Disney’s history of magic: Timeline
Also in this story
1923 – The Disney Brothers Studio founded
1928 – the film Steamboat Willie is released, featuring Mickey and Minnie Mouse
1937 – Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is released, Disney’s first feature-length film
1940 – Walt Disney Productions issues its first stock
1950 – Treasure Island, Disney’s first live-action feature film, is released
1955 – Disneyland opens in California
1966 – Walt Disney dies
1971 – Walt Disney World Resort opens in Florida
1983 – the Disney Channel begins broadcasting with 18 hours of programming a day
1987 – the first Disney Store opens in California
1992 – Disneyland Paris opens
1994 – Beauty and the Beast, Disney’s first Broadway show, opens
1996 – Disney buys ABC for $19bn
2004 – Disney acquires The Muppets
2005 – Bob Iger becomes president and chief executive of The Walt Disney Company
2005 – Disney licenses TV episodes from Disney Channel for download in iTunes
2006 – High School Musical is the first full-length film to be sold via digital download in iTunes
2006 – Disney buys Pixar Animation Studios for $7.4bn. Films produced subsequently include Toy Story 3, Up, Cars 2 and Monsters University
2009 – Disney buys Marvel Entertainment for $4bn. Characters include Spider-Man and Iron Man
2012 – Disney buys Lucasfilm for $4.06bn
2013 – The Fifth Estate, a film based on the story of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, will be released in the UK on 11 October – made and distributed by Disney/Dreamworks
