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Introduction

The Walt Disney Company is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate that is headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was founded on October 16, 1923, by brothers Walt Disney and Roy Disney as Disney Brothers Studio; it also operated under the names Walt Disney Studio and Walt Disney Productions before changing its name to the Walt Disney Company 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 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 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 Marvel Studios, Lucasfilm, and 20th Century Studios. In 2020, Bob Chapek became 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 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 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+, Star+, ESPN+, Hulu, and Hotstar; and Disney Experiences, which includes several theme parks, resort hotels, and cruise lines around the world. (Full article...)

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Captain Jack Sparrow is a fictional character and the central protagonist of the Pirates of the Caribbean film series created by screenwriters Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio, portrayed by Johnny Depp. He is first introduced in the film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003). He later appears in the sequels Dead Man's Chest (2006), At World's End (2007), and On Stranger Tides (2011). Jack Sparrow was originally conceived as a supporting character. He was brought to life by the actor Johnny Depp, who based his characterization on The Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards and cartoon character Pepé Le Pew. The series Pirates of the Caribbean was inspired by a Disney theme park ride, and in 2006, when the ride was revamped, the character of Jack Sparrow was introduced to it. Jack Sparrow is also the subject of a children's book series, Pirates of the Caribbean: Jack Sparrow, which chronicles his teenage years and the character has also appeared in numerous video games. In the context of the films, Sparrow is one of the Brethren Court, the Pirate Lords of the Seven Seas. He can be treacherous and survives mostly by using wit and negotiation rather than weapons or force, preferring to flee most dangerous situations and fight only when necessary. Sparrow is introduced seeking to regain his ship, the Black Pearl, from his mutinous first mate, Hector Barbossa, and attempts to escape his blood debt to the legendary Davy Jones while battling the East India Trading Company.

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Credit: Napnet

The pyramid outside Mexico (Epcot)

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These are images of Disneyland, Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, The Walt Disney Company, and Walt Disney in their respective articles.

Image 1Main Street, U.S.A.
(2010) (from Disneyland)
Image 2Overlay of Walt Disney's original 1966 plans for Disney World and the proposed EPCOT city (orange) and contemporary situation (blue) (from Walt Disney World)
Image 3Disneyland aerial view, 1963, which includes the new Melody Land Theater at the top of the photo (from Disneyland)
Image 4Disney's promotional logo for its centennial. (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 5New Orleans Square
(the Haunted Mansion in the background and Fantasmic! viewing area in the foreground in 2010) (from Disneyland)
Image 6Disney drawing Goofy for a group of girls in Argentina, 1941 (from Walt Disney)
Image 7Disney family at Schiphol Airport (1951) (from Walt Disney)
Image 8Walt Disney (center) showing Orange County officials plans for Disneyland's layout, December 1954 (from Disneyland)
Image 9The 2018 version of The Walt Disney World logo. (from Walt Disney World)
Image 10Roy E. Disney, Roy O. Disney's son, was head of the animation department until 2003. (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 11Hollywood Studios' park icon, the Chinese Theatre (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 12Walt, Florida Governor W. Haydon Burns, and Roy announcing the plans for Disney World in November 1965 (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 13Tomorrowland
(Space Mountain in 2010) (from Disneyland)
Image 14Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge
(Star Wars: Millennium Falcon – Smugglers Run in 2019) (from Disneyland)
Image 15Critter Country
(Splash Mountain; 1989–2023) (from Disneyland)
Image 16Adventureland entrance
(2006) (from Disneyland)
Image 17The Sherman Brothers, who composed many of the Disney songs throughout the 1960s (pictured in 2002) (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 18Monorail Red travels over the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage in Tomorrowland. (from Disneyland)
Image 19Fantasyland
(Peter Pan's Flight in the foreground and the Matterhorn Bobsleds in the background) (from Disneyland)
Image 20Grave of Walt Disney at Forest Lawn, Glendale (from Walt Disney)
Image 21Walt (center) showing the plans of Disneyland to officials from Orange County in December 1954 (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 22Disney in 1954 (from Walt Disney)
Image 23An aerial view of Disneyland in 2004 (from Disneyland)
Image 24Michael Eisner replaced Ron Miller as CEO. (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 25One of four arches welcoming guests to the resort (from Walt Disney World)
Image 26Disney Magic at Port of Venice (from Disney Cruise Line)
Image 27Jeffrey Katzenberg was chairman of Walt Disney Studios from 1984 to 1995. (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 28A Disney Cruise Line bus which takes guest to and from Terminal 8 from Orlando International Airport; as well as around Walt Disney World. (from Disney Cruise Line)
Image 29The original logo of Walt Disney World from 1971 to the mid-1990s (from Walt Disney World)
Image 30Disneyland fireworks from Sleeping Beauty Castle (from Disneyland)
Image 31The original animation building at Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California, which they fully moved into in 1940 (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 32Walt Disney (left) with his brother Roy O. Disney (right) and then Governor of Florida W. Haydon Burns (center) on November 15, 1965, publicly announcing the creation of Disney World (from Walt Disney World)
Image 33Main Street at Disneyland, as seen from a horseless carriage (from Disneyland)
Image 34Frontierland
(Big Thunder Mountain Railroad in 2008) (from Disneyland)
Image 35The "Happiest Homecoming on Earth" celebrated the 50th anniversary of the theme park. Sleeping Beauty Castle was altered for the occasion. (from Disneyland)
Image 36Roy O. Disney inspecting design plans on-site in Florida (from Walt Disney World)
Image 37Disney bought The Muppets from the Jim Henson Company in 2004. (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 38Disney shows the plans of Disneyland to officials from Orange County in December 1954 (from Walt Disney)
Image 39The Walt Disney World Monorail System provides free transport across the resort.
Image 40Disneyland Railroad Engine 2 at the New Orleans Square station. (from Disneyland)
Image 41View of Disney Springs (from Walt Disney World)
Image 42Walt Disney's business envelope featured a self-portrait, c. 1921 (from Walt Disney)
Image 43A portrait of Disney with cartoon representations of different nationalities on a 6-cent U.S. postage stamp, 1968 (from Walt Disney)
Image 44One of Disney's first animated characters Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, which Disney lost the rights to until 2006. (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 45Wedding Pavilion at the Seven Seas Lagoon (from Walt Disney World)
Image 46Disney security vehicle, picture taken July 2, 2009 in front of Epcot (from Walt Disney World)
Image 47Walt (right) dressed as a gaucho next to Donald Duck in Argentina while on the company's South American goodwill trip in 1941. (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 48Disney's childhood home (from Walt Disney)
Image 49Alice and characters from her movie host "Disneyland Musical Chairs" at Coca-Cola Refreshment Corner, accompanied by a ragtime pianist. (from Disneyland)
Image 50Team Disney – The Michael D. Eisner Building, the main building at the Walt Disney Studios, which houses the offices of Disney's CEO and several other senior corporate officials. (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 51Mickey's Toontown
(pictured in 2010) (from Disneyland)
Image 52Fantasmic! finale on July 4, 2010 (from Disneyland)
Image 53Disney's video streaming subscription service Disney+ was launched in 2019, which has a total of over 135 million subscriptions as of June 2022. (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 54The 1996 version of The Walt Disney World logo. (from Walt Disney World)
Image 55Bob Iger became CEO of Disney in 2005, expanding the company's properties (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 56Map of the resort as of May 2015 (from Walt Disney World)
Image 57Excerpt of Steamboat Willie (1928), the first Mickey Mouse sound cartoon. (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 58Walt Disney introduces each of the seven dwarfs in a scene from the original 1937 Snow White theatrical trailer (from Walt Disney)
Image 59An aerial shot of Walt Disney World in 1982 (from Walt Disney World)

Selected biography

Steve Ross Purcell is an American cartoonist, animator and game designer. He is most widely known as the creator of Sam & Max, an independent comic book series about a pair of anthropomorphic animal vigilantes and private investigators, for which Purcell received an Eisner Award in 2007. The series has since grown to incorporate an animated television series and several video games. A graduate of the California College of Arts and Craft, Purcell began his career creating comic strips for the college newsletter. He performed freelance work for Marvel Comics and Fishwrap Productions before publishing his first Sam & Max comic in 1987. Purcell was hired by LucasArts as an artist and animator in 1988, working on several titles within the company's adventure games era. Purcell collaborated with Nelvana to create a Sam & Max television series in 1997, and briefly worked as an animator for Industrial Light & Magic after leaving LucasArts. He is currently employed in the story development department at Pixar. His main work for the animation studio has been with the 2006 film Cars and spin-off materials such as shorts and video games. Despite his employment with Pixar, Purcell has continued to work with comic books and came together with Telltale Games in 2005 to bring about new series of Sam & Max video games.

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Did you know (auto-generated)

... that Disney once created a political advertisement for Dwight D. Eisenhower (featured)?
... that before Foster City was built on Brewer Island, unsuccessful proposals included a hog farm, two military air bases, two civilian airports, and an entertainment complex larger than Disneyland?
... that John Oliver dared Disney to sue him over his version of Mickey Mouse?
... that Scarlett Johansson filed a lawsuit against The Walt Disney Company alleging that the release strategy for Black Widow breached her contract?
... that vaccine coverage at schools around the Disneyland Resort was too low for herd immunity when measles broke out in 2014?
... that before the Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza Manhattan opened, its workers were sent to Walt Disney World for training?

Selected quote

Who me? Oh, no! I've got a belly ache!

— Donald Duck, The Wise Little Hen (1934)

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More Did you know...

...that Joyce Carlson, designer of the Disney theme park attraction "It's a Small World", was the first female employee to achieve a fifty-year service record with Disney?

...that child actor Joey Pollari was 15 years old when he appeared in the Disney XD film, Skyrunners?

...that Newsies is based on the true story of the Newsboys Strike of 1899 in New York City.
...that in May 1992, entertainment magazine The Hollywood Reporter reported that about 25% of Euro Disney's workforce — approximately 3,000 men and women — had resigned their jobs because of unacceptable working conditions.
...that Walt Disney was an ambulance driver during World War One?

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