The Walt Disney Studios

One of my favorite film studio of all time, The Walt Disney Studios. I love motion pictures, television, music, video games, books, and more. It was founded on October 16, 1923 by the Disney brothers, Walt and Roy O. Disney. In May 6, 1940, the studio moved from Silver Lake, Los Angeles to Burbank, California.

Formerly

• Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio (1923–26)
• Walt Disney Studio (1926–29)
• Walt Disney Productions (1929–83)

Founded: October 16, 1923; 101 years ago

Founders: Walt and Roy O. Disney

Location: 500 S. Buena Vista St., Burbank, CA 91521

No. of Stages: 7

Website: disneystudios.com

Member of Motion Picture Association (MPA) since 1979

Major film studios since 1984

Timeline

1940s

• May 6, 1940: Move of the Disney studio to Burbank completed.
• December 8, 1941: The U.S. Army moves onto the Disney studio lot.
• October 1949: Walt Disney Music Company formed.

1950s

• 1952: Wonderland Music Company formed.
• June 23, 1953: Walt Disney formed his own distribution company, Buena Vista Film Distribution Company.
• June 22, 1955: Lady and the Tramp is released.

1960s

• December 15, 1966: Walt Disney died.

1970s

• December 20, 1971: Roy O. Disney died.

1980s

• October 1980: First Home Video titles released.
• April 18, 1983: The Disney Channel begins broadcasting.
• March 9, 1984: Release of first Touchstone Films film, Splash.
• June 9, 1984: Donald Duck celebrates 50th birthday.
• September 23, 1984: Michael Eisner and Frank Wells become Chairman and President of Walt Disney Productions.
• February 6, 1986: Walt Disney Productions name changed to The Walt Disney Company.
• June 21, 1988: Who Framed Roger Rabbit is released.
• February 1, 1989: Hollywood Pictures begins operations.

1990s

• January 1, 1990: Hollywood Records begins operation.
• July 18, 1990: Release of Hollywood Pictures’ first film, Arachnophobia.
• September 26, 1991: Hyperion Books publishes its first book (New York City).
• June 30, 1993: The Walt Disney Company acquires Miramax Film Corporation (New York City).
• June 24, 1994: The Lion King is released.
• December 5, 1994: Disney Interactive is formed.
• April 7, 1995: A Goofy Movie is released.
• February 9, 1996: Final FCC approval of and filing of merger documents for completion of the acquisition of Capital Cities/ABC.
• May 1996: Disney purchases Dream Quest Images and they moved on to Burbank, California.
• June 1, 1997: Lyric Street Records founded as a country music label (Nashville, Tennessee).
• June 6, 1997: Con Air is released.
• June 27, 1997: Hercules is released.
• November 13, 1997: The Lion King stage production opens on Broadway (New York City).
• June 19, 1998: Mulan is released.
• June 18, 1999: Tarzan is released.

2000s

• May 19, 2000: Dinosaur is released.
• October 24, 2001: Disney purchases Fox Family Worldwide and Saban Entertainment, renamed ABC Family Worldwide and BVS Entertainment, Inc.
• November 1, 2003: Brother Bear is released.
• February 14, 2004: Power Rangers Dino Thunder debuts on Jetix (as a programming block on Toon Disney or ABC Family).
• March 5, 2004: Hidalgo is released.
• April 9, 2004: The Alamo is released.
• November 2004: The Incredibles is released.
• November 2005: Chicken Little is released.
• May 5, 2006: Disney purchases Pixar Animation Studios (Emeryville, California).
• June 9, 2006: Cars is released.
• February 9, 2009: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures agrees to distribute live-action films produced by DreamWorks Pictures.
• February 13, 2009: Disney XD launches.
• March 10, 2009: D23: The Official Disney Fan Club launches.
• December 16, 2009: Roy E. Disney died.
• December 31, 2009: Disney’s acquisition of Marvel Entertainment is completed.

2010s

• February 18, 2011: The first DreamWorks motion picture is released under the Touchstone Pictures banner (I Am Number Four).
• December 21, 2012: Disney’s acquisition of Lucasfilm Ltd. is completed after the purchase agreement was announced October 30, 2012 (San Francisco, California).
• July 3, 2013: The Lone Ranger is released.
• January 12, 2016: ABC Family becomes Freeform.
• March 4, 2016: Zootopia is released.
• November 23, 2016: Moana is released.
• June 20, 2017: Disney Music Group and DigiTour Media co-founders launch RMI Recordings label (Los Angeles, California).
• March 10, 2019: D23 celebrates its 10th anniversary.
• March 20, 2019: 20th Century Fox acquisition is complete (Los Angeles, California).
• November 12, 2019: Disney+ streaming service debuts (Los Angeles, California). Notable year titles include: Lady and the Tramp (2019 film) and Noelle.

2020s

• March 5, 2021: Raya and the Last Dragon is released.
• October 16, 2023: The Walt Disney Company celebrates its 100th anniversary.
• November 27, 2024: Moana 2 is released.
• December 20, 2024: Mufasa: The Lion King is released.
• March 21, 2025: Snow White is released.

Studio units (My List)

Music

• Walt Disney Records
• Buena Vista Records

Television

• Disney • ABC Home Entertainment and Television Distribution (1985–?)
• ABC (TV production; 2300 W. Riverside Dr.)

More

• Walt Disney Archives
• Disney Character Voices International, Inc.