Like most animations of the time, Walt Disney’s famous cartoons started in silence, but racked up much popularity during their airing.

W a l t s i g n e d a c o n t r a c t w i t h M .

J . W i n k l e r t o p r o d u c e a s e r i e s

o f A l i c e C o m e d i e s — t h i s d a t e i s c o n s i d e r e d t h e

s t a r t o f t h e D i s n e y c o m p a n y

f i r s t k n o w n a s T h e D i s n e y B r o t h e r s

S t u d i o .

After moving into the new

studio on Hyperion

Avenue in the Silver Lake district, the company

changed its title to the Walt Disney Studio

Release of the first Oswald the Lucky Rabbit cartoon, Poor Papa. Oswald's clever gestures and amusing gags made him a favorite with moviegoers over the next 17 months.

Steamboat Wil l ie is released at

the Colony Theatre in New

York - this marks the

release of the very fi rst

Mickey Mouse cartoon, and

the fi rst appearance by Minnie Mouse.

• Flowers and Trees, first full-color cartoon and first Academy Award winner, is released.

• Distribution moved from Columbia Pictures to United Artists

The Wise Little Hen, the first appearance of Donald Duck, is

released.

The Band Concert, the first Mickey Mouse cartoon in color, is released.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,

Disney's first feature-length animated film,

premieres at the Carthay Circle

Theatre.Snow White later

became the highest grossing Disney film of all

time

• Walt Disney Productions issues

its first stock. Company goes

public • Disney releases one

of its highly regarded classics, Fantasia, Disney’s

third highest grossing film

The studio begins making

morale-boosting

propaganda films for the

United States during

World War II, for

instance, Dumbo.

The company is short on money; a theatrical re-release of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

generates much-needed revenue and begins a reissue pattern for the animated feature films.

Television marked a new era for the Disney Company, many of their accomplishments branched from the popularity of TV.

The studio begins production on its first all-live action feature, Treasure

Island

Walt Disney Music Company is

formed.

One of the most famous

Disney films of all time, now considered a

classic, Cinderella is released.

1952

WED Enterprises is formed to design what would become Disneyland.

1953

Peter Pan, based on characters created

by Scottish playwright J.M.

Barrie, is released.

Disneyland

Disneyland, the first Disney park,

opened in Anaheim,

California, to an invited audience on this day. The first guests were Kristine Vess and

her cousin Michael

Schwartner, ages 5 and 7.

• The studio purchases the film rights to theWinnie-the-Pooh books,

which are a huge source of revenue to this day.

• 101 Dalmations is release, the second highest grossing Disney film of

all time

Walt Disney, the visionary whose

pioneering spirit and inimitable creativity made the impossible

possible, turning dreams into reality

and building the foundation of The

Walt Disney Company of today,

dies at age 66.

The arena show Disney on

Parade, in which costumed

Disney characters put on lavish dance

numbers, debuts in Chicago.

Walt Disney World Resort opens with

the Magic Kingdom and two hotels near Orlando,

Florida.

Roy O. Disney, who, with younger

brother Walt Disney, co-founded the company that is now known as The Walt Disney

Company, passes away.

Following the death of the legend Walt Disney, a number of new leaders took charge of the company in the coming

years.

Walt's nephew Roy E. Disney, resigns from the company citing a decline in overall

product quality and issues with manager.

• EPCOT Center, a major undertaking for Disney, costing in the neighborhood of $1 billion, opens at Walt Disney World Resort.

• The Coca-Cola Company has an unsuccessful buyout attempt for Disney.

• Walt's son-in-law Ron W. Miller succeeds Card Walker as CEO

Tokyo Disneyland, the first

international Disney theme park, opens in

Japan.

Michael Eisner and Frank Wells become chairman/CEO and president of Walt Disney

Productions.

This era of Disney History took place during a time period in which Walt Disney Animation Studios returned to making successful animated films and restoring public and critical interest in Disney.

• Beauty and the Beast, the first Disney Broadway show, opens in

New York. • The Lion King opens to a limited audience in Los Angeles and New York and nationwide on June 24, 1994. (4th highest grossing film)

• Disney Online, a division of Disney Interactive created to develop The Walt Disney Company's online presence, is formed.

• Toy Story is released. It is Pixar’s first ever feature film and the first film to be made completely by CGI

• The company takes on the name of "Disney Enterprises, Inc." and acquires the Capital Cities/ABC group, renaming it ABC, Inc.

• Disney Online launches Disney.com.

• Radio Disney, a live 24-hour music-intensive radio network, debuts

The Lion King (musical) opens on Broadway.

• Disney acquires Fox Family Channel and renames it ABC Family.

• Disney acquires Baby Einstein, a company that creates products that bring the arts and humanities to babies.

• 100th anniversary of Walt Disney’s birth.

2 0 0 2Walt Disney Studios theme park opens in France next-door

to Disneyland Paris.

• On February 17, Disney buys The Muppets, excluding the Sesame Street and Fraggle Rock characters.

• Disney creates Jetix the children's block that mainly consists of Fox Kids shows and original programming on ABC Family and Toon Disney.

Contemporary era

The “modern times” of the history of Disney

• Walt Disney Parks and Resorts launches Adventures by Disney.•Hong Kong Disneyland opens.•Robert A. Iger becomes president and chief executive officer of The Walt Disney Company.•Disney is first to license TV episodes, from ABC and Disney Channel series, for download on Apple’s iTunes Music Store.

• Disney re-acquires Oswald the Lucky Rabbit from Universal.

• During its 50th anniversary celebration, Disneyland welcomes the honorary two-billionth guest to visit a Disney theme park.

• Disney acquires Pixar Animation Studios.

• Disney feature films are made available on iTunes.

• The Little Mermaid opens on Broadway.• The subscription Disney Family Movies service launches, which uniquely

returns uncut classic Disney films and shorts to television viewers among other offerings.

Disney XD, a new cable network, launches.

Disneynature label launches with the release of Earth.

Marvel Entertainment joins the Disney family.

• Disney sells the Power Rangers franchise to Saban Brands for USD $100 million.

• Disney Channel ends one of its most successful television series, Hannah Montana.

• Disney Cruise Line ship the Disney Dream sets sail.

• Disney earns global theme park rights to James Cameron's Avatar franchise, and announces the

first Avatar-themed project at Walt Disney World's Animal Kingdom.

• Disney Cruise Line ship the Disney Fantasy sets sail

• Rich Ross resigns as Chairman of Walt Disney

Studios• The Avengers earned $1 billion

and it becomes biggest Walt Disney Pictures and Marvel Entertainment release of all

time