The Walt Disney Company

• Walt Disney signed a contract with M.J. Winkler to produce a series of Alice Comedies, beginning the Disney company under its original name Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, with brothers Walt and Roy Disney, as equal partners.^[1]

• First Alice comedy, Alice's Day at Sea, released.

• Company changed name to The Walt Disney Studio shortly after moving into the new studio on Hyperion Avenue in the Silver Lake district.

• Oswald the Lucky Rabbit debuts

• Walt loses the Oswald series contract

• Mickey Mouse debuts in Plane Crazy
• Steamboat Willie

• On December 16, the original partnership formed in 1923 is replaced by Walt Disney Productions, Ltd. Three other companies, Walt Disney Enterprises, Disney Film Recording Company, and Liled Realty and Investment Company, are also formed.

• The Skeleton Dance, the first Silly Symphony

• Flowers and Trees, first three-strip Technicolor short

• Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

• On September 29, Walt Disney Enterprises, Disney Film Recording Company, and Liled Realty and Investment Company are merged into Walt Disney Productions.

• Studio moves to Burbank, California
• Walt Disney goes public

• Pinocchio
• Fantasia

• A bitter animators' strike occurs
• The studio begins making morale-boosting propaganda films for the United States during World War II

• Dumbo

• Bambi

• Saludos Amigos

• The company is short on money; a theatrical re-release of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs generates much-needed revenue and begins a reissue pattern for the animated feature films.

The Three Caballeros

Song of the South

• Signs their first independent studio, The Byrnest Studio in Orlando^[4]

• The studio begins production on its first all-live action feature, Treasure Island

• Cinderella

• WED Enterprises is formed to design theme park

• Retlaw Enterprises is formed to control the rights to "Disney". It will later own and operate several attractions inside Disneyland, including the Disneyland Monorail System and the Disneyland Railroad.
• The studio founds Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures to distribute its feature films.

• Peter Pan

• Beginning of the Wonderful World of Disney TV program

• Disneyland opens

• Lady and the Tramp

• Sleeping Beauty

• One Hundred and One Dalmatians

• The Sword in the Stone

• Mary Poppins

• Walt Disney dies of lung cancer

• Construction begins on Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando, Florida; the underlying governmental structure, called the Reedy Creek Improvement District, is signed into law.

• The Jungle Book

• The name Walt Disney Productions changed to Walt Disney Enterprises

• The Aristocats

• The Walt Disney World Resort opens
• Roy Oliver Disney dies; Donn Tatum becomes chairman and Card Walker becomes president

• Bedknobs and Broomsticks

• Robin Hood

• Walt's nephew Roy E. Disney, resigns from the company citing a decline in overall product quality and issues with manager.

• The Rescuers

• The home video division is created.
• Disney's first co-production, with Paramount Pictures, is Popeye

• Plans for a cable network are announced.
• Dumbo is Disney's first animated feature released on video.

• The Fox and the Hound

• Experimental Prototype Community Of Tomorrow (EPCOT) Center opens at Walt Disney World Resort
• Walt's son-in-law Ron W. Miller succeeds Card Walker as CEO.

• Tron

• Disney Channel begins
• Tokyo Disneyland opens in Japan

• Touchstone Films is created after the studio narrowly escapes a buyout attempt by Saul Steinberg, and releases its first film Splash.
• Roy Edward Disney and his business partner, Stanley Gold, remove Ron W. Miller as CEO and president, replacing him with Michael Eisner and Frank Wells.
• The Walt Disney Classics video collection starts up.

• The studio begins making cartoons for television beginning with Disney's Adventures of the Gummi Bears and The Wuzzles.
• The home video release of Pinocchio becomes a best-seller.

• The Black Cauldron
• Return to Oz

• The company's name is changed on February 6 from Walt Disney Productions to The Walt Disney Company.

• The Great Mouse Detective

• First Disney Store opens in Glendale, California.
• The company and the French government sign an agreement for the creation of the first Disney Resort in Europe: the Euro Disney project starts.
• The company opens up a Hall of Fame called Disney Legends with Fred MacMurray as the first induction. Sesame Street Goes To The Disney Channel.

• The Brave Little Toaster

• Who Framed Roger Rabbit, from Touchstone Pictures and Amblin Entertainment
• Oliver & Company

• Disney offers a deal to buy Jim Henson's Muppets and have the famed puppeteer work with Disney resources.
• Disney-MGM Studios opens at Walt Disney World.

• The Little Mermaid

• Jim Henson's death sours the deal to buy his holdings.
• The anthology series is canceled for the second time. The Disney Afternoon block debuts.
• Hollywood Pictures is created.

• The Rescuers Down Under

• Beauty and the Beast

• Euro Disney Resort opens outside Paris.
• The company is granted permission for a National Hockey League expansion franchise.
• The team is named the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim to coincide with the release of The Mighty Ducks.

• Aladdin

• Disney acquires independent film distributor Miramax Films.
• Winnie-the-Pooh merchandise outsells Mickey Mouse merchandise for the first time.
• The policy of periodic theatrical reissues ends with this year's reissue of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, but is augmented for video.

• The Nightmare Before Christmas

• Frank Wells is killed in a helicopter crash.
• Beauty and the Beast opens on Broadway.
• Jeffrey Katzenberg resigns to co-found his own studio, DreamWorks SKG.
• Plans for Disney's America, a historical theme park in Haymarket, Virginia, are abruptly dropped.
• Euro Disneyland is renamed Disneyland Paris.
• The Classics video line is unofficially canceled and replaced with the Masterpiece Collection.

• The Lion King

• In October, the company hires Hollywood super agent Michael Ovitz to be president.
• Disney purchases DIC Entertainment, and acquires the rights to its shows, including Inspector Gadget (which eventually would be made into a live action film in 1999).

• Toy Story
• Pocahontas

• The company takes on the Disney Enterprises name and acquires the Capital Cities/ABC group, renaming it ABC, Inc.
• To celebrate the pairing, ABC's first Super Soap Weekend is held at Walt Disney World.
• Disney makes deal with Tokuma Shoten for dubbing and releasing of Studio Ghibli films in the U.S. In December, Michael Ovitz, president of the company, leaves "by mutual consent".

• The Hunchback of Notre Dame

• The anthology series is revived again.
• The home video division releases its first DVDs.
• Disney takes control of the Major League Baseball franchise the California Angels of the American League, renaming the team the Anaheim Angels in order to coincide with Disney's hockey team the Mighty Ducks and to draw more tourism to Anaheim and nearby Disneyland.

• Hercules

• Disney's Animal Kingdom opens.
• Kiki's Delivery Service is released on video.
• Disney Cruise Line sets sail with its first ship, the Disney Magic.
• Toon Disney begins.

• Mulan
• A Bug's Life

• Disney Cruise Line ship Disney Wonder sets sail.

• Tarzan
• Toy Story 2

• Robert Iger becomes president.
• Disney-owned TV channels are pulled from Time Warner Cable briefly during a dispute over carriage fees.
• Disney begins its Gold Classic Collection DVD line.
• Andy Heyward leads a buyout of DiC. Disney no longer owns the rights to the Inspector Gadget cartoon series, but keeps the rights to the live-action film, a direct-to-video sequel to which is made in 2003.

• Fantasia 2000
• Dinosaur
• The Emperor's New Groove

• Disney's California Adventure Park and Tokyo DisneySea open to the public.
• Disney buys Fox Family Network for $3 billion in July, giving Disney programming and cable network reaching 81 million homes.
• Disney changes Fox Family Network to ABC Family.
• Fort Worth billionaire Sid Bass is forced to sell his Disney holdings due to a margin call caused partially by the stock market fall that followed the 9/11 attacks.
• The fact that Bass had bought his shares on margin was a shock when it was revealed.
• Losing Bass was a blow to Eisner; Bass was one of his major backers and had recruited Eisner to Disney.
• Disney begins its Platinum Edition DVD line with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, as well as the Walt Disney Treasures DVD box set line for the collector's market.

• Atlantis: The Lost Empire
• Monsters, Inc.

• Walt Disney Studios Park opens near Disneyland Paris (renamed Disneyland Park). The entire area is now called Disneyland Resort Paris.
• Disney finishes negotiations to acquire Saban Entertainment, owner of children's entertainment juggernaut Power Rangers.
• Miramax acquires the USA rights to the Pokémon movies starting with the fourth movie.
• Disney teams up with famous video game company Squaresoft (later known as Square Enix) to release their first ever role-playing game with various Disney characters, Kingdom Hearts.
• Disney releases Spirited Away in the United States, which goes on to be the first anime film to win an Oscar for Best Animated Film.
• Disney begins joint venture business with Sanrio for Sanrio's greeting cards.

• Lilo & Stitch
• Treasure Planet

• Roy E. Disney resigns as the chairman of Feature Animation and from the board of directors, citing similar reasons to those that drove him off 26 years earlier. Fellow director Stanley Gold resigns with him. They establish a group called "Save Disney" to apply public pressure to oust Michael Eisner.
• Pixar ends distribution agreement with Disney.^[5]
• Disney buys the Power Ranger franchise from Saban.
• Disney sells the Angels to billboard magnate Arturo Moreno.

• Brother Bear
• Finding Nemo
• Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

• Comcast makes an unsuccessful hostile bid for the company.
• Eisner is replaced by George J. Mitchell as chairman of the board after a 43% vote of no confidence.
• Disney turns down distributing controversial documentary film Fahrenheit 9/11, which ends up making $100 million.
• On February 17, Disney buys the Muppets, excluding the Sesame Street characters.
• Disney creates Jetix the children's block that mainly consists of Fox Kids shows and original programming on ABC Family and Toon Disney.
• Disney Store chain licensed to The Children's Place.

• Home on the Range
• National Treasure
• The Incredibles

• Disney sells the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim to Henry Samueli of Broadcom, who changes the team name to Anaheim Ducks
• On July 8, Roy E. Disney rejoins the company as a consultant with the title of Director Emeritus.
• Disneyland celebrates its 50th anniversary on July 17.
• Hong Kong Disneyland officially opens on September 12.
• Bob Iger replaces Michael Eisner as CEO.

• Chicken Little
• The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

• Pixar is purchased
• Rights to Oswald the Lucky Rabbit are reobtained from NBC Universal, in exchange for ABC letting commentator Al Michaels work on NBC Sunday Night Football

• High School Musical
• Hannah Montana
• Kingdom Hearts II
• Cars
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

• Acquires Club Penguin
• ABC Radio Networks along with 22 non-Radio Disney and ESPN Radio affiliates are sold to Citadel Broadcasting.

• Meet the Robinsons
• Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
• Ratatouille
• High School Musical 2
• Enchanted
• National Treasure: Book of Secrets

• Disney Store chain is reacquired from The Children's Place

• The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
• Camp Rock
• WALL-E
• High School Musical 3: Senior Year
• Bolt