Disney

History

background of greatness

Before Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks founded the renowned mouse company, they faced a series of failures that would have discouraged anyone.

In January 1920, Disney and Iwerks would bring into the world a company under the name Iwerks-Disney Commercial Artists , which sadly died in record time due to a lack of customers. After spending a couple of years gaining experience in the world of animation at Kansas City Film Ad , Disney felt ready enough to try it again. In 1922 he founded Laugh-O-Gram Films, Inc , a company dedicated entirely to the animation of fairy tales and children’s stories, in which Iwerks also worked. Although his shorts achieved moderate fame in Kansas City, the company had to declare bankruptcy in June 1923, as production expenses exceeded revenues.

With his dreams shattered and looking for a new path in live-action cinema, Walt headed for Hollywood , but his fate would find him again, this time in his uncle’s garage from which he sent Alice’s Wonderland (his last mixed-animation short). and reality) to the producer Margaret Wrinkler who was so interested in the technique used in the short that she hired Disney to produce more films of this style.

With his renewed enthusiasm, Walt went to visit his brother Roy and proposed that he bear the economic expenses of the new company, his brother accepted. Quickly the protagonist of Alice’s Wonderland, Virginia Davis and Ub Iwerks moved to Hollywood to start Disney Brothers’ Studio, on October 16, 1923 , they immediately got to work and began production on the successful series of animated shorts. Alice Comedies.

The first firm steps of the company

The animated series kept the studio busy from 1923 to 1927, releasing the first episode, out of forty-one, on March 1, 1924 under the name Alice’s Day at Sea . Finally, the cheerleader couple were living their dream.

During the production of the series, exactly in 1925, after much insistence from Walt, the company is renamed Walt Disney Studio.

Once the last episode of Alice Comedies was released, on August 22, 1927, the formula was exhausted and they resorted to a new character Oswald the Lucky Rabbit , however, they lost the character’s contract in 1928 to Universal . But, this character would serve as the inspiration for his greatest character and first overwhelming success: Mickey Mouse

The appearance of Mickey Mouse

The history of the company would change forever with the appearance of this mouse, the creation of Iwerks and Disney. Mickey Mouse’s first appearance, as well as Minnie ‘s , occurred on May 15, 1928 in Mickey Mouse: Plane Crazy . A short time later, on November 18 of that same year, they released the third Mickey Mouse short film, Steamboat Willie , which would mark a before and after for two reasons: it was the first animated sound short film and it was officially the first tape distributed by Walt disneystudio.

Parallel to the creation of Mickey, the company in 1929 began with the production of a new series, known as Silly Symphonies which was released with the popular episode Skeleton Dance.

The company ends the decade with the company being renamed Walt Disney Productions, Ltd. , and three other associated companies are created: Walt Disney Enterprises, Disney Film Recording Company , and Liled Realty and Investment Company .

The might of Disney: the tentacles of the mouse

As you may have noticed throughout the history of the company, we mentioned several acquisitions made by The Walt Disney Company, but the truth is that we fell short, since the mouse brand currently has a total of 136 original international brands under its power. , which he has acquired over the years. These acquisitions were made after the company noticed the potential for entertainment and/or communications. Also, some of the brands are the company’s own creation.

Covering almost all fields of entertainment: film, television, radio, music, theme parks, hotels, toys, games, websites, we can rank the most relevant brands under the power of Disney as follows.

The Walt Disney Studios: the main ones

Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment and Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.

Producers:

Walt Disney Studios, Disneynature, Touchstone Pictures, Marvel Studios, Lucasfilm, Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar Animation Studios,

Disney Music Group:

Walt Disney Records, Hollywood Records and Disney Music Publishing.

Disney Theatrical Group:

Disney Theatrical Productions and Disney Live Family Entertainment.

Disney-ABC Television Group:

ABC Entertainment Group, ABC Family and ABC Owned Television Station Group.

Media:

Disney Channel, Disney Cinemagic, Disney Junior, Disney XD, Hungama, Radio Disney, Hyperion Books, ESPN, Inc., Freeform, Live Well Network, and VOICE.

Interactive media:

Hulu and Playdom.

Websites:

DigiSynd, Take180, family.com, Kaboose.com, Babyzone.com, AmazingMoms.com, Funschool.com, Zeeks.com, babble.com, Spoonful.com, Go.com, FamilyFun.com, and Wondertime.com.

Other studies:

Avalanche Software, Junction Point Studios, Gamestar, Rocket Pack, Golden Oak Ranch, Prospect Studios, KABC7 Studio B.

Online games:

Club Penguin, Pirates of the Caribbean Online, and World of Cars Online.

Consumer products:

Disney Stores, Disney Teletoon-Products, Disney Interactive Studios.

Marvel Entertainment and all its subsidiaries

Former franchises:

KCAL-TV, DIC Entertainment, Miramax, WXYZ-TV, WJRT-TV, WTVG, Power Rangers.

These are just some of the subsidiaries of the mouse brand and as if that were not enough, we cannot forget its theme parks and hotels that mean a great income for the company and are located on three continents.

With all this under its control, The Walt Disney Company is the second largest media and entertainment company in the world, behind only Comcast , and is estimated to be worth $180 billion , according to Forbes in 2015.

Disney’s negotiations have always been very strategic, looking for the best but always paying the right price, never more, and there are some incredible acquisitions that they achieved at a fairly favorable price. The best thing is that everything that Disney touches, turns it into gold, if something is already good it makes it better and if something was not so good but had hidden potential, it makes it incredible.

Evolution of the Disney logo

1923. The very first logo of the entertainment franchise would see the light on the façade of the small Disney Bros. Studio building, painted by hand, with a fairly typography.

1924. A completely radical reissue of the logo, would result in a fairly simple one with a simple typography and a neutral blue.

1928. With the renaming of the company under the name of Walt Disney Studio and the appearance of the company’s most recognized character, a change was necessary. This is how this large, animated and striking logo that incorporated the company name, Mickey Mouse (since then it has been featured in the logos of the company and almost all its subsidiaries) and the address of the studio, all in one design. cartoon of the time.