91-704: The Walt Disney Studios is a major division of the Disney Entertainment business segment of The Walt Disney Company best known for housing its multifaceted film studio divisions. Founded on October 16, 1923, and based mainly at the namesake studio lot in Burbank, California , it is the seventh-oldest global film studio and the fifth-oldest in the United States, a member of the Motion Picture Association (MPA) and one of
182-559: A Who Framed Roger Rabbit franchise. However, the lackluster success of Disney's Animal Kingdom in the years after its opening, general stagnation in Disney's revenues and various corporate issues and disputes would dampen Eisner's later career. In 1993, Katzenberg had lobbied to become Eisner's second in command, which would have meant moving Frank Wells from president to vice chairman, to which Eisner 'replied that Wells would feel "hurt" in that scenario'. Coincidentally, Wells died in
273-661: A claymation show called Glenn Martin, DDS . He was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 2012. In March 2017, came the revelation that Eisner was interested in a takeover of Portsmouth F.C. , a football club in the south of England that had fallen on hard times after years of poor ownership, before being taken over by its fans. The club released a statement on March 23, 2017, that Eisner and his Tornante Company were in an exclusivity agreement. On August 3, 2017, came confirmation that Eisner and his Tornante Company had completed their purchase for
364-578: A mockumentary style show about his takeover of the Topps Company, called "Back on Topps." In January 2022, he sold Topps to Fanatics following its loss of the Major League Baseball licensing rights. His investment firm has funded the critically acclaimed Netflix series BoJack Horseman . The College of Education at California State University, Northridge is named in his honor. In 2009, Eisner used his own money to produce
455-399: A series of commercial and critical successes . Disney also broadened its adult offerings in film when it acquired Miramax Films in 1993. Under Eisner, Disney acquired many other media sources, including ABC , most of ESPN , Fox Family Channel (now known as Freeform) and The Muppets franchise. The ABC purchase in particular reunited Eisner with his former employer. In the early part of
546-454: A 25-picture distribution deal, with Disney taking a 5% stake in Cinergi stock. After nine films were delivered under the agreement, Cinergi sold its 12-film library (except for Die Hard with a Vengeance , co-financed with 20th Century Fox ) to Disney on November 22, 1997, for $ 20 million in exchange for Disney's Cinergi shares, production advances of $ 35.4 million and other loans. In 1998,
637-547: A film financing limited partnership by E.F. Hutton. Also in 1985, TV production company Witt/Thomas/Harris Productions begin signing a deal with Disney to produce feature films and TV shows. In 1987, the Walt Disney Studios, which until now, had sporadically acquired independently produced films, has plans to aggressively pick up properties for distribution in an effort to become "more of a full-service company", and hired former Circle Films executive Chris Zarpass to
728-537: A first look for publishing. On February 9, 2009, Walt Disney Studios entered a 7-year, 30-picture distribution deal with DreamWorks Studios , by which DreamWorks' films would be released through the Touchstone banner, with Disney collecting a 10 percent distribution fee. The deal also included a $ 175 million co-financing loan by Disney to DreamWorks for production and access to slots in Disney's pay television agreement, then with Starz . In late 2009, Miramax Films ,
819-562: A five-year distribution agreement and an advance to Spyglass. After Caravan's remaining three films were released, it went inactive. By May 2000, Disney had taken an equity stake in Spyglass. Peter Schneider was promoted to studio president in January 1999, while Thomas Schumacher was promoted to president of Walt Disney Feature Animation and Walt Disney Theatrical Productions while both became co-presidents of Disney Theatrical Group . As
910-401: A formerly independent Disney film unit, was transferred to the Walt Disney Studios, until its sale in 2010 to Filmyard Holdings . The Kingdom Comics unit's creatives and executives moved its deal to an independent Monsterfoot Productions. On September 18, 2009, Cook was forced out as chairman, after allegedly having been asked to do so by Iger, for resisting change that Iger felt was needed and
1001-429: A helicopter crash in 1994. When Eisner did not appoint Katzenberg to Wells' now available post, tensions arose between the two that led to Katzenberg's resignation. At the time, Eisner refused to pay Katzenberg his contractual bonus despite Katzenberg's offer to accept $ 60 million as a settlement, much less than was actually owed. Katzenberg was forced to take the issue to court, who ruled in his favor. The final settlement
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#17327919414121092-480: A joint venture, Magic Films, to finance a slate of 32 films, which would not include sequels. Kingdom would provide financing with $ 135 million equity and a $ 370 million revolving credit line. With the exception of High School Musical 3 as a part of a Disney Channel franchise, Kingdom sued Disney in December 2008. In December 2005, Alan Bergman was promoted to president of the Walt Disney Studios. In January 2006,
1183-451: A lack of support by Eisner, and left Disney in December 1996, via a "no fault termination" with a severance package of $ 38 million in cash, and 3 million stock options worth roughly $ 100 million, at the time of Ovitz's departure. The Ovitz episode engendered a long-running derivative suit , which finally concluded in June 2006, almost 10 years later. Chancellor William B. Chandler III of
1274-413: A member of his executive team (which required multiple takes) Eisner "came across as stiff and awkward ... Disney executives ... were pretty much unanimous that the test was a failure....Eisner stubbornly persisted in the face of almost unanimous criticism." Eisner hired Michael Kay, a director of political commercials for then- U.S. Senator Bill Bradley , to help him improve his on-camera performance. As
1365-649: A new TV group. Richard Frank became head of the newly formed Walt Disney Television and Telecommunications (WDTT). Roth moved in from Caravan Pictures to helm the remaining Walt Disney Studios as chairman. Hoberman stepped down as president in January 1995 to take a five-year, multi-film deal for his production company, Mandeville Films . Roth was appointed as chairman of Walt Disney Studios in 1996. In April 1996, due to ongoing post-Disney- CC/ABC merger realignment and retirement of its president, WDTT group's division were reassigned to other groups with most transferred to
1456-538: A new unit with Alan Bergman, Dana Walden , James Pitaro and Christine McCarthy being involved in its creation. Iger reasoned that the move was intended to return "more decision-making back in the hands of our creative teams and rationalizes costs". On February 8, 2023, Disney announced a corporate restructuring that included the establishment of Disney Entertainment, with Bergman and Walden serving as chairman and co-chairman respectively. Operations of Disney Streaming , Disney Platform Distribution and all divisions of
1547-723: A period known as the Disney Renaissance . Eisner additionally broadened the company's media portfolio by leading the acquisitions of ABC , most of ESPN and The Muppets franchise. Eisner also led major investments and expansion of the company's theme parks both domestically and globally, including the openings of Disney-MGM Studios (now Disney's Hollywood Studios) in 1989, Euro Disney (now Disneyland Paris) in 1992, Disney's Animal Kingdom in 1998, Disney's California Adventure Park and Tokyo DisneySea in 2001, Walt Disney Studios Park in 2002 and Hong Kong Disneyland in 2005. Eisner's final years at Disney were tumultuous:
1638-434: A reorganization of its theatrical and animation units to improve resource usage and continued focus on new characters and franchise development. Walt Disney Feature Animation — sans Walt Disney Television Animation — and Buena Vista Theatrical Worldwide were organized under the Walt Disney Studios. In 2003, the studio set a worldwide box office record of $ 3 billion gross. In September 2005, Disney and Kingdom Films formed
1729-434: A result, Eisner was well-recognized by children at the company's theme parks who often asked him for autographs. During the second half of the 1980s and early 1990s, Eisner revitalized Disney. Beginning with the films Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) which was brought to Disney by Jeffrey Katzenberg and The Little Mermaid (1989) a Ron Clements idea that Eisner originally panned, its flagship animation studio enjoyed
1820-539: A seven-year lease from the Fox Corporation . On May 1, 2019, president Alan Bergman was promoted to co-chairman. Horn added the new title of the studio's chief creative officer. Disney announced a round of layoffs for the studio, mostly from 20th Century Fox, in the production and visual effects departments. They also announced on July 31, 2019, that the Fox Research Library will be folded into
1911-465: A shift in its strategy of releasing more Disney-branded (i.e. Walt Disney Pictures) films and fewer Touchstone titles. The move was expected to reduce the Group's work force by approximately 650 positions worldwide. This was a cost-cutting move with its yearly slate would consist of 12 to 15 films. After being transferred to various other division groups since they were acquired in 2004, The Muppets Studio
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#17327919414122002-581: A string of box-office bombs in the early 2000s, public feuds with former associates such as Jeffrey Katzenberg and Steve Jobs , and dissatisfaction with Eisner's management style culminated in the "Save Disney" campaign organized by Roy E. Disney , during which Eisner rapidly lost the confidence of much of Disney's Board of Directors. As a result of the pressure from the campaign, Eisner announced in March 2005 that he would step down as CEO prematurely, handing day-to-day duties to Bob Iger before formally leaving
2093-579: A studio chairman role. Schneider left Walt Disney Studios in June 2001 to form his own theater production company partly funded by Disney. While no successor had been named, Dick Cook, chairman of the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group (distribution); Thomas Schumacher, president of Walt Disney Animation; and Nina Jacobson, president of the Buena Vista Motion Picture Group (production) would take on
2184-497: A surprising and unprecedented 43% of Disney's shareholders, predominantly rallied by former board members Roy Disney and Stanley Gold , withheld their proxies to re-elect Eisner to the board. This vote followed a stunning rebuke of Eisner and his executive and chairman practices by both the Institutional Shareholder Services and Glass, Lewis, a shareholder advisory service. Disney's board then gave
2275-593: Is one of the three major divisions of The Walt Disney Company created on February 8, 2023. It consists of the company's entertainment media and content businesses, including its motion picture film studios, television divisions and streaming services. On November 20, 2022, The Walt Disney Company announced the dismissal of then-CEO Bob Chapek and the return of his formerly-retired predecessor Bob Iger . The following day, Iger announced that Kareem Daniel would step down as chairman of Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution (DMED), which would be later reorganized into
2366-591: Is the namesake studio that encompasses the release of its own live-action productions, in addition to films produced by the company's animation studios , mainly Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar Animation Studios . Marvel Studios —acquired through Disney's purchase of Marvel Entertainment in 2009—produces superhero films based on Marvel Comics characters, including the Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise. Lucasfilm —acquired by Disney in 2012—develops and produces films, including those in
2457-745: Is underrated". In January 2006, Disney's corporate headquarters in Burbank was renamed to Team Disney – The Michael D. Eisner Building in Eisner's honor. On October 7, 2005, Eisner was a guest host for the Charlie Rose talk show. His guests were John Travolta and his ex-boss, Barry Diller . Impressed with Eisner's performance, CNBC President Mark Hoffman hired Eisner in early 2006 to host his own talk show, Conversations with Michael Eisner . The show mostly featured CEOs, political leaders, artists and actors, until its cancellation in 2009. Eisner
2548-543: The Star Trek film franchise, Ordinary People , Raiders of the Lost Ark , An Officer and a Gentleman , Flashdance , Terms of Endearment , Beverly Hills Cop , and Footloose , and TV shows such as Happy Days , Laverne & Shirley , Cheers and Family Ties . Diller left Paramount on September 30, 1984, and, as his protégé, Eisner expected to assume Diller's position as studio chief. When he
2639-576: The Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises. 20th Century Studios and Searchlight Pictures —acquired by Disney in 2019 and together former members of the "Big Six" studios —produce a varied slate of films, with the latter focusing on specialty and prestige films . 20th Century also releases films produced by the animated film unit of 20th Century Animation . Disneynature is an independent film label devoted to producing nature documentary films. Disney Entertainment Disney Entertainment
2730-532: The Delaware Court of Chancery , despite describing Eisner's behavior as falling "far short of what shareholders expect and demand from those entrusted with a fiduciary position...", found in favor of Eisner and the rest of the Disney board because they had not violated the duty of care owed by a corporation's officers and board to its shareholders. Despite his record of success while serving as President, CEO and Chairman of The Walt Disney Company, Eisner
2821-592: The El Capitan Theatre and the Crest by 1989. The Crest was finished first while El Capitan opened with the premiere of The Rocketeer film on June 19, 1991. In September 1990, the Walt Disney Company arranged for financing up to $ 200 million by a unit of Nomura Securities for Interscope films made for Disney. On October 23, 1990, Disney formed Touchwood Pacific Partners I to supplant
Walt Disney Studios (division) - Misplaced Pages Continue
2912-543: The Golden Oak Ranch for feature films and television series productions complimenting its main Burbank studio . By the 1980s, the Walt Disney Company's collection of film units emerged as one of Hollywood's major film studios , mostly due to newly designed efforts in branding strategies, a resurgence of Walt Disney Productions' animated releases and unprecedented box office successes, particularly from Touchstone Pictures . The Walt Disney Productions film division
3003-873: The Silver Screen Partnership series as their movie studios' primary funding source. In 1992, Walt Disney Studios agreed to fund a production company, Caravan Pictures , for exiting 20th Century Fox chairman Joe Roth . In 1993, Miramax Films was purchased for $ 60 million by Disney. On March 30, 1992, Disney Studios agreed to sell KCAL-TV to Pineland, Inc. for a 45% ownership stake in Pineland, so as to have interest in TV stations in both large markets, Los Angeles and New York City, allowing for increased original programming. Instead Pineland agreed to an unsolicited bid in May from Chris-Craft Industries thus ending
3094-411: The "Big Five" major film studios . The Walt Disney Studios has prominent film production companies including Walt Disney Pictures , Walt Disney Animation Studios , Pixar , Marvel Studios , Lucasfilm , 20th Century Studios and Searchlight Pictures . Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures distributes and markets the majority of the content produced by these studios for both theatrical exhibition and
3185-527: The "Fox" name from the studio's 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight Pictures branding. The two studios were renamed as 20th Century Studios and Searchlight Pictures, respectively. Similar to other Disney film units, films produced under the 20th Century Studios began to be distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures in the same year. Searchlight Pictures continues to operate their autonomous distribution unit in North America. In December 2020, it
3276-766: The 1990s, Eisner and his partners set out to plan "The Disney Decade" which was to feature new parks around the world, existing park expansions, new films, and new media investments. While some of the proposals were completed, most were not. Those completed included the Euro Disney Resort (now Disneyland Paris ) which was vastly over budget, and had low attendance and was acknowledged by Eisner to be his "real financial disappointment", Disney-MGM Studios (now Disney's Hollywood Studios ), Disney's California Adventure Park (now Disney California Adventure ), Disney-MGM Studios Paris (eventually opened in 2002 as Walt Disney Studios Park ), and various film projects including
3367-702: The Buena Vista Motion Pictures Group was formed by Roth to unite the Disney, Touchstone and Hollywood film production units with leadership under David Vogel. This was in order to centralize the various production units and to make live-action film production within Disney more cost-efficient. Roth also determined that the studio's year production slate should be cut. In August 1998, Roger Birnbaum, Caravan's co-founder, left at Roth's prompting to co-found Spyglass Entertainment with former Morgan Creek Productions vice chairman and COO Gary Barber , in which Disney gave Caravan's development slate,
3458-462: The CEO-designate. Eisner did not initially promote Iger as a successor until after the board put pressure on Eisner to resign. To reporters and contrary to his actual intentions, Eisner remarked that "I would not have agreed to [leave] if it hadn't been Bob. Because of governance, they wanted a big search and everything. ... And by the end of the search, it was clear that I was able to convince
3549-538: The Seven Dwarfs , premiered in December 1937 and became the highest-grossing film of that time by 1939. In the 1940s, Disney began experimenting with full-length live-action films, with the introduction of hybrid live action-animated films such as The Reluctant Dragon (1941) and Song of the South (1946). That same decade, the studio began producing nature documentaries with the release of Seal Island (1948),
3640-496: The Studio announced the formation of Disneynature , a nature film production label. The Studio launched its Kingdom Comics division in May, led by writer-actor Ahmet Zappa , television executive Harris Katleman and writer-editor Christian Beranek . Kingdom was designed to create new properties for possible film development and re-imagine and redevelop existing movies from the Disney library, with Disney Publishing Worldwide getting
3731-779: The Walt Disney Archives and the Imagineering Research Library by January 2020. The studio announced a 10-year lease of most of the Pinewood Studios near London from the Pinewood Group in September 2019 to start in 2020. In August 2019, Disney became the first studio to have five films to gross over $ 1 billion at the worldwide box office in a single year. Walt Disney Studios became the first major studio to reach $ 10 billion at
Walt Disney Studios (division) - Misplaced Pages Continue
3822-447: The Walt Disney Company and a new Star Wars trilogy was announced. The deal was finalized on December 21. Later on the same day, Disney agreed to have Netflix as its exclusive U.S. television subscription service for first-run Walt Disney Pictures, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar Animation Studios, Marvel Studios and Disneynature feature films starting in 2016, replacing its agreement with Starz that ends in 2015. In April 2013,
3913-439: The Walt Disney Company announced to acquire computer animation leader Pixar . The deal was finalized in May 2006. Pixar executive Ed Catmull would serve as president of both Pixar and Disney feature animation studios. Pixar executive vice president John Lasseter became chief creative officer for Pixar and the feature animated studios as well as helping to develop new Disney theme park attractions. In July 2006, Disney announced
4004-423: The Walt Disney Studios and Disney General Entertainment Content, as well as overseas operations were consolidated into the new segment. On February 9, Rebecca Campbell, chairman of international content and operations, announced that she would step down from her position. Later that month, Walden reorganized the units of Disney General Entertainment Content, placing National Geographic and Onyx Collective under
4095-557: The Walt Disney Studios laid off 150 workers, including staff from its marketing and home entertainment units. In July 2013, Disney acquired all of the distribution rights previously held by Paramount for Marvel Studios' Iron Man , Iron Man 2 , Thor , and Captain America: The First Avenger . In December of that same year, Disney purchased the distribution and marketing rights to future Indiana Jones films from Paramount. Paramount will continue distributing
4186-561: The Walt Disney Studios or CC/ABC. Units returning to the studio were Walt Disney Television, Disney Television Animation , Touchstone Television and Buena Vista Home Entertainment . Buena Vista International - Latin America and two other companies became owners of Patagonik Film Group , an Argentina-based production company, in 1997. In late 1997, Disney bid on CDR 's Epic movie library but lost to PolyGram Filmed Entertainment . Disney's Buena Vista Distribution and Cinergi Pictures had
4277-669: The Walt Disney Studios. Fox's filmed entertainment CEO Stacey Snider exited following the acquisition. Fox executives Emma Watts, Nancy Utley and Stephen Gilula joined the Walt Disney Company on March 20, 2019. On March 21, 2019, Disney announced that the Fox 2000 label would be shut down by the end of the year after releasing its films in production. 20th Century Fox Animation was also repositioned to directly report to chairman Horn. 20th Century Fox and its related studios will keep their headquarters on their studio lot in Century City, thanks to
4368-577: The board—our newly constructed board—that Bob was great." Within Disney, though, Eisner was telling Board members that Iger lacked "stature". On September 30, Eisner resigned both as an executive and as a member of the board of directors, and, severing all formal ties with the company, he waived his contractual rights to perks such as the use of a corporate jet and an office at the company's Burbank headquarters. While Eisner did much to stabilize and promote Disney in his early years as CEO, his performance in later years garnered much criticism. "Beginning with
4459-407: The chairmanship position to board member George Mitchell . However, the board did not immediately remove Eisner as chief executive. On March 13, 2005, Eisner announced that he would step down as CEO one year before his contract expired, and handed off day-to-day duties to Bob Iger , who had been serving as Disney's President and Chief Operating Officer and had just been selected by the directors as
4550-546: The company "had productive discussions with the newly installed leadership at the Los Angeles Times regarding our specific concerns", and had reversed its ban. In December 2017, Disney announced plans to purchase 21st Century Fox (21CF) for $ 52.4 billion. In preparation for integration of 21st Century Fox assets in March 2018, Disney created a new segment named Walt Disney Direct-to-Consumer and International , merging two segments and transferring various units to
4641-644: The company in September 2005. He went on to create the stop-motion animated sitcom Glenn Martin, DDS in 2009. Eisner was born to an affluent, secular Jewish family in Mount Kisco, New York . His mother, Margaret (née Dammann), whose family founded the American Safety Razor Company , was the president of the Irvington Institute, a hospital that treated children with rheumatic fever . His father, Lester Eisner, Jr.,
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#17327919414124732-420: The company's streaming services . In 2019, Disney posted an industry record of $ 13.2 billion at the global box office . The studio owns eight of the top ten highest-grossing films of all time worldwide, and several of the highest-grossing film franchises of all time. Walt Disney Productions began production of their first feature-length animated film in 1934. Taking three years to complete, Snow White and
4823-418: The company's well-publicized distribution disputes with long-time production partner Pixar Animation Studios and its CEO Steve Jobs , with whom Disney had produced such animated feature film hits as Toy Story , A Bug's Life , Monsters, Inc. , and Finding Nemo , which were critically acclaimed and financially successful for both partners. On March 3, 2004, at Disney's annual shareholders' meeting,
4914-499: The company. Eisner brought in Jeffrey Katzenberg as Walt Disney Studios chairman. A couple of years after becoming chairman and CEO, Eisner became the host of The Wonderful World of Disney , making him the public face of the company as well as its top executive. Eisner was not a performer by profession, and studio management did not believe he could do the hosting job. After filming a test video with his wife Jane and
5005-535: The cost to Disney and the vitriol and publicity they generated, are without parallel in American business history. ... Eisner controlled and manipulated the board by keeping members isolated, preferring to communicate one-on-one; selectively doling out information, access and benefits ... and ruthlessly dispatching anyone who dared challenge him." In his book The Ride of a Lifetime , Bob Iger quotes Eisner answering criticism for micro-managing as saying: "Micromanaging
5096-421: The films. In August 2011, Disney fired Marvel Studios ' marketing department in a restructuring. Disney would take over the marketing and distribution of future Marvel titles, beginning with the 2012 release of The Avengers . On April 20, 2012, Ross was fired as studio chairman. Former Warner Bros. chief Alan Horn was named chairman on May 31, 2012. On October 30, 2012, Lucasfilm agreed to be purchased by
5187-537: The first four films and receive "financial participation" from any additional films . In March 2015, Iger expanded the studio's smoking and tobacco prohibition to include all films released by the studio—including PG-13 rated films and below—unless such depictions are historically pertinent. The studio and Shanghai Media Group Pictures signed a multi-year movie development agreement, before the March 6, 2014, announcement, in which Chinese themes would be incorporated into Disney-branded movies. In August 2015, Marvel Studios
5278-665: The first of the True-Life Adventures series and a subsequent Academy Award winner for Best Live-Action Short Film . Walt Disney Productions had its first fully live-action film in 1950 with the release of Treasure Island , considered by Disney to be the official conception for what would eventually evolve into the modern-day Walt Disney Pictures . By 1953, the company ended their agreements with such third-party distributors as RKO Radio Pictures and United Artists and formed their own distribution company, Buena Vista Distribution . Disney Productions purchased in 1959
5369-531: The first studio president, Schneider had supervisory control of all films released by the Disney labels. In July, Walt Disney Television , including Buena Vista Television Productions, were transferred from the Walt Disney Studios to ABC Television Network to merge with ABC's prime-time division, forming the ABC Entertainment Television Group. Roth left to form his own production company in January 2000, with Schneider moving to
5460-467: The formation of Hollywood Pictures division, which would only share marketing and distribution with Touchstone, to fill the void. Walt Disney Television and Touchstone Television were grouped together under Garth Ancier as president of network television for the Walt Disney Studios on April 18, 1989. Late in the 1980s, Disney purchased a controlling stake in one of Pacific Theatres ' chains leading Disney's Buena Vista Theaters and Pacific to renovate
5551-535: The founders of Creative Artists Agency , to be President with minimal involvement from Disney's board of directors (which at the time included Oscar-winning actor Sidney Poitier , the CEO of Hilton Hotels Corporation Stephen Bollenbach , former U.S. Senator George Mitchell , Yale dean Robert A. M. Stern , and Eisner's predecessors Raymond Watson and Card Walker ). Ovitz lasted only 14 months, partly due to outright hostility from Sandy Litvak and Steve Bollenbach and
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#17327919414125642-483: The global box office in December 2019, breaking their previous record in 2016. The studio ended 2019 eventually earning $ 13.2 billion in worldwide box office. Disney achieved this on the strength of Avengers: Endgame , The Lion King , Captain Marvel , Toy Story 4 , Aladdin , Frozen II , and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker all earning over $ 1 billion. On January 17, 2020, Disney announced it would drop
5733-420: The hiring of Eisner as Disney chairman and his plans for the company. In late 1984, Fred Silverman and his InterMedia production company has struck a deal with the Walt Disney Studios. Organized in 1985, Silver Screen Partners II, L.P. financed films for Disney with $ 193 million in funding. In January 1987, Silver Screen III began financing films for Disney with $ 300 million raised, the largest amount raised for
5824-436: The label. Berger was pushed out as a new CEO was appointed for Walt Disney Productions later in 1984, as Michael Eisner brought his own film chief, Jeffrey Katzenberg and film studio president, Richard H. Frank. Touchstone and Hollywood Pictures were formed within that unit on February 15, 1984, and February 1, 1989, respectively. In October 1984, Daily Variety had identified Disney as the seventh major film studio due to
5915-592: The lavish, even reckless spending on Euro Disney, and continuing with the poorly planned and executed foray into the Internet, and perhaps worst of all, the acquisition of the Fox Family cable network - each of which is a more than $ 1 billion mistake - Eisner squandered Disney's assets. ... This is even before considering the exit of Jeffery Katzenberg, the failure to honour his contract, and the hiring and firing of Michael Ovitz, personnel and judgment errors, which, in
6006-415: The national programming director. Eisner moved up the ranks, eventually becoming a senior vice president in charge of programming and development. In 1976, Diller, who had by then moved on to become chairman of Paramount Pictures , recruited Eisner from ABC and made him president and COO of the movie studio. During his tenure at Paramount, the studio produced films such as Saturday Night Fever , Grease ,
6097-600: The new segment, including the Janice Marinelli-led Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment . On June 28, 2018, DisneyToon Studios was shut down. On June 8, 2018, Disney announced Lasseter would be leaving the company by the end of the year, but would take on a consulting role until then. On June 19, 2018, Pete Docter and Jennifer Lee were announced as Lasseter's replacements as chief creative officers of Pixar and Disney Animation, respectively. In December 2018,
6188-510: The newly created position as vice president of production and acquisitions, and acquisitions had taken on new importance for the company, citing two purchases, which are Benji the Hunted , and Ernest Goes to Camp . That year, In June 1987, the Walt Disney Studios decided to restructure their divisions at parent company, which included the financial and administrative divisions of Walt Disney Pictures and Television, appointing four directors to
6279-413: The newly created vice president positions, included were John Covas, Linda Stefansen, Anne Waldeck and Lloyd Wendkos, although Covas became the new vice president of administration for Buena Vista Pictures Distribution , while Linda Stefansen was promoted from director of finance at Walt Disney Pictures ' marketing division to vice president of administration at the same company, Anne Waldeck was moved into
6370-444: The ongoing coronavirus pandemic 's continued economic impact on the company's businesses; it was no longer sustainable for Disney to run a third feature animation studio. The studio's film library and intellectual properties would still be retained by Disney. Disney Music Group was reorganized back under Walt Disney Studios on February 8, 2023. On April 26, 2023, 20th Digital Studio was dissolved. Animation Walt Disney Pictures
6461-455: The oversight of FX Networks chairman John Landgraf and combines Freeform and ABC Entertainment . National Geographic Partners 50% equity holding; joint venture with Hearst Communications Michael Eisner Michael Dammann Eisner (born March 7, 1942) is an American businessman and former chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of The Walt Disney Company from September 1984 to September 2005. Prior to Disney, Eisner
6552-479: The planned business merger with Disney's KCAL. David Hoberman , president of Walt Disney Pictures and Touchstone, was promoted by Katzenberg to president of motion pictures at Walt Disney Studios in April 1994 , while Ricardo Mestres was forced out as president of Hollywood Pictures in exchange for a production deal. On August 24, 1994, with Katzenberg's resignation, Walt Disney Studios was reorganized by spinning off
6643-664: The previous year's poor results. He was then replaced by Disney Channels Worldwide president Rich Ross on October 5, 2009. The Walt Disney Company completed its acquisition of Marvel Entertainment in December 2009 for $ 4.2 billion. Disney closed a deal with Paramount Pictures to transfer worldwide marketing and the distribution rights to Marvel's The Avengers and Iron Man 3 in October 2010. In May 2011, Disney India and UTV Motion Pictures agreed to co-produce Disney-branded family films, with both companies handling creative function and UTV producing, marketing and distributing
6734-408: The responsibilities of Schneider while continuing in their current positions. In February 2002, Cook was named as studio chairman. In January 2002, Buena Vista International - Latin America formed a joint venture production company, Miravista, with Admira, Telefónica 's content production and distribution division, for primarily Brazilian and Mexican film productions. In January 2003, Disney initiated
6825-715: The studio briefly banned reporters of the Los Angeles Times from attending pre-release screenings for its films, after it had published reports on Disney's political influence in the Anaheim area that the company deemed to be "biased and inaccurate". After a boycott effort emerged among several notable critics and publications (including Washington Post blogger Alyssa Rosenberg, The New York Times , and Boston Globe critic Ty Burr ), and several major film critic societies threatened to disqualify Disney films from their year-end awards in retaliation, Disney stated that
6916-519: The studio surpassed $ 7 billion in global box office for the calendar year. It was the second time in history that any studio had surpassed the $ 7 billion mark, after Disney's own industry-record global gross of $ 7.6 billion in 2016. Following the acquisition of 21st Century Fox, Disney announced that the film divisions of Fox Entertainment Group (including 20th Century Fox , Fox Searchlight Pictures , Fox 2000 Pictures , 20th Century Fox Animation , Blue Sky Studios , and Fox Family) would be folded into
7007-480: The top 10 films of the year with a record four of them, The Jungle Book , Finding Dory , Captain America: Civil War , and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story , with opening weekend takes of over $ 100 million. Four films in 2016 grossed over $ 1 billion and another $ 966 million globally. Two studio units' (Pixar and Marvel Studios) combined lifetime library grosses passed $ 10 billion. In November 2017,
7098-403: The vice president administrative position for Buena Vista Home Video , and Lloyd Wendkos was named vice president of administration at Buena Vista International . In April 1988, Touchstone became a unit of Walt Disney Pictures with newly appointed head Ricardo Mestres. With several production companies getting out of film production or closing shop by December 1988, Walt Disney Studios announced
7189-432: Was $ 280 million. Katzenberg went on to found DreamWorks SKG , with partners Steven Spielberg and David Geffen . Eisner recalled that " Roy E. Disney , who did not like him at all — I forget the reason, but Jeffrey probably did not treat him the way that Roy would have wanted to be treated — said to me, 'If you make him the president, I will start a proxy fight.'" Eisner then recruited his friend Michael Ovitz , one of
7280-575: Was a lawyer and regional administrator of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development . His great-grandfather, Sigmund Eisner , established a successful clothing company that was one of the first uniform suppliers to the Boy Scouts of America and his great-grandmother, Bertha Weiss, belonged to an immigrant family that established the town of Red Bank, New Jersey . Eisner has one sister, Margot Freedman. He
7371-438: Was also an executive producer of the show. In March 2007, Eisner's investment firm, The Tornante Company , launched a studio, Vuguru , that produces and distributes videos for the Internet, portable media devices and cell phones. In October 2007, Eisner, through his Tornante Company investment firm, partnered with Madison Dearborn Partners in the acquisition of Topps Company , the bubble-gum and collectibles firm. He produced
7462-443: Was also known for his habit of integrating much of his Paramount films with Disney. These moves were seen as unfavorable, and led to Eisner’s isolation from other Disney executives by 1995. On November 30, 2003, Roy E. Disney , the son and nephew of co-founders Roy O. Disney and Walt Disney , respectively, resigned from his positions as Disney vice chairman and chairman of Walt Disney Feature Animation . His reasons for resigning
7553-441: Was announced that effective January 1, 2021, Bergman would become chairman, overseeing creative, production, marketing, and operations for it, while Horn would remain as the studios' Chief Creative Officer, focusing solely on Disney's creative pipeline, and working in conjunction with Bergman on the studio's creative plans. On February 9, 2021, Disney announced that Blue Sky Studios would be closed effective April 2021, due in part to
7644-514: Was his feeling that there was too much micromanagement within the studio, flops with the ABC television network, the company's growing timidity in the theme park business, the Walt Disney Company turning into a "rapacious, soul-less" company, Eisner's refusal to establish a clear succession plan, as well as the studio releasing a string of box-office movie failures starting in the year 2000, such as The Emperor's New Groove and Treasure Planet , and
7735-634: Was incorporated into the Walt Disney Studios' Special Events Group in 2006. In April 2007, Disney retired the Buena Vista brand. Buena Vista Motion Pictures Group and Buena Vista Pictures Distribution were renamed as Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group and Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures , respectively. Hollywood Pictures was also retired as well. In July 2007, Disney CEO Bob Iger banned the depiction of smoking and tobacco products from Walt Disney Pictures-branded films, as well as limiting such depictions in Touchstone and Miramax films. In April 2008,
7826-535: Was incorporated on April 1, 1983 as Walt Disney Pictures . In April 1983, Richard Berger was hired by Disney CEO Ron W. Miller as film president. Berger diversified the studio's output by green-lighting "more adult, more mature" films targeted toward adult audiences. As a result, Touchstone Films was started by Miller in February 1984 as a label for their films (rated PG and higher) with an expected half of Disney's 6 to 8 films yearly slate would be released under
7917-506: Was integrated into Walt Disney Studios with president Kevin Feige reporting to Disney studio chief Alan Horn instead of Marvel Entertainment CEO Isaac Perlmutter . Perlmutter continued to oversee Marvel Television and Marvel Animation until 2019, in which they were folded back into Marvel Studios. In January 2016, Disney received ownership of all fourteen DreamWorks films it distributed, in compensation for outstanding loans as DreamWorks
8008-504: Was passed over for the job, though, he left to look for work elsewhere and lobbied for the position of CEO of The Walt Disney Company . Following the deaths of founders Walt Disney in 1966, and Roy O. Disney in 1971, The Walt Disney Company narrowly survived several takeover attempts. Its shareholders Sid Bass and Roy E. Disney brought in Eisner (as CEO and chairman of the board) and former Warner Bros. chief Frank Wells (as president) to replace Ron W. Miller in 1984 and strengthen
8099-466: Was president of rival film studio Paramount Pictures from 1976 to 1984, and had brief stints at the major television networks NBC , CBS , and ABC . Eisner's 21-year stint at Disney saw the revitalization of the company's poorly performing animation studios with successful films such as The Little Mermaid (1989), Beauty and the Beast (1991), Aladdin (1992), and The Lion King (1994),
8190-878: Was raised on Park Avenue in Manhattan. He attended the Allen-Stevenson School kindergarten through ninth grade followed by The Lawrenceville School in 10th through his senior year and graduated from Denison University in 1964 with a bachelor's degree in English. He is a member of the Delta Upsilon fraternity and credits much of his success to his time at Keewaydin Canoe Camp for boys in Vermont . After two brief stints at NBC and CBS , Barry Diller at ABC hired Eisner as assistant to
8281-550: Was restructured into Amblin Partners . Later that same year, Disney distributed The Light Between Oceans —the fourteenth and final film in the DreamWorks distribution deal—and also the last film released under Touchstone. On December 19, 2016, Walt Disney Studios became the first major studio to reach $ 7 billion at the global box office. This surpasses Universal's record from 2015 of $ 6.89 billion. Disney did it with five of
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