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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The Hardy Boys, Frank and Joe Hardy, are fictional teenage brothers and amateur detectives who appear in various mystery series for children and teens. The characters were created by Edward Stratemeyer, the founder of the Stratemeyer Syndicate, a book-packaging firm, and the books have been written by many different ghostwriters over the years. The books are published under the collective pseudonym Franklin W. Dixon. The Hardy Boys have evolved in various ways since their first appearance in 1927. Beginning in 1959, the books were extensively revised, largely to eliminate racist stereotypes; the books were also written in a simpler style in an attempt to compete with television. Some critics argue that in the process the Hardy Boys changed, becoming more respectful of the law and simultaneously more affluent, "agents of the adult ruling class" rather than characters who aided the poor. A new Hardy Boys series, the Hardy Boys Casefiles, was created in the 1980s, and featured murders, violence, and international espionage. The original Hardy Boys Mystery Stories series ended in 2005. A new series, Undercover Brothers, was launched the same year, featuring updated versions of the characters who narrate their adventures in the first person. Through all these changes, the characters have remained popular. Critics have offered many explanations for the characters' longevity, suggesting variously that the Hardy Boys embody simple wish-fulfillment, homoerotic desire, or American ideals of masculinity.

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Credit: Coolcaesar

An entrance to Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California

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

Selected biography

John Alan Lasseter (born January 12, 1957) is an American animator, director and the chief creative officer at Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios. He is also currently the Principal Creative Advisor for Walt Disney Imagineering. Lasseter's first job was with The Walt Disney Company, where he became an animator. Next, he joined Lucasfilm, where he worked on the then-groundbreaking use of CGI animation. After the Graphics Group of the Computer Division of Lucasfilm was sold to Steve Jobs and became Pixar in 1986, Lasseter oversaw all of Pixar's films and associated projects as executive producer and he directed Toy Story, A Bug's Life, Toy Story 2, Cars, and Cars 2. He has won two Academy Awards, for Animated Short Film (Tin Toy), as well as a Special Achievement Award (Toy Story).

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Did you know (auto-generated)

... that Disney once created a political advertisement for Dwight D. Eisenhower (featured)?
... that a revival of the comedy series Lizzie McGuire was ordered in 2019, but canceled mid-production after Disney deemed it not family-friendly enough?
... that the ferry General Joe Potter at Walt Disney World is named in honor of Major General William Everett Potter?
... that before the Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza Manhattan opened, its workers were sent to Walt Disney World for training?
... that Scarlett Johansson filed a lawsuit against The Walt Disney Company alleging that the release strategy for Black Widow breached her contract?
... that John Oliver dared Disney to sue him over his version of Mickey Mouse?

Selected quote

Gee Mr Spirit! There's a lot more to mathematics than two times two.

— Donald Duck, Donald in Mathmagic Land, 1955

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More Did you know...

...that the Phineas and Ferb episode "Dude, We're Getting the Band Back Together" was nominated for an Emmy award for the song "I Ain't Got Rhythm"?

...that Disney Channel veteran Selena Gomez (pictured) sings the theme song for the new Disney series, Shake It Up?

...that Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disneyland was inspired by the Neuschwanstein Castle in Southern Germany.
...that press releases for the Phineas and Ferb episode "Lawn Gnome Beach Party of Terror" detailed a cut subplot where the character Lawrence Fletcher searches for a rare bottle cap?

... that Disney CEO Michael Eisner was struck with inspiration for the show, Adventures of the Gummi Bears when his son requested gummi bear candies one day.

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