The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company started from the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio in the 1920’s. This company proudly provides quality entertainment for families across America and around the world. Walt Disney is a public company and traded through the NYSE (New York Stock Exchange) with the stock symbol DIS. The Walt Disney Company was founded by Walt and Roy Disney in Los Angeles, California on October 16, 1923 and the Headquarters is located in Burbank, California. Currently, Robert Iger is the President and CEO and John E. Pepper Jr. is the Chairman.
Disneyland opened to a star-studded fanfare on July 17, 1955, and took one year to build. Disneyland was built for a total of 17.5 million dollars. The attraction had 18 attractions, including the Jungle Cruise, Tomorrowland, Autopia, Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, and the Mark Twain. The magic lands and public areas of Disneyland occupy 85 acres of ground and have 10,250 available parking spaces for guests. Disneyland is open 365 days a year and offers extended operating hours during holiday periods and summer months. The opening of “the Happiest Place on Earth” was a media event that had been known for its exceeding glitz, glamour, excitement, and drama. Disneyland was Walt’s dream. For years, Walt wanted to build a “little family park” where parents could take their children for a day of fun (for both kids and adults).
The Second World War had a devastating effect on the Disney Studios. The facilities were taken over by the military, in which they used to produce military training films, war bonds sales pitches, and designed unit insignia and emblems. Even a few of the studio animators were inducted into the military and it took years for the company to recover from the war’s consequences. When the studio got back in good standing, Walt figured out how to finance his part make it more attractive. After being declined by NBC, ironically, ABC, the same network that The Walt Disney Company owns now, was interested in financing the company. The deal included a year-long television show that would provide frequent updates on the construction of the new park. The rest of the show was filled with Disney’s signature material. Construction of “The Happiest Place on Earth” was completed in one year. During the construction, Walt kept his own hand on the design of Disneyland.
Planning for Walt Disney World began, but on December 15, 1966, Walt Elias Disney died. Walt’s brother, Roy, postponed his planned retirement to take the reins of the company and start construction in Florida on another Magic Kingdom. The Magic Kingdom would not be exact, but similar to the park in California. Furthermore, Magic Kingdom was physically larger and therefore better able to handle large crowds than Disneyland. However, Disneyland has more attractions than the Magic Kingdom.
Soon after opened WDW (Walt Disney World), Roy Disney retired and the Disney Company was taken over by Card Walker. Walker ran the company until 1984 in which it languished during those years. Almost no new attractions were added to the parks and the animation studios feel into a doldrums of epic proportion.
In 1984, Walker stepped down and for a brief time, Walt Disney’s son-in-law, Ron Miller, was made chairman. Miller could not bring the company back to its former glory, so an investor take over coup (which included Roy’s son, Roy Disney, now the Vice-chairman of the Walt Disney Company) installed Michael Eisner in the Chairman’s seat. Under Eisner’s direction, the company (theme parks included) began a strong rise to their current pre-eminence in the entertainment industry.
As of 2010, this company made 38.063 billion dollars in revenue. The Operation Income for the same year was 6.627 billion dollars, Net Income was 4.313 billion dollars, and Total Assets were 69.206 billion, along with the Total Equity of 39.342 billion. In the same year there were 149,000