User blog:ARTaylor/95 Years of The Walt Disney Company

Today marks the ninety-fifth anniversary of the founding of our glorious mouse overlords: The Walt Disney Company. It was on this day in 1923 that two brothers named Walt and and Roy Disney founded a small animation company they called the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio. Walt had moved from Missouri to California to join his brother following the failure of his first animation studio. The company made a series of shorts featuring a friendly furry creature named Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. However, the brothers lost creative control of the character due to a legal loophole and were forced to start over.

Walt then came up with a new furry character named Mortimer Mouse. His wife Lillian made him change the name to Mickey and history was born. Mickey stared in the first animated short to feature synchronized sound and became an instant hit. A series shorts led to a deal with Columbia Pictures to produce Silly Symphony. The massive success of these shorts led to the first fully animated feature film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Since then, Mickey has become their iconic mascot and one of the most recognizable figures in the world.

The company rose to become one of the largest business conglomerates in the world. Disney has branched out into a wide array of entertainment including live-action features, television stations, theme parks, cruise lines, and resorts. Companies owned by Disney include, but certainly not limited to, Walt Disney Animation Studios, American Broadcasting Company, Marvel Entertainment, Pixar Animation Studios, Lucasfilm, Industrial Light & Magic, Skywalker Sound, and Touchstone Pictures.