Walt Disney Company By: Mary George

How he started Walt Disney is known as one of America’s most adored visionaries and entrepreneurs. He decided to pursue a career in commercial art. He started a small company called Laugh-O-Gram, which fell bankrupt. Finally, with no money, Walt headed to Hollywood to start new. Walt got his idea for Mickey Mouse while watching mice play in his garage one night. He even had a fear of mice!

Getting Started… After making a sensation of his “Alice Comedies,” Walt became recognized in Hollywood. On July 13, 1925, Walt married one of his first employees, Lillian Bounds and had two daughters. In 1932, Walt won his first studio’s Academy Award with the production called Flowers and Trees (the first color cartoon) won. In 1937, he released The Old Mill, the first short subject to develop the multi-plane camera technique.

Cont. On December 21, 1937, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the first full-length animated musical feature, premiered at the Carthay Theater in Los Angeles. The film cost of $1,499,000 during the depths of the Depression. The film is still known as one of the great feats and eternal monuments of the motion picture industry. During the next five years, Walt Disney Studios completed other full-length animated classics such as Pinocchio, Fantasia, Dumbo, and Bambi. Walt Disney's dream of an amusement park came true as Disneyland Park opened in Therefore, his success did not begin over night. It took years to begin his career as one of the greatest men in Hollywood.

Began as.. After the failure of the Iwwerks-Disney Commercial Artists venture, Walt moved to Hollywood in Los Angeles. He went into partnership with his brother Roy which started the Walt Disney Company. His friend and previous business partner Ub Iwerks also came to Los Angeles, which added to the success of Disney.

Products of Disney Disney merchandising began in 1929 when Walt Disney was approached by a businessman who wanted to place Mickey Mouse on the cover of a children's writing tablet. Disney Consumer Products and affiliates (DCP) expand the Disney brand to merchandise varying from apparel, toys, home décor and books and magazines to interactive games, foods and beverages, stationery, electronics and fine art. This is produced through DCP's numerous lines of business which include: Disney Toys, Disney Apparel, Accessories & Footwear, Disney Food, Health & Beauty, Disney Home, Disney Stationery and the services of Disney World and Disney Land.

Sales Other businesses involved in Disney's consumer products sales are the company's official shopping gateway and the Disney stores retail chain. The Disney stores retail chain, which started in 1987, is owned and operated by an unaffiliated third party in Japan under a license agreement with The Walt Disney Company. Disney holds and operates the Disney Store chain in North America and Europe.

Benefits to Society There benefits to society are mainly for entertainment purposes. All the movies, products, amusement parks, and books benefit families all over the world. Children learn easier from these products because learning is always better when fun is involved. Also, vacation at Disney World and Disney Land benefits people looking for a nice family-oriented place to spend quality time together.

Employment There are over 3,000 different job classifications. Walt Disney World employs as many as 60,000 people during peak periods. There is not an exact amount of people that work for the Walt Disney Company.

Success of Disney The Walt Disney Company is the world's largest media conglomerate with assets including movies, television, publishing, and theme parks. TV holdings include the ABC television network and 10 broadcast stations and a portfolio of cable networks including ABC Family, Disney Channel, and ESPN. Walt Disney Studios produces films through imprints Walt Disney Pictures, Touchstone, and Pixar, while Marvel Entertainment is a top comic book publisher and film producer.

Disney is a Success! Walt Disney Parks and Resorts also operates the company's popular theme parks including Walt Disney World and Disneyland. This company is an ongoing success and although it has its ups and downs, the amount of revenue is normally at a constant, high level.

Challenges.. With World War II happening, the company lost access to the foreign markets. On one cartoon creation, Walt did not own the rights to his idea. The cartoon was stolen and he got cut out of the profit and there was nothing he could do about it.

Disney is a corporation Disney is a worldwide company which expands every year with new products, amusement rides, movies, and television shows. Anyone can buy and sell shares from Disney from the stock market.