Walt Disney and his brother Roy Disney create The Disney Bros. Cartoon Studio in 1923. At Walt Disney's insistence, the company was renamed to Walt Disney Studios in 1925.
The first Mickey Mouse short, Steamboat Willie, is released in 1928. It's Disney's first production with syncronized sound.
| 01 | Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs First feature animation film from Disney, wins 1 Honorary Academy Award accompanied by seven small ones. Notable for being the first animated feature in Technicolor. | 1937 |
1938Walt Disney Enterprises, Disney Film Recording Company, and Liled Realty and Investment Company are merged into Walt Disney Productions
| 02 | Pinocchio Not commercially successful, only half of the $2.3 million budget was recouped. Mostly due to poor timing with the second world war | 1940 |
| 03 | Fantasia One of the first movies shown with stereophonic sound (Only 6 theaters were equipped to play 'Fantasound'). Mickey Mouse is drawn with pupils for the first time and his design is updated. | 1940 |
1940Walt Disney Productions goes public after debt reaches $4.5 million.
Disney's animators go on strike due to layoffs and the absence of promised bonuses. The strike lasted 5 weeks and was a turning point for the company.
| 04 | Dumbo Was produced on a strict and low budget to compensate for the losses made by Pinocchio & Fantasia. | 1941 |
| 05 | Bambi One of the few Golden Era Disney movies where the main cast doesn't sing their own songs. | 1942 |
| 06 | Saludos Amigos Shortest animated feature from Disney (42 minutes). Nominated for a Academy Award for Best Original Song. | 1943 |
In need of some quick cash, Disney re-releases their first animated feature, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. This starts Disney's tradition of re-releasing their movies 7 years after the initial release.
| 07 | The Three Caballeros Sequel to Saludos Amigos | 1945 |
Due to the Second World War, much of Walt Disney's staff was drafted into the army, which forced the company to release 'package films'. These films were a compilation of shorts and half-finished story ideas. They kept the company going during the war era.
Package films
| 08 | Make Mine Music First package film featuring ten unrelated stories | 1946 |
| 09 | Fun and Fancy Free Package film featuring two unrelated stories | 1947 |
| 10 | Melody Time Package film featuring seven stories | 1948 |
| 11 | The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad Last package film featuring two unrelated stories | 1949 |
| 12 | Cinderella | 1950 |
Disney develops its first 100% live action motion picture, Treasure Island.
| 13 | Alice in Wonderland Failed to meet financial expectations but became a cult hit in the 1960s | 1951 |
1952Walt Disney informs his company of his plans to develop a theme park and founds WED Enterprises to develop his ideas. WED Enterprises is an independent, private company, owned by Walt Disney himself.
| 14 | Peter Pan Notable for being the last Disney feature distributed by RKO Pictures and the last movie which all nine members of the 'Nine Old Men' worked together on as directing animators. | 1953 |
Roy & Walt Disney create Buena Vista Distribution Company to handle the distribution of their motion pictures after a dispute with RKO Pictures.
Television network ABC airs a TV Show hosted by Walt Disney himself, titled 'Disneyland' - better known today as Walt Disney anthology series. The show promoted Disney's feature films and the soon-opening Disneyland Resort.
| 15 | Lady and the Tramp First animated feature presented in CinemaScope (widescreen). | 1955 |
Disneyland Resort is opened in Anaheim, California on July 15, 1955.
| 16 | Sleeping Beauty Captured in Super Technirama 70 (70mm) instead of regular 35mm film. This produces a widescreen look emphasizing the complex backgrounds. | 1959 |
| 17 | One Hundred and One Dalmatians Used a new technology called Xerography, which eased graphic reproduction requirements. | 1961 |
1961Disney pay off all existing loans and later buys the rights to Winnie the Pooh
| 18 | The Sword in the Stone | 1963 |
First death in Disneyland occurs. A 15 year old boy dies in a bobsled ride after he stands up and falls out.
1965WED Enterprises is merged into The Walt Disney Company and renamed to Walt Disney Imageneering.
Walt Disney goes into cardiac arrest after being diagnosed with lung cancer and passes away 15th of December, 1966 at the age of 65
| 19 | The Jungle Book Last film Walt Disney personally worked on. | 1967 |
CEO — 1968-1971: Roy O. Disney
| 20 | The Aristocats Last film Walt Disney approved himself. | 1970 |
Disney's second theme park, Walt Disney World Resort, opens to public. The park is located in Florida, the property is twice as big as Manhattan. Meanwhile, the first park receives its 100th millionth visitor.
CEO — 1971-1976: Donn Tatum
Roy Oliver Disney, Walt Disney's younger brother and co-founder of Disney, dies two months after his retirement. He was 78 years old.
| 21 | Robin Hood | 1973 |
CEO — 1976-1983: E. Cardon Walker
| 22 | The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh Last of the package films. This feature is composed of three different Winnie the Pooh shorts (Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree, Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day, Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too!) | 1977 |
| 23 | The Rescuers | 1977 |
Walt Disney's nephew, Roy E. Disney resigns from the company citing a decline in overall product quality and issues with management but holds on to his board of director's seat.
| 24 | The Fox and the Hound The only Disney film during the 1980's not produced in widescreen. | 1981 |
Tokyo Disney Resort opens in Urayasu, Chiba, Japan on 1983 and resembles the first park, Disneyland Resort
CEO — 1983-1984: Ron W. Miller
Touchstone Pictures is created, delivering more adult-oriented live-action movies while retaining Disney's family friendly image.
CEO — 1984-2005: Michael Eisner
Roy E. Disney leaves the boards of directors but returns again after CEO Ron W. Miller is replaced by Michael Eisner.
| 25 | The Black Cauldron Used APT process to replace the Xerograph technique. First animated Disney feature to use computer-generated imagery and to receive a PG rating. It was shot in 70mm film like Sleeping Beauty. | 1985 |
| 26 | The Great Mouse Detective | 1986 |
Walt Disney Productions changes its name to The Walt Disney Company
1986Steve Jobs acquires the computer graphics division from Lucasfilm for $10 million, and names it PIXAR. The company produces its first short, Luxo Jr., the hopping lamp from their logo.
Luxo Jr. is nominated for 'Best Animated Short' at the Academy Awards.
The Disney Television Animation Australia, later known as DisneyToon Studios Australia is opened and will be responsible for Disney sequels and direct-to-video films in the future.
| 27 | Oliver and Company Used computer-generated imagery more heavily than its predecessors. The film is a return to the musical format which wasn't used since The Fox and the Hound. First Disney film to feature real-life brands like Coca-Cola and Sony. | 1988 |
Who Framed Roger Rabbit is released, a live-action movie with 2D animation drawn in to interact with the actors. The film features characters from Warner Bros., MGM, Universal and Disney. Bugs Bunny and Mickey Mouse have the same exact screen time and words of dialogue. The movie was a success and is widely believed to be the beginning of the Renaissance of Animation
| 28 | The Little Mermaid First Disney movie featuring songs and score from Howard Ashman (lyrics) and Alan Menken (score). Also first use of CAPS technology in a Disney film. | 1989 |
1989Pixar receives an Academy Award (Best Animated Short) for their short movie, Tin Toy.
| 29 | The Rescuers Down Under First feature film completely made with CAPS, a new technology developed with the help of Pixar. | 1990 |
| 30 | Beauty and the Beast First and only animated movie nominated for a "Best Picture" Academy Award, won in two other categories (Best Score, Best Song) | 1991 |
Lyricist Howard Ashman dies of AIDS at the age of 40. He receives a posthumous Academy Award for Beauty & The Beast
| 31 | Aladdin Last movie Howard Ashman worked on as a lyricist. | 1992 |
A 4th theme park is opened in Europe in 1992. Euro Disney Resort is located near the capital of France, the name was changed to 'Disneyland Resort Paris' in 1994
1993Disney acquires Miramax Films, a motion picture distribution and production company owned by the Weinstein Brothers. The company was bought by Disney for $70 million.
The Weistein Brothers leave the company in 2005 and take the label Dimension Films with them. Buena Vista assumes control of Miramax Films.
| 32 | The Lion King Peak of Disney's success during the 80s-90s. Lion King was the highest grossing animated feature at the time, later defeated by Pixar's Finding Nemo in 2003. | 1994 |
1994Pixar releases their first computer animated movie. Toy Story is distributed but not developed by Disney. Disney & Pixar sign a 10 year, 5 movie deal (Toy Story is excluded) and agree to split production costs and profit. Disney collects 10 to 15 percent of each film's revenue as a distribution fee.
The movie receives a Special Achievement Award in 1996 from the Academy
The beginning of the direct-to-video market for Disney. The Return of Jafar is a low-budget sequel to the successful Aladdin and is released directly to VHS. The movie is a financial success, earning $228 million.
| 33 | Pocahontas Largest film premiere in history with over 100,000 viewers. Features no dialogue for animal characters. | 1995 |
1995 Pixar goes public after the success of Toy Story with a stock price of $22. The price soared to $50 after the first day of trading.
| 34 | The Hunchback of Notre Dame Received a Academy Award nomination for Best Original Score. | 1996 |
1996USA television & radio network ABC is acquired by Disney for approx. $19 billion, sports network ESPN is included. ABC is currently United States' second-most watched network, partly due to successful drama shows (Lost, Desperate Housewives)
| 35 | Hercules | 1997 |
1997Disney sells ABC subsidiary Chilton Business Group (39 trade magazines) to Elsevier for $447 million.
| 36 | Mulan | 1998 |
1998Pixar's second movie, A Bug's Life is released. It receives largely positive reviews and is a financial success.
| 37 | Tarzan Relies heavily on 'Deep Canvas' effect for wild shots and sweeping 3D backgrounds previously not possible in traditional animation. The creators receive a Technical Achievement Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 2003 | 1999 |
| 38 | Fantasia 2000 | 1999 |
1999The sequel to the successful Toy Story is released in theaters. Because the movie was originally intended as a direct-to-video release, it's not included in the '5 movie deal' to the dismay of Pixar.
Toy Story 2 is the second largest grossing animated feature on the time of its release.
Disney begins massive layoffs on its WDFA division, and ultimately brings the number of employees down to 600.
| 39 | Dinosaur Uses live action footage for backgrounds, the creatures themselves are rendered using CGI. | 2000 |
| 40 | The Emperor's New Groove Features no musical numbers. | 2000 |
A new Academy Award category is introduced: Best Animated Feature.
| 41 | Atlantis: The Lost Empire | 2001 |
2001Pixar releases Monster's Inc. and receives the Academy Award for Best Song and was nominated in 3 other categories.
| 42 | Lilo & Stitch | 2002 |
| 43 | Treasure Planet CGI with traditional 2D animation drawn on top. Failed to meet financial expectations. | 2002 |
| 44 | Brother Bear | 2003 |
2003Pixar finishes Finding Nemo and receives critical acclaim and a Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. The movie becomes the highest grossing animated feature, beating The Lion King.
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl is a live action movie, inspired by a attraction from Disneyland. This is the first PG-13 rated movie released under the Disney name.
| 45 | Home on the Range Excluding direct-to-video sequels, this is Disney's last traditional 2D animation movie until 2009. | 2004 |
2004Comcast makes a hostile $54 billion dollar bid on the company.
2004The Incredibles is released and wins 2 Academy Awards (Best Animated Feature & Best Sound Editing)
Earlier in 2004, Pixar announced to end talks with Disney about extending their five-picture deal and terminate the relationship after their upcoming feature Cars.
Disney closes its Florida Animation Studio, the studio was responsible for modern traditional animation films such as Mulan, Brother Bear and Lilo & Stitch. The company intends to abandon traditional animation and wants to concentrate on CG features.
Roy E. Disney announces his resignation and criticizes CEO Michael Eisner of mismanaging the company, neglecting the studio's animation division, turning the Walt Disney Company into a "rapacious, soul-less" company, and of refusing to establish a clear succession plan. After his resignation he helps establish the Save Disney campaign, the website is intended to revamp the company and oust Michael Eisner.
Disneyland celebrates its 50th anniversary
| 46 | Chicken Little First CG animated feature film Disney produced themselves (in-house). | 2005 |
The 5th theme park of Disney, and the second in Asia is opened, Hong Kong Disneyland Resort opens its doors on September 12, 2005.
Michael Eisner resigns as CEO a full year before his contract ends, Roy E. Disney is hired as a consultant and given the title of Director Emeritus. The Save Disney campaign stops.
Michael Eisner still has 1.7% of Disney's stock, and is the largest stockholder at this time.
CEO — 2005-present: Robert Iger
Disney announces it's closing DisneyToon Australia in October 2006. Future productions both traditional and CGI will be outsourced in the future.
DisneyToon was responsible for traditional 2D direct-to-video sequels such as The Jungle Book 2 & Bambi 2.
2006 Disney acquires Pixar for ~$7.4 billion. Pixar (and Apple) CEO Steve Jobs becomes largest stockholder (7%) and joins the board of directors. Pixar's John Lasseter and Ed Catmull become the leading forces of WDFA. Future Pixar films will be released under the name "Disney/Pixar".
Current CG animated movies in production by Disney are reviewed by Ed Catmull and John Lasseter, several are completely cancelled or altered.
2006Pixar releases Cars in theaters and is met with mixed reviews from critics. The movie fails to meet the extremely high financial expectations of Disney, but still generates a lot of money.
It's announced that The Little Mermaid 3 (expected in 2008) will be the last direct-to-video sequel. Planned productions are cancelled while projects already in production are finished using outsourcing.
| 47 | Meet the Robinsons Trailer | 2007 |
2007Pixar's Ratatouille arrives in theaters (official site + trailer). The movie is a critical success, with over 90% of the reviews being positive (rottentomatoes.com/metacritic)
Enchanted is a mixture of traditional 2D animation and live action about an animated princess who gets transported to the real world. The 2D animation was not produced inhouse but by James Baxter Animation. Watch the trailer.
2008Pixar is again met with critical success when it releases Wall-E. It currently has a 97% rating at Rottentomatoes.
| 48 | BoltTrailer | 2008 |
2009Yet again Pixar receives critical praise for their feature Up! It also has a 97% rating at Rottentomatoes. Watch the trailer
| 49 | The Princess & The FrogDisney's return to traditional 2D animation. Watch the trailer | 2009 |
2010Disney & Pixar release Toy Story 3 which receives a 99% rating at Rottentomatoes. Watch the trailer
| 50 | TangledComputer animated movie trying to capture the feel of traditional animation.Watch the trailer | 2010 |
Upcoming productions
| 51 | Winnie the Pooh Watch the trailer. | expected in 2011 |
| 52 | King of the ElvesBased on a Philip K. Dick story. | expected in 2012 |