The Walt Disney Company

The Walt Disney Company
Type Public (NYSE: DIS)
Dow Jones Industrial Average Component
Industry Conglomerate
Founded Los Angeles, California, U.S..[1]
(October 16, 1923)
Founder(s) Walt and Roy Disney
Headquarters Burbank, California, U.S.
Area served Worldwide
Key people Robert Iger
(President & CEO)
John E. Pepper, Jr.
(Chairman)
Steve Jobs
(Shareholder & Board Member)
Anne Sweeney
(President, Disney-ABC Television Group; Co-Chair, Disney Media Networks)
Revenue increase US$36.1 Billion (FY 2009)[2]
Operating income increase US$5.78 Billion (FY 2009)[2]
Net income increase US$3.31 Billion (FY 2009)[2]
Total assets decrease US$63.1 Billion (FY 2009)[3]
Total equity decrease US$33.7 Billion (FY 2009)[3]
Employees 150,000 (2008)[4]
Divisions Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group
Disney Music Group
Disney-ABC Television Group
Walt Disney Theatrical
Radio Disney
ESPN Inc. (majority owner)
Disney Interactive Media Group
Disney Consumer Products
Walt Disney Parks and Resorts
Website Disney.com
The Walt Disney Studios, the headquarters of The Walt Disney Company

The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) is the largest media and entertainment conglomerate in the world.[5] Founded on October 16, 1923 by brothers Walt Disney and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, the company was reincorporated as Walt Disney Productions in 1929. Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into live-action film production, television, and travel. Taking on its current name in 1986, The Walt Disney Company expanded its existing operations and also started divisions focused upon theatre, radio, publishing, and online media. In addition, it has created new divisions of the company in order to market more mature content than it typically associates with its flagship family-oriented brands.

The company is best known for the products of its film studio, the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group, today one of the largest and best-known studios in Hollywood. Disney also owns and operates the ABC broadcast television network; cable television networks such as Disney Channel, ESPN, and ABC Family; publishing, merchandising, and theatre divisions; and owns and licenses 11 theme parks around the world. The company has been a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average since May 6, 1991. An early and well-known cartoon creation of the company, Mickey Mouse, is the official mascot of The Walt Disney Company.

Contents

Corporate history

1923-28: The silent era

In 1923, Kansas City, Missouri animator Walt Disney created a short film entitled Alice's Wonderland, which featured child actress Virginia Davis interacting with animated characters. Film distributor Margaret J. Winkler contacted Disney with plans to distribute a whole series of Alice Comedies based upon Alice's Wonderland. The contract signed, Walt and his brother Roy Disney moved to Los Angeles, California and set up shop in their uncle Robert Disney's garage, marking the beginning of the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio.[6] Within a few months, the company moved into the back of a realty office in downtown Los Angeles, where production continued on the Alice Comedies until 1927.[7] In 1926, the studio moved to a newly constructed studio facility on Hyperion Avenue in the Silver Lake district of Los Angeles.[7]

After the demise of the Alice comedies, Disney developed an all-cartoon series starring his first original character, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, which was distributed by Winkler Pictures through Universal Pictures. Disney only completed 26 Oswald shorts before losing the contract when Winkler's husband Charles Mintz, who had taken over their distribution company, hired away many of Disney's animators to start his own animation studio.[6]

1928-33: Mickey Mouse and the Silly Symphonies

Having lost Oswald, Disney and his head animator Ub Iwerks, among the few who had refused Mintz's offers, came up with a cartoon mouse that Walt first named Mortimer Mouse before Walt's wife Lillian instead suggested Mickey. Disney, Iwerks, and a handful of other animators produced the first two silent Mickey Mouse cartoons, Plane Crazy and The Gallopin' Gaucho, in mid-1928. Neither film made an impact when exhibited around Los Angeles in limited release, but Disney's third Mickey short, Steamboat Willie, was produced with synchronized sound and became a runaway success when it premiered in New York in late 1928.

Pat Powers, who provided Disney with his "Cinephone" sound synchronization system, became Disney's new distributor, and the Mickey Mouse series of sound cartoons soon became a nationwide hit.[6] In 1929, the studio changed its name to Walt Disney Productions.

Powers also initially distributed a second Disney series, Silly Symphonies, which featured one-shot cartoons based on music. The Skeleton Dance (1929) was the first entry in the Silly Symphonies series. Disney cut ties with Powers in 1930, which resulted in Disney switching to Columbia Pictures for distribution of Mickey Mouse and the Silly Symphonies, and Powers signing Ub Iwerks away to start his own studio.

Disney switched distributors again in 1932 to United Artists, and shortly afterward acquired a two-year exclusive contract with Technicolor to use its new "three-strip" color film process. Disney's first Technicolor short, the Silly Symphony Flowers and Trees (1932), won the inaugural Academy Awards for Best Short Subject (Cartoons) at the 5th Academy Awards.[8] Future Technicolor Symphonies included Three Little Pigs (1933), whose main song struck a chord with the public during the Great Depression, and The Wise Little Hen, which would introduce another major Disney character, Donald Duck.

1934-45: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and World War II

The honorary Academy Award given to Walt Disney for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

Deciding to push the boundaries of animation even further, Disney began production of his first feature-length animated film in 1934. Taking three years to complete, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, based upon the Grimm Brothers' fairy tale, premiered in December 1937 and became the highest-grossing film of that time by 1939.[9] Snow White was released through RKO Radio Pictures, which had assumed distribution of Disney's product in July 1937, [10] after United Artists attempted to attain future television rights to the Disney shorts. [11]

Using the profits from Snow White, Disney financed the construction of a new 51-acre studio complex in Burbank, California. The new Walt Disney Studios, in which the company is headquartered to this day, was completed and open for business by the end of 1939. The following year, Walt Disney Productions had its initial public offering.

The studio continued releasing animated shorts and features, such as Pinocchio (1940), Fantasia (1940), Dumbo (1941), and Bambi (1942). With the onset of World War II, box-office profits began to dry up. When the United States entered the war after the attack on Pearl Harbor, many of Disney's animators were drafted into the armed forces, and the studio itself was temporarily commandeered by the U.S. military. The U.S. government commissioned the studio to produce training and propaganda films, which provided Disney with needed funds. Films such as the feature Victory Through Air Power and the short Education for Death (both 1943) were meant to galvanize public support for the war effort. Even the studio's characters joined the effort, as Donald Duck appeared in a number of comical propaganda shorts, including the Academy Award-winning Der Fuehrer's Face (1943).

1946-54: Post-war and television

With limited staff and little operating capital during and after the war, Disney's feature films during much of the 1940s were "package films," or collections of shorts, such as The Three Caballeros (1943) and Melody Time (1947), which performed poorly at the box-office. At the same time, the studio began producing live-action films and documentaries. Song of the South (1946) and So Dear to My Heart (1949) featured animated segments, while the True-Life Adventures series, which included such films as Seal Island (1948) and The Vanishing Prairie (1954), were also popular and won numerous awards.

The release of Cinderella in 1950 proved that feature-length animation could still succeed in the marketplace. Other releases of the period included Alice in Wonderland (1951) and Peter Pan (1953), both in production before the war began, and Disney's first all-live action feature, Treasure Island (1950). Other early all-live-action Disney films included The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men (1952),The Sword and the Rose (1953), and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954). Disney ended its distribution contract with RKO in 1953, forming its own distribution arm, Buena Vista Distribution.[10]

In December 1950, Walt Disney Productions and The Coca-Cola Company teamed up for Disney's first venture into television, the NBC television network special An Hour in Wonderland. In October 1954, the ABC network launched Disney's first regular television series, Disneyland, which would go on to become one of the longest-running primetime series of all time.[12] Disneyland allowed Disney a platform to introduce new projects and broadcast older ones, and ABC became Disney's partner in the financing and development of Disney's next venture, located in the middle of an orange grove near Anaheim, California.

1955-65: Disneyland

Walt Disney opens Disneyland, July 1955.

In 1954, Walt Disney used his Disneyland series to unveil what would become Disneyland Park, an idea conceived out of a desire for a place where parents and children could both have fun at the same time. On July 18, 1955, Walt Disney opened Disneyland to the general public. On July 17, 1955 Disneyland was previewed with a live television broadcast hosted by Art Linkletter and Ronald Reagan. After a shaky start, Disneyland continued to grow and attract visitors from across the country and around the world. A major expansion in 1959 included the addition of America's first monorail system.

For the 1964 New York World's Fair, Disney prepared four separate attractions for various sponsors, each of which would find its way to Disneyland in one form or another. During this time, Walt Disney was also secretly scouting out new sites for a second Disney theme park. In November 1965, "Disney World" was announced, with plans for theme parks, hotels, and even a model city on thousands of acres of land purchased outside of Orlando, Florida.

Disney continued to focus its talents on television throughout the 1950s. Its weekday afternoon children's program The Mickey Mouse Club, featuring its roster of young "Mouseketeers", premiered in 1955 to great success, as did the Davy Crockett miniseries, starring Fess Parker and broadcast on the Disneyland anthology show. Two years later, the Zorro series would prove just as popular, running for two seasons on ABC, as well as separate episodes on the Disneyland series. Despite such success, Walt Disney Productions invested little into television ventures in the 1960s, with the exception of the long-running anthology series, later known as The Wonderful World of Disney.

Disney's film studios stayed busy as well, averaging five to six releases per year during this period. While the production of shorts slowed significantly during the 1950s and 1960s, the studio released a number of popular animated features, like Lady and the Tramp (1955), Sleeping Beauty (1959) and One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961), which introduced a new xerography process to transfer the drawings to animation cels. Disney's live-action releases were spread across a number of genres, including historical fiction (Johnny Tremain, 1957), adaptations of children's books (Pollyanna, 1960) and modern-day comedies (The Shaggy Dog 1959). Disney's most successful film of the 1960s was a live action/animated musical adaptation of Mary Poppins, which received five Academy Awards, including Best Actress Julie Andrews.

1966-71: The deaths of Walt and Roy Disney and Walt Disney World

On December 15, 1966, Walt Disney died of lung cancer, and Roy Disney took over as chairman, CEO, and president of the company. One of his first acts was to rename Disney World as "Walt Disney World," in honor of his brother and his vision.

In 1967, the last two films Walt actively followed were released: the animated feature The Jungle Book and the musical The Happiest Millionaire. The studio released a number of comedies in the late 1960s, including The Love Bug (1968) and The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes (1969), which starred another young Disney discovery, Kurt Russell. The 1970s opened with the release of Disney's first "post-Walt" animated feature, The Aristocats, followed by a return to fantasy musicals in 1971's Bedknobs and Broomsticks.

On October 1, 1971, Walt Disney World opened to the public, with Roy Disney dedicating the facility in person later that month. Two months later, on December 20, 1971, Roy Disney died of a stroke, leaving the company under control of Donn Tatum, Card Walker, and Walt's son-in-law Ron Miller, each trained by Walt and Roy.[13]

1972-84: Theatrical malaise and new leadership

While Walt Disney Productions continued releasing family-friendly films throughout the 1970s, such as Escape to Witch Mountain (1975) and Freaky Friday (1976), the films did not fare as well at the box office as earlier material. The animation studio, however, saw success with Robin Hood (1973), The Rescuers (1977), and The Fox and the Hound (1981).

Inspired by the popularity of Star Wars, the Disney studio produced the science-fiction adventure The Black Hole in 1979.The Black Hole was one of the first Disney releases to carry a PG rating, the first being Take Down, also released in 1979. The releases of these and other PG-rated Disney films such as Tron (1982) led Disney CEO Ron Miller to create Touchstone Pictures as a brand for Disney to release more adult-oriented material. Touchstone's first release was the comedy Splash (1984), which was a box office success.

With The Wonderful World of Disney remaining a prime-time staple, Disney returned to television in the 1970s with syndicated programing such as the anthology series The Mouse Factory and a brief revival of the Mickey Mouse Club. In 1980, Disney launched Walt Disney Home Video to take advantage of the newly-emerging videocassette market. On April 18, 1983, The Disney Channel debuted as a subscription-level channel on cable systems nationwide, featuring its large library of classic films and TV series, along with original programming and family-friendly third-party offerings.

Walt Disney World received much of the company's attention through the 1970s and into the 1980s. In 1978, Disney executives announced plans for the second Walt Disney World theme park, EPCOT Center, which would open in October 1982. Inspired by Walt Disney's dream of a futuristic model city, EPCOT Center was built as a "permanent World's Fair", complete with exhibits sponsored by major American corporations, as well as pavilions based on the cultures of other nations. In Japan, the Oriental Land Company partnered with Walt Disney Productions to build the first Disney theme park outside of the United States, Tokyo Disneyland, which opened in April 1983.

Despite the success of the Disney Channel and its new theme park creations, Walt Disney Productions was financially vulnerable. Its film library was valuable, but offered few current successes, and its leadership team was unable to keep up with other studios, particularly the works of Don Bluth, who defected from Disney in 1979. In 1984, financier Saul Steinberg launched a hostile takeover bid for Walt Disney Productions, with the intent of selling off its various assets. Disney successfully fought off the bid with the help of friendly investors, and Sid Bass and Roy Disney's son Roy Edward Disney brought in Michael Eisner and Jeffrey Katzenberg from Paramount Pictures and Frank Wells from Warner Bros. Pictures to head up the company.

1985-2004: The Eisner era

2005-present

On July 8, 2005, Walt Disney's nephew, Roy E. Disney returned to The Walt Disney Company as a consultant and with the new title of Non Voting Director, Emeritus. Walt Disney Parks and Resorts celebrated the 50th Anniversary of Disneyland Park on July 17, and opened Hong Kong Disneyland on September 12. Walt Disney Feature Animation released Chicken Little, the company's first film using 3-D animation. On October 1, Robert A. Iger replaced Michael D. Eisner as CEO. Mr. Eisner also waived contractual rights and perks which included use of a corporate jet and an office at the Burbank studio. Miramax co-founders Bob Weinstein and Harvey Weinstein also departed the company to form their own studio.

Aware that Disney's relationship with Pixar was wearing thin, President and CEO Robert Iger began negotiations with leadership of Pixar Animation Studios, Steve Jobs and Ed Catmull, regarding possible merger. On January 23, 2006, it was announced that Disney would purchase Pixar in an all-stock transaction worth $7.4 billion. The deal was finalized on May 5, and made Apple CEO Steve Jobs Disney's largest individual shareholder at 7% and a Director of the company. Ed Catmull and John Lasseter became President of Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios.

After a long time working in the company as a senior executive and large shareholder, Director Emeritus Roy E. Disney died from stomach cancer on December 16, 2009. At the time of his death, he had roughly 1% of all Disney shares which amounted to 16 million. He is seen to be the last member of the Disney family to be actively involved in the running of the company and working in the company altogether.

In May 2010, the company sold the Power Rangers brand, as well as its 700-episode library, back to Haim Saban because of the show doing so poorly in the ratings.

Company divisions

The Walt Disney Company operates as four primary divisions: The Walt Disney Studios or Studio Entertainment, which includes the company's film, recording label, and theatrical divisions; Parks and Resorts, featuring the company's theme parks, cruise line, and other travel-related assets; Disney Consumer Products, which produces toys, clothing, and other merchandising based upon Disney-owned properties, and Media Networks, which includes the company's television and Internet operations.

Its main entertainment features and holdings include Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group, Disney Music Group, Walt Disney Theatrical, Disney-ABC Television Group, Radio Disney, ESPN Inc., Disney Interactive Media Group, Disney Consumer Products, and Marvel Entertainment. Its resorts and diversified holdings include Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, Disneyland Resort, Walt Disney World Resort, Tokyo Disney Resort, Disneyland Paris, Euro Disney S.C.A., Hong Kong Disneyland Resort, Disney Vacation Club, Adventures By Disney and Disney Cruise Line.

Executive Management

Financial Data

Revenues

Annual Gross Revenues of The Walt Disney Company (in millions USD)
Year Walt Disney Studio Entertainment[Rev 1] Disney Consumer Products[Rev 2] Walt Disney
Parks and Resorts		 Disney Media Networks[Rev 3] Walt Disney Internet Group / Disney Interactive Media Group[Rev 4][Rev 5] Total
1991[14] 2,593.0 724 2,794.0     6,111
1992[14] 3,115 1,081 3,306     7,502
1993[14] 3,673.4 1,415.1 3,440.7     8,529.2
1994[15][16][17] 4,793 1,798.2 3,463.6 359   10,413.8
1995[15][16][17] 6,001.5 2,150 3,959.8 414   12,525.3
1996[16][18] 10,095[Rev 2] 4,502 4,142[Rev 6]   18,739
1997[19] 6,981 3,782 5,014 6,522 174 22,473
1998[19] 6,849 3,193 5,532 7,142 260 22,976
1999[19] 6,548 3,030 6,106 7,512 206 23,402
2000[20] 5,994 2,602 6,803 9,615 368 25,402
2001[21] 7,004 2,590 6,009 9,569   25,790
2002[21] 6,465 2,440 6,691 9,733   25,360
2003[22] 7,364 2,344 6,412 10,941   27,061
2004[22] 8,713 2,511 7,750 11,778   30,752
2005[23] 7,587 2,127 9,023 13,207   31,944
2006[23] 7,529 2,193 9,925 14,368   34,285
2007[24] 7,491 2,347 10,626 15,046   35,510
2008[25] 7,348 2,415 11,504 15,857 719 37,843
2009[26] 6,136 2,425 10,667 16,209 712 36,149
  1. ↑ also named Films
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Merged into Creative Content in 1996
  3. ↑ Broadcasting from 1994 to 1996
  4. ↑ Walt Disney Internet Group, from 1997 to 2000, next merged with Disney Media Networks
  5. ↑ Disney Interactive Media Group, starting in 2008 with the merge of WDIG and Disney Interactive Studios
  6. ↑ Following the purchase of ABC

Net income

Net Income of The Walt Disney Company (in millions USD)
Year Walt Disney Studio Entertainment[NI 1] Disney Consumer Products[NI 2] Walt Disney
Parks and Resorts		 Disney Media Networks[NI 3] Walt Disney Internet Group[NI 4] / Disney Interactive Media Group[NI 5] Total
1991[14] 318 229 546     1,094
1992[14] 508 283 644     1,435
1993[14] 622 355 746     1,724
1994[15] · [16] 779 425 684 77   1,965
1995[15] · [16] 998 510 860 76   2,445
1996[16] 1,598[NI 2] 990 747 (-300)[NI 6] 3,035
1997[19] 1,079 893 1,136 1,699 -56 4,312
1998[19] 769 801 1,288 1,746 -94 3,231
1999[19] 116 607 1,446 1,611 -93 3,231
2000[20] 110 455 1,620 2,298 -402 4,081
2001[21] 260 401 1,586 1,758   4,214
2002[21] 273 394 1,169 986   2,826
2003[22] 620 384 957 1,213   3,174
2004[22] 662 534 1,123 2 169   4,488
2005[23] 207 543 1,178 3,209   5,137
2006[23] 729 618 1,534 3,610   6,491
2007[24] 1,201 631 1,710 4,285   7,827
2008[25] 1,086 778 1,897 4,942 -258 8,445
2009[26] 175 609 1,418 4,765 -295 6,672
  1. ↑ also named Films
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Merged into Creative Content in 1996
  3. ↑ Broadcasting from 1994 to 1996
  4. ↑ Walt Disney Internet Group, from 1997 to 2000, next merged with Disney Media Networks
  5. ↑ Disney Interactive Media Group, merge of WDIG and Disney Interactive Studios
  6. ↑ Not link to WDIG, Disney reported a 300 millions $ lost due to financial modification regarding a real estate

Criticism

Some of Disney's animated family films have drawn fire for being accused of having sexual references hidden in them, among them The Little Mermaid (1989), Aladdin (1992), and The Lion King (1994). Instances of sexual material hidden in some versions of The Rescuers (1977) and Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) resulted in recalls and modifications of the films to remove such content.[27]

Some religious welfare groups, such as the Catholic League, have opposed films including Priest (1994) and Dogma (1999).[28] A book called Growing Up Gay, published by Disney-owned Hyperion Press and similar publications, as well as the company's extension of benefits to same-sex domestic partners, spurred boycotts of Disney and its advertisers by the Catholic League, the Assemblies of God, the American Family Association, and other conservative groups.[28][29][30] The boycotts were discontinued by most of these organizations by 2005.[31] In addition to these social controversies, the company has been accused of human rights violations regarding the working conditions in factories that produce their merchandise.[32][33]

Full acquisitions

1 Miramax Films was sold to Filmyard Holdings, LLC in July of 2010. [34]

2 DiC was later sold back to Andy Heyward in late-2000, and in 2008, Cookie Jar Group merged with DiC.

3 Excludes The Muppets Take Manhattan, Muppets from Space, and Kermit's Swamp Years, which are owned by Sony Pictures, and It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie, which is owned by NBC Universal (television rights) and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (VHS/DVD rights). Jim Henson Productions, creators of The Muppets, remained owners of Fraggle Rock. Sesame Street's Muppets were sold to the nonprofit Sesame Workshop in 2001.

4 Excludes the Winkler Productions and Walter Lantz Oswald cartoons, which are still owned by NBC Universal.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Company History". Corporate Information. The Walt Disney Company. http://corporate.disney.go.com/corporate/complete_history_1.html. Retrieved 2008-08-30. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Walt Disney Company (DIS) annual SEC income statement filing via Wikinvest
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Walt Disney Company (DIS) annual SEC balance sheet filing via Wikinvest
  4. ↑ "2008 10-K". http://idea.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1001039/000119312508240242/d10k.htm. Retrieved 2009-02-12. 
  5. ↑ "Why Disney wants DreamWorks". CNN/Money. 2009-02-09. http://money.cnn.com/2009/02/09/news/companies/disney_dreamworks.fortune/?postversion=2009020914. Retrieved 2009-02-09. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 url=http://corporate.disney.go.com/corporate/complete_history_1.html
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 http://studioservices.go.com/disneystudios/history.html
  8. ↑ url=http://cemeteryguide.com/disney.html
  9. ↑ Gabler, Neal (2007). Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination. New York: Random House. pp. 276–277. ISBN 0-679-75747-3. 
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 http://www.islandnet.com/~kpolsson/disnehis/disn1937.htm
  11. ↑ "Cinema: Man & Mouse". TIME.com. 27 Dec 1937. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,758747-5,00.html. Retrieved 17 May 2010. 
  12. ↑ http://corporate.disney.go.com/corporate/complete_history_2.html
  13. ↑ http://corporate.disney.go.com/corporate/complete_history_3.html
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 14.4 14.5 SEC Info - Disney Enterprises Inc - 10-K - For 9/30/93
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 Disney Annual Report 1995 - Financial Highlights
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3 16.4 16.5 Disney Annual Report 1996 - Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 Disney Enterprises Inc · 10-K · For 9/30/95
  18. ↑ Walt Disney Co · 10-K405 · For 9/30/96
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 19.3 19.4 19.5 Disney Annual Report 1999 - Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 Disney Annual Report 2000
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 21.3 Disney Annual Report 2002
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 22.3 Disney Annual Report 2004
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 23.2 23.3 Disney Annual Report 2006 - Financial Highlights
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 Disney Annual Report 2007 - Financial Highlights
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 Disney Factbook 2008 - Financial Information p 50
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 (English) "Disney 2009 Annual Report - Business Segment Results". p. 31. http://amedia.disney.go.com/investorrelations/annual_reports/WDC-10kwrap-2009.pdf. 
  27. ↑ "Disney (Disney Films)". snopes.com. http://www.snopes.com/disney/films/films.asp. Retrieved 2009-07-15. 
  28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 "75 Organizations Asked To Join Showtime Boycott". Catalyst Online. Catholic League. 2001-05-29. http://www.catholicleague.org/release.php?id=381. Retrieved 2008-08-29. 
  29. ↑ "Disney Boycott Expands". Catalyst. Catholic League. October 1996. http://www.catholicleague.org/catalyst.php?year=1996&month=October&read=151. Retrieved 2008-08-29. 
  30. ↑ "Petitions and Boycott Stir Disney". Catalyst Online. Catholic League. October 1997. http://www.catholicleague.org/catalyst.php?year=1997&month=October&read=414. Retrieved 2008-08-29. 
  31. ↑ "Southern Baptists end 8-year Disney boycott". MSNBC.com. 2005-06-22. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8318263/. Retrieved 2010-01-08. 
  32. ↑ "Beware of Mickey: Disney's Sweatshop in South China". Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations. 2007-02-10. Archived from the original on 2007-02-10. http://web.archive.org/web/20070210015136/http://www.somo.nl/monitoring/reports/hkcic01-02.htm. Retrieved 2008-08-30. 
  33. ↑ Staff writer (2001-06-20). source "Disney's duds are tops in sweatshop labour, Oxfam". CBC.com. http://www.cbc.ca/news/story/2001/06/18/sweatshops_010618.html source. Retrieved 2008-08-30. 
  34. ↑ Cieply, Michael; Barnes, Brooks (2010-07-30). "Investors Buy Disney's Miramax for $660 Million". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/31/business/media/31miramax.html. 

Further reading

External links