The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California. Disney was founded on October 16, 1923, by brothers Walt Disney and Roy Oliver Disney as Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio; it also operated under the names Walt Disney Studio and Walt Disney Productions before changing it to its current name in 1986. In 1928, Disney established itself as a leader in the animation industry with the short film Steamboat Willie. The film used synchronized sound to become the first post-produced sound cartoon, and popularized Mickey Mouse, who became Disney's mascot and corporate icon.
Pixar Animation Studios, known simply as Pixar, is an American animation studio based in Emeryville, California, known for its critically and commercially successful computer-animated feature films. Pixar is a subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, a division of Disney Entertainment, a segment of The Walt Disney Company.
Walt Disney Pictures is an American film production company and subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, a division of Disney Entertainment, which is owned by The Walt Disney Company. The studio is the flagship producer of live-action feature films and animation within the Walt Disney Studios unit, and is based at the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California. Animated films produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar Animation Studios are also released under the studio banner. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures distributes and markets the films produced by Walt Disney Pictures.
Toy Story 3 is a 2010 American animated comedy-drama film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. It is the third installment in the Toy Story series and the sequel to Toy Story 2 (1999). It was directed by Lee Unkrich, the editor of the first two films and the co-director of Toy Story 2, produced by Darla K. Anderson, and written by Michael Arndt, while Unkrich wrote the story along with John Lasseter and Andrew Stanton, respectively, director and co-writer of the first two films. The film's ensemble voice cast includes Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Don Rickles, Wallace Shawn, John Ratzenberger, Estelle Harris, Jeff Pidgeon, Jodi Benson, John Morris, Laurie Metcalf, and R. Lee Ermey. In Toy Story 3, Andy Davis, now a teenager, is going to college. Woody, Buzz Lightyear and the other toys are accidentally donated to Sunnyside Daycare, a daycare center, by Andy's mother, and the toys must decide where their loyalties lie.
Walt Disney Animation Studios (WDAS), sometimes shortened to Disney Animation, is an American animation studio that creates animated features and short films for The Walt Disney Company. The studio's current production logo features a scene from its first synchronized sound cartoon, Steamboat Willie (1928). Founded on October 16, 1923, by brothers Walt Disney and Roy O. Disney after the closure of Laugh-O-Gram Studio, it is the longest-running animation studio in the world. It is currently organized as a division of Walt Disney Studios and is headquartered at the Roy E. Disney Animation Building at the Walt Disney Studios lot in Burbank, California. Since its foundation, the studio has produced 63 feature films, with its first release being Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), which is also the first hand drawn animated feature film, and its most recent release was Moana 2 (2024). The studio has also produced hundreds of short films.
The Disney Renaissance was a period from 1989 to 1999 during which Walt Disney Feature Animation returned to producing critically and commercially successful animated films. The ten feature films associated with this period are The Little Mermaid (1989), The Rescuers Down Under (1990), Beauty and the Beast (1991), Aladdin (1992), The Lion King (1994), Pocahontas (1995), The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996), Hercules (1997), Mulan (1998), and Tarzan (1999).
Toy Story is an American media franchise created by Pixar Animation Studios and owned by The Walt Disney Company. It centers on toys that, unknown to humans, are secretly living, sentient creatures. It began in 1995 with the release of the animated feature film of the same name, which focuses on a diverse group of toys featuring a classic cowboy doll named Sheriff Woody and a modern spaceman action figure named Buzz Lightyear.
Paramount Animation is an American animation studio, serving as the animation division and label of Paramount Pictures, a subsidiary of Paramount Global. The division was founded on July 6, 2011, following the box office success of Paramount's own Rango and the end of their distribution deal with DreamWorks Animation in 2012.
Frozen is a 2013 American animated musical fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. Inspired by Hans Christian Andersen's 1844 fairy tale "The Snow Queen", it was directed by Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee and produced by Peter Del Vecho, from a screenplay by Lee, who also conceived the film's story with Buck and Shane Morris. The film stars the voices of Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel, Jonathan Groff, Josh Gad, and Santino Fontana. It follows Anna, the princess of Arendelle, who sets off on a journey with the iceman Kristoff, his reindeer Sven, and the snowman Olaf, to find her estranged sister Elsa after she accidentally traps their kingdom in eternal winter with her icy powers.
Big Hero 6 is a 2014 American animated superhero film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. Loosely based on the Marvel Comics superhero team of the same name created by Man of Action, the film was directed by Don Hall and Chris Williams and produced by Roy Conli, from a script by Jordan Roberts, Robert L. Baird and Daniel Gerson. It stars the voices of Ryan Potter, Scott Adsit, Daniel Henney, T.J. Miller, Jamie Chung, Damon Wayans Jr., Genesis Rodriguez, James Cromwell, Maya Rudolph, and Alan Tudyk. Big Hero 6 tells the story of Hiro Hamada, a young robotics prodigy, and Baymax, the healthcare-provider robot of Hiro's late brother Tadashi Hamada. They form a superhero team to combat a masked antagonist responsible for Tadashi's death.
Jennifer Michelle Lee is an American filmmaker and playwright. She served as the chief creative officer (CCO) of Walt Disney Animation Studios from 2018 to 2024, before stepping down to return to full-time filmmaking. She is best known as the writer and one of the directors of Frozen (2013) and its sequel Frozen 2 (2019), the former of which earned her an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. Besides being the first female CCO of Walt Disney Animation Studios, Lee was the first female director of a Walt Disney Animation Studios feature film and the first female director of two feature films that each earned more than $1 billion in gross box office revenue.
Zootopia is a 2016 American animated buddy cop comedy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It was directed by Byron Howard and Rich Moore, co-directed by Jared Bush, and produced by Clark Spencer, from a screenplay written by Bush and Phil Johnston, and a story by Howard, Moore, Bush, Johnston, Jim Reardon, Josie Trinidad, and Jennifer Lee. The film stars the voices of Ginnifer Goodwin, Jason Bateman, Idris Elba, Jenny Slate, Nate Torrence, Bonnie Hunt, Don Lake, Tommy Chong, J. K. Simmons, Octavia Spencer, Alan Tudyk, and Shakira. The film follows a rookie police officer rabbit and a con artist fox as they work together to uncover a conspiracy involving the disappearance of predators.
Moana is a 2016 American animated musical fantasy adventure film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The film was directed by John Musker and Ron Clements, co-directed by Chris Williams and Don Hall, and produced by Osnat Shurer, from a screenplay written by Jared Bush, and based on a story conceived by Clements, Musker, Williams, Hall, Pamela Ribon, and the writing team of Aaron Kandell and Jordan Kandell.
Frozen 2, stylized as Frozen II, is a 2019 American animated musical fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures as the sequel to Frozen (2013). Produced by Peter Del Vecho, the film was directed by Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee from a screenplay by Lee. The directors co-wrote the story with Marc Smith, Kristen Anderson-Lopez, and Robert Lopez. It stars the voices of Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel, Josh Gad, and Jonathan Groff. Set three years after the events of the first film, Frozen 2 follows sisters Anna and Elsa, and their companions Kristoff, Sven, and Olaf as they travel to an enchanted forest to unravel the origin of Elsa's magical power.
