A Century of Magic: 100 Years of the Walt Disney Company (#166)

Walt Disney (born December 5th 1901 in Chicago, Illinois) first began the wild journey of what was to become the Walt Disney Studios back in the summer of 1923. Having made a cartoon in Kansas City about a little girl in a cartoon world, called Alice’s Wonderland, he decided that he could use it as his “pilot” film to sell a series of these “Alice Comedies” to a distributor. Soon after arriving in California, he was successful, and on October 16th 1923 one M. J. Winkler was contracted to distribute the Alice Comedies - this date officially became the start of the Disney company. Originally it was known as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, as Walt Disney and his older brother, Roy, were equal partners, until Roy suggested that the company change its name to the Walt Disney Studio.

Walt Disney made his Alice Comedies for four years, but in 1927, he decided to move instead to an all-cartoon series. To star in this new series, he created a character named Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. Within a year, Walt made 26 of these Oswald cartoons, but when he tried to get some additional money from his distributor 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 Disney. On rereading his contract, Walt realized that he did not own the rights to Oswald—the distributor did. It was a painful lesson for the young cartoon producer to learn. From then on, he saw to it that he owned everything that he made.

Now during this time, the original Disney Studio had been in the back half of a real estate office on Kingswell Avenue in Hollywood, but soon Walt had enough money to move next door and rent a whole store for his studio. It didn’t take long for the company to outgrow it, so they then moved to an ideal piece of property on Hyperion Avenue in Hollywood and built a studio in 1926.

It was at the Hyperion Studio, after the loss of Oswald, that Walt and his chief animator, Ub Iwerks, came up with a new character - Mickey Mouse. Ub animated two Mickey Mouse cartoons, but Walt was unable to sell them because they were silent films, and all you film studies buffs will know that at this time sound was revolutionizing the movie industry. So, they made a third Mickey Mouse cartoon, this time with fully synchronized sound, and on November 18, 1928 Steamboat Willie opened to rave reviews at the Colony Theater in New York. A cartoon star, Mickey Mouse, was born, and a lengthy series of Mickey Mouse cartoons followed.

Walt Disney soon produced another series—the Silly Symphonies—to go with the Mickey series, which enabled animators to experiment with stories that relied less on the gags and quick humour 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-colour 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.

Whilst we all know Disney for its movies, you probably also know them for their ability to merchandise… well, everything! Back in late 1920’s/early 30’s, while the cartoons were gaining popularity in movie houses, the Disney staff found that merchandising the characters was an additional source of revenue. A man in New York offered Walt $300 for the license to put Mickey Mouse on some pencil tablets he was manufacturing. At the time, Walt Disney needed the $300, so he said okay. Soon there were Mickey Mouse dolls, dishes, toothbrushes, radios, figurines—almost everything you could think of bore Mickey’s likeness. 

Then came the next big leap – animated feature films! One night in 1934, Walt told his animators the story of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. After some scepticism, work began in earnest, and the landmark film debuted on December 21, 1937, becoming a spectacular hit. Snow White soon 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, but just as things were looking rosy, along came World War II. The next two features, Pinocchio and Fantasia, were released in 1940. They were technical masterpieces, but their costs were too high for a company losing most of its foreign markets because of the war. Dumbo was made in 1941 on a very limited budget, but Bambi, which followed in 1942, ended up being another expensive film – not great for a company trying to reduce its spending due to the economic difficulties they were facing

It would be many years before animated features of the highest calibre could be put into production.

So during the war, Walt made two films in South America, Saludos Amigos and The Three Caballeros, at the request of the State Department, and his studio concentrated on making propaganda and training films for the military. When the war ended, it was difficult for the Disney Studio to regain its pre-war footing. They managed to scrape through by releasing “package” features - groups of short cartoons packaged together - whilst also moving into live-action productions.

Eventually the tides began to turn in 1950 as Disney saw big successes with the first completely live-action film, Treasure Island, the return to classic animated features with Cinderella, and the first Disney television show at Christmas time; the latter lead to Disney moving onto television in a big way in 1954 with the beginning of the Disneyland anthology series, which remained on the air for 29 years, making it the longest-running primetime television series ever. The Mickey Mouse Club, one of television’s most popular children’s series, debuted in 1955 and over the years made stars of their talented Mouseketeers (including, but not limited to, Britney Spears, Ryan Gosling, Justin Timberlake and Christina Aguilera).

As his motion pictures and television programs became successful, Walt felt a desire to branch the company out even further, to areas previously unexplored by other studios - amusement parks. As a father, he had taken his two young daughters to zoos and carnivals, but always ended up sitting on the bench as they had all the fun. He felt that there should be a park where parents and children could go and have a good time together. This became the genesis of Disneyland, and after several years of planning and construction, the new park opened on July 17, 1955 in Anaheim, California.

Disneyland was a totally new kind of park, and has been used as a pattern for every amusement park built since its opening, becoming internationally famous and attracting hundreds of millions of visitors a year – 16.88 million alone in 2022!

In the 1960s came with more advancements in the forms of Audio-Animatronics® technology, pioneered with the singing birds in Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room at Disneyland, and then four shows at the 1964 New York World’s Fair (where the Imagineers recreated the world’s first audio-animatronic human figure in the shape of President Lincoln). Mary Poppins also came out that same year and was considered to be the culmination of all Walt Disney had learned during his long movie-making career. But the ’60s also brought the end of an era: Walt Disney died December 15, 1966.

Plans that Walt left behind carried the Company for a number of years under the supervision of his brother Roy. The Jungle Book in 1967 and The Aristocats in 1970 showed that the Company could still make animated classics, and The Love Bug in 1969 was the highest-grossing film of the year. Disney began work on educational films and materials in a big way with the start of an educational subsidiary in 1969.

After the success of Disneyland, it was only natural for Walt to consider another park on the East Coast. Prior to his death, the Company purchased land in Florida, and the Walt Disney World project near Orlando was announced, opening its doors on October 1st 1971. With the addition of hotels, campgrounds, golf courses, and shopping villages, it did not take long for Walt Disney World to become the premier vacation destination in the world.

Roy Disney died in late 1971, and 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’s last plans had been for the Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow, or EPCOT, and in 1979 ground was broken for the new park in Florida. EPCOT Center, as it became known, opened to great acclaim October 1st 1982. Tokyo Disneyland, the first foreign Disney park, followed soon after on April 15th 1983.

Whilst the theme parks were at an all-time high in popularity, Disney’s movies were hitting a low in the early 80s - audiences were diminishing for the family films that had been the mainstay of the Company for many years, and Disney was not meeting the competition for films that attracted the huge teenage and adult market. To reverse that trend, Disney established a new label, Touchstone Pictures, and a new management team were brought in to stop corporate raiders from attempting to take over Disney. 

The new management team immediately saw ways for Disney to maximize its assets – whilst the company itself left network television in 1983 to prepare for the launch of The Disney Channel, Disney’s Touchstone division began the immensely successful Golden Girls. Then some of the Disney classic animated films were released on video cassette and soon reached the top of the all-time best-seller lists.

The late 1980s brought new innovations to the Parks thanks to collaborations with filmmakers George Lucas and Francis Coppola who brought Captain EO and Star Tours to the park, and Splash Mountain opened in 1989. Over at Walt Disney World in Florida, three new gated attractions also opened in 1989: the Disney-MGM Studios Theme Park, Pleasure Island, and Typhoon Lagoon. 

Filmmaking hit new heights in 1988 as Disney, for the first time, led Hollywood studios in box-office gross. Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Good Morning, Vietnam, Three Men and a Baby, and later, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, Dick Tracy, Pretty Woman, and Sister Act each passed the $100 million milestone. In merchandising, Disney opened numerous highly successful and profitable Disney Stores.

Disney animation began reaching even greater audiences, with The Little Mermaid being topped by Beauty and the Beast in 1991 which was in turn topped by Aladdin in 1992. New television shows expanded Disney’s television base, and just to cover all bases Disney moved into publishing for the first time.

Over in France, the park now known as Disneyland Paris opened on April 12, 1992, attracting almost 11 million visitors during its first year. The Disney success with animated films continued in 1994 with The Lion King, which soon became one of the highest-grossing films of all time. It was followed by Pocahontas in 1995, The Hunchback of Notre Dame in 1996, Hercules in 1997, Mulan in 1998, Tarzan in 1999, and then Fantasia/2000 at the turn of the century. Toy Story pioneered computer-animation techniques and was followed by its successful sequels. 

In 1994, Disney ventured onto Broadway with a very successful stage production of Beauty and the Beast. By 1999, there were up to 725 Disney Stores worldwide. Disney even got into sports (as if they didn’t have enough fingers in enough pies at this point) by acquiring the California Angels baseball team and the ice hockey team the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim.

Early in 1996, Disney completed its acquisition of Capital Cities/ABC. The $19 billion transaction, second-largest in U.S. history, brought the country’s top television network to Disney, in addition to 10 TV stations, 21 radio stations, seven daily newspapers, and ownership positions in four cable networks.

The years that followed saw the release of a group of hugely successful live-action films, such as Flubber, Con Air, Armageddon, and The Sixth Sense (the latter reaching the 10th spot among the all-time highest grossing releases). And as the world moved toward a new century, Epcot became the host of Millennium Celebration, computer animation was showcased in A Bug’s Life and Dinosaur, and the Company reached the $25 billion revenue threshold for the first time.

The year 2000 opened with the release in IMAX theaters of an almost totally new version of Fantasia entitled Fantasia/2000. Other classically animated features were The Emperor’s New Groove, Atlantis: The Lost Empire, Lilo & Stitch, Treasure Planet, and Brother Bear. Continuing collaborations with Pixar brought the computer-animated blockbuster Monsters, Inc, and DVD releases became increasingly popular, especially when the company began adding generous amounts of bonus material for viewers. The Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs DVD in 2001 sold more than one million units on the first day of release.

I’m straight up going to admit that I’m skipping certain things that happened in Disneys amazing history just so this episode isn’t a million hours long, but for brevity 2001 saw DisneySea opened in Tokyo, Japan. It also saw the beginning of the 100 year anniversaries, starting with honouring the birth of its founder, Walt Disney. The celebration, called “100 Years of Magic,” was centered at the Disney-MGM Studios theme park in Florida, and included several parades, an exhibit of archival memorabilia, and the installation of a gigantic Mickey’s sorcerer cap in the Chinese Theater plaza.

The year 2003 saw two Disney films grossing more than $300 million at the box office—Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl and Pixar’s Finding Nemo. In fact, Disney became the first studio in history to surpass $3 billion in global box office. In November the Company celebrated the 75th anniversary of Mickey Mouse. 

The next major anniversary came in 2005 as Disneyland celebrated its 50th, and all of the Disney theme parks joined in a Happiest Celebration on Earth – just in time for the brand-new theme park, Hong Kong Disneyland, opened in September.

In 2006 High School Musical aired on Disney Channel and become an overnight sensation. In May, Disney made a major purchase of Pixar Animation Studios, with Pixar’s Cars being released in June and Ratatouille the following year. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest beat Company records to become the company’s highest grossing feature after its July release, and it’s sequel At World’s End, became the top-grossing film of the year internationally soon after. 

2007 saw Disney Channel reached new heights with High School Musical 2, and Hannah Montana shot Miley Cyrus to stardom. 

Aaaaaand as if Disney wasn’t big enough at this point… 2009 came around, wherein they acquired Marvel Entertainment, Up won two Oscars, and returned to hand-drawn animation with The Princess and the Frog. 

More Oscars came in 2010 thanks to Alice in Wonderland and Toy Story 3 were released, Tangled came out. Shanghai Disneyland opened in 2011. Disney began distributing DreamWorks films, Sister Act opened on Broadway…

2012 saw Brave, Wreck-It Ralph, Frankenweenie and Marvel Studios’ The Avengers. Newsies opened and won two Tony Awards, and Disney acquired Lucasfilm Ltd.

2013 saw box office smashes, including Iron Man 3 and Thor: The Dark World arrived in theatres. After 12 years, fans were able to travel back in time to see Mike and Sully go to school in Monsters University, and hearts melted in November when audiences adventured into the world of Arendelle for the first time with the Academy Award-winning film Frozen.

The year 2014 introduced audiences to a new, yet familiar set of horns when Maleficent premiered. Guardians of the Galaxy and Big Hero 6 flew into theatres and were critical and box-office smashes.

In 2015, the live-action film Cinderella reminded us to have courage and be kind. While the film provided many emotional moments, it wasn’t long after that we came face-to-face with all of them—literally—with Pixar’s Inside Out. Then, that galaxy far, far away moved a closer when Star Wars: The Force Awakens debuted in December.

In 2016 gave us Zootopia, the live-action The Jungle Book,Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Moana and Doctor Strange were two other box-office smashes in 2016.

Hong Kong became home to the first Marvel-themed ride at any Disney park in 2017 when Iron Man Experience opened. May also saw the release of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and the opening of a new attraction, Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: BREAKOUT! at Disney California Adventure. Later in the year, Miguel and Dante introduced us to the power of family in the Academy Award winner Coco. Then, Star Wars: The Last Jedi premiered in December and continued the saga of Rey, Poe, Finn, and Kylo Ren.

2018 began, not with a bang, but with… a star! Minnie Mouse was honoured with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, joining her pals Mickey Mouse (who got his in 1978 as part of the 50th anniversary celebrations) and Donald Duck (2004, though I have some questions as to why he got one before Minnie did?!). In February, Marvel Studios introduced us to one of the newest Super Heroes to join the Avengers in the Marvel Cinematic Universe with Black Panther, which would go on to break several box office records and win multiple Academy Awards, including earning a coveted nod for Best Picture. Marvel also delivered the biggest movie of the year globally with Avengers: Infinity War. On Broadway, the stage got a bit chillier when FrozenThe Broadway Musical premiered. 

The Walt Disney Company bookended 2019 with the remarkable launch of Disney+ in November. The Walt Disney Studios had a hugely successful year, releasing notable titles including Aladdin, The Lion King, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, Toy Story 4, and Frozen 2. Marvel Studios released Captain Marvel and Avengers: Endgame. And Lucasfilm concluded the Skywalker saga with the epic Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge opening at Disneyland Park and then at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and the debut of the incredible new attraction Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance in November.

While 2020 saw Company theme parks pause because of the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, it didn’t hinder them completely like it had done in the past – how many of us were saved from boredom thanks to streaming services like Disney+, who delivered more beloved films and TV series from Disney, Pixar, Star Wars, Marvel, 20th Century Studios, and National Geographic to viewers around the globe (Broadway’s Hamilton was especially popular if Twitter lead me to believe).

Early in 2021, two Disney+ series from Marvel Studios became instant hits—WandaVision, which debuted in January, and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, in March. Also in March, the animated Raya and the Last Dragon premiered to rave reviews on both Disney+. And, after more than a year of closure due to the pandemic, Disneyland Park welcomed guests back to Walt Disney’s original magic kingdom on April 30. 

In early 2022, the Company won six Academy Awards, for the films Summer of Soul,West Side Story, Cruella, and Encanto—the last of which became a cultural phenomenon. Each of the animated feature’s songs, by Lin-Manual Miranda, was a hit on Billboard’s Hot 100, with “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” spending five weeks at No. 1. Marvel Studios releases ruled the year’s box office, as Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Thor: Love and Thunder, and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever all became global hits. Disney and Pixar’s Turning Red drew stellar viewership and reviews after its spring debut on Disney+, where Hocus Pocus 2 became the streamer’s most-watched film ever in the fall. 

Which finally, FINALLY brings us back to the here and now – celebrating Disney’s 100 Years of Wonder. The biggest event in Disney history, the worldwide platinum anniversary showcases new and classic stories through merchandise, movie re-releases and exciting updates to the theme parks, all to commemorate the company's rich history of magic and storytelling.

Whilst the party officially kicked off back in January at Disneyland Resort (hey, if the Queen could have 2 birthdays a year, why can’t Disney do a full year?) celebrations are scheduled to run until December 31st and spread all across the globe, so we all still have a chance to join in the fun! And yes, I have put several links in the notes section if you want to find out more about what Disney has in store.

It’s safe to say, for a century, The Walt Disney Company has created entertainment of the very highest quality. From humble beginnings as a cartoon studio in the early 1920s to the Company of today—which includes Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm, Searchlight Pictures, and 20th Century Studios, along with Disney Parks and Resorts around the globe—Disney continues to provide timeless entertainment for the entire family. It will be interesting to see where the Company goes from here…