| This article is written from the Real World perspective |  |
| The Walt Disney Company | |
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| Current Name | The Walt Disney Company |
| Role | Mass Media Corporation |
| Predecessor(s) | Laugh-O-Gram Studio Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio The Walt Disney Studio Walt Disney Productions |
| Founded | Los Angeles, California October 16, 1923 |
| Key Figure(s) | Walt Disney (Co-Founder) Roy O. Disney (Co-Founder) Robert A. Iger (CEO) |
| Subsidiaries | Walt Disney Pictures Walt Disney Animation Studios Walt Disney Theatrical Walt Disney India Ltd. Pixar Animation Studios Marvel Entertainment, LLC Lucasfilm Ltd. LLC The Muppets Studio, LLC ABC, Inc. ESPN Inc. (80%) A&E Television Networks, Inc. (50%) Radio Disney Hulu (32%) UTV Software Communications, Ltd. Maker Studios Twentieth Century Studios |
The Walt Disney Company, usually shortened to simply Disney, is the largest media and entertainment conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue.
History[]
Founded on October 16, 1923, by brothers Walt Disney and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, the company was reincorporated as Walt Disney Productions, Ltd. in 1929, and became publicity-traded as Walt Disney Productions in 1938. Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into live-action film production, television, and travel. Taking on its current name in 1986, The Walt Disney Company expanded its existing operations and also started divisions focused upon theatre, radio, publishing, and online media. In addition, it has created new divisions of the company in order to market more mature content than it typically associates with its flagship family-oriented brands.
Disney owns Buena Vista Home Entertainment. It later purchased Marvel Entertainment and all its subsidiaries on December 31, 2009 for $4.24 billion.