Walt Disney
Summary of Facts
-Walt Disney and his brother Roy started a film studio in 1923.
-The first Mickey Mouse cartoon, Plane Crazy, was made in 1928.
-The studios first animated feature film was Snow White in 1937, and then came Fantasia and Pinocchio in the 1940's.
-Disneyland opened in 1955 in Anaheim, Calif.
-Mickey Mouse Club was produced in 1955 until 1959.
-The Disney Weekly or better known as The Wonderful World of Disney ran for 29 straight years.
-In 1966, Walt Disney died of lung cancer.
-In 1971, Roy Disney died and Disney World opened in Orlando.
-Roy Disney's son, Roy E., took over but was falling so Walt's son-in-law, Ron Miller, took over in 1980.
-Miller was lacking so the Bass family, alliance to Roy Disney, bought a huge part of Disney.
-The Bass family brought in CEO Michael Eisner from Paramount and President Frank Wells from Warner Bros.
The Walt Disney Studios, the headquarters of The W...
Walt Disney giving the dedication day speech July ...
The Roy O.Disney pulling its blue coaches and blow...- Eisner has worked for ABC his whole career starting in the 1960's.
-Eisner then went to Paramount, which was ranked dead last out of all the motion picture studios.
-Eisner moved it to first with mega hits Trading Places and Beverly Hill Cops.
-Eisner kept costs down at Paramount with the industry average being $12 million and he only used $8.5 million.
-He extended Disney by making The Disney Channel, Tokyo Disneyland, video distribution, Disney Stores, Broadway shows (Beauty and the Beast) and additional licensing for the characters of Disney.
-Disney represents Buena Vista Television, Disney Channel, Miramax Film, and Touchstone Pictures. Also they represent theme parks and professional sports franchises such as the Mighty Ducks and the Anaheim Angels.
-Political pressure ruined Disney's idea for a Civil War theme park.
-Disney's theme park in France lost $500 million because of miscalculations on attendance and concessions.