Follow the major creative, technological, theatrical, television, park, and company milestones that shaped Disney from its earliest animation studio to the modern entertainment company.
Walt Disney founds Laugh-O-Gram Films in Kansas City, producing modernized fairy-tale cartoons and developing the early creative team that would help shape his animation career.
After Laugh-O-Gram closes, Walt moves to Hollywood and joins Roy Disney to form the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio.
The Alice Comedies debut, building on Walt's Kansas City work by blending a live-action girl with an animated cartoon world.
Oswald the Lucky Rabbit becomes Walt Disney's first major cartoon character.
Mickey Mouse debuts in Steamboat Willie, helping popularize synchronized sound in animation.
Click the title to open its catalog details.Flowers and Trees brings full-color Technicolor to Disney animation and wins Walt his first Academy Award.
Click the title to open its catalog details.The Old Mill showcases Disney's multiplane camera, adding new depth and dimension to animated backgrounds.
Click the title to open its catalog details.Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs becomes the first feature-length animated film produced in the United States, proving theatrical animation could succeed as both art and big business.
Click the title to open its catalog details.Fantasia debuts with Fantasound, an early stereo sound system developed by the Disney studio.
Click the title to open its catalog details.The Three Caballeros advances Disney's live-action/animation blend, combining animated characters, live performers, and live-action backgrounds in the same musical sequences.
Click the title to open its catalog details.Treasure Island becomes Disney's first fully live-action feature film.
Click the title to open its catalog details.The Disneyland television anthology series debuts on ABC, giving Walt Disney a weekly national platform while helping finance and promote Disneyland before its opening.
Disneyland opens in Anaheim, changing the idea of what a theme park could be.
One Hundred and One Dalmatians uses the Xerox process throughout production, changing the look of Disney animation.
Click the title to open its catalog details.Disney's Audio-Animatronics technology reaches a new level with Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln at the New York World's Fair.
Mary Poppins turns Disney's live-action/animation blend into a mainstream showcase, using polished composite work to place live performers and animated characters together in one of Walt Disney's most celebrated films.
Click the title to open its catalog details.Disney establishes the Walt Disney Archives at its Burbank studio, appointing Dave Smith as its first archivist to preserve company records, photographs, artwork, props, costumes, and other historical materials. Smith later wrote Disney A to Z: The Official Encyclopedia, the book that helped inspire the original Walt Disney Resource.
Walt Disney World opens near Orlando with the Magic Kingdom as its first theme park, expanding Disney parks into a full resort destination.
Space Mountain opens at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom as an indoor, computer-operated roller coaster, combining advanced ride technology with immersive storytelling and establishing a new Disney parks icon.
EPCOT Center opens at Walt Disney World, expanding the Florida resort beyond the Magic Kingdom with attractions devoted to technological progress, international culture, and visions of the future.
TRON makes extensive use of computer-generated imagery, pointing toward the future of digital filmmaking.
Click the title to open its catalog details.Tokyo Disneyland opens as Disney's first international theme park, introducing the Disney park experience outside the United States.
The Disney Channel launches on cable television, giving Disney its first dedicated television network and a new home for films, series, and original programming.
Disney-MGM Studios opens as Walt Disney World's third theme park, bringing filmmaking, television production, and Hollywood-inspired entertainment into the resort.
The Little Mermaid launches the Disney Renaissance, restoring feature animation as one of the studio's creative and commercial strengths.
Click the title to open its catalog details.The Rescuers Down Under brings Disney's CAPS digital ink-and-paint system into feature animation.
Click the title to open its catalog details.The Lion King becomes Disney's biggest animated box office hit of the Renaissance era and remains the highest-grossing hand-drawn animated film.
Click the title to open its catalog details.Toy Story, released through Disney's partnership with Pixar, becomes the first fully computer-animated feature film.
Click the title to open its catalog details.Disney completes its $19 billion acquisition of Capital Cities/ABC, gaining the ABC television network, a stake in ESPN, and a group of radio and publishing properties, and transforming Disney into a major broadcasting company.
Radio Disney launched through ABC Radio Networks as a 24-hour music service for children and families. Beginning with several terrestrial radio markets, it expanded to online streaming, grew to more than 50 U.S. markets, and reached a nationwide audience through XM and Sirius satellite radio by 2002.
Disney's Animal Kingdom opens as Walt Disney World's fourth theme park, combining Disney storytelling and themed attractions with live animals and a focus on nature and conservation.
Disney acquires Pixar Animation Studios, reshaping the future of Disney feature animation. Pixar continues to build Toy Story, Cars, The Incredibles, and other properties into major theatrical franchises while becoming one of Disney's most dependable sources of worldwide box-office success.
Disney acquires Marvel Entertainment, greatly expanding its character and franchise library. The Marvel Cinematic Universe grows into one of modern entertainment's defining franchises and becomes a major worldwide box-office engine for Disney.
Disney acquires Lucasfilm, bringing Star Wars and Industrial Light & Magic into the company. A new generation of films, series, and themed experiences revitalizes Star Wars as a major global franchise, beginning with the enormous theatrical success of The Force Awakens.
Disney launches Disney Movies Anywhere, a cross-platform digital movie locker that helps pave the way for Movies Anywhere, the Disney-operated successor model that replaced UltraViolet.
Disney+ launches, and Disney completes its acquisition of 21st Century Fox.
The Walt Disney Company celebrates its 100th anniversary, marking a century since Walt and Roy Disney founded the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio in 1923. The Disney100 celebration brings commemorative programming, exhibitions, events, and experiences to audiences around the world.
Inside Out 2 becomes the highest-grossing film of 2024 worldwide, earning nearly $1.7 billion and leading a major theatrical comeback for Pixar and Walt Disney Studios.
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