Walt Disney Studios

Background

Walt Disney Productions began production of their first feature-length animated film in 1934. Taking three years to complete, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, premiered in December 1937 and became the highest-grossing film of that time by 1939. In the 1940s, Disney began experimenting with full-length live-action films, with the introduction of hybrid live action-animated films such as The Reluctant Dragon (1941) and Song of the South (1946). That same decade, the studio began producing nature documentaries with the release of Seal Island (1948), the first of the True-Life Adventures series and a subsequent Academy Award winner for Best Live-Action Short Film.

Walt Disney Productions had its first fully live-action film in 1950 with the release of Treasure Island, considered by Disney to be the official conception for what would eventually evolve into the modern-day Walt Disney Pictures. By 1953, the company ended their agreements with such third-party distributors as RKO Radio Pictures and United Artists and formed their own distribution company, Buena Vista Distribution. Disney Productions purchased in 1959 the Golden Oak Ranch for feature films and television series productions complimenting its main Burbank studio.

History

1980s

By the 1980s, the Walt Disney Company's collection of film units emerged as one of Hollywood's major film studios, mostly due to newly designed efforts in branding strategies, a resurgence of Walt Disney Productions' animated releases and unprecedented box office successes, particularly from Touchstone Pictures. The Walt Disney Productions film division was incorporated on April 1, 1983 as Walt Disney Pictures. In April 1983, Richard Berger was hired by Disney CEO Ron W. Miller as film president. Berger diversified the studio's output by green-lighting "more adult, more mature" films targeted toward adult audiences. As a result, Touchstone Films was started by Miller in February 1984 as a label for their films (rated PG and higher) with an expected half of Disney's 6 to 8 films yearly slate would be released under the label. Berger was pushed out as a new CEO was appointed for Walt Disney Productions later in 1984, as Michael Eisner brought his own film chief, Jeffrey Katzenberg and film studio president, Richard H. Frank. Touchstone and Hollywood Pictures were formed within that unit on February 15, 1984, and February 1, 1989, respectively.

In October 1984, Daily Variety had identified Disney as the seventh major film studio due to the hiring of Eisner as Disney chairman and his plans for the company. In late 1984, Fred Silverman and his InterMedia production company has struck a deal with the Walt Disney Studios. Organized in 1985, Silver Screen Partners II, L.P. financed films for Disney with $193 million in funding. In January 1987, Silver Screen III began financing films for Disney with $300 million raised, the largest amount raised for a film financing limited partnership by E.F. Hutton. Also in 1985, television production company Witt/Thomas/Harris Productions begin signing a deal with Disney to produce feature films and television shows.

In 1987, the Walt Disney Studios, which until now, had sporadically acquired independently produced films, has plans to aggressively pick up properties for distribution in an effort to become "more of a full-service company", and hired former Circle Films executive Chris Zarpass to the newly created position as vice president of production and acquisitions, and acquisitions had taken on new importance for the company, citing two purchases, which are Benji the Hunted, and Ernest Goes to Camp.

That year, In June 1987, the Walt Disney Studios decided to restructure their divisions at parent company, which included the financial and administrative divisions of Walt Disney Pictures and Television, appointing four directors to the newly created vice president positions, included were John Covas, Linda Stefansen, Anne Waldeck and Lloyd Wendkos, although Covas became the new vice president of administration for Buena Vista Pictures Distribution, while Linda Stefansen was promoted from director of finance at Walt Disney Pictures' marketing division to vice president of administration at the same company, Anne Waldeck was moved into the vice president administrative position for Buena Vista Home Video, and Lloyd Wendkos was named vice president of administration at Buena Vista International.

1990s

In September 1990, the Walt Disney Company arranged for financing up to $200 million by a unit of Nomura Securities for Interscope films made for Disney. On October 23, 1990, Disney formed Touchwood Pacific Partners I to supplant the Silver Screen Partnership series as their movie studios' primary funding source. In 1992, Walt Disney Studios agreed to fund a production company, Caravan Pictures, for exiting 20th Century Fox chairman Joe Roth. In 1993, Miramax Films was purchased for $60 million by Disney.

On March 30, 1992, Disney Studios agreed to sell KCAL-TV to Pineland, Inc. for a 45% ownership stake in Pineland, so as to have interest in television stations in both large markets, Los Angeles and New York City, allowing for increased original programming. Instead Pineland agreed to an unsolicited bid in May from Chris-Craft Industries thus ending the planned business merger with Disney's KCAL.

David Hoberman, president of Walt Disney Pictures and Touchstone, was promoted by Katzenberg to president of motion pictures at Walt Disney Studios in April 1994, while Ricardo Mestres was forced out as president of Hollywood Pictures in exchange for a production deal.

On August 24, 1994, with Katzenberg's resignation, Walt Disney Studios was reorganized by spinning off a new television group. Richard Frank became head of the newly formed Walt Disney Television and Telecommunications (WDTT). Roth moved in from Caravan Pictures to helm the remaining Walt Disney Studios as chairman. Hoberman stepped down as president in January 1995 to take a five-year, multi-film deal for his production company, Mandeville Films.

Roth was appointed as chairman of Walt Disney Studios in 1996. In April 1996, due to ongoing post-Disney-CC/ABC merger realignment and retirement of its president, WDTT group's division were reassigned to other groups with most transferred to the Walt Disney Studios or CC/ABC. Units returning to the studio were Walt Disney Television, Disney Television Animation, Touchstone Television and Buena Vista Home Entertainment.

Buena Vista International - Latin America and two other companies became owners of Patagonik Film Group, an Argentina-based production company, in 1997. In late 1997, Disney bid on CDR's Epic movie library but lost to PolyGram Filmed Entertainment.

2000s

Roth left to form his own production company in January 2000, with Schneider moving to a studio chairman role. Schneider left Walt Disney Studios in June 2001 to form his own theater production company partly funded by Disney. While no successor had been named, Dick Cook, chairman of the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group (distribution); Thomas Schumacher, president of Walt Disney Animation; and Nina Jacobson, president of the Buena Vista Motion Picture Group (production) would take on the responsibilities of Schneider while continuing in their current positions. In February 2002, Cook was named as studio chairman. In January 2002, Buena Vista International - Latin America formed a joint venture production company, Miravista, with Admira, Telefónica's content production and distribution division, for primarily Brazilian and Mexican film productions.

In January 2003, Disney initiated a reorganization of its theatrical and animation units to improve resource usage and continued focus on new characters and franchise development. Walt Disney Feature Animation — sans Walt Disney Television Animation — and Buena Vista Theatrical Worldwide were organized under the Walt Disney Studios. In 2003, the studio set a worldwide box office record of $3 billion gross.

In September 2005, Disney and Kingdom Films formed a joint venture, Magic Films, to finance a slate of 32 films, which would not include sequels. Kingdom would provide financing with $135 million equity and a $370 million revolving credit line. With the exception of High School Musical 3 as a part of a Disney Channel franchise, Kingdom sued Disney in December 2008. In December 2005, Alan Bergman was promoted to president of the Walt Disney Studios.

In January 2006, the Walt Disney Company announced to acquire computer animation leader Pixar. The deal was finalized in May 2006. Pixar executive Ed Catmull would serve as president of both Pixar and Disney feature animation studios. Pixar executive vice president John Lasseter became chief creative officer for Pixar and the feature animated studios as well as helping to develop new Disney theme park attractions.

In July 2006, Disney announced a shift in its strategy of releasing more Disney-branded (i.e. Walt Disney Pictures) films and fewer Touchstone titles. The move was expected to reduce the Group's work force by approximately 650 positions worldwide. This was a cost-cutting move with its yearly slate would consist of 12 to 15 films.

2010s

The Walt Disney Company completed its acquisition of Marvel Entertainment in December 2009 for $4.2 billion. Disney closed a deal with Paramount Pictures to transfer worldwide marketing and the distribution rights to Marvel's The Avengers and Iron Man 3 in October 2010.

In May 2011, Disney India and UTV Motion Pictures agreed to co-produce Disney-branded family films, with both companies handling creative function and UTV producing, marketing and distributing the films.

In August 2011, Disney fired Marvel Studios' marketing department in a restructuring. Disney would take over the marketing and distribution of future Marvel titles, beginning with the 2012 release of The Avengers.

On April 20, 2012, Ross was fired as studio chairman. Former Warner Bros. chief Alan Horn was named chairman on May 31, 2012. On October 30, 2012, Lucasfilm agreed to be purchased by the Walt Disney Company and a new Star Wars trilogy was announced. The deal was finalized on December 21. Later on the same day, Disney agreed to have Netflix as its exclusive U.S. television subscription service for first-run Walt Disney Pictures, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar Animation Studios, Marvel Studios and Disneynature feature films starting in 2016, replacing its agreement with Starz that ends in 2015.

In April 2013, the Walt Disney Studios laid off 150 workers, including staff from its marketing and home entertainment units. In July 2013, Disney acquired all of the distribution rights previously held by Paramount for Marvel Studios' Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Thor, and Captain America: The First Avenger. In December of that same year, Disney purchased the distribution and marketing rights to future Indiana Jones films from Paramount. Paramount will continue distributing the first four films and receive "financial participation" from any additional films. In March 2015, Iger expanded the studio's smoking and tobacco prohibition to include all films released by the studio—including PG-13 rated films and below—unless such depictions are historically pertinent. The studio and Shanghai Media Group Pictures signed a multi-year movie development agreement, before the March 6, 2014, announcement, in which Chinese themes would be incorporated into Disney-branded movies.

In August 2015, Marvel Studios was integrated into Walt Disney Studios with president Kevin Feige reporting to Disney studio chief Alan Horn instead of Marvel Entertainment CEO Isaac Perlmutter. Perlmutter continued to oversee Marvel Television and Marvel Animation until 2019, in which they were folded back into Marvel Studios.

2020s

On January 17, 2020, Disney announced it would drop the "Fox" name from the studio's 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight Pictures branding. The two studios were renamed as 20th Century Studios and Searchlight Pictures, respectively. Similar to other Disney film units, films produced under the 20th Century Studios began to be distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures in the same year. Searchlight Pictures continues to operate their autonomous distribution unit in North America.

In December 2020, it was announced that effective January 1, 2021, Bergman would become chairman, overseeing creative, production, marketing, and operations for it, while Horn would remain as the studios' Chief Creative Officer, focusing solely on Disney's creative pipeline, and working in conjunction with Bergman on the studio's creative plans.

On February 9, 2021, Disney announced that Blue Sky Studios would be closed effective April 2021, a spokesperson stated this was being done due to the economic situation of the moment. The studio's film library and intellectual properties would still be retained by Disney via 20th Century Animation and Blue Sky Studios itself was folded into 20th Century Animation. Disney Music Group was reorganized back under Walt Disney Studios on February 8, 2023. On April 26, 2023, 20th Digital Studio was dissolved.

In April 2025, Disney announced that it would not renew its lease with Fox Corporation and that it would vacate the Fox Studio Lot in Century City at the end of 2025. As a result, the 20th Century and Searchlight units relocated to the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank.

Leadership

Alan Bergman, Chairman, Disney Entertainment, Studios

Erin Barrier, Senior Vice President, Communications

Bernardine Brandis, Executive Vice President, Business Affairs

Lynwen Brennan, Co-President, Lucasfilm

Ken Bunt, President, Disney Music Group

Jared Bush, Chief Creative Officer, Walt Disney Animation Studios

Louis D'Esposito, Co-President, Marvel Studios

Pete Docter, Chief Creative Officer, Pixar Animation Studios

Eddie Drake, Executive Vice President, Chief Technology Officer

Kevin Feige, President, Marvel Studios

Rita Ferro, President, Global Advertising

Dave Filoni, President and Chief Creative Officer, Lucasfilm

David Greenbaum, President, Walt Disney Pictures and 20th Century Studios

Steve Asbell, President, Production, 20th Century Studios

Daria Cercek, President, Production, Disney Live Action – Theatrical

Vanessa Morrison, President, Production, Disney Live Action – Streaming

Matthew Greenfield, President, Searchlight Pictures

Studio structure

Film production

Walt Disney Pictures is the namesake studio that encompasses the release of its own live-action productions, in addition to films produced by the company's animation studios, mainly Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar Animation Studios. Marvel Studios—acquired through Disney's purchase of Marvel Entertainment in 2009—produces superhero films based on Marvel Comics characters, including the Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise. Lucasfilm—acquired by Disney in 2012—develops and produces films, including those in the Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises. 20th Century Studios and Searchlight Pictures—acquired by Disney in 2019 and together former members of the "Big Six" studios—produce a varied slate of films, with the latter focusing on specialty and prestige films. 20th Century also releases films produced by the animated film unit of 20th Century Animation. Disneynature is an independent film label devoted to producing nature documentary films.

Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures distributes and markets the content produced by the aforementioned studios for both theatrical exhibition and the company's streaming services, with the exception of the Searchlight label, which operates its own autonomous theatrical distribution and marketing unit. Disney also owns and operates the El Capitan Theatre and Hollywood Masonic Temple.

Disney Music Group

Disney Music Group is the music recording division consisting two owned record labels—Walt Disney Records and Hollywood Records—along with Disney Music Publishing, the publishing entity that administers the company's music, and as well as Disney Concerts.

Disney Theatrical Group

Disney Theatrical Group is the division producing live theatrical and stage events. It is currently under the leadership of Andrew Flatt and Anne Quart. The Disney Theatrical Productions division has been responsible for the production of many different musicals, touring events, ice shows and other live theatrical events. Their shows include: Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, Aida, Tarzan, Mary Poppins, Newsies and numerous incarnations of Disney on Ice.

Former units

In its history, Disney has created or acquired other film banners that have since been closed, divested, or retired.

Film production

Buena Vista Motion Pictures Group/Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group (1998–c. 2006) an umbrella unit for live action production companies (defunct)

Touchstone Pictures (1984–2016) created to release films targeted at more mature adult audiences until it was retired from theatrical distribution; was last used for Disney's distribution deal with DreamWorks from 2011 to 2016.

Hollywood Pictures (1989–2001, 2006–2007) created as an adult-oriented production unit similar to Touchstone, then briefly revived as low-budget genre film label until it became inactive.

Caravan Pictures (1992–1999) a production unit created to fill the production schedule, which was replaced by an outside deal with Spyglass Entertainment.

Miramax Films (1993–2010) acquired as an independent film studio in 1993 and operated as an autonomous unit until 2009, when it was folded into the Walt Disney Studios; it continued to serve as a distribution label until it was sold by Disney to Filmyard Holdings in 2010.

Dimension Films (1993–2005) A genre film label acquired through the Miramax purchase, until the Weinstein brothers left Disney and took the label with them in 2005 when they formed The Weinstein Company (the label's next parent).

Fox 2000 Pictures (2019–2021) Mid-budget unit of 20th Century Studios. (defunct)

20th Digital Studio (2019–2023) web series and web films digital media production label of 20th Century Studios

Disney Television Animation (1985–2003) transferred to Disney Channel

Skellington Productions (1986–1996)

Disneytoon Studios (2003–2018) transferred from Disney Television Animation (1990-2003).

Television

Walt Disney Television (1983–1994) transferred to Walt Disney Television and Telecommunications. (1994–1996)

Touchstone Television, transferred to Walt Disney Television and Telecommunications and later renamed as ABC Studios.

Distribution and marketing

Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group (1998–c. 2001) an umbrella unit for distribution and marketing. (defunct)

Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment (1978–2018) transferred to Walt Disney Direct-to-Consumer & International and later, Disney Platform Distribution.

Other

Kingdom Comics (2009–2013) with executives departing for a production deal

The Muppets Studio (2006–2014) transferred from Disney Consumer Products to Disney Studios' Special Events Group, then back to Disney Consumer Products and Interactive Media

Fox VFX Lab (2019) Acquired within 21st Century Fox purchase. Announced closure in August 2019.