I
could crack the feature-length field that would give me sort of an unlimited field. I could
do things.”—Walt
 
“I don’t know why I picked Snow White. It’s a thing I remembered as a kid. I saw
Marguerite Clark in it [the 1916 live-action film] in Kansas City one time, and I thought
it was the perfect story. I had the sympathetic dwarfs, I had the heavy, I had the prince
and the girl, the romance—I just thought it was the perfect story. I think it is one of the
more perfect plots, I mean, basic all the way through. From the very start you have
sympathy.”—Walt
 
“I was afraid. Roy was too. But Walt wanted to do it.”—Lilly
 
“We were pioneering, yet we had to be right the first time.”—Walt
Having carried the one-reel animated cartoon to new heights, Walt now decided to
tackle a feature-length film. The making of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs would
become one of the greatest challenges of his career. No one had ever attempted a film
such as Walt now envisioned—a feature-length story told through his carefully crafted
brand of character animation—and some industry insiders predicted it would fail.
Instead the finished film achieved enormous worldwide success, and laid the
groundwork for even more ambitious projects.

They Were In A New Business

“When Snow White hit, we realized we were in a new business. We knew it within a

week after the picture had opened at the Carthay Circle in Los Angeles. We had been
heavily in debt, and within six months we had millions in the bank. I also had a big staff
that I had to keep busy.”—Walt
 
“We accomplished a great deal with Snow White and we want to go on from here. We
have learned that the tempo of a feature differs from that of a short. We learned
hundreds of things that cost us a lot of money. . . . We have an organization of young
men to whom nothing is impossible.”—Walt, in The New York Times, March 6, 1938
 
The success of Snow White marked a profound turning point for Walt Disney. No
longer bound by the practical and financial restrictions that had held him back, Walt
was free to indulge his most far-reaching creative ideas. Now he plunged into
production of three new and even more ambitious features: Pinocchio,
Fantasia, and Bambi. To facilitate all this new production, he and Roy started
construction on a new, state-of-the-art animation studio in Burbank. Here, in a custom-
designed environment with the latest and best equipment, Walt and his artists could
strive to reach new artistic heights. His struggles were over—for a time.

The toughest Period

“As I remember, it was the toughest period I’ve had in my whole life. It wasn’t a worry
of losing anything; it was just sort of a big disappointment in a lot of things. But
something comes out of it. Sometimes you’ve got to build yourself up and explode.
And then you begin to pick up the pieces and take stock.”—Walt
 
“The 1940s, with the war and their frozen markets, was a bad decade for us. We really
got in a tight bind around here. We were a young organization and their fellows were
subject to the draft—to the service—and we lost many, many of them. Walt jumped in
and started making films for the services, and on the strength of that, was able to keep
some of the boys to keep a nucleus of an organization going.”—Roy
 
During the early 1940s Walt and his studio were sorely tested by two major crises. The
first was a bitter three-month-long artists’ strike, which drastically disrupted the staff’s
working relationships. The second crisis was World War II, which consumed the
studio’s attention from the moment the United States entered the war in December
1941. Either one of these events, alone, would have altered the course of Walt’s
future; together they amounted to an enormous personal and professional challenge.
 
The strike took its toll, but Walt met the war emergency with a series of creative
responses. The studio diversified its activities, producing a distinctive variety of films
and other products, and emerged from the war years newly strengthened.

Post War Production

“I said, by hook or by crook we’ve got to get going. We’ve got to get back in the
business that we were in before the war. . . . I wanted to set up so that all my eggs
were not in that cartoon basket. I wanted different types of things that I could do so
that I could fall on my nose with one of these pictures but I had another one right
behind it. So we finally got together...we decided to go ahead.”—Walt
 
“Their re-conversion job consists of reorganizing their staff to include the experienced
men whom we lost and who have now returned, of training others to provide for
increased production, and to build up their inventory of stories in preparation and of
pictures in work. I believe it can be done quickly and efficiently in proportion to the
enthusiasm and the teamwork we can apply to it. All these qualities mean good
pictures, and good pictures mean that their future is assured. We have a clear road
ahead. Let’s get on their way.”—Walt in Annual Report, December 31, 1945
 
Walt and Roy met the challenge of the postwar years by diversifying their production.
The animation department channeled its efforts into new and creative directions, and
eventually revived some feature-length projects that had been started before the war.
And—more than twenty years after his arrival in Hollywood—Walt finally realized his
ambition to become a producer of live-action films.

Walt and the Natural world

One of the most unusual highlights of Walt’s career was a series of nature
documentaries, the True-Life Adventures. The first of these films, Seal Island(1949),
set the pattern: Walt would hire a team of naturalist-photographers to spend months or
even years in the wild, filming the animal life of a region; then the studio would edit
their hours of raw footage into a theatrical film. The result was an authentic record of
nature’s wonders, presented with all the production polish of a major movie studio. The
nature series ran for more than a decade and produced ten short subjects and seven
features, winning nine Academy Awards along the way. The True-Life films also led to
a second, similar series of travel documentaries titled People and Places.
 
“The biggest problem was getting [the photographers] to keep shooting. They would
be too conservative with film because when they were working on their own they had
to buy that film. They would cut the camera just as an animal would do something. I
had to pound: Shoot, shoot! I had to sell them on the idea that the film was the
cheapest thing [in their operation], and if they missed something—it got to the point
that they never dared come in to tell me something they saw that they didn’t
photograph because I would raise heck with them. Also, they would quit too early in
the day. They’d think the sun wasn’t right. I said, Keep shooting!”—Walt

The Big Screen and beyond

“When television first hit, I went back to New York and spent a week in New York just
to study television. . . . I had the feeling then that it was important and that we ought to
get in it. The feeling of the motion picture business was that television was something
we should fight. Or we should ignore it and maybe it would go away, or some darn
thing.”—Walt
 
“[Disneyland] is something that will never be finished. Something that I can keep
developing, keep plussing and adding to. It’s alive. It will be a live breathing thing that
will need changes. A picture is a thing, once you wrap it up and turn it over to
Technicolor, you’re through. . . . I wanted something live, something that could grow,
something I could keep plussing with ideas, you see? The park is that.”—Walt
 
“I use the same talents to develop the different attractions at the park that I do to make
my cartoons and make my other films here. So—it was a wise move some fifteen
years ago when I decided that I should diversify.”—Walt
 
Even as the Disney studio continued to produce animated and live-action films, Walt
was moving into new fields. As the 1950s dawned, he would embrace the medium of
television and leave his unique stamp on it; and after creating so many fanciful worlds
on the screen he would build a new, three-dimensional world that visitors could
experience for themselves. A fresh explosion of creativity was just around the corner.

Death of Walt Disney 

Walter Elias Disney died on December 15, 1966, ten days after his sixty-fifth birthday,
in St. Joseph’s Hospital—directly across the street from the studio that he and his
brother had built in Burbank, California. The nation and the world reacted in grief and
disbelief, and condolences came to his family and his company from all over.
 
His brother Roy led the family and the company in continuing the projects Walt had
begun. The Mineral King project, which had been enthusiastically approved at the time
of Walt’s death, was defeated by the Sierra Club in a lawsuit that went as far as the
Supreme Court. The concept of EPCOT, the Experimental Prototype Community of
Tomorrow, was revised to World Showcase and Future World. The acronym was kept,
however, and EPCOT Center became Epcot.
 
The California Institute of the Arts was built in 1969 on a hill overlooking California’s
Interstate 5. The School of Animation was added by the Walt Disney Studio in 1978,
staffed entirely by veterans of the Disney Animation Department, and its first class
produced such stellar graduates as John Lasseter.
 
Roy Disney declared that “Disney World,” the Florida project so important to Walt,
would be named Walt Disney World, so that everyone would know it was his creation.
The park opened in 1971, and Roy himself died soon afterward—but not before
ensuring that Walt’s legacy would be carried on.

Legends

Mario Gentilini (Publishing)

Inducted 1997

Mario Gentilini pushed the envelope of invention in the world of comic publishing. As
former director of "Topolino" magazine, he had an artistic, captivating and tireless
personality, which he infused into the popular Italian publication featuring Mickey
Mouse. Under his leadership, "Topolino" transformed from a monthly into a weekly
publication and featured original Disney stories by classically-trained Italian artists.

As vice chairman of The Walt Disney Company, Roy E. Disney, recalled, "Mario was a
great pioneer in the comic field."

Born July 8, 1909, in Luzzara, Italy, Mario studied art at the Accademia di Brera in Milan
and in time, became a well-known figurative painter with work featured in exhibitions in
Paris and Rome.

He taught at a local high school until 1936 when he was offered the opportunity to fill in
for an artist on leave from Arnoldo Mondadori Editore. While at the prestigious
publishing firm, Mario learned of "Topolino" magazine, which the company had recently
acquired the rights to publish. He became enchanted by Disney's little mouse star and
as a result, quit teaching and began a new career in publishing, retouching drawings for
"Topolino." Nine years later, in 1945, Mario was promoted to its editor.

Typically, during this time, only Disney stories from the U.S. were translated and
published in the magazine. Mario, however, transformed the publication from a monthly
into a weekly and as a result, initiated original Disney stories by Italian artists to help fill
"Topolino's" estimated 3,500 published pages per year. The artists he recruited were
from top Italian schools such as Scarpa in Venezia.

Mario's other contributions include "I Classici di Walt Disney," a monthly magazine that
featured only the best stories of "Topolino." First published in 1958, the magazine was a
huge success selling two million copies in seven languages per issue. Ten years later,
Mario published the first of a successful series of Disney-themed handbooks for the
Italian boy scouts (Junior Woodchucks) called Manuale dell Giovani Marmotte.

In addition to his publishing genius, Mario was also a clever marketer and in 1960,
founded the "Topolino" Ski Trophy for children ages 6 to 12, the first sports program of
its kind in Europe. He also developed Il Club di Topolino for readers of "Topolino," who
collected and traded special stamps that were published in the magazine. Founded in
1954, the club grew to more than 500,000 members by the late 1960s.

After 35 years with Arnoldo Mondadori Editore, Mario retired in 1980. Future fellow
Disney Legend Gaudenzio Capelli assumed his responsibilities as director of
"Topolino."
Mario Gentilini died in February 1988, in Milan.

Disney Legends: Motivation Factor

The Disney Legends program was established in 1987 to acknowledge and honor the
many individuals whose imagination, talents and dreams have created the Disney
magic. The awards are given annually by Robert Iger and Roy E. Disney during a
ceremony at The Walt Disney Studios.

The Legends are chosen by a selection committee chosen by Roy E. Disney. Since its
inception, the program has honored many gifted animators, Imagineers, songwriters,
actors and business leaders as having made a significant impact on the Disney legacy.

In 1997, the Legends program was established in Europe with a ceremony held at
Disneyland Paris, commemorating the 5th anniversary of the park and honoring those
who established many of the Disney European businesses. During the ceremony, a 14-
foot bronze enlargement of the Disney Legends award was unveiled as an enduring
reminder of their contributions.

On October 16, 1998, the new Disney Legends Plaza was dedicated at The Walt
Disney Studios to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the The Walt Disney
Company. The Plaza features a second edition of the bronze sculpture first placed in
Disneyland Paris, with bronze plaques representing the individual Legends lining the
columns of the Plaza.

Each year, new Legends will join this celebrated group so that they may always
remember the gifts of those people who know the secret of making dreams come true.

Legends Philosophy

The Disney Legends award has three distinct elements that characterize the
contributions made by each talented recipient.

 The Spiral - stands for imagination, the power of an idea.

  The Hand - holds the gifts of skill, discipline and craftsmanship.
 The Wand and the Star - represent magic: the spark that is ignited when
imagination and skill combine to create a new dream.

Legend Award Details

The Disney Legends award was created in 1987 by Andrea Favilli. The awards are cast
in bronze and hand-crafted each year by the artist that characterizes the contribution
made by each talented recipient.

The ultimate authority on all things Disney

Dave Smith founded the Walt Disney Archives in 1970 and served as the Company's
Chief Archivist for the past four decades. In 1996, he assembled an unprecedented
amount of Disney lore, facts, and figures into his unparalleled reference work, "Disney A
to Z: The Official Encyclopedia." He updated this magnum opus for a new edition in
1998 and then again in 2006. A current supplement to the latest edition is available by
clicking the button below. Dave has appeared on numerous television shows as a
Disney expert and has attended every Disneyana Convention to date, as a resourrce
person and occasional guest speaker. He co-authored "The Ultimate Disney Trivia
Books 1, 2, 3, and 4" with Kevin Neary, as well as "Disney: The First 100 Years," with
Steven Clark. Named a Disney Legend in 2007, Dave retired from his prestigious Chief
Archivist position in late 2010, but continues to update "Disney A to Z."

More About Disney

Over the years, many authors have written about different aspects of the
Disney vision, so now you can find a wealth of Disney-related titles at ytheir
favorite bookstore. The following list, which covers subjects from films to
personalities and art to imagineering, forms the backbone of the Disney
archives featured here in Disney A-Z.

Walt and Roy Disney 

  The Story of Walt Disney by Diane Disney Miller & Pete Martin (Holt,
1957)
 The Disney Version by Richard Schickel (Simon & Schuster, 1968,
1985, 1997)
 Walt Disney: An American Original by Bob Thomas (Simon & Schuster,
1976; Hyperion, 1994)
 The Man Behind the Magic; the Story of Walt Disney by Katherine &
Richard Greene (Viking, 1991, 1998)
 Walt Disney: His Life in Pictures edited by Russell Schroeder (Disney
Press, 1996)
 Walt Disney's Railroad Story by Michael Broggie (Pentrex, 1997)
 The Magic Kingdom; Walt Disney and the American Way of Life by
Steven Watts (H. Mifflin, 1997; 2001 pbk)
 Building a Company; Roy O. Disney and the Creation of an
Entertainment Empire by Bob Thomas (Hyperion, 1998)
 Remembering Walt: Favorite Memories of Walt Disney by Howard
Green & Amy Boothe Green (Hyperion, 1999)
 The Quotable Walt Disney compiled by Dave Smith (Disney Editions,
2001)
 Discovering Walt by Jean-Pierre Isbouts (Disney Editions, 2001)
 Inside the Dream: The Personal Story of Walt Disney by Katherine &
Richard Greene (Disney Editions, 2001)
 Walt Disney's Misstheiri by Brian Burnes, et al (Kansas City Star
Books, 2002)

Disney Company 

 Donald Duck Joins Up; the Walt Disney Studio During World War II by
Richard Shale (UMI Research Press, 1982)
 Storming the Magic Kingdom by John Taylor (Knopf, 1987)
 The Disney Studio Story by Richard Holliss & Brian Sibley (Crown,
1988)
 The Disney Touch by Ron Grover (Business One Irwin, 1991, 1997)
 Prince of the Magic Kingdom: Michael Eisner and the Re-Making of
Disney by Joe Flower (Wiley, 1991)
 Disney Dons Dogtags: The Best of Disney Military Insignia from World
War II by Walton Rawls (Abbeville, 1992)
 Walt in Wonderland: The Silent Films of Walt Disney by Russell Merritt
& J.B. Kaufman (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1993)
  The Disney Films by Leonard Maltin (Crown, 1973, 1984; Hyperion,
1995)
 Work in Progress by Michael Eisner & Tony Schwartz (Random House,
1998)
 Disney: The First 100 Years by Dave Smith & Steven Clark (Hyperion,
1999; Disney Editions, updated 2002)
 The Little Big Book of Disney by Monique Peterson (Disney Editions,
2001)

Animated Characters 

 Mickey Mouse: Fifty Happy Years edited by David Bain & Bruce Harris
(Harmony Books, 1977)
 Donald Duck, 50 Years of Happy Frustration (HP Books, 1984)
 Goofy, the Good Sport (HP Books, 1985)
 Mickey Mouse, His Life and Times (Harper & Row, 1986)
 Mickey Mouse in Color (Pantheon Books, 1988)
 Mickey Mouse; My Life in Pictures by Russell Schroeder (Disney
Press, 1997)
 Encyclopedia of Walt Disney's Animated Characters by John Grant
(Hyperion, 1998)
 Disney's Winnie the Pooh: A Celebration of the Silly Old Bear by
Christopher Finch (Disney Editions, 2000)
 Mickey Mouse: The Evolution, the Legend, the Phenomenon by Robert
Heide & John Gilman (Disney Editions, 2001)

Behind The Scenes 

 The Art of Walt Disney by Robert D. Feild (Macmillan, 1942)

 The Art of Animation by Bob Thomas (Simon & Schuster, 1958)
 The Art of Walt Disney by Christopher Finch (Harry N. Abrams, 1973,
1995, updated 2004)
 Fantasia by John Culhane (Harry N. Abrams, 1983)
 Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs & the Making of the Classic Film by
Richard Holliss & Brian Sibley (Simon & Schuster, 1987; Hyperion,
1994)
 Walt Disney's Bambi: The Story and the Film by Ollie Johnston & Frank
Thomas (Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 1990 )
 Art of Animation: From Mickey Mouse to Beauty and the Beast by Bob
 Thomas (Hyperion, 1991; updated including Hercules, 1997)
 Aladdin, The Making of an Animated Film by John Culhane (Hyperion,
1992)
 The Art of The Lion King by Christopher Finch (Hyperion, 1994)
 Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: An Art in Its Making by Martin
Krause & Linda Witkowski (Hyperion, 1994)
 The Art of Pocahontas by Stephen Rebello (Hyperion, 1995)
 The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation by Frank Thomas & Ollie
Johnston (Hyperion, 1995)
 The Disney that Never Was by Charles Solomon (Hyperion, 1995)
 Toy Story; the Art and Making of the Animated Film by John Lasseter &
Steve Daly (Hyperion, 1995)
 The Art of the Hunchback of Notre Dame by Stephen Rebello
(Hyperion, 1996)
 Before the Animation Begins: The Art and Lives of Disney Inspirational
Sketch Artists by John Canemaker (Hyperion, 1996)
 Animation Magic: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at How an Animated Film
Is Made by Don Hahn (Hyperion, 1996)
 The Art of Hercules by Stephen Rebello and Jane Healey (Hyperion,
1997)
 The Art of Mulan by Jeff Kurtti (Hyperion, 1998)
 A Bug's Life: The Art and Making of an Epic of Miniature Proportions by
Jeff Kurtti (Hyperion, 1998)
 The Tarzan Chronicles by Howard Green (Hyperion, 1999)
 Fantasia/2000: Visions of Hope by John Culhane (Disney Editions,
1999)
 Paper Dreams: The Art & Artists of Disney Storyboards by John
Canemaker (Hyperion, 1999)
 Dinosaur: The Evolution of an Animated Feature by Jeff Kurtti (Disney
Editions, 2000)
 Walt Disney's Nine Old Men & The Art of Animation by John
Canemaker (Hyperion, 2001)
 The Art of Monsters, Inc. (Chronicle Books, 2001)
 Lilo & Stitch: Collected Stories from the Film's Creators (Disney
Editions, 2002)
 Treasure Planet: A Voyage of Discovery (Disney Editions, 2002)
 The Art of Finding Nemo by Mark Cotta Vez (Chronicle Books, 2003)
 The Art and Flair of Mary Blair by John Canemaker (Disney Editions,
2003)
 Brother Bear: A Transformation Tale by H. Clark Wakabayashi (Disney
Editions, 2003)
  The Art of the Incredibles by Mark Cotta Vaz (Chronicle Books, 2004)
 Chicken Little: From Henhouse to Hollywood by Monique Peterson
(Disney Editions, 2005)

Music 

 The Musical World of Walt Disney by David Tietyen (Hal Leonard,

1990)
 The Golden Age of Walt Disney Records, 1933-1988 by R. Michael
Murray (Antique Trader Books, 1997)
 The Illustrated Treasury of Disney Songs (Hyperion, 1998)
 Walt's Time by Robert B. Sherman & Richard M. Sherman (Camphor
Tree, 1998)

Theme Parks 

 Walt Disney's Epcot Center by Richard R. Beard (Harry N. Abrams,

1982)
 Disneyland: Inside Story by Randy Bright (Abrams, 1987)
 Gardens of the Walt Disney World Resort by Dee Hansford (Walt
Disney World, 1988)
 Disneyland: The Nickel Tour by Bruce Gordon and David Mumford
(Camphor Tree, 1995; updated 2000)
 Building a Dream; The Art of Disney Architecture by Beth Dunlop
(Abrams, 1996)
 Walt Disney Imagineering: A Behind the Dreams Look at Making the
Magic (Hyperion, 1996)
 Since the World Began: Walt Disney World's First 25 Years by Jeff
Kurtti (Hyperion, 1996)
 Designing Disney's Theme Parks, ed. by Karal Ann Marling
(Flammarion, 1997)
 The Making of Disney's Animal Kingdom by Melody Malmberg
(Hyperion, 1998)
 Riding the Black Ship Japan and Tokyo Disneyland by Aviad E. Raz
(Harvard University, 1999)
 Walt Disney World Resort-A Souvenir for the Millennium (Disney
Editions, 1999)
 Once Upon an American Dream: The Story of Euro Disneyland by
 Andrew Lainsbury (U. of Kansas Press, 2000)
 Disneyland Resort: Magical Memories for a Lifetime (Disney Editions,
2002)
 Disneyland Paris: From Sketch to Reality by Alain Littaye & Didier
Ghez (Nouveau Millionaire, 2002)
 Hidden Mickeys: A Field Guide to Walt Disney World's Best Kept
Secrets by Steven Barrett (Intrepid Traveller, 2003)
 Designing Disney: Imagineering and the Art of the Show by John
Hench (Disney Editions, 2003)
 The Haunted Mansion: From the Magic Kingdom to the Movies by
Jason Surrell (Disney Editions, 2003)
 101 Things You Never Knew About Disneyland by Kevin Yee & Jason
Schultz (Zauberreigh Press, 2005)
 Around the World with Disney by Kevin Markey (Disney Editions, 2005)
 Disneyland: Then, Now and Forever by Bruce Gordon & Tim O'Day
(Disney Editions, 2005)
 Disneyland Hotel: The Early Years (1954-1988) by Donald W. Ballard
(Ape Pen Pub., 2005)
 The Imagineering Field Guide to the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney
World by Alex Wright (Disney Editions, 2005)
 Behind the Magic: 50 Years of Disneyland by Karal Ann Marling (The
Henry Ford, 2005)
 Pirates of the Caribbean: From the Magic Kingdom to the Movies by
Jason Surrell (Disney Editions, 2005)
 Birnbaum's Walt Disney World and Birnbaum's Disneyland (Disney
Editions, 2006)

Television 

 Mickey Mouse Club Scrapbook by Keith Keller (Grosset & Dunlap,

1975)
 The Official Mickey Mouse Club Book by Lorraine Santoli (Hyperion,
1995)
 The Wonderful World of Disney Television by Bill Cotter (Hyperion,
1997)

Collectibles 

 Disneyana: Walt Disney Collectibles by Cecil Munsey (Hawthorn,

 1974)
 Disneyana Catalog and Price Guide (5 vols.) by Tom Tumbusch
(Tomart, 1985-89)
 Mickey Mouse Memorabilia (Abrams, 1986)
 Disneyana: Classic Collectibles 1928-1958 by Robert Heide & John
Gilman (Disney Editions, 2002)
 The Mickey Mouse Watch Book by Robert Heide & John Gilman
(Hyperion, 1997)
 The Disney Poster Book (Disney Editions, 2002)
 The Disney Treasures by Robert Tieman (Disney Editions, 2003)
 The Disney Keepsakes by Robert Tieman (Disney Editions, 2005)
 Official Price Guide to Disney Collectibles by Ted Hake (Gemstone
Pub., 2005)

Reference/Trivia 

 The Ultimate Disney Trivia Book by Kevin Neary & Dave Smith
(Hyperion, 1992); Book 2 (Hyperion, 1994); Book 3 (Hyperion, 1997)
Book 4 (Disney Editions, 2000)
 Disney A to Z; the Official Encyclopedia by Dave Smith (Hyperion,
1996; updated ed. 1998)
 Disney: The Ultimate Visual Guide by Russell Schroeder (DK
Publishing, 2002)

Miscellaneous 

 Beauty and the Beast; a Celebration of the Broadway Musical by

Donald Frantz (Hyperion, 1995)
 The Lion King: Pride Rock on Broadway by Julie Taymor (Hyperion,
1997)
 Disney on Broadway ed. by Michael Lassell (Disney Editions, 2002)
 A Day at the New Amsterdam Theater by Dana Amendola (Disney
Editions, 2004)
 Celebration: The Story of a Town by Michael Lassell (Disney Editions,
2004)
Board of Directors

Their Board's composition today is a strong, balanced blend of skills and

experience, allowing it to offer guidance in core areas important to Disney.

Click on a Director's name to see his or her full background information.

Susan Arnold Steve Jobs Robert W.

Director since 2007 Director since 2006 Matschullat
Director since 2002
John E. Bryson Fred H.
Director since 2000 Langhammer John E. Pepper, Jr.
Director since 2005 Chairman of the
John S. Chen Board since January
Director since 2004 Aylwin B. Lewis 2007
Director since 2004
Judith L. Estrin Sheryl Sandberg
Director since 1998 Monica C. Lozano Director since 2010
Director since 2000
Robert A. Iger Orin C. Smith
Director since 2000 Director since 2006

Strategic Sourcing And Procurement

The Walt Disney Company is a diversified worldwide entertainment company

with operations in four major business segments: Studio Entertainment, Parks
and Resorts, Media Networks and Consumer Products.

The Company's Strategic Sourcing and Procurement organization works with

all their Business Units and their Suppliers across the globe to establish the
best value for The Walt Disney Company.

Strategic Sourcing provides opportunities for Suppliers to partner with the

Company to provide goods and services. This partnering approach is
designed to create a mutually beneficial relationship between their Suppliers
and The Walt Disney Company.

Disney Sourcing Professionals seek out and contract with companies of all
sizes and capabilities, from local and regional Suppliers to those with a global
reach finding Suppliers for a specific Company division or the entire
enterprise.

They rely on a dedicated, competitive, world-class Supplier base to

collaborate with their Sourcing Professionals and work within their
infrastructure to bring the Disney magic to their customers and guests around
the world.

Supplier Diversity And Sustainment

The Walt Disney Company is committed to making Minority and Women

Business Enterprises (MWBEs) an important part of its Sourcing and
procurement activities by actively seeking minority- and woman-owned firms
for inclusion in the competitive bidding process, and utilizing these businesses
to the fullest extent possible.

The MWBE Program

The MWBE program enhances value received from the supply base by
identifying, developing, and referring qualified minority- and women-owned
businesses that are capable of meeting The Walt Disney Company's business
objectives.

Their team of dedicated supplier diversity professionals engages in several

activities to ensure that the diversity they find in their communities is reflected
in their supply base:

 Outreach actively seeks diverse Suppliers through participation in

national, regional, and local minority- and women-owned business
development organizations, advocacy groups, and trade shows.
 Due Diligence validates MWBE status through certification compliance,
site visits, management interviews, and/or third-party research.
 Qualification determines relevant MWBE business criteria such as
competencies, geographical scope, capacity, etc.
 Utilization assists Disney professionals in identifying minority- and
woman-owned businesses capable of meeting their procurement
objectives.
  Development acts as liaison between internal stakeholders and diverse
Suppliers to promote goodwill and ensure that each party has their
respective needs met.

The Walt Disney Company, have developed a program that goes beyond
solely creating access for minority- and women-owned businesses by
fostering a Companywide atmosphere of support and appreciation for the
value that diversity brings to their Company's supply base.

Technology Focus

The Walt Disney Company continues to invest in technology to bring

efficiencies to the procurement and accounts payable processes. They work
with their Suppliers to:

 Create electronic Catalogs to maximize use of preferred Suppliers,

products and services.
 Enable electronic Purchase Order and Invoice transactions to minimize
cost, including support for EDI.
 Receive electronic payment via ACH (direct deposit).
 Implement Evaluated Receipt Settlement (ERS) to simplify the PO and
Invoice process.
 Utilize electronic bidding to reduce cycle time and increase
consistency.
 Fostering Networking and Honoring Accomplishments

Creative Networking Events from The Disney Event Group

It's a proven fact that networking is constantly acknowledged at the top of the
benefit list for face-to-face meetings - but many organizations believe it
happens spontaneously or leave it to chance. At Disney, they believe that
putting people in a creative networking environment fosters creativity - and
nobody offers more creative networking environments than The Disney Event
Group. With 47 square miles of the most amazing and imaginative venues on
earth, your attendees can mix and mingle while strengthening their business
relationships or celebrating accomplishments. 
Value Earned

No networking or recognition event,can compare to the surroundings of multi-

million dollar theming and décor elements in the Disney Theme Parks - not to
mention how special their attendees feel when they have a corner of their
World all to themselves. 

Be it for an intimate dinner, unique networking venue or large-scale

celebration, a portion of a Disney Theme Park or an entire park buyout, they
can customize their locations to fit their needs. At The Disney Event Group it's
all about satisfying customers.

Disney Institute

Disney Institute is a true Disney Advantage that cannot be compared with any
other meeting destination, with world-class training that helps businesses
learn to think differently. Its called D'Think. 

Disney Institute has paved the way for millions of business professionals and
more than half of the Fortune 100 companies to benchmark and adapt proven
best practices that have sustained the success of the Disney organization for
over 85 years. It remains the only professional development company where
you can literally step into a "living laboratory" at Disney Theme Parks and
Resorts for guided behind-the-scenes field experiences. They can transport
their attendees out of the traditional classroom setting and into real behind-
the-scenes interactions with Disney leaders who share proven business
practices first-hand. It's an effective and cost-efficient way to be immersed in
Disney proven business principles. 

Programs are available in a variety of formats to meet the scheduling

demands of the event and the needs of their delegates, adding to the
educational content of the meeting. One can select from an array of topics
that are based on five core Disney business strengths:

 Leadership Excellence

 People Management

 Quality Service
  Brand Loyalty

 Inspiring Creativity

In addition, engaging 90-minute keynote presentations are available in topics

such as: 

 Change Leadership

 A Disney Legacy: Keep Moving Forward

 Disney Service Guidelines

 Inspiration to Innovation

 Leading Through Turbulent Times

 Storytelling: A Meaningful Translation of Culture

Business standards and Ethics

The Walt Disney Company incorporates best-in-class business standards as

a key pillar of its business practices.

 Business Standards and Ethics Training

Compliance training, including the Company's Standards of Business
Conduct and ethics, is provided to employees and Cast Members
worldwide through the Company's learning management system
known as Disney Development Connection. It is the Company's intent,
through its compliance training, to ensure that all of its employees and
Cast Members have the knowledge and training to act ethically and
legally, in compliance with the Company's Standards of Business
Conduct.

 Hiring Practices
It is the policy of The Walt Disney Company to provide equal
opportunity for all employees and applicants for employment without
regard to race, religion, color, sex, sexual orientation, national origin,
age, marital status, covered veteran status, mental or physical
disability, pregnancy, or any other basis prohibited by state or federal
law.
  Human Resources
The Walt Disney Company's employees and cast members are
essential to fulfilling their business goals. Their mission is to drive the
people dimension of their business, consistent with Disney's culture
and values. 
 Harassment Prevention and Discrimination Policies
The Walt Disney Company's policy prohibits employees from harassing
any other employee, guest or other person in the course of the
company's business for any reason prohibited by law, including, but not
limited to, race, religion, color, sex, sexual orientation, national origin,
age, marital status, covered veteran status, mental or physical
disability, pregnancy, or any other basis prohibited by state or federal
law.

Safety and Security

The safety and security of their guests and their cast members is of
paramount importance to us and is evident in programs throughout Disney.

 Parks Safety Programs and Policies

Since Disney began building and operating theme parks in the 1950's,
the Company has established hundreds of internal standards for the
development and operation of theme park attractions. Their aggressive
quality assurance program is designed to enforce both their standards
and detailed state regulations for ride systems.
 DIMG Internet Safety Overview
Since the launch of its first internet site in 1995, Disney has been
committed to promoting both safe Internet practices for children and
parental involvement in kids' online experiences. In addition to
championing and participating in numerous public education outreach
programs which focus on safety, Disney hosts extensive, original
interactive content from trusted brands, and offer a variety of
community tools that empower parents to control who their children
interact with online.
 Workplace Safety Programs and Training
The Company aims to minimize risks and associated costs by
providing quality and professional technical services that foster the
safest environment possible for guests, cast members, and property.
The Company provides a team of training and development staff that
focuses on training employees in the areas of health, safety, and
 environmental issues. These programs achieve not only compliance
with regulatory requirements, but also create a culture that places the
highest value on the prevention of injury and illness.
 Park Security
Their security teams are dedicated to promoting a safe and secure
environment for all of their guests and cast members. More than a
thousand cast members are employed in security operations at the
Disneyland and Walt Disney World resorts.
 Product Safety (Consumer Products)
Disney is extremely concerned about the quality and safety of its
consumer products, especially those products that are enjoyed by
children. The Company's Product Integrity group reviews the safety of
all consumer products sold or distributed by Disney entities.
 Depiction of Smoking in Movies
Disney is concerned about the impact of the depiction of smoking in
movies on youth and actively looks for ways to limit the depiction of
smoking in movies marketed to youth. 

Socially Responsive Indices

The Walt Disney Company has been selected as a member of the Dow Jones
Sustainability Indexes. Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes are a cooperation of
Dow Jones Indexes, STOXX Limited and SAM Group. By bringing together
the expertise of two leading index providers and the pioneer in sustainability
investing, the DJSI family rests on a solid foundation to meet the growing
market demand for professional, objective and reliable sustainability
benchmarks. The Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes recognize the top
companies in terms of economic, environmental and social criteria and
provide solid benchmarks for sustainability-driven portfolios. The Walt Disney
Company is very proud to be a member of the Dow Jones Sustainability North
America Index.

The Walt Disney Company has been independently assessed according to

the FTSE4Good criteria, and has satisfied the requirements to become a
constituent of the FTSE4Good Index Series. Created by the independent
financial index company FTSE Group, FTSE4Good is a financial index series
that is designed to identify and facilitate investment in companies that meet
globally recognized corporate responsibility standards. Companies in the
FTSE4Good Index Series have met stringent social, ethical and
environmental criteria, and are positioned to capitalize on the benefits of
responsible business practice.

The Walt Disney Company is a proud member of a number of KLD Indexes.

Disney has been a member of the Domini 400 Social Index (DS400) since its
inception on May 1, 1990, and is a current member of KLD's Broad Market
Social Index (BMSI), Large Cap Social Index (LCSI), Large-Mid Cap Social
Index (LMSI) and the Catholic Values 400 (CV400). KLD Indexes are
accepted as the standard for defining strategies and benchmarking
investments that integrate environmental, social and governance factors. KLD
Indexes define and communicate the standards of social investors to
corporations, investment managers and the general public.

Corporate Responsibility

The Company has put in place a comprehensive, integrated approach to

corporate responsibility, building on their established infrastructure for
addressing crucial issues related to the environment, community, workplaces
and product development. Special emphasis has been placed on how these
issues affect their key audience of kids and families. 

In March 2009, Disney published a comprehensive Corporate Responsibility

Report detailing their approach and progress in these areas for fiscal year
2008. As a supplement to the report, Disney also released a Fiscal Year 2009
Data Update in April 2010.

Eight Success Principles

 Walt Disney was an innovator and a visionary. But he was also one of

the most successful business leaders of his time. Here are eight
principles that made Walt Disney one of the greatest icons of the 20th
century:

 Provide a promise, not a product: The legend goes that Walt Disney
was sitting on a bench watching his daughters ride a carousel when he
came up with the concept for Disney World. He noticed amusement
 parks and state fairs were always littered and poorly organized, and
the employees were generally rude and resentful.
His wife once asked, “Why do you want to build an amusement park?
They’re so dirty.” To which Walt replied, “That’s the point. Mine won’t
be.” From day one, Disney has focused on “the experience” as a key
component to increasing the value of its parks.

 Always exceed customers’ expectations: One of the reasons the

Disney tradition stands the test of time is that Walt Disney was more
critical of his creations than anyone else could ever possibly be. He
was a relentless perfectionist with a keen eye for detail, often forcing
projects to go over budget and past deadline because he wasn’t
satisfied with the finished product.

 Pursue your passion, and the money will follow: Walt Disney went
bankrupt more than once, leveraging everything he had in terms of
assets in order to build his studio, his films and his dreams. The more
profit one project yielded, the bigger the next would be. His vision was
constantly growing, and he used whatever capital he had to allow that
vision to evolve. His films and theme parks were labors of love, built to
revolutionize an industry, rather than maximize profits.

 Stay true to the company’s mission and values: Walt Disney was
famous for saying, “I hope that we never lose sight of one thing – that it
was all started by a mouse.”
Decades later, Mickey Mouse is still the crown jewel of the Disney
franchise, representing all the good will and imagination Disney
represents. He’s also a constant reminder that the company has
strong roots and it embraces American values.

 Differentiate the offer: Every facet of Disney’s operation is unique.

Employees are called “associates,” visitors are called “guests,” creative
designers are called “Imagineers.” And that’s just the beginning. The
experience of being at a Disney theme park or staying at a Disney
resort is all about creating a dream vacation – one where the attention
to detail and personal service is just as memorable as the attractions
themselves.

 Lead by example and delegate: Walt Disney was the artist who

originally sketched Mickey Mouse, as well as several of the other iconic
Disney characters. He even voiced several characters and provided
the inspiration for a lot Disney’s animated classics. But as he built a
studio and then an empire, he hired reliable men and women who
understood his vision and trusted them to translate that vision to
others. By the time Walt broke ground on Disney World, he hadn’t
drawn a character for decades, nor was he a daily fixture at creative
meetings. He built a strong foundation and developed self-reliant
 managers who embraced his vision. That allowed him to turn his
attention to even bigger dreams, while the company and its employees
continued to prosper.

 Defy convention: So much about Walt Disney’s rise was about

bucking the odds and ignoring the critics, whether it was show biz
insiders telling him no one would ever sit still for a feature-length
animated film, or others saying Walt was crazy for buying acres and
acres of murky swampland in central Florida, Disney always trusted his
instincts first. Einstein once said, “Great spirits have always
encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.” Walt Disney was
a perfect example.

 Leave behind something to grow: According to one historian, “The

true measure of a man’s greatness is what he’s left behind to grow.”
Disney World didn’t even open its gates until nearly five years after
Walt Disney’s death. And yet, the tradition continues to evolve, almost
45 years later. While Disney has diversified in a number of ways, it’s
still the company that started with a mouse. Perhaps Walt himself put it
best: “Disney Land is something that will never be finished, something I
can keep ‘plussing’ and adding to. I just finished a live-action picture.
It’s gone. I can’t touch it. I want something live, something that will
grow. The park is that.”