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Introduction

The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was founded on October 16, 1923 as an animation studio, by brothers Walt Disney and Roy Oliver Disney as Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio; it later operated under the names Walt Disney Studio and Walt Disney Productions before adopting its current name in 1986. In 1928, Disney established itself as a leader in the animation industry with the short film Steamboat Willie. The film used synchronized sound to become the first post-produced sound cartoon, and popularized Mickey Mouse, who became Disney's mascot and corporate icon.

After becoming a major success by the early 1940s, Disney diversified into live-action films, television, and theme parks in the 1950s. However, following Walt Disney's death in 1966, the company's profits, especially in the animation sector, began to decline. In 1984, Disney's shareholders voted Michael Eisner as CEO, who led a reversal of the company's decline through a combination of international theme park expansion and the highly successful Disney Renaissance period of animation from 1989 to 1999. In 2005, under the new CEO Bob Iger, the company continued to expand into a major entertainment conglomerate with the acquisitions of Pixar in 2006, Marvel Entertainment in 2009, Lucasfilm in 2012, and 21st Century Fox in 2019. In 2020, Bob Chapek became the head of Disney after Iger's retirement. However, Chapek was ousted in 2022 and Iger was reinstated as CEO.

The company is known for its film studio division, the Walt Disney Studios, which includes Walt Disney Pictures, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar, Marvel Studios, Lucasfilm, 20th Century Studios, 20th Century Animation, and Searchlight Pictures. Disney's other main business units include divisions in television, broadcasting, streaming media, theme park resorts, consumer products, publishing, and international operations. Through these divisions, Disney owns and operates the ABC television network; cable television networks such as Disney Channel, ESPN, Freeform, FX, and National Geographic; publishing, merchandising, music, and theater divisions; direct-to-consumer streaming services such as Disney+, ESPN+, Hulu, and Hotstar; and Disney Experiences, which includes several theme parks, resort hotels, and cruise lines around the world. (Full article...)

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The Disney Bomb, also known as the Disney Swish, was a Second World War, rocket-assisted bunker buster bomb, developed by the British Royal Navy to penetrate hardened concrete targets, such as submarine pens, that could resist conventional free-fall bombs. Devised by Royal Navy Captain Edward Terrell, the bomb was fitted with solid-fuel rockets to accelerate its descent, giving it an impact speed of 990 miles per hour (1,590 km/h)^* and hence the ability to penetrate through 16 ft (4.9 m) of solid concrete before detonating.

The Disney bomb saw limited use by the United States Army Air Forces in Europe from February to April 1945. Although technically successful, it initially lacked the pinpoint accuracy required for bunker targets, was deployed late in the war and overall had little effect on the Allied bombing campaign against Germany.

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Credit: Coolcaesar

An entrance to Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California

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These are images of Disneyland, Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, The Walt Disney Company, and Walt Disney in their respective articles.

Image 1A Disney Cruise Line bus which takes guests to and from Terminal 8 from Orlando International Airport; as well as around Walt Disney World. (from Disney Cruise Line)
Image 2Mickey's Toontown
(pictured in 2010) (from Disneyland)
Image 3New Orleans Square
(the Haunted Mansion) (from Disneyland)
Image 4The original logo of Walt Disney World from 1971 to the mid-1990s (from Walt Disney World)
Image 5One of Disney's first animated characters Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, which Disney regained the rights to in 2006. The initial run of Oswald shorts by Disney have all entered the public domain as of January 1, 2024. (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 6Michael Eisner replaced Ron Miller as CEO. (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 7Adventureland entrance
(2006) (from Disneyland)
Image 8The original animation building at the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California, which they fully moved into in 1940 (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 9View of Disney Springs (from Walt Disney World)
Image 10The 1996 version of The Walt Disney World logo (from Walt Disney World)
Image 11Walt, Florida Governor W. Haydon Burns, and Roy announcing the plans for Disney World in November 1965 (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 12Disneyland Railroad Engine 2 at the New Orleans Square station. (from Disneyland)
Image 13Disneyland aerial view, 1963, which includes the new Melody Land Theater at the top of the photo (from Disneyland)
Image 14Bayou Country
(Tiana's Bayou Adventure) (from Disneyland)
Image 15Disney's promotional logo for its centennial. (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 16Walt (right) dressed as a gaucho next to Donald Duck in Argentina while on the company's South American goodwill trip in 1941. (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 17Wedding Pavilion at the Seven Seas Lagoon (from Walt Disney World)
Image 18Disney family at Schiphol Airport (1951) (from Walt Disney)
Image 19Team Disney – The Michael D. Eisner Building, the main building at the Walt Disney Studios, which houses the offices of Disney's CEO and several other senior corporate officials. (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 20Fantasmic! finale on July 4, 2010 (from Disneyland)
Image 21The Sherman Brothers in 2002. They composed many Disney songs in the 1960s. (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 22The Walt Disney World Monorail System provides free transport across the resort.
Image 23Hollywood Studios' park icon, the Chinese Theatre (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 24Disney security vehicle, picture taken July 2, 2009 in front of Epcot (from Walt Disney World)
Image 25Disney in 1954 with Wernher von Braun (from Walt Disney)
Image 26Disney's childhood home (from Walt Disney)
Image 27Roy O. Disney inspecting design plans on-site in Florida (from Walt Disney World)
Image 28Disney in 1954 (from Walt Disney)
Image 29Main Street, U.S.A.
(2010) (from Disneyland)
Image 30Walt Disney's business envelope featured a self-portrait, c. 1921 (from Walt Disney)
Image 31Disney bought The Muppets from the Jim Henson Company in 2004. (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 32Disney receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1964 from President Lyndon B. Johnson. (from Walt Disney)
Image 33Disney (left) with his brother Roy O. Disney (right) and then Governor of Florida W. Haydon Burns (center) on November 15, 1965, publicly announcing the creation of Disney World (from Walt Disney)
Image 34Walt Disney (center) showing Orange County officials plans for Disneyland's layout, December 1954 (from Disneyland)
Image 35Grave of Walt Disney at Forest Lawn, Glendale (from Walt Disney)
Image 36Bob Iger became CEO of Disney in 2005, expanding the company's properties (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 37Walt (center) showing the plans of Disneyland to officials from Orange County in December 1954 (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 38Excerpt of Steamboat Willie (1928), the first Mickey Mouse sound cartoon. (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 39An aerial shot of Walt Disney World in 1982 (from Walt Disney World)
Image 40Main Street at Disneyland, as seen from a horseless carriage (from Disneyland)
Image 41Disney with film roll and Mickey Mouse on his right arm in 1935 (from Walt Disney)
Image 42Disney Magic at Port of Venice (from Disney Cruise Line)
Image 43Characters from Alice in Wonderland host "Disneyland Musical Chairs" at Coca-Cola Refreshment Corner, accompanied by a ragtime pianist in 2005. (from Disneyland)
Image 44Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge
(Star Wars: Millennium Falcon – Smugglers Run in 2019) (from Disneyland)
Image 45Tomorrowland
(Space Mountain in 2010) (from Disneyland)
Image 46Frontierland
(Big Thunder Mountain Railroad in 2008) (from Disneyland)
Image 47Walt Disney introduces each of the seven dwarfs in a scene from the original 1937 Snow White theatrical trailer (from Walt Disney)
Image 48Disneyland fireworks from Sleeping Beauty Castle (from Disneyland)
Image 49Overlay of Walt Disney's original 1966 plans for Disney World and the proposed EPCOT city (orange) and contemporary situation (blue) (from Walt Disney World)
Image 50Walt Disney (left) with his brother Roy O. Disney (right) and then Governor of Florida W. Haydon Burns (center) on November 15, 1965, publicly announcing the creation of Disney World (from Walt Disney World)
Image 51Disney shows the plans of Disneyland to officials from Orange County in December 1954 (from Walt Disney)
Image 52Disney next to a cat and a drawing of Mickey Mouse (by Harris & Ewing), 1931 (from Walt Disney)
Image 53Disney drawing Goofy for a group of girls in Argentina, 1941 (from Walt Disney)
Image 54The 2018 version of The Walt Disney World logo. (from Walt Disney World)
Image 55A portrait of Disney with cartoon representations of different nationalities on a 6-cent U.S. postage stamp, 1968 (from Walt Disney)
Image 56An aerial view of Disneyland in 2004 (from Disneyland)
Image 57The "Happiest Homecoming on Earth" celebrated the 50th anniversary of the theme park. Sleeping Beauty Castle was altered for the occasion. (from Disneyland)
Image 58Fantasyland
(Peter Pan's Flight in the foreground and the Matterhorn Bobsleds in the background) (from Disneyland)
Image 59Disney's video streaming subscription service Disney+ was launched in 2019, which has a total of over 135 million subscriptions as of June 2022. (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 60Jeffrey Katzenberg was chairman of the Walt Disney Studios from 1984 to 1995. (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 61One of four arches welcoming guests to the resort (from Walt Disney World)
Image 62Roy E. Disney, Roy O. Disney's son, was head of the animation department until 2003. (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 63Monorail Red travels over the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage in Tomorrowland in 2008. (from Disneyland)
Image 64Map of the resort as of May 2015 (from Walt Disney World)

Selected biography

John Alan Lasseter (born January 12, 1957) is an American animator, director and the chief creative officer at Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios. He is also currently the Principal Creative Advisor for Walt Disney Imagineering. Lasseter's first job was with The Walt Disney Company, where he became an animator. Next, he joined Lucasfilm, where he worked on the then-groundbreaking use of CGI animation. After the Graphics Group of the Computer Division of Lucasfilm was sold to Steve Jobs and became Pixar in 1986, Lasseter oversaw all of Pixar's films and associated projects as executive producer and he directed Toy Story, A Bug's Life, Toy Story 2, Cars, and Cars 2. He has won two Academy Awards, for Animated Short Film (Tin Toy), as well as a Special Achievement Award (Toy Story).

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Did you know (auto-generated)

... that Scarlett Johansson filed a lawsuit against The Walt Disney Company alleging that the release strategy for Black Widow breached her contract?
... that John Oliver dared Disney to sue him over his version of Mickey Mouse?
... that the ferry General Joe Potter at Walt Disney World is named in honor of Major General William Everett Potter?
... that a revival of the comedy series Lizzie McGuire was ordered in 2019, but canceled mid-production after Disney deemed it not family-friendly enough?
... that Disney+ released a promotional poster for the Doctor Who Christmas special "Joy to the World" with the title spelled incorrectly?

Selected quote

Courage is the main quality of leadership, in my opinion, no matter where it is exercised. Usually it implies some risk — especially in new undertakings. Courage to initiate something and to keep it going, pioneering and adventurous spirit to blaze new ways, often, in our land of opportunity.

— Walt Disney

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More Did you know...

...that Harriet Burns designed the original prototype models of Disneyland's Sleeping Beauty Castle, Pirates of the Caribbean and New Orleans Square?

...that Michael Eisner credited research economist Harrison Price with being "as much responsible for the success of the Walt Disney Co. as anybody except Walt Disney himself"?

...that Disneyland has only ever had three unscheduled closures: In 1963 due to President Kennedy's Assassination; In August 1970 due to an invasion by Yippies and September 11, 2001.
...that Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest set several records in its first three days, with an opening weekend of $136 million.
... that Disney CEO Michael Eisner was struck with inspiration for the show, Adventures of the Gummi Bears when his son requested gummi bear candies one day.

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