Disney

Disney was started in 1923 by Walt Disney and Roy Disney. At the time, it was known as Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio. Ub Iwerks was there from the beginning as well. On October 16, 1923, M.J. Winkler signed up to distribute Disney's Alice comedies. In 1925, the company changed it's name to Walt Disney Studio.

in 1927, Disney stopped making the Alice comedies and moved on to the all cartoon series starring Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. Within a year, 26 cartoons were made. When Disney tried to get money for a second year of Oswald cartoons, he found out that M.J. Winkler managed to hire most of Disney's animators. Since his company owned the rights to Oswald, they were going to make the cartoons himself. From then on, Disney made sure they owned the rights to everything they made.

Together, Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks designed a character to replace Oswald. They wanted to call him Mortimer Mouse, but Walt Disney's wife, Lily, favored the name Mickey. Ub Iwerks animated the first two Mickey Mouse cartoons, but they decided to release a third, Steamboat Willie, first. It was the first cartoon with sound and went over very well at the Colony Theater in New York on November 18, 1928. The Mickey Mouse series was continued.

After the success of Mickey Mouse, Disney started the Silly Symphonies series. They each featured a different set of characters and relied more on mood and emotion rather than quick gags. Flowers and Trees was the first full-color animation and won an Academy Award in 1932. The 1933 Silly Symphonies, Three Little Pigs, was released in 1933. It was so popular that it was sometimes listed above the main feature on theater marquees.

In 1934, Disney started production on their first feature animation, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. It took three years to produce, but when it was released during the Christmas of 1937, it was a spectacular success. It held the record for highest grossing film until the release of Gone With the Wind.

The outbreak of World War II hurt Disney financially because they lost access to foreign markets. Pinocchio and Make Mine Music were both beautifully animated and made pleny of money in the long run, but the cost producition put Disney at immediate financial risk. In 1941, they released Melody Time, which was produced on a limited budget and was profitable. In 1949, The Adventures Of Ichabod and Mr. Toad was produced and was another expensive film.

After the U.S. entered the war, Disney started working for Uncle Sam. They produced propoganda and military training films. At the request of the state department, they produced two films about South America, Saludos Amigos and The Three Caballeros.

In 1950, Disney released Cinderella, released their first television showm and made their first love-action film, Treasure Island. On July 15, 1955, Disney opened Disneyland.

Disney continued making movies including Alice In Wonderland, Peter Pan, and Lady and the Tramp In the 1960s, more classics were animated including The Sword In The Stone. Wlat Disney died on December 15, 1966. It was said that he was the best known individual in the world at the time.

Roy Disney, who had been planning to retire, took over the supervision of the company. The Jungle Book and Robin Hood were both animated under his direction. Walt Disney had planned to open a theme park in Florida much larger than Disneyland. Roy Disney carried out the plans and named it Walt Disney World in honor of his brother. It opened on October 1, 1978. Roy Disney died two months later. was attempted.

In 1999, Disney entered into a distribution agreement with Pixar. The partnership was so successful that Disney bought the company in January of 2006.