Disney Group: landmarks
landmarks
Sponsored links
This chronology is indicative only. It covers -
* antecedents
* beginnings (1928)
* going public (1940
* bailout by ABC (1954)
* the golden age? (1964)
* conglomerate (1984)
* engulfs ABC (1995)
Context is provided by the broader communications and media timeline on this site.
antecedents
1901 Walter Elias Disney born in Chicago
1918 Walt forges parents' signatures, and enlists in American Ambulance Corps
1919 Walt and Ubbe Iwwerks (later Ubbe Iwerks) form Iwerks-Disney Commercial Artists
1928 Iwerks modifies Disney's "Oswald The Lucky Rabbit" character, turning him into Mickey Mouse.
beginnings
1928 first silent film featuring the Mouse premieres on Sunset Boulevard
1928 "Steamboat Willie" is first cartoon designed for use with a soundtrack
1930 The first Mickey Mouse comic strip is published, in New York Mirror
1930 Disney buys Iwerks' 20% share of company for US$2,920
1934 Three Little Pigs wins Academy Award
1937 Disney's first full-length animated feature film Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs premieres at cost of US$1.5 million
1940 Pinocchio premieres at Central Theatre in New York
going public
1940 Walt Disney Productions goes public after debt reaches US$4.5 m
1941 Fantasia opens in Chicago
1941 Disney animators stage a strike with strong industry and community support
1945 Roy Disney becomes company president
1946 Disney announces planned layoffs of over 400 employees of a staff of 1000
1948 with US$4 million debt, Disney accepts US$1 m interest-free loan from Howard Hughes
1949 The Walt Disney Music Company formed
1950 first Disney TV special One Hour in Wonderland airs on NBC
1950 Treasure Island
1952 Walt Disney forms Walt Disney Incorporated, to develop ideas for a "family park" to be called Disneyland
1952 WED Enterprises founded
1953 Disney establishes Buena Vista Distribution Company as Disney's film distributor
1953 Peter Pan
bailout by ABC
1954 Disney and ABC sign agreement about building of Disneylandia. ABC invests US$500 000 in cash, guarantees all WED bank loans and gets 35% ownership of Disneylandia (with all profits from park's food concessions for 10 years
1954 first Disneyland TV show debuts on ABC network
1955 Disneyland opens in Anaheim, and has 1 million visitors within 6 months
1955 Mickey Mouse Club, Disney's second TV show is launched
1956 The "Bathroom of Tomorrow" attraction opens in Disneyland
1957 Zorro
1960 Disney buys ABC's one-third interest in Disneyland for $7.5 m and pay off all loans
1964 Disney features at New York World's Fair
the golden age?
1964 first death in Disneyland and premiere of Mary Poppins
1965 Disney buys rights to A.A. Milne's Winnie the Pooh
1966 Walt Disney dies of lung cancer and J Edgar Hoover orders name removed from list of FBI's informants
1969 The Love Bug
1971 Walt Disney World in Orlando opens
1971 Roy Disney dies
1971 100 millionth visitor to Disneyland
1983 Tokyo Disneyland opens
1983 Disney Channel
conglomerate
1984 recurrent takeover bids amid claims that group is underperforming
1984 first Touchstone Pictures release
1984 Eisner and Wells become Chairman and President
1984 Steve Jobs acquires Pixar from director George Lucas for US$10m
1986 Walt Disney Productions renamed The Walt Disney Company
1986 Capital Cities Communications buys American Broadcasting network for US$3.5 billion to create Capital Cities-ABC
1986 500 millionth theme park visitor
1987 first Disney Store opens
1990 Hollywood Records founded
1990 first Hollywood Pictures release
1992 Disneyland Paris opens
1993 buys Miramax for US$80m
1994 Beauty & the Beast stage shows opens on Broadway
1994 The Lion King
1994 Disney Interactive formed
1995 Pocahontas
engulfs ABC
1995 takeover of Capital Cities/ABC for US$19 billion
1995 Disney Online, Disney's internet division
1996 Disney.com launched
1996 buys 25% and management control of California Angels (later renamed Anaheim Angels) major league baseball team
1996 Radio Disney launched on ABC Radio Networks
1997 sells Chilton Business Group (39 trade magazines) to Elsevier for US$447m
1997 The Lion King stage production opens
1997 sells Kansas City Star, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Belleville News-Democrat and Wilkes-Barre Times Leader to Knight Ridder
1998 buys 43% in Infoseek web portal
1999 buys remaining equity in Anaheim Angels from family of 'singing cowboy' Gene Autry for US$140m, spends US$100m on Edison Field stadium
2001 pays US$40m for 50% stake in Wenner Media's Us Weekly
2001 buys founded Baby Einstein company from Julie Aigner-Clark for US$25m
2001 buys Fox Family Worldwide from Murdoch and Saban for US$5.3bn
2003 sells Anaheim Angels for US$180m to billboard czar Moreno
2004 Comcast makes unsuccessful US$54bn hostile takeover bid
2004 Disney sells 313 stores in US to retail chain Children's Place
2006 Disney announces US$7.4bn takeover of Pixar
2006 announces plan to spin off radio operations into Citadel
2006 buys Indian children's cable and satellite TV channel Hungama (launched 2004) for £16.5m
2006 pays £7.5m for 14.9% stake in Indian media group UTV Software Communications
2006 sells stake in Us Weekly to Wenner Media for US$300m
2007 agrees to pay US$40m for NY Times' radio station WQEW
2007 ESPN buys Cricinfo from Mark Getty
2007 pays US$350m for virtual community Club Penguin