236-479: Donald Duck is a cartoon character created by The Walt Disney Company . Donald is an anthropomorphic white duck with a yellow-orange bill, legs, and feet. He typically wears a sailor shirt and cap with a bow tie . Donald is known for his semi-intelligible speech and his mischievous, temperamental, and pompous personality. Along with his friend Mickey Mouse , Donald was included in TV Guide ' s list of
472-540: A Golden Globe for Best Picture , and it received 6 Academy Award nominations, becoming the first animation nominated for Best Picture; it won Best Score, Best Sound , and Best Song. The film was critically acclaimed, with some critics considering it to be the best Disney film. To coincide with the 1992 release of The Mighty Ducks , Disney founded the National Hockey League team The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim . Disney's next animated feature Aladdin
708-407: A TV special honoring Donald's 50th birthday, with Dick Van Dyke substituting for Walt. The rivalry between Mickey and Donald was shown in the 2001-2003 television series House of Mouse . It was shown that Donald wanted to be the club's founder and wanted to change the name from House of Mouse to House of Duck , which is obvious in the episodes "The Stolen Cartoons" and "Timon and Pumbaa". In
944-651: A commando having to sabotage a Japanese air base. Titles in the series include: Thanks in part to these films, Donald graced the nose artwork of virtually every type of World War II Allied combat aircraft, from the L-4 Grasshopper to the B-29 Superfortress . Donald also appears as a mascot—such as in the United States Army Air Forces ' 309th Fighter Squadron and the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary , which showed Donald as
1180-624: A pegleg . Floyd Gottfredson occasionally committed goofs, with the pegleg switching from Pete's right leg to his left one. In the August 26, 1930 strip, Pete's peg swaps from right to left between one panel to the next. Pete's pegleg also appears on the left in the July 11 strip, and for the week of September 3 to 9. In Gottfredson's story "The Mystery at Hidden River" (1941–42), the pegleg disappeared, with Pete having two normal legs: when Mickey expressed surprise at this, Pete described one of his legs as
1416-645: A 12-week goodwill visit to South America, funded by the Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs . During the trip, the animators began plotting films, taking inspiration from the local environments and music. As a result of the strike, federal mediators compelled the studio to recognize the Screen Cartoonist's Guild and several animators left, leaving it with 694 employees. To recover from their financial losses, Disney rushed into production
1652-441: A 26% growth in revenue. Los Angeles Times called Disney's recovery "a real rarity in the corporate world". On May 1, 1989, Disney opened Disney-MGM Studios, its third amusement park at Walt Disney World, and later became Hollywood Studios . The new park demonstrated to visitors the movie-making process, until 2008, when it was changed to make guests feel they are in movies. Following the opening of Disney-MGM Studios, Disney opened
1888-442: A Kansas City advertising firm, to run Disney's merchandising; Kamen agreed and transformed Disney's merchandising. Within a year, Kamen had 40 licenses for Mickey Mouse and within two years, had made $ 35 million worth of sales. In 1934, Disney said he made more money from the merchandising of Mickey Mouse than from the character's films. The Waterbury Clock Company created a Mickey Mouse watch, which became so popular it saved
2124-406: A brutal law-enforcer ( Moving Day , where Pete is a sheriff who serves Mickey and Donald Duck with an eviction notice). On the other hand, in the 1942 cartoon Symphony Hour , Pete is a sympathetic impresario who sponsors Mickey's orchestra in a concert, which goes terribly wrong but is a great success. As Mickey's popularity declined, Pete would serve as an antagonist for Donald Duck and to
2360-471: A cat villain for their new protagonist Mickey Mouse . Originally unnamed in the cartoons and called "Terrible Tom" in a January 1930 comic strip, the villain was called Pegleg Pete by April 1930, formalizing him as a new incarnation of the pre-Mickey bad guy. Animator Norm Ferguson , known for developing Pluto , also developed Pete's character in several shorts and he was made to resemble actor Wallace Beery . Pete appeared as Mickey's enemy beginning with
2596-692: A choir from the US Army marched down Main Street. The icon of the park was the Cinderella Castle . On Thanksgiving Day, cars traveling to the Magic Kingdom caused traffic jams along interstate roads. On December 21, 1971, Roy died of cerebral hemorrhage at St. Joseph Hospital. Donn Tatum , a senior executive and former president of Disney, became the first non-Disney-family-member to become CEO and chairman. Card Walker , who had been with
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#17327726043892832-461: A cliff near a remote forest and Donald leads them in a song mirroring the Mouseketeers theme "D-O-N-A-L-D D-U-C-K! Donald Duck!" The rivalry has caused Donald some problems, for example in a 1988 TV special , where Mickey is cursed by a sorcerer to become unnoticed, the world believes Mickey to be kidnapped. Donald Duck is then arrested for the kidnapping of Mickey, as he is considered to be
3068-402: A contract dispute, with Disney asking for a larger fee, while Mintz sought to reduce the price. Disney discovered Universal Pictures owned the intellectual property rights to Oswald, and Mintz threatened to produce the shorts without him if he did not accept the reduction in payment. Disney declined and Mintz signed 4 of Walt Disney Studio's primary animators to start his own studio; Iwerks was
3304-458: A contract with Winkler for $ 1,500, to create six series of Alice Comedies , with an option for two more six-episode series. Walt and Roy Disney founded Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio on October 16, 1923, to produce the films. In January 1926, the Disneys moved into a new studio on Hyperion Street and the studio's name was changed to Walt Disney Studio . After producing Alice films over
3540-687: A deal in which all parties would obtain 27% equity in streaming service Hulu , and Disney added ABC Family and Disney Channel to the streaming service. On December 16, Roy E. Disney died of stomach cancer ; he was the last member of the Disney family to work for Disney. In March 2010, Haim Saban reacquired from Disney the Power Rangers franchise, including its 700-episode library, for around $ 100 million. Shortly after, Disney sold Miramax Films to an investment group headed by Ronald Tutor for $ 660 million. During that time, Disney released
3776-464: A disguised Prince, whom he mistook for the peasant boy Mickey Mouse , out of his kingdom, he later receives word from one of his guards that the Prince was seen a causing a commotion in the village, as the guard claimed that he "acted like a nobleman and he had the royal ring!" Pete suddenly realizes that it was indeed the Prince he "booted out" and seizes another opportunity out of this. That night, after
4012-576: A dual role as the twins in The Parent Trap (1961). Another child actor, Kevin Corcoran , was prominent in many Disney live-action films, first appearing in a serial for The Mickey Mouse Club, where he would play a boy named Moochie. He worked alongside Mills in Pollyanna , and starred in features such as Old Yeller (1957), Toby Tyler (1960), and Swiss Family Robinson . In 1964,
4248-576: A few exceptions, there is seldom any harm in Donald's pranks. He almost never intends to hurt anyone, and when his pranks go too far, he is often apologetic. In Truant Officer Donald , for example, when he is tricked into believing he has accidentally killed Huey, Dewey, and Louie, he shows great regret, blaming himself. His nephews appear in the form of angels, and he willingly endures a kick by one of them—that is, of course, until he realizes he has been tricked, whereupon he promptly loses his temper. Donald
4484-736: A fierce-looking pirate ready to defend the American coast from invaders. Donald also appeared as a mascot emblem for the 415th Fighter Squadron ; 438th Fighter Squadron ; 479th Bombardment Squadron ; and 531st Bombardment Squadron . He also appeared as the mascot for the Fire Department at Marine Corps Air Station El Toro , as well as the Army Air Forces (now currently the United States Air Force ) 319 Aircraft Maintenance Unit at Luke Air Force Base — where he
4720-452: A friend (albeit a poor one) to Goofy. He reprises this incarnation in 1999's Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas . Pete also appears in House of Mouse (2001–2003) as the greedy property owner who is always trying to exploit devious ways and loopholes to get the club shut down. Although Pete is often typecast as a villain , he has shown great versatility within the role, playing everything from
4956-416: A golf course, and 6 hotels. In 1988, Disney's 27th animated film Oliver & Company was released the same day as that of former Disney animator Don Bluth's The Land Before Time . Oliver & Company out-competed The Land Before Time , becoming the first animated film to gross over $ 100 million in its initial release, and the highest-grossing animated film in its initial run. Disney became
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#17327726043895192-475: A happy mood, without a care in the world until something comes along and spoils his day. His rage is a great cause of suffering in his life. On multiple occasions, it has caused him to get in over his head and lose competitions. There are times when he fights to keep his temper in check, and he sometimes succeeds in doing so temporarily, but he always returns to his normal angry self in the end. Donald's aggressive nature has its advantages, however. While at times it
5428-424: A hardened criminal ( The Dognapper , The Lone Chipmunks and most of his depictions in comics) to a legitimate authority figure ( Moving Day , Donald Gets Drafted , Mr. Mouse Takes a Trip ), and from a menacing trouble maker ( Building a Building , Trombone Trouble ) to a victim of mischief himself ( Timber , The Vanishing Private ). On some occasions, Pete has even played a sympathetic character, all
5664-405: A house burglar ). Then in House of Mouse , he plays the role of the evil landlord. Several episodes involved his attempts to close the club by sabotaging the show, though there were times when he helped out the crew. Pete appears in numerous episodes of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse . He maintains his protagonist and semi-antagonist role, but is significantly toned down for its preschool audience—he
5900-606: A joint venture with Infoseek in January 1999, Disney acquired the rest of Infoseek later that year. After unsuccessful negotiations with cruise lines Carnival and Royal Caribbean International , in 1994, Disney announced it would start its own cruise-line operation in 1998. The first two ships of the Disney Cruise Line were named Disney Magic and Disney Wonder , and built by Fincantieri in Italy. To accompany
6136-463: A lesser extent Goofy and Chip 'n' Dale . In the 1940s, Pete would play the role of Donald's drill sergeant in several war-themed shorts (eg. Donald Gets Drafted , The Old Army Game ) In Disney comics , Pete is consistently depicted as a hardened criminal, who often teams up with Mickey Mouse enemies Sylvester Shyster , Eli Squinch , or the Phantom Blot . In a promotional strip for
6372-545: A long time since he was actually depicted with a pegleg in either comics or animated cartoons. In an Italian story by Romano Scarpa , "Topolino e la dimensione Delta" ("Mickey Mouse and the Delta Dimension", first published in 1959), Pete briefly removes his artificial leg, revealing his old foot-high pegleg underneath. Usually, Gambadilegno is depicted as the antagonist of Chief Seamus O'Hara ("commissario Adamo Basettoni") and Detective Casey ("ispettore Manetta") and
6608-429: A long-standing common-law marriage. This is occasionally used in contrast to Mickey's eternal engagement to Minnie Mouse and Goofy's determination to remain a bachelor. Trudy and Pete also have two hellion nephews named Pierino and Pieretto who often serve as foils for Mickey or Mickey's nephews Morty and Ferdie . The second character to be created by Scarpa is Pete's cousin, the criminal scientist Portis (Plottigat in
6844-481: A memo stating that "Only Nash could be used as Donald and no one else" . Nash voiced Donald for the last time in Mickey's Christmas Carol (1983), making Donald the only character in the film to be voiced by his original voice actor. He did, however, continue to provide Donald's voice for commercials, promos, and other miscellaneous material until he died in 1985. Jack Wagner voiced Donald and other Disney characters in
7080-480: A merchandising division named Walt Disney Enterprises , and subsidiaries called Disney Film Recording Company, Limited and Liled Realty and Investment Company; the latter of which managed real estate holdings. Walt Disney and his wife held 60% (6,000 shares) of the company, and Roy Disney owned 40%. The comic strip Mickey Mouse debuted on January 13, 1930, in New York Daily Mirror and by 1931,
7316-498: A nephew named Jimbo, who is voiced by Fred Stoller . In the Italian comic story of 1998, Topolino e il diario di zia Topolinda ( Mickey Mouse and Aunt Melinda's diary ), Pete's grandma appears, depicted as the only honest member of his family. In the first season of the 1987 TV series DuckTales , Pete appeared in a few episodes. However, he was portrayed as a different character in each of his appearances. Because of this, he
Donald Duck - Misplaced Pages Continue
7552-544: A new haircut. No other family members, besides Ludwig von Drake, appear in Quack Pack , and all other Duckburg citizens are humans and not dogs. He made a comeback as the star of the "Noah's Ark" segment of Fantasia 2000 (1999), as first mate to Noah. Donald musters the animals to the Ark and attempts to control them. He tragically believes that Daisy has been lost, while she believes the same of him, but they are reunited at
7788-410: A new, "streamlined, modern" artificial leg. In 1944, Walt Disney decided to retire the character from the shorts; comics historian Alberto Becattini writes that this was "partly because he was concerned that it seemed to be a case of mocking the afflicted, partly because the animators could never remember which leg was the wooden one." Pete also left the comic strip for a few years; his last appearance
8024-438: A non-speaking cameo appearance as a Toontown police officer in the very final scene of Who Framed Roger Rabbit ; he is viewed from the back, alongside Tom and Jerry 's Spike and Horace Horsecollar in security uniforms, just before Porky Pig and Tinker Bell close the movie. Although Pete does not appear in the 1995 Mickey Mouse short Runaway Brain , the short's main antagonist, Julius, heavily bears his likeness. He
8260-605: A pair of crossed crutches, was one of sixteen B-25Bs which took off from the aircraft carrier USS Hornet to bomb Tokyo on April 18, 1942, during the Doolittle Raid . The mission was led by Lieutenant Colonel (later General) Jimmy Doolittle . Like most of the aircraft that participated in the mission, the Ruptured Duck was unable to reach its assigned landing field in China following the raid and ended up ditching off
8496-501: A park called Disney World , which included Magic Kingdom —a larger version of Disneyland—and the City of Tomorrow, at the park's center. By 1967, the company had made expansions to Disneyland, and more rides were added in 1966 and 1967, at a cost of $ 20 million. The new rides included Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room , which was the first attraction to use Audio-Animatronics ; Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress , which debuted at
8732-558: A popular character in Europe, particularly in Nordic countries where his weekly magazine Kalle Anka & C:o was the comics publication with the highest circulation from the 1950s to 2009. In Italy , Donald is a major character in many comics , including a juvenile version named Paperino Paperotto , and a superhero alter ego known as Paperinik ( Duck Avenger in the US and Superduck in
8968-407: A reversal of the company's decline through a combination of international theme park expansion and the highly successful Disney Renaissance period of animation in the 1990s. In 2005, under new CEO Bob Iger , the company continued to expand into a major entertainment conglomerate with the acquisitions of Pixar , Marvel Entertainment , Lucasfilm , and 21st Century Fox . In 2020, Bob Chapek became
9204-585: A stint in the U.S. Army during World War II that culminated with him serving as a commando in the film Commando Duck , and he was frequently away serving in the U.S. Navy in the television cartoon series DuckTales . Throughout his appearances, Donald has shown that he is jealous of Mickey and wants his job as Disney's greatest star, similar to the rivalry between Daffy Duck and Bugs Bunny . In most Disney theatrical cartoons, Mickey and Donald are shown as friends and have little to no rivalry (exceptions being The Band Concert , Magician Mickey and near
9440-752: A talking duck that would be the studio's new gag character. Donald Duck made his first appearance in 1934 in The Wise Little Hen . Though he did not become popular as quickly as Mickey had, Donald Duck had a featured role in Donald and Pluto (1936), and was given his own series. After a disagreement with Columbia Pictures about the Silly Symphony cartoons, Disney signed a distribution contract with United Artists from 1932 to 1937 to distribute them. In 1932, Disney signed an exclusive contract with Technicolor to produce cartoons in color until
9676-494: A ten-year contract to make five films, with Disney as distributor. They would share the cost, profits, and logo credits, calling the films Disney-Pixar productions. During the Disney Renaissance, film division Touchstone also saw success with film such as Pretty Woman (1990), which has the highest number of ticket sales in the U.S. for a romantic comedy and grossed $ 432 million; Sister Act (1992), which
Donald Duck - Misplaced Pages Continue
9912-793: A theme song for the television series Zorro . The company hired them as exclusive staff songwriters, an arrangement that lasted 10 years. They wrote many songs for Disney's films and theme parks, and several were commercial hits. In the late 1950s, Disney ventured into comedy with the live-action films The Shaggy Dog (1959), which became the highest-grossing film in the US and Canada for Disney at over $ 9 million, and The Absent Minded Professor (1961), both starring Fred MacMurray . Disney also made live-action films based on children's books including Pollyanna (1960) and Swiss Family Robinson (1960). Child actor Hayley Mills starred in Pollyanna , for which she won an Academy Juvenile Award . Mills starred in 5 other Disney films, including
10148-464: A tremendous success, with WALL-E winning the Oscar for Best Animated Feature. After acquiring most of Jetix Europe through the acquisition of Fox Family Worldwide, Disney bought the remainder of the company in 2008 for $ 318 million. Iger introduced D23 in 2009 as Disney's official fan club. In February, Disney announced a deal with DreamWorks Pictures to distribute 30 of their films over
10384-447: A trip through various Latin American countries with his assistants, and use their experiences and impressions to create two feature-length animation films. The first was Saludos Amigos (1942), which consisted of four short segments, two of them with Donald Duck. In the first, he meets his parrot pal José Carioca . The second film was The Three Caballeros (1944), in which he meets his rooster friend Panchito . Several decades after
10620-720: A two-year tour of ice shows featuring Disney charters, made its premiere at the Brendan Byrne Meadowlands Arena after Disney licensed its characters to Feld Entertainment . The same month, Disney's animated film The Fox and the Hound was released and became the highest-grossing animated film to that point at $ 40 million. It was the first film that did not involve Walt and the last major work done by Disney's Nine Old Men, who were replaced with younger animators. As profits started to decline, on October 1, 1982, Epcot, then known as EPCOT Center, opened as
10856-556: A venture with The Nature Conservancy , Disney purchased 8,500 acres (3,439 ha) of Everglades headwaters in Florida to protect native animals and plant species, establishing the Disney Wilderness Preserve . On April 3, 1994, Frank Wells died in a helicopter crash; he, Eisner, and Katzenberg helped the company's market value go from $ 2 billion to $ 22 billion since taking office in 1984. On June 15
11092-540: A visit to Griffith Park with his daughters. He said he watched them ride a carousel and thought there "should be ... some kind of amusement enterprise built where the parents and the children could have fun together". Initially planning the construction of an eight-acre (3.2 ha) Mickey Mouse Park near the Burbank studio, Walt changed the planned amusement park's name to Disneylandia, then to Disneyland . A new company, WED Enterprises (now Walt Disney Imagineering ),
11328-412: Is a complete opposite of his father in behavior, as he is good friends with Goofy's son Max in the series and its spin-off movies A Goofy Movie (1995) and An Extremely Goofy Movie (2000). Jim Cummings provided Pete's booming bass voice starting from that series, and to date is still the character's voice in all media. It is eventually revealed in the series' pilot episode "Forever Goof" that one of
11564-417: Is a hindrance, and even a handicap, it has also helped him in times of need. When faced with a threat of some kind, for example, Pete 's attempts to intimidate him, he is initially scared, but his fear is replaced by anger. As a result, instead of running away, he fights. In fact, his anger can make him powerful enough to defeat ghosts, sharks, mountain goats, giant kites, and even the forces of nature. Donald
11800-497: Is also a bit of a poseur . He likes to brag, especially about how skilled he is at something. He does, in fact, have many skills—he is something of a Jack-of-all-trades . Amongst other things, he is a talented fisher , a competent hockey player, and a skilled pianist . However, his love of bragging often leads him to overestimate his abilities, so that when he sets out to make good on his boasts, he gets in over his head, usually to hilarious effect. Another of his personality traits
12036-417: Is also voiced by Jim Cummings and has a peg leg, and when Mickey is trapped in his body he gains Pete's signature buck teeth to boot. In the 2002 direct-to-video film Mickey's House of Villains , Pete and other Disney villains ' guest appearances from House of Mouse are featured. He takes part in the musical number "It's Our House Now" when villains take over the club. Pete makes a cameo appearance in
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#173277260438912272-437: Is being lazy and needs to get some exercise. But despite his apparent idleness, Donald proves that he is muscular. In the short film Sea Scouts , Donald is traveling with his nephews in a boat when it is attacked by a shark. Donald makes several attempts to defeat the shark, each of which proves ineffective, but then finally triumphs and defeats the shark with a single well-placed punch. Additionally, as discussed below, Donald had
12508-408: Is designed based on his appearances in the early Mickey Mouse cartoons, complete with a peg-leg. Like Mickey Mouse Works and House of Mouse , he has reverted to his evil ways, and again his booming bass voice is provided by Jim Cummings . In the 1983 short film Mickey's Christmas Carol , an adaptation of Charles Dickens ' novel A Christmas Carol featuring Disney characters, Pete was cast as
12744-465: Is done that way. Donald Duck is not." Nash reputedly originally developed the voice as that of a "nervous baby goat" before Walt Disney interpreted it as sounding like a duck. The character of Donald Duck is portrayed as an impatient, immature, and arrogant duck with a pessimistic attitude and an insecure disposition. In addition, his two dominant personality traits are his fiery temper and his upbeat attitude to life. Many Donald shorts start with Donald in
12980-647: Is either a rival or a partner-in-crime of the Phantom Blot ("Macchia Nera"). Pete returned in the 2013 short Get a Horse! , and was animated as having a peg left leg. During World War II , Pete was " drafted " by Walt Disney and appeared as the official mascot of the United States Merchant Marine . He appeared in Donald Duck's series of army films where he plays Donald's Drill Sergeant and later Sergeant and Jumpmaster . In
13216-593: Is impossible. Later he appears in the story "Mickey and Minnie's Gift of the Magi" as Mickey's boss selling Christmas trees. In the 2004 made-for-video animated film The Three Musketeers (with Mickey, Donald Duck, and Goofy playing the title roles), Pete again appeared under the name Peg-Leg Pete. He served as the main antagonist of the film. Here, he was the Captain of the Musketeers, aiming to take over France, with
13452-466: Is known only as Maw Pete and was mentioned in the story " Donald Duck Finds Pirate Gold " by Carl Barks and Jack Hannah (first published October 1942) as a resident of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Her only appearance was in "The River Pirates" ( Walt Disney's Comics and Stories #336–338, published September–November 1968) by Carl Fallberg and Paul Murry . The same story introduced Li'l Pete, Black Pete's short fraternal twin brother . In December 1998,
13688-399: Is less malicious and more mischievous. Viewers will find that Mickey and gang are very forgiving of Pete and his escapades. He often appears as a seller of objects the gang needs, and will give them an item in exchange for beans . He is much nicer than his previous incarnations—in one episode, he invites the group to a Halloween party; in "Pete's Beach Blanket Luau", he even invites everyone to
13924-568: Is one of the biggest and best-known companies in the world and was ranked number 48 on the 2023 Fortune 500 list of biggest companies in the United States by revenue. In 2023, the company's seat in Forbes Global 2000 was 87. Since its founding, the company has won 135 Academy Awards , 26 of which were awarded to Walt . The company has been said to have produced some of the greatest films of all time , as well as revolutionizing
14160-549: Is part of the ensemble cast of characters in the TV show Mickey Mouse Clubhouse as well. He also appears in the new 3-minute Mickey Mouse TV shorts for Disney Channel. Donald also appears in the DuckTales reboot, in which he is a main character as opposed to his minor role in the original cartoon. The series depicts him as having once been Scrooge's partner in adventure along with his sister Della . However, ten years prior to
14396-447: Is perseverance. Even though he can at times be a slacker , and likes to say that his favorite place to be is in a hammock , once he has committed to accomplishing something he goes for it 100 percent, sometimes resorting to extreme measures to reach his goal. There is a running gag in the Donald Duck comics about him being physically unhealthy and unmotivated to exercise . Usually, some character close to Donald annoys him by saying he
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#173277260438914632-500: Is seen wearing an old-style pilot's uniform with a board with a nail in it in one hand, and a lightning bolt in the other hand. Donald's most famous appearance, however, was on the North American Aviation B-25B Mitchell medium bomber (S/N 40-2261) piloted by Lt. Ted W. Lawson of the 95th Bombardment Squadron, USAAF. The aircraft, named the "Ruptured Duck" and carrying a picture of Donald's face above
14868-435: Is something of a prankster , and as a result, he can sometimes come across as a bit of a bully , especially in the way he sometimes treats Chip and Dale and Huey, Dewey and Louie . As animator Fred Spencer put it: The Duck gets a big kick out of imposing on other people or annoying them, but he immediately loses his temper when the tables are turned. In other words, he can dish it out, but he can't take it. However, with
15104-606: Is the first to feature Donald as an adventurer rather than simply a comedic character. Fleetway in England also began publishing comic book stories featuring the duck. The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company , commonly referred to as simply Disney , is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California . Disney
15340-516: Is thwarted when the Prince suddenly appears in the throne room, having busted out of the dungeon and evading the guards with the help of Goofy (Mickey's peasant friend) and Donald Duck (the Prince's valet). A sudden battle in the throne room (Mickey and the Prince vs. Pete; Goofy and Donald vs. the Weasel Guards) results in Pete's defeat, as Goofy's bumbling antics cause a chandelier to fall on
15576-632: The Alice Comedies and Oswald the Lucky Rabbit cartoons, and later in the Mickey Mouse , Donald Duck , and Goofy cartoons. During World War II , he played the long-suffering sergeant trying to make a soldier out of Donald Duck in a series of animated shorts. Pete's final appearance during this era was The Lone Chipmunks (1954), which was the final installment of a three-part Chip 'n' Dale series. He also appeared in
15812-642: The Disneyland television show (1959). For this latter show, Donald's uncle Ludwig von Drake was created in 1961. Another uncle, Scrooge McDuck , made his first animated appearance on the program in 1967, after decades as a comics-only character. In Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), Donald has a piano duel scene with his Warner Brothers counterpart Daffy Duck voiced by Mel Blanc . Donald has since appeared in several different television shows and (short) animated movies. He played roles in The Prince and
16048-486: The Kingdom Hearts series. In addition to animation, Donald is well known worldwide for his appearances in comics . Donald was most famously drawn by Al Taliaferro , Carl Barks , and Don Rosa . Barks, in particular, is credited for greatly expanding the " Donald Duck universe ", the world in which Donald lives, and creating many additional characters such as Donald's rich uncle Scrooge McDuck . Donald has been
16284-606: The Mickey Mouse comic strip in early 1930, he was announced as "Terrible Tom – The Vile Villain", but this name was never used afterwards. In the April 24, 1930 strip, Mickey refers to him as "Pegleg Pete", and the name sticks. Pete first appeared in the Mickey Mouse comic strip on April 21, 1930, in the story "Mickey Mouse in Death Valley". This appearance is the first time since the Alice Comedies that Pete has
16520-512: The 1964 New York World's Fair before moving to Disneyland in 1967; and Dumbo the Flying Elephant . On November 20, 1964, Walt sold most of WED Enterprise to Walt Disney Productions for $ 3.8 million after being persuaded by Roy, who thought Walt having his own company would cause legal problems. Walt formed a new company called Retlaw to handle his personal business, primarily Disneyland Railroad and Disneyland Monorail . When
16756-453: The ABC television network ; cable television networks such as Disney Channel , ESPN , Freeform , FX , and National Geographic ; publishing, merchandising, music, and theater divisions; direct-to-consumer streaming services such as Disney+ , ESPN+ , Hulu , and Hotstar ; and Disney Experiences , which includes several theme parks, resort hotels, and cruise lines around the world. Disney
16992-524: The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come , who reveals himself by removing his hood and lighting a cigar, which also lights up the engraving on Scrooge's grave, and having only one line ("Why yours , Ebenezer . The richest man in the cemetery!", in response to Scrooge's question about whose grave it was) and laughing cruelly while Scrooge struggles to escape from his open grave as the gates of Hell are opening. In this Disney version of Mark Twain 's The Prince and
17228-626: The Grand Canyon and Yellowstone National Park . That year, the company earned a gross total of $ 24.5 million compared to the $ 11 million the previous year. Disney continued to delegate much of the animation work to the studio's top animators, known as the Nine Old Men . The company produced an average of five films per year throughout the 1950s and 60s. Animated features of this period included Sleeping Beauty (1959), One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961), and The Sword in
17464-528: The Inducks , which is a database about Disney comics worldwide, American, Italian and Danish stories have been reprinted in the following countries. In most of them, publications still continue: Australia, Austria, Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Colombia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark ( Faroe Islands ), Egypt, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Guyana, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Mexico,
17700-560: The Mickey Mouse comic strip introduced an older sister of Pete. Petula is the television host of the cooking show Petula's Pantry . She finds time, however, to seek revenge against Mickey for condemning her "baby brother " to life imprisonment. Pete's twin brother, named Zeke appears in "Double Trouble", by Carl Fallberg and Paul Murry . Better-known and more enduring as characters are two figures created by Romano Scarpa for Italian Disney comics . The first, Trudy Van Tubb ,
17936-493: The Mickey Mouse comic strip, he was a spy for Nazi Germany in the episode Mickey Mouse on a Secret Mission (1943), his motivation being the money. Comic book stories have depicted Pete as being descended from a long line of villains, highwaymen and outlaws. Even historical figures such as Attila the Hun , Blackbeard , Antonio López de Santa Anna , Billy The Kid , and Cao Cao have been included among his ancestors. His mother
18172-625: The Muppets franchise from the Jim Henson Company for $ 75 million, founding Muppets Holding Company, LLC . Following the success of Disney-Pixar films Finding Nemo (2003), which became the second highest-grossing animated film of all time at $ 936 million, and The Incredibles (2004), Pixar looked for a new distributor once its deal with Disney ended in 2004. Disney sold the loss-making Disney Stores chain of 313 stores to Children's Place on October 20. Disney also sold
18408-592: The Tree of Life at its center. Receiving positive reviews, Disney's next animated films Mulan and Disney-Pixar film A Bug's Life were released on June 5 and November 20, 1998. Mulan became the year's sixth-highest-grossing film at $ 304 million, and A Bug's Life was the year's fifth-highest at $ 363 million. In a $ 770-million transaction, on June 18, Disney bought a 43% stake of Internet search engine Infoseek for $ 70 million, also giving it Infoseek-acquired Starwave . Starting web portal Go.com in
18644-541: The 1928 cartoons The Gallopin' Gaucho and Steamboat Willie . While he was seen with two legs in those films, he first appeared with a peg-leg in 1930's The Cactus Kid and would speak for the first time. He would first appear in color in Moving Day (1936), which would drop the peg-leg. In the cartoons of the 1930s, Pete would be Mickey Mouse's nemesis, but would vary in professions, from an all-out outlaw ( Gallopin' Gaucho , The Cactus Kid , Two-Gun Mickey ) to
18880-574: The 1930s, and became one of the best-known Disney songs. Other Silly Symphonies films won the Best Cartoon award from 1931 to 1939, except for 1938, when another Disney film, Ferdinand the Bull , won it. In 1934, Walt Disney announced a feature-length animated film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs . It would be the first cel animated feature and the first animated feature produced in
19116-500: The 1942 Academy Award for Animated Short Film . Der Fuehrer's Face was also the first of two animated short films to be set during the War to win an Oscar, the other being Tom and Jerry 's short film, The Yankee Doodle Mouse . Other shorts from this period include a six film mini-series that follows Donald's life in the U.S. Army from his drafting to his experiences in basic training under Sergeant Pete to his first actual mission as
19352-581: The 1943 comic strip story Mickey Mouse on a Secret Mission , he was an agent of Nazi Germany , working as the henchman of Gestapo spy Von Weasel. In the 1950 comic strip story The Moook Treasure , he is even portrayed as the Beria -like deputy chief of intelligence in a totalitarian state on the other side of the Iron Curtain . His name in Italy has remained "Pietro Gambadilegno" ("Pegleg Peter"), or simply "Gambadilegno" ("Pegleg") even though it has been
19588-442: The 1950s, Disney returned to producing full-length animated feature films, beginning with Cinderella (1950), its first feature in eight years. A critical and commercial success, Cinderella saved Disney after the financial pitfalls of the wartime era; it was its most financially successful film since Snow White , making $ 8 million in its first year. Walt began to reduce his involvement with animation, focusing his attention on
19824-505: The 1960s", starred in 10 Disney films, including That Darn Cat! (1965), The Ugly Dachshund (1966), and The Love Bug (1968). Disney's last child actor of the 1960s was Kurt Russell , who had signed a ten-year contract. He featured in films such as The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes (1969), The Horse in the Gray Flannel Suit (1968) alongside Dean Jones, The Barefoot Executive (1971), and The Strongest Man in
20060-571: The 1980s, primarily for live entertainment offerings in the parks, Disney on Ice shows, and live-action clips for television. Since Nash died, Donald's voice has been performed by Disney animator, Tony Anselmo , who was mentored by Nash for the role. Anselmo's first performance as Donald is heard in a 1986 D-TV special, D-TV Valentine on The Disney Channel , and in his first feature film, Who Framed Roger Rabbit , in 1988. Walt Disney insisted on character consistency and integrity. Continuing in that tradition, in 1988, Roy E. Disney created
20296-538: The 2022 film Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers , where he is seen riding the Magic Carpet and dressed as Prince Ali from the 1992 version of Aladdin while filming a bootleg movie of it. Pete is depicted as a recurring villain within the Kingdom Hearts video game series . He was originally a steamboat captain, with Mickey Mouse as his deck hand (as they were seen in Steamboat Willie ), and later
20532-568: The 50 greatest cartoon characters of all time in 2002, and has earned a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame . He has appeared in more films than any other Disney character. Donald Duck appeared in comedic roles in animated cartoons . Donald's first appearance was in The Wise Little Hen (1934), but it was his second appearance in Orphan's Benefit that same year that introduced him as a temperamental comic foil to Mickey Mouse. Throughout
20768-857: The Bear , Spike the Bee, Mountain Lion Louie, Bootle Beetle, Witch Hazel (in Trick or Treat ), Aracuan Bird and Baby Shelby (in Mickey Mouse Works ). During the Second World War , pro-Allied cartoons saw Donald set against Adolf Hitler and the Nazi regime. In the comics, he is often harassed or on the run from the Beagle Boys , Magica De Spell , Gladstone Gander and Mr. Jones . In
21004-534: The Disney universe, such as Scrooge McDuck 's enemies (the Beagle Boys and Magica De Spell ), Mad Madam Mim , Captain Hook , and the Evil Queen . In various comics stories, his right-hand man is a skinny, bearded criminal named Scuttle . In Italian comics, his girlfriend Trudy (Trudy Van Tubb) is his frequent partner-in-crime. His cousin the " mad scientist " Portis is another, less frequent, accomplice. In
21240-540: The Lucky Rabbit , and Pete was introduced to his new adversary in the sixth Oswald short The Ocean Hop (September 8, 1927). Apparently inspired by Charles Lindbergh , the two enter an aeroplane race across the Atlantic Ocean. By the time producer Charles Mintz moved production of the Oswald series to his own studio, Pete had been established as the most consistently appearing supporting character to Oswald, and
21476-423: The Lucky Rabbit and 26 cartoons featuring the character. On February 6, the company announced it would be merging its ABC Radio networks and 22 stations with Citadel Broadcasting in a $ 2.7 billion deal, though which Disney acquired 52% of television broadcasting company Citadel Communications . The Disney Channel movie High School Musical aired and its soundtrack was certified triple platinum , becoming
21712-471: The Mickey Mouse series, which was made using synchronized sound , becoming the first post-produced sound cartoon. The sound was created using Powers' Cinephone system, which used Lee de Forest 's Phonofilm system. Pat Powers ' company distributed Steamboat Willie , which was an immediate hit. In 1929, the company successfully re-released the two earlier films with synchronized sound. After
21948-509: The NHL team Mighty Ducks in 2005. Roy E. Disney decided to rejoin the company and was given the role of consultant with the title "Director Emeritus". In March 2005, Bob Iger, president of the company, became CEO after Eisner's retirement in September; Iger was officially named head of the company on October 1. Disney's eleventh theme park Hong Kong Disneyland opened on September 12, costing
22184-659: The Netherlands, Norway, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the former Yugoslavia. The character's first appearance in comic strip format was the 1934 Silly Symphony comic strip sequence based on the short The Wise Little Hen . For the next few years, Donald made a few more appearances in Disney-themed strips, and by 1936, he had grown to be one of
22420-769: The Netherlands, and Greece. Most of them are produced and published by the Italian branch of the Walt Disney Company in Italy ( Disney Italy ) and by Egmont in Denmark, Norway, Finland and Sweden. In Germany, the comics are published by Ehapa which has since become part of the Egmont empire. Donald comics have also been produced in The Netherlands and France. Donald also has been appeared in Japanese comics published by Kodansha and Tokyopop . According to
22656-495: The Pauper (1990) and made a cameo appearance in A Goofy Movie (1995). Donald had a rather small part in the animated television series DuckTales . There, Donald joins the U.S. Navy and leaves his nephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie with their Uncle Scrooge , who then has to take care of them. Donald's role in the overall series was fairly limited, as he only ended up appearing in a handful of episodes when home on leave. Some of
22892-531: The Pauper , Pete once again played as the primary villain, this time as the English king's captain of the guard. When he saw that his ruler's life was slowly diminishing, he and his henchmen, a band of anthropomorphic weasels (from The Wind in the Willows ) who now act as the king's guards, seized the opportunity to terrorize England's citizens and rob them of their goods in "favor" of the king. After kicking out
23128-607: The Pigeon Police , first published in December 1981) and starred as Pete's partner-in-crime in eight stories from 1981 to 1984. In France, she and Trudy are presented as the same character, being both renamed Gertrude, despite Trudy being a cat and Chirpy being a canary. In Mickey Mouse Works , Pete has another cousin named Zeke. Zeke is a criminal like Pete, but is wary of his cousin's attempts to double-cross him "Just like old Times". Mickey often uses this distrust to turn
23364-674: The Pirates" (Cheerios Premium #W1, 1947), "Mickey Mouse and the Haunted House" (Cheerios Premium #W4, 1947), "Mickey Mouse at the Rodeo" (Cheerios Premium #X4, 1947), "Mickey Mouse's Helicopter" ( Boys and Girls March of Comics Giveaway #8, 1947) – and came back to the comic books in "Mickey Mouse and the Submarine Pirates" ( Four Color #141, March 1947). With Pete still appearing in comic books, Gottfredson brought him back to
23600-488: The Puzzle (February 15, 1925) as Bootleg Pete. His nickname was a reference to his career of bootlegging alcoholic beverages during Prohibition in the United States (1920-1933). In the cartoon, Pete's activities bring him to a beach in time to see Alice working on a crossword puzzle . Pete happens to be a collector of crossword puzzles, and identifies Alice's puzzle being a rare one missing from his collection. The rest of
23836-540: The South (1946) which would become one of Disney's most controversial films. As a result of its financial problems, Disney began re-releasing its feature films in 1944. In 1948, it began premiering the nature documentary series, True-Life Adventures , which ran until 1960, winning 8 Academy Awards. In 1949, the Walt Disney Music Company was founded to help with profits for merchandising. In
24072-584: The Stone (1963). Sleeping Beauty was a financial loss for the company, and at $ 6 million, had the highest production costs up to that point. One Hundred and One Dalmatians introduced an animation technique using the xerography process to electromagnetically transfer the drawings to animation cels , resulting in a transformed art style for the studio's animated films. In 1956, the Sherman Brothers , Robert and Richard , were asked to produce
24308-461: The Straw – are regularly noted by critics as exemplary films and classics of animation. Animator Ben Sharpsteen also created the classic Mickey, Donald, and Goofy comedy in 1935, with the cartoon Mickey's Service Station . In 1936, Donald was redesigned to be a bit fuller, rounder, and cuter, beginning with the cartoon Moving Day . He also began starring in solo cartoons, the first of which
24544-492: The UK). The character is known for possessing an only partly intelligible voice , developed by Donald's original performer, Clarence Nash . During an interview, Tony Anselmo revealed that "Most people believe that Donald's voice is done squeezing air through the cheek, that is not true. I can't reveal how it's actually done, but it is definitely not done by squeezing air through the cheek. The Hanna-Barbera character ' Yakky Doodle '
24780-559: The US, Tokyo Disneyland , opened in Urayasu . Costing around $ 1.4 billion, construction started in 1979 when Disney and The Oriental Land Company agreed to build a park together. Within its first ten years, the park had over 140 million visitors. After an investment of $ 100 million, on April 18, Disney started a pay-to-watch cable television channel called Disney Channel , a 16-hours-a-day service showing Disney films, twelve programs, and two magazines shows for adults. Although it
25016-526: The US. Its novelty made it a risky venture; Roy tried to persuade Walt not to produce it, arguing it would bankrupt the studio, and while widely anticipated by the public, it was referred to by some critics as "Disney's Folly". Walt directed the animators to take a realistic approach, creating scenes as though they were live action. While making the film, the company created the multiplane camera , consisting of pieces of glass upon which drawings were placed at different distances to create an illusion of depth in
25252-584: The Walt Disney Company, stating the old name only referred to the film industry. With Disney's animation industry declining, the animation department needed its next movie The Great Mouse Detective to be a success. It grossed $ 25 million at the box office, becoming a much-needed financial success. To generate more revenue from merchandising, the company opened its first retail store Disney Store in Glendale in 1987. Because of its success,
25488-613: The Wind ". Pixar's and Disney's first co-release was the first-ever fully computer-generated film Toy Story , which was released on November 19, 1995, to critical acclaim and an end-run gross total of $ 361 million. The film won the Special Achievement Academy Award and was the first animated film to be nominated for Best Original Screenplay . In 1995, Disney announced the $ 19 billion acquisition of television network Capital Cities/ABC Inc., which
25724-526: The World (1975). In late 1959, Walt had an idea to build another park in Palm Beach, Florida , called the City of Tomorrow, a city that would be full of technological improvements. In 1964, the company chose land southwest of Orlando, Florida to build the park and acquired 27,000 acres (10,927 ha). On November 15, 1965, Walt, along with Roy and Florida's governor Haydon Burns , announced plans for
25960-436: The animated film The Jungle Book , which was Disney's most successful film for the next two decades, and the live-action musical The Happiest Millionaire . After Walt's death, the company largely abandoned animation, but made several live-action films. Its animation staff declined from 500 to 125 employees, with the company only hiring 21 people from 1970 to 1977. Disney's first post-Walt animated film The Aristocats
26196-499: The assembly line in which he is screwing in the detonators of various sizes of shells. In the end, he becomes little more than a small part in a faceless machine with no choice but to obey until he falls, suffering a nervous breakdown. Then Donald wakes up to find that his experience was, in fact, a dream. At the end of the short, Donald looks to the Statue of Liberty and the American flag with renewed appreciation. Der Fuehrer's Face won
26432-660: The assumption of $ 2.3 billion in debt. The deal included a 76% stake in Fox Kids Europe , Latin American channel Fox Kids , more than 6,500 episodes from Saban Entertainment 's programming library, and Fox Family Channel . In 2001, Disney's operations had a net loss of $ 158 million after a decline in viewership of the ABC television network, as well as decreased tourism due to the September 11 attacks . Disney earnings in fiscal 2001 were $ 120 million compared with
26668-418: The backgrounds. After United Artists attempted to attain future television rights to the Disney shorts, Walt signed a distribution contract with RKO Radio Pictures on March 2, 1936. Walt Disney Productions exceeded its original budget of $ 150,000 for Snow White by ten times; its production eventually cost the company $ 1.5 million. Snow White took 3 years to make, premiering on December 12, 1937. It
26904-723: The box office. Later, as products of the South American trip, Disney released the features Saludos Amigos (1942) and The Three Caballeros (1944). This was a new strategy of releasing package films , collections of short cartoons grouped to make feature films. Both performed poorly. Disney released more package films through the rest of the decade, including Make Mine Music (1946) , Fun and Fancy Free (1947), Melody Time (1948), and The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949), to try to recover from its financial losses. Disney began producing less-expensive live-action films mixed with animation, beginning with Song of
27140-505: The box office; it won two Academy Awards; Best Original Score and Best Original Song for " Under the Sea ". During the Disney Renaissance, composer Alan Menken and lyricist Howard Ashman wrote several Disney songs until Ashman died in 1991. Together they wrote 6 songs nominated for Academy Awards; with two winning songs—"Under the Sea" and " Beauty and the Beast ". To produce music geared for
27376-416: The box-office-leading Hollywood studio for the first time, with films such as Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), Three Men and a Baby (1987) , and Good Morning, Vietnam (1987). The company's gross revenue went from $ 165 million in 1983 to $ 876 million in 1987, and operating income went from −$ 33 million in 1983 to +130 million in 1987. The studio's net income rose by 66%, along with
27612-530: The brunt of some other character's pestering. Donald is seen repeatedly attacked, harassed, and ridiculed by his nephews, by the chipmunks Chip 'n' Dale , or by other characters such as Humphrey the Bear , Spike the Bee , Bootle Beetle , the Aracuan Bird , Louie the Mountain Lion , or a colony of ants. In effect, much like Bugs Bunny cartoons from Warner Bros , the Disney artists had reversed
27848-558: The captain of the Royal Musketeers until his plans for a coup were foiled by Mickey (as they were seen in The Three Musketeers ). After Disney Castle was built in their world, with Mickey its new king, Pete began causing all sorts of mischief until he was banished to another dimension. He was subsequently freed by Maleficent , to whom he became indebted, and vowed to amass an army of Heartless, creatures born from
28084-485: The character continued to appear in that role in the Oswald films directed and produced by Walter Lantz until 1937, making him essentially the only cartoon character at the time to frequently appear in shorts produced by two rival animation studios. His most notable non-Disney appearance was arguably as a captain in Permanent Wave (September 29, 1929). After leaving the Oswald series, Disney and his team created
28320-464: The chief suspect, due to their feud. However, Donald did later get the charges dismissed, due to lack of evidence. Walt Disney , in his Wonderful World of Color , would sometimes make reference to the rivalry. Walt, one time, had presented Donald with a gigantic birthday cake and commented how it was "even bigger than Mickey's", which pleased Donald. The clip was rebroadcast in November 1984 during
28556-474: The city of Atlantis, where Scrooge has also brought the boys. After some initial conflict Scrooge offers to let them stay with him in his mansion. Donald owns a boat in the series, which is relocated to Scrooge's pool at the conclusion of the series premiere. Later in the series, it is revealed that Donald's anger is the result of a fear that no one can understand him, though with the help of an anger management counselor and while taking care of Huey, Dewey, Louie, he
28792-480: The classic screwball scenario perfected by Walter Lantz and others in which the main character is the instigator of these harassing behaviors, rather than the butt of them. The post-war Donald also starred in educational films , such as Donald in Mathmagic Land and How to Have an Accident at Work (both 1959), and made cameos in various Disney projects, such as The Reluctant Dragon (1941) and
29028-477: The closest approximation of Pete's weight; he is shown to be the same size and weight as Humphrey the Bear . In Mickey's Great Clubhouse Hunt , he is the only character not invited to the Easter Egg Hunt (or so he thinks), so he tries to gatecrash, but messes up the secret word, causing the clubhouse to float away. At the end, he apologizes and is invited to the egg hunt after all. He is also revealed as
29264-584: The coast near Shangchow, China. The Ruptured Duck's pilot survived, with the loss of a leg, and later wrote about the Doolittle Raid in the book, later to be the 1944 movie, Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo . During World War II, Disney cartoons were not allowed to be imported into Occupied Europe owing to their propagandistic content. Since this lost Disney revenue, he decided to create a new audience for his films in South America. He decided to make
29500-436: The comic strip in "Pegleg Pete Reforms" (March 1947). His last appearance in the strip was in "The Isle of Moola-La" (April–October 1952). From then on, he made many more appearances in the comic books. In Mickey Mouse in Death Valley and in several subsequent storylines, Pete was portrayed as Sylvester Shyster's henchman. From 1934, he gradually started to work on his own. Sometimes, Pete also teams up with other bad guys in
29736-557: The company $ 3.5 billion to construct. On January 24, 2006, Disney began talks to acquire Pixar from Steve Jobs for $ 7.4 billion, and Iger appointed Pixar chief creative officer (CCO) John Lasseter and president Edwin Catmull the heads of the Walt Disney Animation Studios . A week later, Disney traded ABC Sports commentator Al Michaels to NBCUniversal , in exchange for the rights to Oswald
29972-407: The company after Eisner refused to promote him to president. After leaving, he co-founded film studio DreamWorks SKG . Wells was later replaced with one of Eisner's friends Michael Ovitz on August 13, 1995. In 1994, Disney wanted to buy one of the major U.S. television networks ABC, NBC, or CBS, which would give the company guaranteed distribution for its programming. Eisner planned to buy NBC but
30208-422: The company announced ImageMovers Digital , which it started in partnership with ImageMovers in 2007, would be closing by 2011. Pete (Disney) Pete (also named Peg Leg Pete , Bad Pete and Black Pete , among other names) is a cartoon character created by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks of The Walt Disney Company . Pete is traditionally depicted as the villainous arch-nemesis of Mickey Mouse , and
30444-528: The company from bankruptcy during the Great Depression . During a promotional event at Macy's, 11,000 Mickey Mouse watches sold in one day; and within two years, two-and-a-half million watches were sold. As Mickey Mouse become a heroic character rather than a mischievous one, Disney needed another character that could produce gags . Disney invited radio presenter Clarence Nash to the animation studio; Disney wanted to use Nash to play Donald Duck ,
30680-519: The company had been doing. To help with the film division, the company started making Saturday-morning cartoons to create new Disney characters for merchandising, and produced films through Touchstone. Under Eisner, Disney became more involved with television, creating Touchstone Television and producing the television sitcom The Golden Girls , which was a hit. The company spent $ 15 million promoting its theme parks, raising visitor numbers by 10%. In 1984, Disney produced The Black Cauldron , then
30916-458: The company is still headquartered. In April 1940, Disney Productions had its initial public offering , with the common stock remaining with Disney and his family. Disney did not want to go public but the company needed the money. Shortly before Snow White's release, work began on the company's next features, Pinocchio and Bambi . Pinocchio was released in February 1940 while Bambi
31152-624: The company opened two more in California, and by 1990, it had 215 throughout the US In 1989, the company garnered $ 411 million in revenue and made a profit of $ 187 million. In 1987, the company signed an agreement with the Government of France to build a resort named Euro Disneyland in Paris; it would consist of two theme parks named Disneyland Park and Walt Disney Studios Park ,
31388-766: The company since 1938, became its president. By June 30, 1973, Disney had over 23,000 employees and a gross revenue of $ 257,751,000 over a nine-month period, compared to the year before when it made $ 220,026,000. In November, Disney released the animated film Robin Hood (1973), which became Disney's biggest international-grossing movie at $ 18 million. Throughout the 1970s, Disney released live-action films such as The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes ' sequel Now You See Him, Now You Don't ; The Love Bug sequels Herbie Rides Again (1974) and Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo (1977); Escape to Witch Mountain (1975); and Freaky Friday (1976). In 1976, Card Walker became CEO of
31624-405: The company started looking for a sponsor for the project, Walt renamed the City of Tomorrow, Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow ( Epcot ). Walt, who had been a heavy smoker since World War I, fell very sick and he died on December 15, 1966, aged 65, of lung cancer , at St. Joseph Hospital across the street from the studio. In 1967, the last two films Walt had worked on were released;
31860-406: The company was being run, calling on Eisner to retire; the same week, board member Stanley Gold retired for the same reasons. Gold and Disney formed the "Save Disney" campaign. In 2004, at the company's annual meeting, the shareholders in a 43% vote voted Eisner out as chairman. On March 4, George J. Mitchell , who was a member of the board, was named as replacement. In April, Disney purchased
32096-489: The company's attention. Disney, which since 1996 had owned a 25% stake in the Major League Baseball team California Angels , bought out the team in 1998 for $ 110 million, renamed it Anaheim Angels and renovated the stadium for $ 100 million. Hercules (1997) was released on June 13, and underperformed compared to earlier films, grossing $ 252 million. On February 24, Disney and Pixar signed
32332-466: The company's next animated film The Hunchback of Notre Dame was released, grossing $ 325 million at the box office. Because Ovitz's management style was different from Eisner's, Ovitz was fired as the company's president in 1996. Disney lost a $ 10.4 million lawsuit in September 1997 to Marsu B.V. over Disney's failure to produce as contracted 13 half-hour Marsupilami cartoon shows. Instead, Disney felt other internal "hot properties" deserved
32568-454: The company's profits were from its theme parks; in 1982, there were 12 million visitors to Walt Disney World, a figure that declined by 5% the following June. On July 9, 1982, Disney released Tron , one of the first films to extensively use computer-generated imagery (CGI). It was a big influence on other CGI movies, though it received mixed reviews. In 1982, the company lost $ 27 million. On April 15, 1983, Disney's first park outside
32804-403: The company, with Tatum remaining chairman until 1980, when Walker replaced him. In 1977, Roy E. Disney , Roy O. Disney's son and the only Disney working for the company, resigned as an executive because of disagreements with company decisions. In 1977, Disney released the successful animated film The Rescuers , which grossed $ 48 million. The live-acton/animated musical Pete's Dragon
33040-620: The cruises, Disney bought Gorda Cay as the line's private island, and spent $ 25 million remodeling it and renaming it Castaway Cay. On July 30, 1998, Disney Magic set sail as the line's first voyage. Marking the end of the Disney Renaissance, Tarzan (1999) was released on June 12, garnering $ 448 million at the box office and critical acclaim; it claimed the Academy Award for Best Original Song for Phil Collins ' " You'll Be in My Heart ". Disney-Pixar film Toy Story 2
33276-526: The deal was canceled because General Electric wanted to keep a majority stake. In 1994, Disney's annual revenue reached $ 10 billion, 48% coming from film, 34% from theme parks, and 18% from merchandising. Disney's total net income was up 25% from the previous year at $ 1.1 billion. Grossing over $ 346 million, Pocahontas was released on June 16, garnering the Academy Awards for Best Musical or Comedy Score and Best Song for " Colors of
33512-491: The deal was completed, resulting in the companies terminating merger negotiations. On November 17, 1989, Disney released The Little Mermaid , which was the start of the Disney Renaissance , a period in which the company released hugely successful and critically acclaimed animated films. The Little Mermaid became the animated film with the highest gross from its initial run and garnered $ 233 million at
33748-481: The department of Disney Character Voices to ensure continuation of character integrity, consistency, and quality in recording methods. Roy named one official voice for all Walt Disney legacy characters. Tony Anselmo was approved by Roy E. Disney as Disney's official voice of Donald Duck. For the TV series Mickey and the Roadster Racers , Donald was voiced by voice actor Daniel Ross . Anselmo continues as
33984-463: The destruction of his property or great personal injury. Pete owns a used-car dealership, and though no longer openly villainous, is still conniving (as well as abrasive, obnoxious, truculent and suspicious) and often exploits his good-hearted and somewhat addled friend Goofy. Often, his schemes backfire, or he feels guilty about his oafish behavior and works to set things right. His wife Peg often attempts to rid Pete of his uncouth attitude, and his son PJ
34220-525: The duck to fly into a squawking fit of anger. This explosive personality would remain with Donald for decades to come. Donald continued to be a hit with audiences. The character began appearing regularly in most Mickey Mouse cartoons. Cartoons from this period, such as the cartoon The Band Concert (1935) – in which Donald repeatedly disrupts the Mickey Mouse Orchestra's rendition of The William Tell Overture by playing Turkey in
34456-423: The early Mickey Mouse comic strips before evolving into the main antagonist. In the Italian comics production he has been given a girlfriend, Trudy , and has come to be the central character in some stories. Pete later made several appearances in television, most extensively in Goof Troop (1992–1993) where he was given a different continuity, having a family and a regular job as a used car salesman and being
34692-482: The end of Symphony Hour , which were due to Donald's antagonistic schemes). However, by the time The Mickey Mouse Club aired on television (after Bugs vs. Daffy cartoons such as the "hunting trilogy" of Rabbit Fire , Rabbit Seasoning , and Duck! Rabbit, Duck! ), it was shown that Donald always wanted the spotlight. One animated short that rivaled the " Mickey Mouse March " song showed Huey, Dewey, and Louie as Boy Scouts and Donald as their Scoutmaster at
34928-503: The end of 1935, beginning with the Silly Symphony short Flowers and Trees (1932). The film was the first full-color cartoon and won the Academy Award for Best Cartoon. In 1933, The Three Little Pigs , another popular Silly Symphony short, was released and also won the Academy Award for Best Cartoon. The song from the film " Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf? ", which was composed by Frank Churchill —who wrote other Silly Symphonies songs—became popular and remained so throughout
35164-414: The end. All this to Edward Elgar 's Pomp and Circumstance Marches 1–4. In an alternate opening for the Disney film Chicken Little (2005), Donald would have made a cameo appearance as "Ducky Lucky". This scene can be found on the Chicken Little DVD. Donald also played an important role in Mickey Mouse Works and House of Mouse . In the latter show, he is the co-owner of Mickey's nightclub. He
35400-473: The episode "Everybody Loves Mickey", Donald's jealousy is explored and even joins sides with Mortimer Mouse. However, Donald has a change of heart when Daisy reminds Donald how Mickey has always been there to support him. Since then, Donald accepted that Mickey was the founder and worked with Mickey as a partner to make the club profitable and successful. Donald has numerous enemies, who range from comical foil to annoying nemesis: Chip 'n' Dale , Pete , Humphrey
35636-438: The featurettes Mickey's Christmas Carol (1983) and The Prince and the Pauper (1990), the feature films A Goofy Movie (1995), An Extremely Goofy Movie (2000), Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas (1999), and Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers (2004), and the short film Get a Horse! (2013). Pete has also made many appearances in Disney comics . He appeared as Sylvester Shyster 's dimwitted sidekick in
35872-491: The film Chips Ahoy (1956), Donald appeared primarily in educational films before eventually returning to theatrical animation in Mickey's Christmas Carol (1983). His last appearance in a theatrical film was in Fantasia 2000 (1999). However, since then Donald has appeared in direct-to-video features such as Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers (2004), television series such as Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (2006–2016), and video games such as QuackShot (1991) and
36108-429: The first Disney Channel film to do so. Disney's 2006 live-action film Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest was Disney's biggest hit to that date and the third-highest-grossing film ever, making $ 1 billion at the box office. On June 28, the company announced it was replacing George Mitchell as chairman with a board members and former CEO of P&G John E. Pepper Jr. . The sequel High School Musical 2
36344-437: The first commercial film to be shown in stereo . However, Fantasia similarly performed poorly at the box office. In 1941, the company experienced a major setback when 300 of its 800 animators, led by one of the top animators Art Babbitt , went on strike for 5 weeks for unionization and higher pay. Walt Disney publicly accused the strikers of being party to a communist conspiracy, and fired many of them, including some of
36580-421: The first one being Toy Story . Dow Jones & Company , wanting to replace 3 companies in its industrial average , chose to add Disney in May 1991, stating Disney "reflects the importance of entertainment and leisure activities in the economy". Disney's next animated film Beauty and the Beast was released on November 13, 1991, and grossed nearly $ 430 million. It was the first animated film to win
36816-458: The first post-produced sound cartoon, and popularized Mickey Mouse , who became Disney's mascot and corporate icon. After becoming a major success by the early 1940s, Disney diversified into live-action films, television, and theme parks in the 1950s. However, following Walt Disney's death in 1966, the company's profits, especially in the animation division , began to decline. In 1984, Disney's shareholders voted Michael Eisner as CEO, who led
37052-583: The first season, over ten million children and five million adults watched it daily; and two million Mickey Mouse ears, which the cast wore, were sold. In December 1954, the five-part miniseries Davy Crockett , premiered as part of Disneyland , starring Fess Parker . According to writer Neal Gabler , "[It] became an overnight national sensation", selling 10 million Crockett coonskin caps. The show's theme song " The Ballad of Davy Crockett " became part of American pop culture, selling 10 million records. Los Angeles Times called it "the greatest merchandising fad
37288-611: The head of Disney after Iger's retirement. However, Chapek was ousted in 2022 and Iger was reinstated as CEO. The company is known for its film studio division, the Walt Disney Studios , which includes Walt Disney Pictures , Walt Disney Animation Studios , Pixar , Marvel Studios , Lucasfilm , 20th Century Studios , 20th Century Animation , and Searchlight Pictures . Disney's other main business units include divisions in television, broadcasting, streaming media, theme park resorts, consumer products, publishing, and international operations. Through these divisions, Disney owns and operates
37524-401: The help of his lieutenant, Clarabelle Cow , and the Beagle Boys. To do so, he must get Princess Minnie out of the way, but it proves to be difficult for him, even when he hires the film's titular trio to be her bodyguards, believing they will not do a good job protecting her. He received his own "bad guy song", using the classic music piece In the Hall of the Mountain King . Pete also made
37760-403: The king passes away, Pete finds the "phony prince" (Mickey), threatening the life of his dog, Pluto, unless Mickey follows his commands. In the village, he soon finds and captures the real Prince and takes him to the castle's dungeon to lock him up. On the day of the Prince's coronation, Pete plots to get Mickey crowned as king, though Mickey is still subservient to Pete's orders. His plan, however,
37996-494: The live action/animation musical film Mary Poppins was released to major commercial success and rapturous critical acclaim, becoming the year's highest-grossing film and winning five Academy Awards, including Best Actress for Julie Andrews as Poppins and Best Song for the Sherman Brothers, who also won Best Score for the film's " Chim Chim Cher-ee ". Throughout the 1960s, Dean Jones , whom The Guardian called "the figure who most represented Walt Disney Productions in
38232-425: The live-action Alice in Wonderland and the Disney-Pixar film Toy Story 3 , both of which grossed a little over $ 1 billion, making them the sixth-and-seventh films to do so; and Toy Story 3 became the first animated film to make over $ 1 billion and the highest-grossing animated film. That year, Disney became the first studio to release two $ 1-billion-dollar-earning films in one calendar year. In 2010,
38468-458: The main characters in the Silly Symphony strip. Ted Osborne was the primary writer of these strips, with Al Taliaferro as his artist. Osborne and Taliaferro also introduced several members of Donald's supporting cast, including his nephews, Huey, Dewey, and Louie . In 1937, an Italian publisher named Mondadori created the first Donald Duck story intended specifically for comic books . The eighteen-page story, written by Federico Pedrocchi ,
38704-508: The mainstream, including music for movie soundtracks, Disney founded the recording label Hollywood Records on January 1, 1990. In September 1990, Disney arranged for financing of up to $ 200 million by a unit of Nomura Securities for Interscope films made for Disney. On October 23, Disney formed Touchwood Pacific Partners , which replaced the Silver Screen Partnership series as the company's movie studios' primary source of funding. Disney's first animated sequel The Rescuers Down Under
38940-407: The most-expensive animated movie at $ 40 million, their first animated film to feature computer-generated imagery, and their first PG-rated animation because of its adult themes. The film was a box-office failure, leading the company to move the animation department from the studio in Burbank to a warehouse in Glendale, California . The film-financing partnership Silver Screen Partners II, which
39176-532: The most-watched live broadcast to that date. While the park's opening day was disastrous (restaurants ran out of food, the Mark Twain Riverboat began to sink, other rides malfunctioned, and the drinking fountains were not working in the 100 °F. (38 °C) heat), the park became a success with 161,657 visitors in its first week and 20,000 visitors a day in its first month. After its first year, 3.6 million people had visited, and after its second year, four million more guests came, making it more popular than
39412-445: The next 4 years, Winkler handed the role of distributing the studio's shorts to her husband, Charles Mintz . In 1927, Mintz asked for a new series, and Disney created his first series of fully animated shorts, starring a character named Oswald the Lucky Rabbit . The series was produced by Winkler Pictures and distributed by Universal Pictures . The Walt Disney Studios completed 26 Oswald shorts. In 1928, Disney and Mintz entered into
39648-557: The next five years through Touchstone Pictures, with Disney getting 10% of the gross. The 2009 film Up garnered Disney $ 735 million at the box office, and the film won Best Animated Feature at the Academy Awards. Later that year, Disney launched a television channel named Disney XD , aimed at older children. The company bought Marvel Entertainment and its assets for $ 4 billion in August, adding Marvel's comic-book characters to its merchandising line-up. In September, Disney partnered with News Corporation and NBCUniversal in
39884-433: The next two decades, Donald appeared in over 150 theatrical films, several of which were recognized at the Academy Awards . In the 1930s, he typically appeared as part of a comic trio with Mickey and Goofy and was given his own film series starting with Don Donald (1937). These films introduced Donald's love interest and permanent girlfriend Daisy Duck and often included his three nephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie . After
40120-444: The official voice of Donald Duck on all Disney projects, Mickey Mouse Funhouse, Mickey Mouse shorts, Legend of the Three Caballeros, Kingdom Hearts III , Disney Parks, attractions, and consumer products. In the 2017 reboot of DuckTales , a young Donald was voiced by Russi Taylor in the episode, "Last Christmas!", using the same voice that she used for Huey, Dewey, and Louie in various Disney media. After Taylor's death in 2019, she
40356-434: The only top animator to remain with the Disney brothers. Disney and Iwerks replaced Oswald with a mouse character originally named Mortimer Mouse , before Disney's wife urged him to change the name to Mickey Mouse . In May 1928, Mickey Mouse debuted in test screenings of the shorts Plane Crazy and The Gallopin' Gaucho . Later that year, the studio produced Steamboat Willie , its first sound film and third short in
40592-422: The original Italian version; English name first used in Walt Disney's Comics and Stories 695, 2008). Portis first appeared in Topolino e il Pippo-lupo (published in English as The Weregoof's Curse ; January 9, 1977). Ed Nofziger is responsible for a third recurring character, an alternative girlfriend of Pete named Chirpy Bird. She first appeared in Topolino e i piccioni "poliziotti" ( Mickey Mouse and
40828-454: The owner of Butch the Bulldog , who is friends with Mickey's dog, Pluto . Pete also appears in Mickey and the Roadster Racers as a recurring character, either competing against Mickey and friends in races or as a civilian in various locales. The series also features various alter egos/relatives of Pete: Pete appears in the 2013 Mickey Mouse cartoon series, and its 2020 spin-off The Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse . In both shows, he
41064-404: The park, whose construction costs totaled $ 17 million. In October, with the success of Disneyland, ABC allowed Disney to produce The Mickey Mouse Club , a variety show for children; the show included a daily Disney cartoon, a children's newsreel, and a talent show. It was presented by a host, and talented children and adults called "Mousketeers" and "Mooseketeers", respectively. After
41300-552: The park. Construction began in July 1954. To finance the construction of Disneyland, Disney sold his home at Smoke Tree Ranch in Palm Springs and the company promoted it with a television series of the same name aired on ABC . The Disneyland television series, which would be the first in a long-running series of successful anthology television programs for the company, was a success and garnered over 50% of viewers in its time slot, along with praise from critics. In August, Walt formed another company Disneyland, Inc. to finance
41536-413: The previous year's $ 920 million. To help reduce costs, Disney announced it would lay off 4,000 employees and close 300–400 Disney stores. After winning the World Series in 2002 , Disney sold the Anaheim Angels for $ 180 million in 2003. In 2003, Disney became the first studio to garner $ 3 billion in a year at the box office. The same year, Roy Disney announced his retirement because of how
41772-496: The reasons why Pete dislikes Goofy so much is that when Pete was a high school quarterback in a big football game, it was Goofy who accidentally caused Pete to fumble the ball and lose the game by hitting him in the face with a pom pom (Goofy was on the cheerleading squad). After Goof Troop , Pete reverted to his evil ways on Mickey Mouse Works , where he frequently bullied the other characters and occasionally kidnapped Minnie Mouse . He would also play an average criminal (i.e.
42008-549: The release of Steamboat Willie at the Colony Theater in New York, Mickey Mouse became an immensely popular character. Disney Brothers Studio made several cartoons featuring Mickey and other characters. In August 1929, the company began making the Silly Symphony series with Columbia Pictures as the distributor, because the Disney brothers felt they were not receiving their share of profits from Powers. Powers ended his contract with Iwerks, who later started his own studio. Carl W. Stalling played an important role in starting
42244-423: The role of the unhelpful friend, along with acquaintance Peter Pig . Burt Gillett brought Donald back in a 1934 Mickey Mouse cartoon, Orphans' Benefit . Donald is one of a number of characters who are giving performances in a benefit for Mickey's Orphans. Donald's act is to recite the poems Mary Had a Little Lamb and Little Boy Blue , but every time he tries, the mischievous orphans heckle him, leading
42480-411: The same year, The Lion King was released and was a massive success, becoming the second-highest-grossing film of all time behind Jurassic Park and the highest-grossing animated film of all time, with a gross total of $ 969 million. It was critically praised and garnered two Academy Awards—Best Score and Best Song for " Can You Feel the Love Tonight ". Soon after its release, Katzenberg left
42716-425: The score to the cartoon on his California Melodies program for the Los Angeles AM radio station KHJ . The main vocals were performed by a trio, the Three Rhythm Kings. Clarence Nash and Florence Gill performed the character voices for this radio treatment, with Nash performing both Donald Duck and Peter Pig, making it the first time the public heard Nash's duck voice. An apocryphal alternative story for how Donald
42952-429: The second theme park in Walt Disney World, with around 10,000 people in attendance during the opening. The park cost over $ 900 million to construct, and consisted of the Future World pavilion and World Showcase representing Mexico, China, Germany, Italy, America, Japan, France, the UK, and Canada; Morocco and Norway were added in 1984 and 1988, respectively. The animation industry continued to decline and 69% of
43188-474: The series' beginning, Della went missing, leading to Donald and Scrooge going their separate ways and not speaking to each other throughout that time. In the present, Donald reluctantly brings Della's sons and his legal charges, the triplets, to Scrooge's mansion so he can babysit them while Donald attends a job interview, though he still has not forgiven Scrooge for their past history. Donald is temporarily hired by Scrooge's rival Flintheart Glomgold and ends up at
43424-409: The series, and composed the music for early films but left the company after Iwerks' departure. In September, theater manager Harry Woodin requested permission to start a Mickey Mouse Club at his theater the Fox Dome to boost attendance. Disney agreed, but David E. Dow started the first-such club at Elsinore Theatre before Woodin could start his. On December 21, the first meeting at Elsinore Theatre
43660-432: The shares, forced out CEO Miller and replaced him with Michael Eisner , a former president of Paramount Pictures , and appointed Frank Wells as president. Eisner's first act was to make it a major film studio, which at the time it was not considered. Eisner appointed Jeffrey Katzenberg as chairman and Roy E. Disney as head of animation. Eisner wanted to produce an animated film every 18 months rather than four years, as
43896-435: The short focuses on his antagonizing Alice and her drunk-on- moonshine cat Julius in order to steal it. The menacing, peg-legged bear villain commanded quite a presence on the screen and was destined to return. In various later Alice Comedies , the character again battled and competed with Alice and Julius, often under the aliases Putrid Pete and Pegleg Pete. Disney needed a villain to place against his new star Oswald
44132-500: The stocks. He offered to buy 49% for $ 1.3 billion or the entire company for $ 2.75 billion. Disney, which had less than $ 10 million, rejected Steinberg's offer and offered to buy all of his stock for $ 326 million. Steinberg agreed, and Disney paid it all with part of a $ 1.3 billion bank loan, putting the company $ 866 million in debt. In 1984, shareholders Roy E. Disney, Sid Bass , Lillian and Diane Disney , and Irwin L. Jacobs —who together owned about 36% of
44368-452: The stories in the series were loosely based on the comics by Carl Barks . Donald made some cameo appearances in Bonkers , before getting his own television show Quack Pack . This series featured a modernized Duck family . Donald was no longer wearing his sailor suit and hat, but a Hawaiian shirt. Huey, Dewey, and Louie now are teenagers, with distinct clothing, voices, and personalities. Daisy Duck has lost her pink dress and bow and has
44604-405: The strip was published in 60 newspapers in the US, and in 20 other countries. After realizing releasing merchandise based on the characters would generate more revenue, a man in New York offered Disney $ 300 for license to put Mickey Mouse on writing tablets he was manufacturing. Disney accepted and Mickey Mouse became the first licensed character. In 1933, Disney asked Kay Kamen , the owner of
44840-579: The studio's 4th animated feature Dumbo (1941) on a cheaper budget, which performed well at the box office, infusing the studio with much needed cash. After US entry into World War II, many of the company's animators were drafted into the army. 500 United States Army soldiers occupied the studio for 8 months to protect a nearby Lockheed aircraft plant. While they were there, the soldiers fixed equipment in large soundstages and converted storage sheds into ammunition depots. The United States Navy asked Disney to produce propaganda films to gain support for
45076-432: The studio's best. Roy unsuccessfully attempted to persuade the company's main distributors to invest in the studio, which could no longer afford to offset production costs with employee layoffs. The anthology film The Reluctant Dragon (1941), ran $ 100,000 short of its production cost, contributing to the studio's financial woes. While negotiations to end the strike were underway, Walt and studio animators embarked on
45312-402: The studio's increasingly diverse portfolio of projects, including live-action films (of which Treasure Island was the studio's first), television and amusement parks . In 1950 the company made its first foray into television when NBC aired " One Hour in Wonderland ", a promotional program for Disney's next animated film, Alice in Wonderland (1951), and sponsored by Coca-Cola . Alice
45548-507: The studio. The final one, in 1923, was entitled Alice's Wonderland and depicted child actress Virginia Davis interacting with animated characters. While Laugh-O-Gram's shorts were popular in Kansas City, the studio went bankrupt in 1923 and Disney moved to Los Angeles, to join his brother Roy O. Disney , who was recovering from tuberculosis . Shortly after Walt's move, New York film distributor Margaret J. Winkler purchased Alice's Wonderland , which began to gain popularity. Disney signed
45784-547: The theme park industry. The company, which has been public since 1940, trades on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) with ticker symbol DIS and has been a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average since 1991. In August 2020, about two-thirds of the stock was owned by large financial institutions. The company celebrated their 100th anniversary on October 16, 2023. In 1921, American animators Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks founded Laugh-O-Gram Studio in Kansas City, Missouri . Iwerks and Disney went on to create short films at
46020-474: The titular party. While Clubhouse has a great deal of fun at Pete's expense (or "expanse", as he is the biggest and fattest character; they use his overalls for a sail in "Mickey and Minnie's Jungle Safari"), it also depicts him in a sympathetic light; he is openly sentimental in "Clarabelle's Clubhouse Carnival", not wanting to part with his "Petey doll" prizes. He even changes Baby Goofy's diaper (willingly) in "Goofy Baby". The Carnival episode also gives us
46256-404: The two against one-another. In Goof Troop , Pete has a wife, Peg, and two children, PJ and Pistol. Alternatively, the comic book story "Mickey's Strange Mission" from Walt Disney's Comics & Stories #245 (1961, by Carl Fallberg and Paul Murry) suggests a cultured ancestry for Pete, giving his full name as the genteel Percy P. Percival . In Mickey Mouse Mixed-Up Adventures , Pete has
46492-456: The video game Donald Duck: Goin' Quackers , he saves Daisy from Merlock . The Italian-produced comic PKNA – Paperinik New Adventures stars Donald Duck as Paperinik , or Duck Avenger , in his battles against new alien enemies: Evronian Empire, founded by emperor Evron . Voice performer Clarence Nash auditioned for Walt Disney Studios when he learned that Disney was looking for people to create animal sounds for his cartoons. Disney
46728-428: The war, and with the studio badly in need of profits, Disney agreed, signing a contract for 20 war-related shorts for $ 90,000. Most of the company's employees worked on the project, which spawned films such as Victory Through Air Power , and others which included some of the company's characters. In August 1942, Disney released its fifth feature film, Bambi, after five years in development, and performed poorly at
46964-402: The war, because Donald was never officially separated from service in either his animated shorts or his comic strips, as part of Donald's 50th Birthday celebrations during the 25th Annual Torrance, California Armed Forces Day Parade, the U.S. Army retired Donald Duck from active duty as a "Buck Sergeant" (i.e. "Buck Sergeant Duck"). Many of Donald's films made after the war recast the duck as
47200-458: The water park Typhoon Lagoon in June 1989; in 2022 it had 1.9 million visitors and was the most popular water park in the world. Also in 1989, Disney signed an agreement-in-principle to acquire The Jim Henson Company from its founder. The deal included Henson's programming library and Muppet characters —excluding the Muppets created for Sesame Street —as well as Henson's personal creative services. Henson, however, died in May 1990 before
47436-466: The weasels, bundle them together, and send them rolling towards Pete. Pete, seeing this, tries to flee but is slowed down by his ripped-down pants (courtesy of the Prince's swashbuckling skills) and tripped by both the Prince and Mickey, causing him to get rolled over and caught on the chandelier, which sends him and his men rolling through a stained glass window and falling out of the castle. Pete later appeared in A Goofy Movie and its sequel where he
47672-416: The while maintaining his underlying menacing nature ( Symphony Hour , How to Be a Detective ). In the animated TV series Mickey Mouse Clubhouse , which is aimed at preschoolers, he is largely a friendly character, although his antics can occasionally prove an annoyance. Pete first appeared in the Walt Disney -produced 1920s Alice Comedies short subject series. He first appeared in Alice Solves
47908-402: The world had ever seen". In June 1955, Disney's 15th animated film Lady and the Tramp was released and performed better at the box office than any other Disney films since Snow White . Disneyland opened on July 17, 1955; it was a major media event, broadcast live on ABC with actors Art Linkletter , Bob Cummings , and Ronald Reagan hosting. It garnered over 90 million viewers, becoming
48144-454: Was Ben Sharpsteen's 1937 cartoon, Don Donald . This short also introduced a love interest of Donald's, Donna Duck , who evolved into Daisy Duck . Donald's nephews, Huey, Dewey and Louie , would make their first animated appearance a year later in the 1938 film, Donald's Nephews , directed by Jack King (they had been earlier introduced in the Donald Duck comic strip by Al Taliaferro , see below). By 1938, most polls showed that Donald
48380-412: Was Walt's dream. EPCOT became less the City of Tomorrow, and more another amusement park. After 18 months of construction at a cost of around $ 400 million, Walt Disney World's first park the Magic Kingdom, along with Disney's Contemporary Resort and Disney's Polynesian Resort , opened on October 1, 1971, with 10,400 visitors. A parade with over 1,000 band members, 4,000 Disney entertainers, and
48616-491: Was a response to other Science fiction films of the era. In September, 12 animators, which was over 15% of the department, resigned. Led by Don Bluth , they left because of a conflict with the training program and the atmosphere, and started their own company Don Bluth Productions . In 1981, Disney released Dumbo to VHS and Alice in Wonderland the following year, leading Disney to eventually release all its films on home media. On July 24, Walt Disney's World on Ice ,
48852-418: Was able to channel it into protective instinct. Donald's first voice was performed by Clarence Nash , who voiced him for 50 years. As long as Nash was alive no one else was permitted to do Donald's voice. In the early 80's someone recorded Donald's voice in a commercial and a few children's records. Nash was upset when he found out and went to Ron Miller. Ron Miller apologized not knowing about it, and sent out
49088-436: Was an immediate critical and commercial success, becoming the highest-grossing film up to that point, grossing $ 8 million (equivalent to $ 169,555,556 in 2023 dollars); after re-releases, it grossed a total of $ 998,440,000 in the US adjusted for inflation. Using the profits from Snow White , Disney financed the construction of a new 51-acre studio complex in Burbank , which the company fully moved into in 1940 and where
49324-422: Was attended by around 1,200 children. On July 24, 1930, Joseph Conley, president of King Features Syndicate , wrote to the Disney studio and asked the company to produce a Mickey Mouse comic strip; production started in November and samples were sent to King Features. On December 16, 1930, the Walt Disney Studios partnership was reorganized as a corporation with the name Walt Disney Productions, Limited, which had
49560-432: Was created came about from a claim that Disney was watching an exhibition cricket match between Australia and the New York West Indians and Australia's star batsman Don Bradman was out for a duck . Disney allegedly used this as inspiration for the character. However, the veracity of this has been doubted by modern historians. Donald Duck's first film appearance was in the 1934 cartoon The Wise Little Hen , which
49796-470: Was expected to do well, the company lost $ 48 million after its first year, with around 916,000 subscribers. In 1983, Walt's son-in-law Ron W. Miller , who had been president since 1978, became its CEO, and Raymond Watson became chairman. Miller wanted the studio to produce more content for mature audiences, and Disney founded film distribution label Touchstone Pictures to produce movies geared toward adults and teenagers in 1984. Splash (1984)
50032-411: Was financially unsuccessful, falling $ 1 million short of the production budget. In February 1953, Disney's next animated film Peter Pan was released to financial success; it was the last Disney film distributed by RKO after Disney ended its contract and created its own distribution company Buena Vista Distribution . According to Walt, he first had the idea of building an amusement park during
50268-544: Was formed in 1952 to design and construct the park. Drawing inspiration from amusement parks in the US and Europe, Walt approached the design of Disneyland with an emphasis on thematic storytelling and cleanliness, innovative approaches for amusement parks of the time. The plan to build the park in Burbank was abandoned when Walt realized 8 acres would not be enough to accomplish his vision. Disney acquired 160 acres (65 ha) of orange groves in Anaheim , southeast of LA in neighboring Orange County , at $ 6,200 per acre to build
50504-413: Was founded on October 16, 1923, by brothers Walt Disney and Roy Oliver Disney as Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio ; it also operated under the names Walt Disney Studio and Walt Disney Productions before changing it to its current name in 1986. In 1928, Disney established itself as a leader in the animation industry with the short film Steamboat Willie . The film used synchronized sound to become
50740-461: Was in "The World of Tomorrow", which ran from July to September 1944. However, Pete continued to appear in the comic books – in 1945, he was the heavy in the Donald Duck comic "Frozen Gold" ( Four Color #62, January 1945) and in Mickey's "The Riddle of the Red Hat" ( Four Color #79, August 1945). He surfaced again in a number of "giveaway" comics in 1946 and 1947 – "Mickey's Christmas Trees" ( Donald and Mickey Merry Christmas , 1946), "Donald and
50976-471: Was introduced in Topolino e la collana Chirikawa (published in English as The Chirikawa Necklace , first published on March 10, 1960). This female partner of Pete was presented as a childhood acquaintance of his: they are even shown as kids kidnapping Mickey when he was a baby. However, Trudy soon became Pete's girlfriend, his partner-in-crime and roommate—whenever they hold residence out of prison, that is. Their relationship seems to have evolved to
51212-411: Was made notorious for his repeated attempts to kidnap Minnie Mouse . Pete is the oldest continuing Disney character, having debuted in the cartoon Alice Solves the Puzzle in 1925 . He originally bore the appearance of an anthropomorphic bear , but with the advent of Mickey in 1928, he was defined as a cat . Pete appeared in 67 animated short films between 1925 and 1954, having been featured in
51448-454: Was more popular than Mickey Mouse. During World War II , Donald appeared in several animated propaganda films , including the 1943 Der Fuehrer's Face . In this cartoon, Donald plays a worker in an artillery factory in "Nutzi Land" ( Nazi Germany ). He struggles with long working hours, very small food rations, and having to salute every time he sees a picture of the Führer ( Adolf Hitler ). These pictures appear in many places, such as on
51684-416: Was not always a true villain, but sometimes just a selfish individual with no evil agenda. In a few episodes, he even makes peace with Scrooge's group in the end. The various Petes appear to be their own characters, as two of them lived in different time periods, and because Scrooge never "recognizes" him, despite any previous encounters he may have had with any of the other Petes. In all of his appearances Pete
51920-411: Was on June 7 at the Radio City Music Hall . Donald's appearance in the cartoon, as created by animator Dick Lundy , is similar to his modern look – the feather and beak colors are the same, as are the blue sailor shirt and hat – but his features are more elongated, his body plumper, his feet smaller, and his sclerae white. Donald's personality is not developed either; in the short, he only fills
52156-459: Was one of the financially successful comedies of the early 1990s, grossing $ 231 million; action film Con Air (1997), which grossed $ 224 million; and the highest-grossing film of 1998 at $ 553 million Armageddon . At Disney World, the company opened Disney's Animal Kingdom , the largest theme park in the world covering 580 acres (230 ha) on Earth Day , April 22, 1998. It had six animal-themed lands, over 2,000 animals, and
52392-402: Was organized in 1985, financed films for Disney with $ 193 million. In January 1987, Silver Screen Partners III began financing movies for Disney with $ 300 million raised by E.F. Hutton , the largest amount raised for a film-financing limited partnership. Silver Screen IV was also set up to finance Disney's studios. In 1986, the company changed its name from Walt Disney Productions to
52628-435: Was part of the Silly Symphonies series of theatrical cartoon shorts. The film's given release date of June 9 is officially recognized by the Walt Disney Company as Donald's birthday, though historian J.B. Kaufman , consultant of The Walt Disney Family Museum , discovered in recent years that The Wise Little Hen was first shown on May 3, 1934, at the Carthay Circle Theater for a benefit program , while its official debut
52864-508: Was particularly impressed with Nash's duck imitation and chose him to voice the new character. Disney came up with Donald's iconic attributes including his short temper and his sailor suit (based on ducks and sailors both being associated with water). While Dick Huemer and Art Babbit were the first to animate Donald, Dick Lundy is credited for developing him as a character. On April 29, 1934, five days before The Wise Little Hen's first theatrical release, bandleader Raymond Paige performed
53100-460: Was postponed. Despite Pinocchio 's critical acclaim (it won the Academy Awards for Best Song and Best Score and was lauded for groundbreaking achievements in animation), the film performed poorly at the box office, due to World War II affecting the international box office. The company's third feature Fantasia (1940) introduced groundbreaking advancements in cinema technology, chiefly Fantasound , an early surround sound system making it
53336-664: Was released in 1970; according to Dave Kehr of Chicago Tribune , "the absence of his [Walt's] hand is evident". The following year, the anti-fascist musical Bedknobs and Broomsticks was released and won the Oscar for Best Special Visual Effects . At the time of Walt's death, Roy was ready to retire but wanted to keep Walt's legacy alive; he became the first CEO and chairman of the company. In May 1967, Roy had legislation passed by Florida's legislatures to grant Disney World its own quasi-government agency in an area called Reedy Creek Improvement District . Roy changed Disney World's name to Walt Disney World to remind people it
53572-422: Was released in 1977, grossing $ 16 million in the US and Canada, but was a disappointment to the company. In 1979, Disney's first PG-rated film and most expensive film to that point at $ 26 million The Black Hole was released, showing Disney could use special effects. It grossed $ 35 million, a disappointment to the company, which thought it would be a hit like Star Wars (1977). The Black Hole
53808-440: Was released in 2007 on Disney Channel and broke several cable rating records. In April 2007, the Muppets Holding Company was moved from Disney Consumer Products to the Walt Disney Studios division and renamed the Muppets Studios to relaunch the division. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End became the highest-grossing film of 2007 at $ 960 million. Disney-Pixar films Ratatouille (2007) and WALL-E (2008) were
54044-531: Was released on November 11, 1992, and grossed $ 504 million, becoming the highest-grossing animated film to that point, and the first animated film to gross a half-billion dollars. It won two Academy Awards—Best Song for " A Whole New World " and Best Score; and "A Whole New World" was the first-and-only Disney song to win the Grammy for Song of the Year . For $ 60 million, Disney broadened its range of mature-audience films by acquiring independent film distributor Miramax Films in 1993. The same year, in
54280-469: Was released on November 13, garnering praise and $ 511 million at the box office. To replace Ovitz, Eisner named ABC network chief Bob Iger Disney's president and chief operating officer in January 2000. In November, Disney sold DIC Entertainment back to Andy Heyward . Disney had another huge success with Pixar when they released Monsters, Inc. in 2001. Later, Disney bought children's cable network Fox Family Worldwide for $ 3 billion and
54516-432: Was released on November 16, 1990, and created using Computer Animation Production System (CAPS), digital software developed by Disney and Pixar —the computer division of Lucasfilm —becoming the first feature film to be entirely created digitally. Although the film struggled in the box office, grossing $ 47 million, it received positive reviews. In 1991, Disney and Pixar agreed to a deal to make three films together,
54752-549: Was replaced by Cristina Vee in the episode, "The First Adventure!". An alternate version of Donald's voice was provided by Don Cheadle in the episode "The Shadow War!", after he takes a pill that makes his voice more intelligible. This voice returned in the episode, "Quack Pack!". While Donald's cartoons continue to be shown in the United States and around the world, his weekly and monthly comic books enjoy their highest profile in many European countries, especially Italy, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland and Iceland, but also Germany,
54988-445: Was still snooty and somewhat cankerous at times; despite this, he is shown in a much lighter tone as these movies are based on Goof Troop . He is Goofy's best friend and always confidant in the films. In the 1999 direct-to-video film Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas Pete appears in the story "A Very Goofy Christmas" as Goofy's neighbor, being responsible for making Max stop believing in Santa Claus by telling him that his existence
55224-424: Was the first film released under the label, and a much-needed success, grossing over $ 6 million in its first week. Disney's first R-rated film Down and Out in Beverly Hills (1986) was released and was another hit, grossing $ 62 million. The following year, Disney's first PG-13 rated film Adventures in Babysitting was released. In 1984, Saul Steinberg attempted to buy out the company, holding 11% of
55460-601: Was then the 2nd-largest corporate takeover in US history. Through the deal, Disney would obtain broadcast network ABC, an 80% majority stake in sports networks ESPN and ESPN 2 , 50% in Lifetime Television , a majority stake of DIC Entertainment , and a 38% minority stake in A&E Television Networks . Following the deal, the company started Radio Disney , a youth-focused radio program on ABC Radio Network , on November 18, 1996. The Walt Disney Company launched its official website disney.com on February 22, 1996, mainly to promote its theme parks and merchandise. On June 19,
55696-426: Was voiced by Will Ryan . In the 1992 TV series Goof Troop , Pete has a family who includes his wife Peg, their two children Pete Junior (or PJ for short) and Pistol, and their dog Chainsaw with Pete taking on a more canine-like appearance. They live next door to Goofy (who went to high school with Pete) and his son Max . In the series, Pete is often the victim of Goofy's clumsiness and mishaps, usually resulting in
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