-
Start of Disney company
Walt signed a contract with M. J. Winkler to produce a series of Alice Comedies — this date is considered the start of the Disney company first known as The Disney Brothers Studio. -
First Cartoon released
Release of the first Oswald the Lucky Rabbit cartoon, Trolley Troubles. -
First color
Flowers and Trees, first full-color cartoon and first Academy Award winner, is released. -
First feature-length
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Disney's first feature-length animated film, premieres at the Carthay Circle Theatre. -
Live action feature
Treasure Island, Disney's first completely live-action feature, is released. -
Walt dies
Walt Disney, the visionary whose pioneering spirit and inimitable creativity made the impossible possible, turning dreams into reality and building the foundation of The Walt Disney Company of today, dies at age 65. -
Resort opens
Walt Disney World Resort opens with the Magic Kingdom and two hotels near Orlando, Florida. -
co owner dies
Roy O. Disney, who, with younger brother Walt Disney, co-founded the company that is now known as The Walt Disney Company, passes away. -
Disney channel
The Disney Channel begins broadcasting with 18 hours of programming a day. -
First broadway show
Beauty and the Beast, the first Disney Broadway show, opens in New York. -
100th anniversary
December 5, 2001 100th anniversary of Walt Disney’s birth.