The Walt Disney Company
Company History
Disney History: Founding, Growth & Key Milestones
Founded 1923 in Los Angeles, California, United States
When was Disney founded?
Disney was founded in 1923 in Los Angeles, California, United States by Roy O. Disney and Walt Disney, making it 103 years old.
- Founded
- 1923
- Founding place
- Los Angeles, California, United States
- Founders
- Roy O. Disney and Walt Disney
- Headquarters today
- Burbank, California
- Milestones documented
- 14 (1923–2026)
- Current CEO
- Josh D'Amaro
- Acquisitions
- 9
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 2026 | Josh D'Amaro becomes CEO |
| 2025 | $94.425B revenue and $12.404B net income |
| 2020 | Bob Chapek leads through pandemic disruption |
| 2019 | Disney signs amended 21st Century Fox acquisition agreement |
| 2019 | Disney+ launches |
| 2012 | Lucasfilm joins Disney |
| 2009 | Marvel Entertainment is acquired |
| 2006 | Pixar Animation Studios is acquired |
| 2005 | Robert A. Iger becomes CEO |
| 1996 | Capital Cities/ABC brings ESPN to Disney |
| 1955 | Disneyland opens in Anaheim |
| 1937 | Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is released |
| 1928 | Mickey Mouse debuts in Steamboat Willie |
| 1923 | Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio is founded |
- Where was Disney founded?
- Disney was founded in Los Angeles, California, United States in 1923. thewaltdisneycompany.com
- Who founded Disney?
- Disney was founded by Roy O. Disney and Walt Disney.
- When did Disney start?
- Disney was founded in 1923.
- How old is Disney?
- Disney is 103 years old as of 2026.
Founding Story
In 1928, Walt Disney was in a desperate situation. He had lost the rights to his only successful cartoon character (Oswald the Lucky Rabbit) to a hard-nosed distributor. On a train ride back to Los Angeles, facing bankruptcy, he brainstormed a new character to save his tiny studio: a cheerful mouse. He named him Mortimer, but his wife Lillian suggested 'Mickey'. Walt leaned into the brand-new technology of synchronized sound, releasing 'Steamboat Willie'. The cartoon was a large global sensation, saving the studio and launching the most powerful entertainment empire in history.
Founders
Roy O. Disney
The Walt Disney Company possesses arguably the most well-known, mythologized founding story in American corporate history, rooted in an artistic ambition and the desperate, scrappy origins of early animation. The company was founded in 1923 by two brothers: Walt Disney, an effective, driven with creative ambition, and Roy O. Disney, the pragmatic, essential financial architect who actually kept the company from going bankrupt. The founding occurred after Walt suffered a devastating failure in Kansas City. His first animation studio (Laugh-O-Gram Studio) went bankrupt. He arrived in Hollywood with $40 in his pocket, a sense of failure, and a partially finished reel of a short film blending live-action and animation (Alice's Wonderland). He partnered with his brother Roy to found the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio in the back of a small real estate office in Los Angeles. Their first success was a character named Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. However, in a heavy betrayal in 1928, their distributor (Charles Mintz) secretly hired away almost all of Walt's animators and legally stole the rights to Oswald, leaving the brothers with almost nothing. On the train ride back to Los Angeles following this defeat, Walt allegedly conceptualized a new character to replace Oswald: a mouse initially named Mortimer, which his wife convinced him to rename Mickey. The foundational breakthrough was not just the character, but the technology: Walt insisted on fully synchronizing sound with the animation in 'Steamboat Willie' (1928). This technical innovation made Mickey Mouse a global phenomenon, establishing the foundational architecture of the entertainment empire that would eventually conquer theme parks, television, and global box offices. Roy O. Disney was born in 1893 in Chicago.
Walt Disney
Walt Disney co-founded Disney Brothers Studio in 1923 and became the company's central creative force. He pushed Mickey Mouse into synchronized sound with Steamboat Willie, risked the studio on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and later expanded the business into television and Disneyland. Walt's contribution was not only character creation; it was the belief that technology, story, design, and operations could be fused into a repeatable entertainment system. He won 22 competitive Academy Awards and became the public face of American animation and family entertainment. After his death in 1966, the company struggled at times to define how much of Disney was a person and how much was an institution. His lasting influence remains the insistence that audiences will pay premium prices when imaginative detail feels unusually complete. Walt Disney was born in 1901 in Chicago. Education: Kansas City Art Institute; McKinley High School.
Key Milestones
Josh D'Amaro becomes CEO
Disney's board unanimously elected Josh D'Amaro CEO effective March 18, 2026, with Robert A. Iger moving to senior advisor and Dana Walden becoming President and Chief Creative Officer. A former Experiences leader now runs both the physical growth engine and the streaming transition.
Source: sec.gov$94.425B revenue and $12.404B net income
FY2025 results showed the scale of Disney's current base across Entertainment, ESPN, and Experiences. The figures shift the analysis from simple revenue recovery to the quality of earnings, streaming profit, and park capital returns.
Source: sec.govBob Chapek leads through pandemic disruption
Chapek became CEO shortly before COVID-19 disrupted parks, cruises, theaters, and production. The period exposed Disney's dependence on physical attendance while accelerating demand for direct-to-consumer streaming.
Source: sec.govDisney signs amended 21st Century Fox acquisition agreement
The amended Fox agreement valued the equity consideration at about $71.3B and expanded Disney's content library, international assets, and Hulu position. It was a scale move made as Disney prepared for a streaming-centered media market.
Source: thewaltdisneycompany.comDisney+ launches
Disney+ launched in the United States, Canada, and the Netherlands with nearly 500 films and 7,500 television episodes. The service moved Disney closer to consumers and made streaming economics a core investor question.
Source: thewaltdisneycompany.comLucasfilm joins Disney
The Lucasfilm acquisition was valued at $4.05B and brought Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Industrial Light & Magic, and related production assets. It gave Disney a global franchise with theatrical, streaming, merchandise, games, and parks potential.
Source: thewaltdisneycompany.comMarvel Entertainment is acquired
Disney agreed to acquire Marvel in a transaction valued at about $4B. The deal added more than 5,000 characters and expanded the company's reach in theatrical films, consumer products, streaming, and parks.
Source: thewaltdisneycompany.comPixar Animation Studios is acquired
The $7.4B Pixar deal ended a strained distribution relationship and brought creative leadership, computer-animation expertise, and a strong story process into Disney. It helped restore animation momentum and set the template for later franchise acquisitions.
Source: thewaltdisneycompany.comRobert A. Iger becomes CEO
Iger became CEO in 2005 after serving as Disney president and chief operating officer. His tenure reshaped the company through Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm, 21st Century Fox assets, international expansion, and direct-to-consumer streaming.
Source: thewaltdisneycompany.comCapital Cities/ABC brings ESPN to Disney
Disney stockholders approved the Capital Cities/ABC merger in 1996, bringing ABC and ESPN into the company. ESPN later became central to Disney's television economics and is now central to its cord-cutting risk.
Source: britannica.comDisneyland opens in Anaheim
Disneyland moved the company beyond screens and into physical entertainment. The park created a second economic model built on admission, food, merchandise, hospitality, and repeat family visits.
Source: d23.comSnow White and the Seven Dwarfs is released
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs proved that feature-length animation could work as a premium theatrical event. Its success gave the studio credibility and capital for more ambitious animated films.
Source: d23.comMickey Mouse debuts in Steamboat Willie
Steamboat Willie introduced Mickey Mouse to a broad audience with synchronized sound. The short helped Disney turn a technical change in cinema into a character asset that could be repeated, licensed, and expanded.
Source: d23.comDisney Brothers Cartoon Studio is founded
Walt Disney and Roy O. Disney formed the studio after Walt arrived in California with the Alice Comedies. The milestone mattered because it paired creative risk-taking with Roy's financial discipline and gave the brothers a structure for retaining and developing characters.
Source: d23.comMajor Acquisitions
Pixar Animation Studios
2006Disney acquired Pixar to restore its leadership in animation after a period of creative decline. Pixar had a consistent track record of and commercially successful films. The deal also brought key creative leaders, including John Lasseter and Ed Catmull, closer to Disney's animation operations. It ensured long-term access to high-quality computer animation, storytelling discipline, and future characters.
Marvel Entertainment
2009Disney acquired Marvel to gain control of a vast superhero character library and reach audiences beyond its traditional family-animation base. The deal gave Disney access to a franchise system that could support films, television, merchandise, games, and theme-park integration.
Lucasfilm
2012Disney acquired Lucasfilm to gain Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Industrial Light & Magic, and related storytelling and production assets. The deal gave Disney a global fan franchise with long theatrical, merchandise, streaming, gaming, and parks potential.
Capital Cities/ABC
1996Disney acquired Capital Cities/ABC to add a major broadcast network, television stations, and ESPN to its portfolio. The deal moved Disney deeper into distribution and sports media, giving it powerful affiliate-fee and advertising economics.
21st Century Fox entertainment assets
2019Disney acquired major 21st Century Fox entertainment assets to expand its studio library, international reach, television production capacity, and streaming inventory ahead of the Disney+ launch. The deal also increased Disney's ownership position in Hulu.
BAMTech
2017Disney acquired majority control of BAMTech to obtain the streaming technology foundation needed for ESPN+ and Disney+. The deal reduced dependence on outside technology partners and gave Disney more control over direct-to-consumer infrastructure.
Comcast's 33% stake in Hulu
2023Disney bought out Comcast's one-third stake in Hulu to gain full ownership and integrate Hulu into Disney+.
ABC Family Worldwide
2001The Walt Disney Company acquired ABC Family Worldwide in 2001.
Miramax
1993The Walt Disney Company acquired Miramax in 1993.
Keep researching Disney
Disney Company History FAQ
What is the chronological history of The Walt Disney Company from 1923 to the present?
Founded in 1923, Disney transformed animation with Steamboat Willie (1928) and Snow White (1937). It opened Disneyland (1955) and Disney World (1971), experienced the Eisner Renaissance in the 1980s, 1990s, assembled Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, and Fox under Bob Iger (2005 to 2019), and launched Disney+ in 2019.
When did Walt Disney produce the world's first full-color cartoon?
In 1932, Walt Disney signed an exclusive contract with Technicolor to produce 'Flowers and Trees', the world's first commercial three-strip full-color animated cartoon, winning the inaugural Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film.
What was EPCOT's original concept and how did it open in 1982?
Walt Disney originally conceived EPCOT as an experimental utopian community ('Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow'). Following Walt's death, Imagineers adapted the concept into EPCOT Center at Walt Disney World, opening on October 1, 1982, as a world's fair celebrating human innovation and world cultures.
When did Disney launch the Disney Channel cable network?
The Disney Channel was launched on April 18, 1983, as a premium cable channel, producing well-known family television programming, original movies (High School Musical, Camp Rock), and launching the careers of major pop culture stars.
How did Disney handle the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic shutdown in 2020?
When COVID-19 forced the simultaneous shutdown of all global theme parks, cruise sailings, movie theaters, and live sports in early 2020, Disney pivoted resources to Disney+, which experienced rapid growth and surpassed 100 million subscribers in just 16 months.
When did Disney celebrate its 100th anniversary (Disney100)?
In 2023, The Walt Disney Company celebrated its historic 100th anniversary with worldwide exhibitions, special theatrical releases, commemorative merchandise, and park celebrations honoring a century of magical storytelling since its 1923 founding.
How did 'Inside Out 2' make box office history for Pixar and Disney in 2024?
In summer 2024, Pixar's 'Inside Out 2' grossed over $1.69 billion worldwide, surpassing Frozen II to become the highest-grossing animated film in global box office history and re-establishing Disney's theatrical animation dominance.
What is Disney's vision for the next century of entertainment?
Disney's vision for its second century is to pioneer immersive storytelling by fusing well-known creative imagination with advanced technology, connecting audiences through theatrical cinema, streaming, interactive gaming, and high-quality theme park worlds.
How did Disney start?
The Walt Disney Company was founded in 1923 by brothers Walt and Roy O. Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio in Hollywood. They achieved massive success in 1928 with the creation of Mickey Mouse in "Steamboat Willie," the first animated film with synchronized sound.
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