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The story of the global entertainment giant, Walt Disney, celebrating its centenary this year, is marked by significant moments that left an indelible mark on the entertainment industry.
Disney’s Origins
In 1923, Walt Elias Disney, born on December 5, 1901 in Chicago, Illinois, to an Irish-Canadian father and a German-American mother, made the decision to join his brother Roy in Hollywood. Together, they embarked on the creation of a film studio, humbly established in a garage.
The Rise of Mickey Mouse
The year 1928 marked a decisive turning point with the first appearance of Mickey Mouse in the famous short film Steamboat Willie. Initially named Mortimer, the iconic mouse found its definitive name thanks to the inspiration of Lilly, Walt Disney’s wife. Mickey Mouse’s popularity reached its peak in the 1930s and 1940s, to the extent that it was used as a code name during the Allied troops’ landing in Normandy on June 6, 1944.
The Era of Colorful Feature Films
In 1937, Walt Disney made history by producing the first animated feature film in color, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, which received an honorary Oscar the following year. By 1940, the Disney “empire” issued its first stocks, and the company employed over 1,000 people in its Burbank studios in California.
The Emergence of Disneyland
On July 17, 1955, Walt Disney inaugurated the first Disneyland theme park in Anaheim, California, laying the foundation for a revolution in the tourism industry. This marked the beginning of a series of theme parks, including the Magic Kingdom in Orlando in 1971, followed by Tokyo in 1983, the first Disney park outside the United States, Paris in 1992, Hong Kong in 2005 and Shanghai in 2016.
The Death of Walt Disney and the Rise of Michael Eisner
Tragically, in 1966, Walt Disney passed away at the age of 65. He held an impressive record of 22 Oscars won during his lifetime. His brother Roy took the reins of the company for five years, but stability was short-lived.
In 1984, Michael Eisner assumed leadership of the company, which was then in trouble, and transformed it into a powerful multinational in media and entertainment during his 21-year tenure. The company acquired ABC television, the ESPN sports network, and Miramax Pictures (later sold to beIN Media Group), while developing numerous derivative products such as cruises, clothing, video games, records, toys and many other gadgets. Eisner also left his mark by introducing Disney-branded dollars, signed by Uncle Scrooge, used for three decades before being discontinued in 2016. His tenure ended after a shareholder revolt in 2003-2004, led by Roy Disney, Walt’s nephew (who passed away in 2009).
The Era of Pixar, Marvel, and Star Wars
In 2005, under the leadership of the new CEO, Bob Iger, the company took a new direction by acquiring Pixar for $7.4 billion in 2006. Subsequently, Disney acquired Marvel and its superheroes in 2009 for $4 billion, followed by Lucasfilm and the “Star Wars” franchise in 2012 for $4.05 billion. The international box office revenue of Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi, released in 2017 under Disney’s auspices to celebrate the saga’s 40th anniversary, exceeded $1.3 billion, according to IMDBPro data.
The Adventure of Streaming
To compete with Netflix, Disney launched Disney+ in 2019, a streaming video platform offering a vast selection of Disney, Marvel and Lucasfilm films and series, as well as the 21st Century Fox catalog. The platform’s success, with over 145 million subscribers in the summer of 2023, helped mitigate the losses caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to the closure of theme parks and cinemas. However, in 2022, Disney+ experienced its first subscriber loss, prompting the struggling company to recall its former CEO, Bob Iger. In its quest for profitability, the company announced the layoffs of 7,000 employees.
The Political Showdown in Florida
In 2022, Disney, traditionally associated with conservative values, voiced its opposition to a new law in Florida that prohibited primary schools from discussing topics related to sexual orientation and gender. In response, Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, a staunch opponent of what he perceives as “woke” ideology, terminated the special economic status that Disney had enjoyed in Florida since 1967 in February of that year. In the spring, Disney abandoned plans to construct a campus estimated at nearly $900 million, intended to accommodate 2,000 employees.
With AFP
