Walt Disney Studios
Background
The Walt Disney Studios was founded in 1923 in Los Angeles, when Walt Disney and his brother Roy Disney created and marketed a series of original short films called the Alice Comedies - these were both animated and live action, consisting of a live action girl called Alice going on adventures with her animated cat called Julius. On October 16th of 2021, the company would celebrate its 98th year running.
Currently, the Walt Disney Company is not owned by a single individual due to the company being publicly-traded - the largest shared-holder owning 137 million shares being The Vanguard Group Inc.
They also own a large amount of different companies which include Disney, ABC, ESPN, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, FX, Fox Searchlight Pictures, 20th Century Fox, National Geographic, Star, Hulu. They purchased these in a clever business strategy when they realised that their own movies simply didn't have the effect and magic that they used to - so instead they purchase other companies that they know do the job better than them, and give them the budgets they need to maximise production and distribution of their films, creating a huge profit for both companies.
Disney also owns its own streaming service called Disney +, launched in November 12 2019. Within a year, this platform had already reached over 90 million subscribers, reaching their target around 3 years ahead of schedule, with their profit in 2021 being an estimated 13,7 billion USD.
Box Office Hits
The current top five spots for highest grossing Walt Disney Films are taken up by;
- The Avengers, Endgame - budget of 356 million USD
- Star Wars Ep. VII: The Force Awakens - budget of 306 million USD
- Avengers: Infinity War - budget of 316 million USD
- The Lion King - budget of 260 million USD
- The Avengers - budget of 220 million USD
Due to its massive size and influence as a company; Disney have access to endless famous actors and talented crew members such as directors to choose from. They tend to vary their cast and crews very often, unless of course they are filming part of a franchise such as in the Marvel Cinematic Universe - in which case they have a multitude of contracts with massive A-list actors such as Robert Downey Junior, Chris Hemsworth, Samuel L. Jackson and Scarlett Johansson.
Currently, Walt Disney Animation Studios has produced 59 films, with its first feature film being Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937, being one of the first full length feature film produced with animation - the first in the United States.
They have a long list of movies in production at the moment, including;
- Home Sweet Home Alone, releasing November 12, 2021
- Encanto, releasing November 24th, 2021
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid, releasing December 3rd 2021
- West Side Story, releasing December 10th 2021
Since Walt Disney Studios is such a powerful and influential company, they have a natural advantage to any other film production company and access to a ridiculously large budget, meaning that they can essentially afford to lose a lot of money; they can take risks. This large budget coming from their larger blockbusters, like their films with Marvel Studios, means that they can fund any film they want with a lot of money to lean back on over years of profiting off of merchandising, advertising, their Disney Parks etc...
Here is a video briefly explaining the company's history:
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