The Walt Disney Company

The Walt Disney Company (most commonly known as Disney) {{nyse|DIS}} is one of the largest media and entertainment corporations in the world. Founded on October 16, 1923 by Walt Disney and his brother Roy O. Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, it is today the number two media company in the United States. The company's corporate headquarters are located in Burbank, California. Disney had revenues of $30.8 billion in 2004, and it is a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

Divisions

Disney's main operating units are Studio Entertainment, Parks and Resorts, Media Networks, and Consumer Products.

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Studio Entertainment

Its Studio Entertainment unit, also known as The Walt Disney Studios, is headed by Chairman Dick Cook. It includes the Buena Vista Motion Pictures Group, a collection of movie studios including Walt Disney Pictures, Touchstone Pictures, and Hollywood Pictures. The Miramax Films and Dimension Films studios are also a part of the unit, but operate autonomously in New York. Disney's Buena Vista Music Group, which includes Walt Disney Records, Mammoth Records, Lyric Street Records, and Hollywood Records, also falls under the umbrella of The Walt Disney Studios. The unit also includes Walt Disney Theatrical and Disney's distribution companies: Buena Vista International and Buena Vista Home Entertainment.

Related Topics:
Dick Cook - Buena Vista Motion Pictures Group - Movie studio - Walt Disney Pictures - Touchstone Pictures - Hollywood Pictures - Miramax Films - Dimension Films - Buena Vista Music Group - Walt Disney Records - Mammoth Records - Lyric Street Records - Hollywood Records - Walt Disney Theatrical - Buena Vista International - Buena Vista Home Entertainment

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One of the company's most successful subsidiaries is its animation studio, Walt Disney Feature Animation, responsible for producing a number of successful and influential traditionally animated features. In the aftermath of the box office failures of some of its recent animated films and the stellar successes of computer-animated films from Pixar, Disney has shifted its production from "traditional" hand-drawn animated films (which in recent years have incorporated much work done on computer) to entirely computer-animated films. The last traditionally-animated film produced by Disney was Home on the Range. Its first computer-animated film will be Chicken Little. Disney has fallen under much criticism for this change in direction, especially from fans who see the strength of a movie as its plot and its characters and not as the technology used to make it.

Related Topics:
Walt Disney Feature Animation - A number of - Traditionally animated - Pixar - Home on the Range - Chicken Little

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Disney is becoming a direct competitor to Pixar in a market dominated by the latter. Disney has failed to renew its contract with Pixar to release Pixar's films under the Disney name, an arrangement which had been extremely profitable to Disney and whose termination means that Pixar is now free to pair up with a competing studio.

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Walt Disney Studios, the company's main film and television production facility and corporate headquarters located in Burbank, California, is the only major Hollywood film studio that has never offered tours to the public. A partial tour of the Orlando, Florida feature animation satellite studio was available to attendees of Disney-MGM Studios until 2003.

Related Topics:
Walt Disney Studios - Burbank, California - Orlando, Florida - 2003

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Parks and Resorts

Main article: Walt Disney Parks and Resorts

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Disney operates a total of nine theme parks at the Disneyland Resort, the Walt Disney World Resort, Disneyland Resort Paris and the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort. Tokyo Disney Resort in Japan is operated and owned by the Oriental Land Company with licenses from Disney, and was built by the company's Imagineers.

Related Topics:
Theme parks - Disneyland Resort - Walt Disney World Resort - Disneyland Resort Paris - Hong Kong Disneyland Resort - Tokyo Disney Resort - Japan - Imagineers

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The company also owns through Anaheim Sports, Inc. the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim hockey club, which it recently agreed to sell to Broadcom executive Henry Samueli, and owned the Anaheim Angels baseball team, which was later sold to advertising magnate Arturo Moreno. Walt Disney Imagineering, Walt Disney Creative Entertainment, the Disney Cruise Line, Disney Vacation Club, and the chain of ESPN Zone sports-themed restaurants also operate as a part of the Parks & Resorts unit.

Related Topics:
Mighty Ducks of Anaheim - Broadcom - Henry Samueli - Anaheim Angels - Arturo Moreno - Walt Disney Imagineering - Walt Disney Creative Entertainment - Disney Cruise Line - Disney Vacation Club - ESPN Zone

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Media Networks

Its Media Networks unit is centered around the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) television network, which it acquired through a merger with Capital Cities/ABC in 1996. Disney also owns a group of cable networks including The Disney Channel, ABC Family, Toon Disney, the ESPN group and SOAPnet. Disney also holds substantial interest in Lifetime (50%), A&E (37.5%), and E! (40%).

Related Topics:
American Broadcasting Company - Capital Cities/ABC - The Disney Channel - ABC Family - Toon Disney - ESPN - SOAPnet - Lifetime - A&E - E!

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Through ABC, Disney also owns 10 local television stations, 26 local radio stations, and ESPN Radio, Radio Disney, and ABC Radio News, which carries such radio personalities as Sean Hannity and Paul Harvey. Buena Vista Television, which also is a part of the Media Networks unit, produces such syndicated television programs as Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, Live with Regis and Kelly, and Ebert & Roeper.

Related Topics:
ESPN Radio - Radio Disney - ABC Radio News - Sean Hannity - Paul Harvey - Buena Vista Television - Syndicated television programs - Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? - Live with Regis and Kelly - Ebert & Roeper

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Disney also operates its Hyperion publishing company and Walt Disney Internet Group (WDIC) through Media Networks. Hyperion has recently published books by comedian-author Steve Martin and bestselling author Mitch Albom. WDIC includes the Go.com web portal, based on the old Infoseek search engine which it purchased in 1998, and leading websites such as Disney.com, ESPN.com, and ABCNews.com.

Related Topics:
Hyperion - Walt Disney Internet Group - Steve Martin - Mitch Albom - Go.com - Infoseek

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Consumer Products

Its Consumer Products unit includes Disney's merchandising and licensing business and its Disney Publishing Worldwide group, whose imprints include Disney Editions, Hyperion Books for Children, Disney Press. It also published the Disney Adventures children's magazine.

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The unit once included the Disney Store chain of shopping mall locations, which it sold in 2004. It does now include Jim Henson's Muppets characters, which it purchased from The Jim Henson Company in 2004.

Related Topics:
Disney Store - Jim Henson - Muppets - The Jim Henson Company

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