COMPANY BACKROUND

The Walt Disney the currently biggest media and entertainment in the world was
founded in the year of 1923 on the 16th of October. Walt Disney Company is an
American diversified multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate,
headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank California

The company’s founders were two brothers named Walt Disney and His older Brother,
Roy Disney. In 1919, Disney moved to Kansas City to pursue a career as a newspaper
artist. His brother Roy got him a job at the Pesmen-Rubin Art Studio, where he met
cartoonist Ubbe Eert Iwwerks, better known as Ub Iwerks. From there, Disney worked
at the Kansas City Film Ad Company, where he made commercials based on cutout
animation. Around this time, Disney began experimenting with a camera, doing hand-
drawn cell animation, and decided to open his own animation business. From the ad
company, he recruited Fred Harman as his first employee

The first name of the company was Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, then operated in
the name of “The Walt Disney Studio and Walt Disney productions before officially
changing its name to Walt Disney Company in 1986.Oswald The Lucky Rabbit was the
first cartoon character that was created by Disney. While on the train on their way to
California, Both came up of an idea of a Mouse character that was named as “Mortimar”
and was later renamed as Mickey Mouse.

Then Walt Disney created his first short filmed named Alice’s Wonderland 1924.

In 1934 Disney Began their production on their first feature fil that took 3 years to
complete which is Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs, That premiered in December
1937 and became highest-grossing film in 1939. The studio continued releasing
animated shorts and features, such as Pinocchio (1940), Fantasia (1940), Dumbo
(1941), and Bambi (1942). After World War II began, box office profits declined. When
the United States entered the war after the attack on Pearl Harbor, many of Disney's
animators were drafted into the armed forces. The U.S. and Canadian governments
commissioned the studio to produce training and propaganda films. By 1942, 90% of its
550 employees were working on war-related films. Films such as the feature Victory
Through Air Power and the short Education for Death (both 1943) were meant to
increase public support for the war effort. Even the studio's characters joined the effort,
as Donald Duck appeared in a number of comical propaganda shorts, including the
Academy Award-winning Der Fuehrer's Face (1943).
 In the year 1955,In Anaheim California, They opened their own theme park in
Disneyland. But on the opening day, the temperature was in over 101 degrees, the
ground was recently replaced causing woman’s heels to sink to the ground. Even there
were some issues on the opening day, Disneyland was still the most successful and
most visited theme parks in the world. Currently, there are 11 Disneyland parks.

1966 Walt Disney died due to Lung Cancer. His brother Roy pursued his brothers
dream to make their company more known around the world. As Walt Disney opened
doors in Florida in 1971, Roy Disney passed away. since then the company is being
handled by Walt’s Son in Law.

In 1980’s Disney continued to expand into wider market, began with The Disney
Channel on Cable. Established studios and subdivisions, an example is Touchstones
Pictures, producing films standard family-oriented fare, and to gain even broader footing
in the industry. It continued its digital expansion in 2014 by acquiring YouTube content
producer Maker Studios, eventually turning this network into Disney Digital Network in
2017.

1993, Disney purchased Miramax Film Corporation from Harvey and Bob Weinstein for
approximately $70 million. Miramax operated as a separate unit of Disney. The
Weinstein brothers continued to run Miramax under the supervision of Disney
executives. By 2005 Miramax was valued at over $2 billion, with an extensive film library
that included “Pulp Fiction” and “Shakespeare in Love”. The relationship between
Disney and the Weinstein brothers was filled with disagreements, both financial and
strategic. One of the more significant disagreements came over the release of the
controversial film “Fahrenheit 9/11” that targeted President Bush during the terrorist
attacks. Additionally, Disney claimed the Weinstein brothers paid themselves excessive
bonuses in years when Miramax was not profitable. In 2005, the Weinstein brothers left
Miramax to pursue other interests. Eventually, in 2010, Miramax was sold to Tutor-
Saliba Corp.

In 2006, Disney Purchased Pixar for $7.4 Billion in cash. The two companies created
five films including Cars, Finding Nemo , The Incredibles which are all a huge success.
The deal was a mutually beneficial transaction as it combined the computer animation
power of Pixar with the marketing and distribution strength of Disney. Along with the
Pixar purchase, Steve Jobs, founder of Pixar and Apple, joined the Disney board of
directors.1
In 2009, Disney purchased Marvel Entertainment for about $4 billion. This purchase
gave Disney access to several comic book characters, such as Spider-man, X-Men,
Captain America and Thor. The Marvel purchase should prove to be lucrative as Disney
presents the various characters through its many systems. In October 2012, Disney
acquired Lucas film from George Lucas for $4 billion in cash and stock. Lucas film is
most well-known for blockbuster movie hits such as Star Wars and Indiana Jones.
Along with this purchase, Disney announced future Star Wars films that will be released
in 2015. The Star Wars franchise films have earned over $4.4 billion in global box
offices to date.
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