Disney's 100-year journey from garage studio to media empire

(Reuters) - In 1923, Walt Disney left his failing animation company called Laugh-O-gram Films and used his last $40 to buy a train ticket to join his brother, Roy, in Los Angeles, where they began making animated films out of their uncle's garage. The company they founded would become one of the most influential media and entertainment brands in history.

The Walt Disney Co turns 100 this month.

The company, which Walt Disney famously observed "was all started by a mouse", is now a $156 billion behemoth, spanning theme parks, television networks, films and a streaming service that reaches millions of people across continents.

As it marks its centennial, Disney is navigating a tumultuous period for the industry, marked by the decline of the traditional television business, slumping ad revenue, a movie box office that has yet to return to pre-pandemic levels and video streaming services that for the most part have failed to achieve profitability.

Here's a timeline of Disney's journey from a small studio in Burbank to a global media behemoth:

Oct 1923 Walt Disney and brother Roy Disney start "Disney

Brothers Cartoon Studio" after signing a contract

with distributer M.J. Winkler for "Alice Comedies"

March "Alice's Day at Sea", the first short film of the

1924 Alice Comedies series, is released

Jan 1926 Renames to "Walt Disney Studio"

Sept 1927 All-cartoon series "Oswald the Lucky Rabbit", a

character created by Walt Disney, is released by

the distributor MJ Winkler. However, Disney later

has a falling-out with Winkler after realizing he

doesn't own the rights to his work

May 1928 Popular character Mickey Mouse, co-created with Ub

Iwerks, debuts in relatively unsuccessful cartoon

shows "Plane Crazy" and "The Gallopin' Gaucho"

Nov 1928 Mickey's claim to fame, "Steamboat Willie",

premiers. "Minnie Mouse" is introduced

Dec 1929 Company spun off into four unit - Walt Disney

Productions, Walt Disney Enterprises, Liled Realty

and Investment Co, and the Disney Film Recording Co

1930 Disney merchandising begins, the first Mickey Mouse

book and newspaper comic strip are published

1932 One of the first full-color cartoons, "Flowers and

Trees", a part of the "Silly Symphony" series, wins

the Academy Award for best cartoon

Feb 1935 First Mickey Mouse cartoon in color, "The Band

Concert", is released

Dec 1937 First feature-length animated film, "Snow White and

the Seven Dwarfs", is released

1942 Begins making propaganda and training films for the

American military during the Second World War.

"Saludos Amigos" is created to promote good

relations with South America

Jan 1943 Anti-Nazi film "Der Fuehrer's Face" is released,

wins the Academy Award for Best Cartoon

1945 Releases "Destino", a film made in collaboration

with Spanish artist Salvador Dalí

Dec 1948 Releases "Seal Island", its first documentary film

Oct 1949 Launches Walt Disney Music Company

July 1950 Release of "Treasure Island", first completely

live-action feature.

Dec 1950 Releases its first television show "One Hour in

Wonderland"

Feb 1953 Releases "Peter Pan"

Oct 1954 First airing of "Disneyland" television show

Jul 1955 Opens the first Disneyland theme park

Oct 1955 First program of the "Mickey Mouse Club" television

series airs

Aug 1964 Release of "Mary Poppins"

Dec 1966 Walt Disney dies

Dec 1971 Roy Disney dies

Nov 1976 Card Walker named CEO, replacing Donn Tatum

Nov 1977 Roy E. Disney, son of co-founder Roy O. Disney,

announces his resignation

1982 Coca-Cola launches a series of unsuccessful

attempts to buy Disney

April First Disney Theme Park outside of the United

1983 States opens in Tokyo

1983 Ron W. Miller replaces Walker as CEO; Raymond

Watson becomes chairman

April Disney Channel begins airing

1983

Feb 1984 Launches Touchstone Film label in an attempt to

cater to mature audiences

1984 Walt Disney's nephew Roy Edward Disney and his

business partner, Stanley Gold, remove Ron Miller

as CEO and president and Raymond Watson as

chairman, replacing them with Michael Eisner and

Frank Wells in the aftermath of an unsuccessful

buyout attempt by investor Saul Steinberg.

Eisner became the first person with no personal

connection to Walt Disney to lead Walt Disney

Productions. His first 4 years as CEO would see

Disney surge from last place to first in box-office

receipts among the 8 major studios

1986 Walt Disney Productions renamed The Walt Disney

Company

Feb 1989 Launches Hollywood Pictures label to produce comedy

films aimed towards mature audiences

1989 Launches Hollywood Records, offering recordings

ranging from rap to movie soundtracks

May 1991 Joins the Dow Jones Industrial Average index

Jan 1992 Sets up Disney Publishing Group, which includes

Hyperion Books, Hyperion Books for Children and

Disney Press

April Euro Disneyland, now Disneyland Paris, opens in

1992 Marne-la-Vallée, France

April First show from Disney Theatrical Productions -

1994 Beauty and the Beast - opens on Broadway

April Frank Wells, president of the Walt Disney Co, dies

1994 in a helicopter crash

July 1994 Releases animated musical "The Lion King"

July 1995 Announces acquisition of Capital Cities/ABC Inc for

$19 billion

1996 Acquires Jumbo Pictures

1997 Enters a 10-year distribution partnership with

Pixar

2000 Bob Iger becomes president

Dec 2003 Walt Disney's nephew Roy Disney resigns as chairman

of Feature Animation division and as vice chairman

of the company's board.

In a letter to then-CEO Michael Eisner, he alleged

that the company failed under Eisner during the

previous seven years, citing low attendance at

theme parks and "loss of public trust" among other

reasons.

After his resignation, he helped establish the

website called SaveDisney.com aimed at ousting

Eisner.

May 2003 "Finding Nemo" releases.

July 2003 "Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black

Pearl" releases.

2004 Comcast launches an unsolicited $54.1 billion

takeover offer for Disney in February, triggering a

battle to keep the entertainment company

independent. The cable TV provider abandoned its

bid two months later, after it became apparent that

it was too low to succeed.

March Eisner announces that he would resign that

2005 September, one year before his contract expired.

Oct 2005 Iger becomes CEO

Jan 2006 Announces acquisition of "Toy Story" creator Pixar

Animation Studios in a $7.4 billion deal

Feb 2006 Announces merger of its ABC Radio stations with

Citadel Broadcasting in a $2.7 billion deal

Aug 2009 Announces acquisition of Marvel Entertainment in $4

billion deal

Jan 2012 Acquires controlling interest in Indian

entertainment firm UTV

Oct 2012 Announces acquisition of "Star Wars" producer

Lucasfilm for $4.05 billion

Feb 2013 Achieves $100 billion in market capitalization

Nov 2013 Releases "Frozen", one of its top-grossing animated

movies

Dec 2015 Releases "Star Wars: The Force Awakens", the first

Lucasfilm titled release under the new owner

2016 Shanghai Disney Resort opens, the first Disney

theme park in mainland China

Aug 2017 Acquires majority stake in BAMTech

Dec 2017 Announces a deal to buy 21st Century Fox's film and

television studios, entertainment networks and

international TV businesses, for $52.4 billion.

Comcast launches a competing bid of $65 billion for

Fox, driving up the price Disney paid for the

assets. The acquisition closed in 2019 at a raised

bid of $71.3 billion.

Nov 2019 Launches Disney+ streaming service

Jan 2020 Hong Kong Disneyland closes, as the region deals

with the rising threat of COVID-19. The spread of

the deadly virus causes the company to shutter all

its theme parks. The Disneyland Resort in Anaheim,

California, remained closed for 412 days – the

longest closure in its history

Feb 2020 Elevates parks head Bob Chapek to CEO of Disney

March Disney issues statement opposing Florida's law that

2022 banned classroom discussion of sexuality and gender

identity with younger children. Opponents labeled

the measure the "don't say gay" bill, saying it

would hurt LGBTQ children.

April Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signs a bill that

2022 strips Disney of self-governing authority at its

Orlando-area parks in apparent retaliation for its

opposition to the Parental Rights in Education law.

Aug 2022 Activist investor Third Point discloses stake worth

$1 billion, recommends changes at Disney

Sept 2022 Disney announces truce with activist investor Third

Point, appoints tech and media veteran Carolyn

Everson to the board of directors

Nov 2022 Iger reinstated as CEO, replacing Chapek

Dec 2022 Launches ad-supported subscription tier on its

streaming service Disney+

Jan 2023 Activist investor Nelson Peltz of Trian Fund

Management formally launches a battle for a board

seat at Disney to rescue the entertainment giant

from what he called a "crisis" of overspending on

the streaming business, the purchase of 21st

Century Fox and failed succession planning.

Feb 2023 Announces a sweeping restructuring, including

7,000 job cuts, in an effort to save $5.5 billion

in costs and to make its streaming business

profitable

Feb 2023 Peltz ends his quest for a board seat

April Disney sues Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in

2023 federal court, claiming he was "weaponizing" state

government in retaliation for the company's

criticism of a law that banned classroom discussion

of sexuality and gender identity with younger

children

May 2023 Thousands of film and television writers go on

strike after the Writers Guild of America (WGA)

called its first work stoppage in 15 years after

failing to reach an agreement with major studios

such as Disney and Netflix over payment and limits

on the use of artificial intelligence

July 2023 Hollywood actors go on strike after talks with

studios break down, joining film and television

writers who have been on picket lines since May and

deepening the disruption of scores of shows and

movies

Oct 2023 Activist investor Nelson Peltz's Trian Fund

Management amasses roughly $2.5 billion worth of

shares in Disney, and is expected to ask the

company for multiple board seats

Oct 2023 Hollywood writers union ratifies three-year labor

contract after strike

(Reporting by Arsheeya Bajwa, Zaheer Kachwala, Tanya Jain, Chavi Mehta and Yuvraj Malik in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath)