Your Complete Guide To All the Things Owned by Disney

Madeleine Johnson
Updated
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The Walt Disney Company DIS is one of the biggest media and entertainment corporations in the world. Known best for its popular animated feature films and tourist-favorite theme parks and resorts, Disney has held a major piece of America’s media identity since its founding in 1923.

The corporation has grown enormously since its beginnings as a cartoon studio, amassing well-known film, radio, music, television, and other various assets.

So what companies, exactly, does Disney operate? Here’s a breakdown of the companies by industry that the media conglomerate owns.

Walt Disney Studios

Image via flickreel.com

Walt Disney Studios is home to four major film studios: Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar Animation Studios, Marvel Studios, and Lucasfilm Ltd.

The company’s animation studio has produced an impressive 54 animated feature films, beginning with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937. Its 55th film, titled Zootopia, is expected to be released in March 2016.

Pixar, who received funding from late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs (he was also the studio’s majority shareholder before Disney bought the company in 2006), has produced 15 films.

Together, these films have earned 15 Academy Awards, seven Golden Globe Awards, and 11 Grammy Awards. Seven of these films won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature; Up and Toy Story 3 were even nominated for the prestigious Best Picture Oscar.

In the 2016 Oscar race, Pixar’s critically acclaimed film Inside Out is nominated for both Best Animated Feature and Best Original Screenplay. Overall, it has received 15 Best Picture, 21 Best Original Screenplay and 40 Best Animated Feature nominations from over 50 different organizations and associations.

In 2009, Disney purchased Marvel Studios, which has produced many movies based on Marvel comic book characters: The Avengers, X-Men, Spider-man, and Guardians of the Galaxy are just the beginning in a long list of successful Marvel superhero franchises.

And in 2012, Disney acquired Lucasfilm Ltd, the studio best known for creating the Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises. This past December saw Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the seventh film in the Star Wars franchise, hit theaters. Since its release, the film has grossed an astounding $1.961 billion on a budget of only $200 million. Two more Star Wars films are currently in the works, with Episode 8 currently filming and Episode 9 in production.

The Force Awakens helped Disney beat expectations for its first quarter fiscal 2016, with its studio business up a whopping 46% year-over-year.

Walt Disney Studios also dabbles in music production, controlling the record label Hollywood Records. Notable artists on the label include Queen, Zendaya, and Demi Lovato.

Disney Consumer Products and Interactive Media

Image: Business Wire

The Disney Consumer Products and Interactive Media section of Disney includes primarily the company’s retail store, Disney Store, which has over 400 locations worldwide, as well as brand merchandise from feature films and Disney.com.

It also operates The Muppets Studio, which produces Muppet-themed movies and television specials, and Disney Publishing Worldwide, a subsidiary that publishes the popular young adult franchises Star Darling and Waterfire Saga, as well as Hyperion Books for children.

Walt Disney Parks and Resorts

Walt Disney World Resort, Florida. Image via disneyworld.com

Aside from its animated movies, Disney’s Walt Disney Parks and Resorts are the corporation’s most well-known attractions. Disneyland Park, one of two theme parks built at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California, was Disney’s first major theme park. It first opened back in 1955, and is known for its iconic Sleeping Beauty Castle. The other Anaheim-located park is Disney California, which opened in 2001 and is dedicated to the state of California.  

Arguably Disney’s most popular theme park is Walt Disney World Resort, located in Bay Lake, Florida near Orlando. Attractions include four major parks: Magic Kingdom Park, home to a life-size version of Cinderella’s castle, the company’s most recognizable landmark; Epcot; Hollywood Studios; and Animal Kingdom Park. The resort is also home to two water parks.

Walt Disney Parks and Resorts are not limited to just the U.S. The corporation operates the successful Disneyland Paris, which opened in 1992, as well as Hong Kong Disneyland Resort, which opened its doors in 2005. Disney has plans to open Shanghai Disney Resort in China, with a slated spring 2016 launch. Disney also operates a popular cruise line.

Disney Media Networks

In addition to popular film franchises, Disney owns and operates many television channels that produce popular TV series. Its biggest subsidiary under Disney Media Networks is ABC, which produces hit network shows Scandal and How to Get Away With Murder and its flagship evening news program ABC World News Tonight.

Disney also owns part of Hulu, an Internet streaming video service, along with 21st Century Fox FOXA (under FOX Broadcasting Company) and Comcast, the world's biggest media company in 2015 CMCSA (under NBCUniversal Television Group).

In 1984, the company purchased sports network ESPN, but lately, the network has not been doing Disney any favors. In its recent quarterly earnings report, ESPN posted a decline in profit, due to higher programming costs and subscriber declines, spurring an increase in advertising revenue.

Disney also operates A&E Networks, in a joint venture with Hearst Corporation. Among its popular television channels include The History Channel and A&E, home to Storage Wars, The First 48, Duck Dynasty, and the scripted series Bates Motel. Disney also owns, of course, The Disney Channel.

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