On October 16, 2023, The Walt Disney Company celebrated its 100th birthday. What started with a few short cartoons has grown into one of the largest entertainment conglomerates in the world. Disney has produced a plethora of live-action and animated movies and television shows, comics, books, and games over that time. The company has Disney-themed parks all over the world, annual fan club events, cruise lines, and in recent years, it has purchased other entertainment juggernauts like Star Wars and Marvel Entertainment.
Here we present the second half of the timeline, starting with the opening of Disney’s iconic theme park and ending with its centennial celebration. (The first half of the timeline is also available.)
October 1, 1971
Walt Disney World opens in Orlando, Florida.
October 25, 1971
The Magic Kingdom opens at Walt Disney World.
December 20, 1971
Roy Disney dies of a cerebral hemorrhage. Don Tatum becomes company chairman and Card Walker president.
November 13, 1978
Mickey Mouse becomes the first animated character to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
October 1980
The first Disney home video titles are released.
July 9, 1982
Release of Tron, the cult classic live action film that introduces many to the concepts of computer animation.
October 1, 1982
EPCOT (Experimental Proto-type Community of Tomorrow) Center opens at Walt Disney World.
April 15, 1983
Tokyo Disneyland opens. The park is operated under license from Disney by the Oriental Land Company.
April 18, 1983
The Disney Channel begins broadcasting. Initially a pay-TV network, it later becomes part of most cable companies’ basic package.
March 9, 1984
Release of Splash, the first release by Disney subsidiary Touchstone Pictures.
September 24, 1984
Months of internal unrest at Disney end as the company formally announces Michael Eisner’s election as chairman and CEO, with Frank Wells as company president.
October 1984
Jeffrey Katzenberg takes over the position of Walt Disney studio chairman.
Summer 1985
Uncle Scrooge Goes to Disneyland and Disneyland Birthday Party are the first American Disney comics published under the Gladstone imprint. Gladstone, managed by Bruce Hamilton and Russ Cochran, published from 1985-1990 and again from 1993-1998. In addition to reprinting Barks, Gottfredson, and foreign comics material, Gladstone produced its own stories, introducing the work of Don Rosa and William Van Horn. Byron Erickson and John Clark are the editorial team behind the new developments.
July 24, 1985
The Black Cauldron dark fantasy film is released. It is Disney’s 25th animated feature film and their first to be rated PG.
February 2, 1986
The Disney Sunday Movie begins airing on television.
February 6, 1986
Walt Disney Productions changes its name to The Walt Disney Company.
January 9, 1987
Star Tour, a Star Wars experience built in collaboration with George Lucas, opens at Disneyland.
April 7, 1987
Gladstone’s Uncle Scrooge #219 (cover date July 1987) ships to retailers. The 32-page comic book features the first authorized Disney work of writer/artist Don Rosa, today renowned as one of the foremost Scrooge delineators.
September 18, 1987
The animated TV series DuckTales is launched with the full-length prime time TV movie Treasure of the Golden Suns. Starring Scrooge McDuck, the series also introduces Launchpad McQuack.
June 13, 1988
Creation of the Magazines Division of the Walt Disney Company Italia SpA, which directly manages the publishing business for Italy. Topolino #1702 is the first comic book to be published by WD Italia.
June 24, 1988
Touchstone Pictures releases Who Framed Roger Rabbit, a live-action/animated feature largely credited with a general revival of interest in golden age cartoons. Roger Rabbit will also be treated as a major Disney star for several years, although disagreements with co-owner Amblin Entertainment will later cause the character to drop from sight.
May 1, 1989
Disney-MGM Studios opens at Walt Disney World.
November 15, 1989
Release of The Little Mermaid. Introducing Ariel and Sebastian, the film marks the start of what some have called Disney’s “renaissance” with a new guard of animators creating a series of highly popular feature films.
June 1990
Expanding the Overseas Program into a domestic publishing arrangement, the Walt Disney Company begins publishing American comic books in-house. The effort will ultimately be unsuccessful.
November 22, 1991
Release of Beauty and the Beast.
April 12, 1992
Official opening date of Euro Disney Resort in Paris, France. The park will later be renamed Disneyland Paris.
November 25, 1992
Release of Aladdin.
June 30, 1993
The Walt Disney Company purchases Miramax Film Corp.
April 3, 1994
Frank Wells dies in a helicopter accident. Michael Eisner assumes Wells’ duties along with his own.
May 20, 1994
The Return of Jafar, an Aladdin sequel, is released direct to video. While not the first sequel to a Disney feature, Jafar is the first in what will become a long series of such films released as direct to video projects, eventually including Cinderella II (2002) and Cinderella III (2007).
June 24, 1994
Release of The Lion King.
August 1994
Jeffrey Katzenberg resigns from the company. He will go on to co-found Dreamworks SKG, one of Disney’s modern day animation rivals.
August 18, 1994
Egmont Serieforlaget’s Anders And & Co. 34/1994 features Fantasy Island, written and drawn by Byron Erickson and César Ferioli. The comic story begins a new tradition of modern Mickey comics in the spirit of the 1930s classics.
July 31, 1995
Disney purchases Capital Cities/ABC.
November 24, 1995
Disney/Pixar’s Toy Story, the first computer-animated feature film, is released. It introduces Woody the cowboy doll and Buzz Lightyear.
February 22, 1996
Disney launches Disney.com.
June 1997
Disney Cruise Lines opens for business as the Disney Magic touring ship is launched.
November 13, 1997
The Lion King stage show opens on Broadway.
April 22, 1998
Animal Kingdom opens at Walt Disney World.
July 30, 1998
Disney Magic cruise ship departs on its inaugural voyage.
December 17, 1999
Fantasia 2000 premieres at Carnegie Hall.
May 19, 2000
Release of Dinosaur, Disney’s first self-produced computer-animated feature. While heavily merchandised, the film is not particularly successful.
April 2001
The comic book W.I.T.C.H. begins publication through the Walt Disney Company Italia SpA. Created by Elisabetta Gnone, Alessandro Barbucci and Barbara Canepa, the W.I.T.C.H. character franchise will go on to become one of Disney’s most profitable in Europe.
September 4, 2001
Opening of Tokyo DisneySea. The park is operated under license from Disney by the Oriental Land Company.
March 28, 2002
Release of Kingdom Hearts video game. Developed by Square Co. Ltd., the game combines Disney characters with Square’s Final Fantasy characters in a sword and sorcery adventure. The game’s success has led to sequels and merchandising spinoffs. In the world of Kingdom Hearts, different Disney worlds exist in a dimension ruled by King Mickey; human boy Sora teams up with Court Wizard Donald and Captain Goofy for various quests.
June 7, 2002
Premiere of long-running Kim Possible TV cartoon series. The title character, a long-suffering high school age crime fighter, is paired with her pal (and later boyfriend) Ron Stoppable. Other characters include Ron’s pet rat Rufus; boy genius Wade; and villains such as Dr. Drakken, Shego and the Mexican tycoon Señor Señor, Senior.
June 21, 2002
Release of Lilo and Stitch. The mischievous Stitch, “Experiment 626” of mad alien scientist Jumba Jookiba, becomes a breakout character, with numerous TV and video follow-ups over the years.
May 5, 2003
Donald Duck Adventures Free Comic Book Day is the first American Disney comic book published under the Gemstone imprint.
May 30, 2003
Release of Pixar’s Finding Nemo.
July 9, 2003
Release of Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl. Based on the famous Disney theme park rides, the Oscar-nominated live-action film starring Johnny Depp is a runaway success, leading to sequels and a merchandising juggernaut.
April 2004
Disney acquires the Muppet properties.
November 5, 2004
Release of Pixar’s The Incredibles.
September 12, 2005
Hong Kong Disneyland opens.
September 30, 2005
Michael Eisner steps down as CEO of the Walt Disney Company. He is replaced by Robert Iger, former corporate president and COO.
October 30, 2005
Release of Chicken Little, Disney’s second self-produced computer-animated feature. The heavily merchandised film also introduces the characters Runt of the Litter (pig), Abby Mallard (duck), and Fish Out of Water.
January 20, 2006
High School Musical airs, breaking all Disney Channel records and the soundtrack goes platinum.
February 9, 2006
Disney announces agreement with NBC/Universal in which Disney acquires character rights to its version of Oswald Rabbit, together with film rights to Walt Disney’s 26 Oswald cartoons. Not included in the deal are rights to any non-Disney produced Oswald cartoons or products.
May 5, 2006
Disney acquired Pixar Animation Studios for $7.4 billion and celebrated by making the fast moving Cars.
November 3, 2007
The Little Mermaid stage adaptation begins showing previews on Broadway.
February 9, 2009
Disney enters a deal with DreamWorks to distribute the latter’s live-action films.
February 13, 2009
Disney XD, the channel aimed at children ages 6 to 11 launches.
April 22, 2009
Disneynature launches with the release of Earth.
May 29, 2009
Disney and Pixar release Up, which will win two Oscars.
September 10-13, 2009
The first D23 Expo is held in Anaheim, California.
December 31, 2009
Disney completes the acquisition of Marvel Entertainment for $4 billion. The purchase begins a lucrative partnership that has resulted in dozens of successful MCU films and TV series (most of which are exclusively on Disney+).
October 23, 2011
Once Upon a Time, the TV series that brings fairy tale characters into the real world, debuts on ABC.
March 13, 2012
Bob Iger is named the Walt Disney Company’s Chairman of the Board and serves as corporate CEO.
May 4, 2012
The Avengers arrives in theaters, bringing together Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Black Widow, Hulk, and Hawkeye for the first time on the big screen.
October 30, 2012
Disney bought Lucasfilm for $4 billion, adding the Star Wars franchise to their immense collection of characters and properties. The relationship results in five films, and multiple live-action and animated TV series (many of which air on Disney+).
June 21, 2013
The Jungle Book stage show debuts at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago.
September 24, 2013
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., the first MCU-related TV show, premieres on ABC.
October 12-14, 2013
The first international D23 Expo is held in Japan.
November 27, 2013
Frozen is released in theaters. The movie is largely considered the best Disney animated feature since the studio’s renaissance era and won an Oscar and Grammy for “Let It Go.”
December 20, 2013
Saving Mr. Banks, the biopic about the development of Mary Poppins (starring Tom Hanks as Walt Disney), arrives in theaters.
February 25, 2014
Disney Movies Anywhere launches on iTunes.
March 13, 2015
The live-action Cinderella is released, beginning a string of live-action remakes/reimaginings of their classic animated movies.
July 17, 2015
Disneyland celebrates 60th anniversary.
December 18, 2015
Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the first in a new trilogy and first Lucasfilm title released by The Walt Disney Company, arrives in theaters. It features the returns of Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford, and Mark Hamill as General Leia, Han Solo, and Luke Skywalker.
January 22, 2018
Minnie Mouse receives a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
June 30, 2018
Play Disney Parks app launches, giving park attendees an interactive mobile gaming experience.
July 27, 2018
Walt Disney purchases 21st Century Fox, which includes Twentieth Century Fox’s fil studio and subsidiaries, a stake in Hulu, FX Networks, Fox Sports, National Geographic Partners, and others.
November 18, 2018
Mickey and Minnie Mouse celebrate their 90th anniversary.
April 26, 2019
Avengers: Endgame, the culmination of the MCU’s Infinity Saga, premieres in theaters. The movie becomes the second highest grossing film of all time with a $2.799 billion global box office total.
August 29, 2019
Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge opens at Walt Disney World’s Hollywood Studios.
November 12, 2019
Disney+ streaming service debuts, featuring content from Disney’s entire catalog of film and television series. The service also provides original series, including The Mandalorian, a Star Wars series set after the first trilogy following a lone bounty hunter who becomes the guardian of the powerful (and adorable) child, Grogu.
December 20, 2019
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker arrives in theaters. It is the end of the third trilogy, and the ninth and final film in the Skywalker Saga.
February 25, 2020
Bob Chapek is appointed Chief Executive Officer of the Walt Disney Company.
January 15, 2021
WandaVision, starring Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany, becomes the first original MCU-based series on Disney+.
June 4, 2021
The Avengers Campus opens at Disney California Adventure Park.
December 31, 2021
Susan E. Arnold becomes the Chairwoman of the Board of the Walt Disney Company.
May 25, 2022
Obi-Wan Kenobi premieres on Disney+, seeing Ewan McGregor’s return to the character he played in the Star Wars prequel trilogy.
May 26, 2023
The Little Mermaid live-action movie arrives in theaters and breaks the top 10 biggest box office successes of the year.
July 28, 2023
Haunted Mansion, featuring an all-star cast with Rosario Dawson, LaKeith Stanfield, Jamie Lee Curtis, Danny DeVito, Tiffany Haddish, Owen Wilson, Jared Leto, and Winona Ryder, debuts in theaters.
October 16, 2023
The Walt Disney Company celebrates its 100th anniversary.
