Portal:Disney

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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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Captain Jack Sparrow is a fictional character and the central protagonist of the Pirates of the Caribbean film series created by screenwriters Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio, portrayed by Johnny Depp. He is first introduced in the film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003). He later appears in the sequels Dead Man's Chest (2006), At World's End (2007), and On Stranger Tides (2011). Jack Sparrow was originally conceived as a supporting character. He was brought to life by the actor Johnny Depp, who based his characterization on The Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards and cartoon character Pepé Le Pew. The series Pirates of the Caribbean was inspired by a Disney theme park ride, and in 2006, when the ride was revamped, the character of Jack Sparrow was introduced to it. Jack Sparrow is also the subject of a children's book series, Pirates of the Caribbean: Jack Sparrow, which chronicles his teenage years and the character has also appeared in numerous video games. In the context of the films, Sparrow is one of the Brethren Court, the Pirate Lords of the Seven Seas. He can be treacherous and survives mostly by using wit and negotiation rather than weapons or force, preferring to flee most dangerous situations and fight only when necessary. Sparrow is introduced seeking to regain his ship, the Black Pearl, from his mutinous first mate, Hector Barbossa, and attempts to escape his blood debt to the legendary Davy Jones while battling the East India Trading Company.

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Credit: AmericaSings

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

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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 1Disney security vehicle, picture taken July 2, 2009 in front of Epcot (from Walt Disney World)
Image 2The original logo of Walt Disney World from 1971 to the mid-1990s (from Walt Disney World)
Image 3Main Street, U.S.A.
(2010) (from Disneyland)
Image 4Walt Disney's business envelope featured a self-portrait, c. 1921. (from Walt Disney)
Image 5Disney family at Schiphol Airport (1951) (from Walt Disney)
Image 6Disney'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 7Roy E. Disney, Roy O. Disney's son, was head of the animation department until 2003. (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 8New Orleans Square
(the Haunted Mansion in the background and Fantasmic! viewing area in the foreground in 2010) (from Disneyland)
Image 9Disney bought The Muppets from the Jim Henson Company in 2004. (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 10Disney Magic at Port of Venice (from Disney Cruise Line)
Image 11Fantasyland
(Peter Pan's Flight in the foreground and the Matterhorn Bobsleds in the background) (from Disneyland)
Image 12Bob Iger became CEO of Disney in 2005, expanding the company's properties (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 13A portrait of Disney with cartoon representations of different nationalities on a 6 cent U.S. postage stamp, 1968 (from Walt Disney)
Image 14A 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 15The 1996 version of The Walt Disney World logo. (from Walt Disney World)
Image 16Critter Country
(Splash Mountain; 1989–2023) (from Disneyland)
Image 17Jeffrey Katzenberg was chairman of Walt Disney Studios from 1984 to 1995. (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 18Wedding Pavilion at the Seven Seas Lagoon (from Walt Disney World)
Image 19Tomorrowland
(Space Mountain in 2010) (from Disneyland)
Image 20Disneyland aerial view, 1963, which includes the new Melody Land Theater at the top of the photo (from Disneyland)
Image 21Walt Disney (center) showing Orange County officials plans for Disneyland's layout, December 1954 (from Disneyland)
Image 22Main Street at Disneyland, as seen from a horseless carriage (from Disneyland)
Image 23Hollywood Studios' park icon, the Chinese Theatre (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 24The 2018 version of The Walt Disney World logo. (from Walt Disney World)
Image 25Fantasmic! finale on July 4, 2010 (from Disneyland)
Image 26The "Happiest Homecoming on Earth" celebrated the 50th anniversary of the theme park. Sleeping Beauty Castle was altered for the occasion. (from Disneyland)
Image 27Disney's promotional logo for its centennial. (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 28An aerial shot of Walt Disney World in 1982 (from Walt Disney World)
Image 29Overlay 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 30Alice and characters from her movie host "Disneyland Musical Chairs" at Coca-Cola Refreshment Corner, accompanied by a ragtime pianist. (from Disneyland)
Image 31An aerial view of Disneyland in 2004 (from Disneyland)
Image 32Roy O. Disney inspecting design plans on-site in Florida (from Walt Disney World)
Image 33Frontierland
(Big Thunder Mountain Railroad in 2008) (from Disneyland)
Image 34Grave of Walt Disney at Forest Lawn, Glendale (from Walt Disney)
Image 35Disney shows the plans of Disneyland to officials from Orange County in December 1954 (from Walt Disney)
Image 36Disney in 1954 (from Walt Disney)
Image 37Disneyland fireworks from Sleeping Beauty Castle (from Disneyland)
Image 38The Sherman Brothers, who composed many of the Disney songs throughout the 1960s (pictured in 2002) (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 39Disney's childhood home (from Walt Disney)
Image 40Excerpt of Steamboat Willie (1928), the first Mickey Mouse sound cartoon. (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 41Walt (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 42One of Disney's first animated characters Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, which Disney lost the rights to until 2006. (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 43One of four arches welcoming guests to the resort (from Walt Disney World)
Image 44Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge
(Star Wars: Millennium Falcon – Smugglers Run in 2019) (from Disneyland)
Image 45Walt, Florida Governor W. Haydon Burns, and Roy announcing the plans for Disney World in November 1965 (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 46Disney drawing Goofy for a group of girls in Argentina, 1941 (from Walt Disney)
Image 47Map of the resort as of May 2015 (from Walt Disney World)
Image 48The original animation building at Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California, which they fully moved into in 1940 (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 49The Walt Disney World Monorail System provides free transport across the resort.
Image 50Monorail Red travels over the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage in Tomorrowland. (from Disneyland)
Image 51View of Disney Springs (from Walt Disney World)
Image 52Walt Disney introduces each of the seven dwarfs in a scene from the original 1937 Snow White theatrical trailer. (from Walt Disney)
Image 53Walt (center) showing the plans of Disneyland to officials from Orange County in December 1954 (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 54Disneyland Railroad Engine 2 at the New Orleans Square station. (from Disneyland)
Image 55Team 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 56Adventureland entrance
(2006) (from Disneyland)
Image 57Mickey's Toontown
(pictured in 2010) (from Disneyland)
Image 58Walt 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 59Michael Eisner replaced Ron Miller as CEO. (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 the ferry General Joe Potter at Walt Disney World is named in honor of Major General William Everett Potter?
... that John Oliver dared Disney to sue him over his version of Mickey Mouse?
... that some TikTokers make videos about whether to smash or pass Disney characters?
... that, for the Space 220 Restaurant, Disney reached out to NASA engineers to understand what a space elevator might look like?
... 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 a revival of the comedy series Lizzie McGuire was ordered in 2019, but canceled mid-production after Disney deemed it not family-friendly enough?

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Well, the guy in the picture is definitely the one who tried to take over Kingdom Hearts; the one you fellas defeated. But, what you guys actually fought was his Heartless. You see, he wasn't really Ansem, he just went around telling everybody that he was!

— Mickey Mouse, Kingdom Hearts II

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More Did you know...

...that Harriet Burns designed the original prototype models of Disneyland's Sleeping Beauty Castle, Pirates of the Caribbean and New Orleans Square?

...that the Phineas and Ferb season two premiere was the most watched cable telecast on Friday, March 13, 2009?

...that the creator of Disney Series Doug and 101 Dalmatians, Jim Jinkins, has created an independent company, Cartoon Pizza.
...that in May 1992, entertainment magazine The Hollywood Reporter reported that about 25% of Euro Disney's workforce — approximately 3,000 men and women — had resigned their jobs because of unacceptable working conditions.
...that Walt Disney was an ambulance driver during World War One?

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