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The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney, is an American diversified
multinational mass media corporation headquartered in Walt Disney Studios,
Burbank, California. It is the largest media conglomerate in the world in terms
of revenue.3 Disney was founded on October 16, 1923, by Walt and Roy Disney as
the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, and established itself as a leader in the
American animation industry before diversifying into live-action film
production, television, and travel. Taking on its current name in 1986, it
expanded its existing operations and also started divisions focused upon
theater, radio, music, publishing, and online media. In addition, Disney has
created new divisions of the company in order to market more mature content than
it typically associates with its flagship family-oriented brands.
The company
is best known for the products of its film studio, the Walt Disney Studios, and
today one of the largest and best-known studios in Hollywood. Disney also owns
and operates the ABC broadcast television network; cable television networks
such as Disney Channel, ESPN, A+E Networks, and ABC Family; publishing,
merchandising, and theatre divisions; and owns and licenses 14 theme parks
around the world. It also has a successful music division. The company has been
a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average since May 6, 1991. An early and
well-known cartoon creation of the company, Mickey Mouse, is a primary symbol of
The Walt Disney Company.
On August 31, 2009, Disney announced a deal to
acquire Marvel Entertainment, Inc. for $4.24 billion.34 The deal was finalized
on December 31, 2009 in which Disney acquired full ownership on the company.35
Disney has stated that their acquisition of Marvel Entertainment will not affect
Marvel's products, neither will the nature of any Marvel characters be
transformed.36
In October 2009, Disney Channel president Rich Ross, hired by
Iger, replaced Dick Cook as chairman of the company and, in November, began
restructuring the company to focus more on family friendly products. Later in
January 2010, Disney decided to shut down Miramax after downsizing Touchstone,
but one month later, they began selling the Miramax brand and its 700-title film
library. On March 12, ImageMovers Digital, Robert Zemeckis's company which
Disney had bought in 2007, was shut down. In April 2010, Lyric Street, Disney's
country music label in Nashville, was shut down. In May 2010, the company sold
the Power Rangers brand, as well as its 700-episode library, back to Haim Saban.
In June, the company canceled Jerry Bruckheimer's film project Killing Rommel.37
In January 2011, Disney Interactive Studios was downsized.38 In November, two
ABC stations were sold.39 With the release of Tangled in 2010, Ed Catmull said
that the "princess" genre of films was taking a hiatus until "someone has a
fresh take on it бн but we don't have any other musicals or fairytales lined
up."40 He explained that they were looking to get away from the princess era due
to the changes in audience composition and preference.citation needed However in
the Facebook page, Ed Catmull stated that this was just a rumor.41
In April
2011, Disney broke ground on Shanghai Disney Resort. Costing $4.4 billion, the
resort is slated to open in 2015.42 Later, in August 2011, Bob Iger stated on a
conference call that after the success of the Pixar and Marvel purchases, he and
the Walt Disney Company are looking to "buy either new characters or businesses
that are capable of creating great characters and great stories."43 Later, in
early February 2012, Disney completed its acquisition of UTV Software
Communications, expanding their market further into India and Asia.
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