Disney turns 100: Here are Disney's defining moments during each decade
Disney celebrated its 100th anniversary on Oct. 16, marking a century of magical storytelling—and big business. As storied companies go, the remarkable resilience and regular reinvention of the Mickey Mouse House has helped it stay on course with culture generations. Here’s a look at each decade’s defining moment.
1920s: Steamboat Willie (1928)
Disney’s first character wasn’t actually Mickey Mouse. It was Alice in Wonderland. A young Walt Disney used his first silent film—Alice’s Wonderland (1923), made at Laugh-O-Gram Studio—to successfully pitch for a live action series of called Alice Comedies. But it was toward the end of the decade that the iconic mouse defined Walt Disney Studio before it became the Disney we know today.
1930s: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
Dubbed the “golden age” for Disney, the studio released its first feature length film, breaking new grounds with a longer format film. This breakthrough led to many more feature animation films over the next decade.
1940s: Disney animators strike
Disney completed its move to the Burbank studios in 1940 just before the “war era” (1942-1949) broke out. Embittered by an animators strike lasting four months, Walt Disney considered strikers ungrateful employees.
Notable mention is the release of the musical Fantasia in 1940, another iconic masterpiece, though it wasn’t received well by either critics or viewers at the time.
1950s: Disneyland opens in Anaheim, California (1955)
The Magic Kingdom opened its doors for the first time in 1955 offering five themed “lands” with a total of 20 attractions, costing $17 million to construct.
At the start of the telecast, Walt Disney made his infamous opening dedication speech:
“To all who come to this happy place: welcome. Disneyland is your land. Here age relives fond memories of the past, and here youth may savor the challenge and promise of the future...”
1960s: Walt Disney dies, aged 65 (1966)
On Dec. 15, 1966, Walt Disney died of a heart attack during a surgery at the age of 65. His legacy remained as his expansion plans forged ahead in decades to come.
1970s: Walt Disney World opens in Orlando (1971)
Walt Disney’s brother Roy continued his plans to expand his kingdom to the opening of Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. It opened its doors in 1971 on Oct. 1st, where around 10,000 people paid the $3.50 admission fee, purchased a $4.25 coupon book valid for seven rides, and dined on hot dogs at 45 cents each.
Roy died of a stroke in Dec. 20, 1971, aged 78. He was Disney’s first CEO.
1980s: Disney’s board elected Michael Eisner as CEO (1984)
After the deaths of the Disney founders, the company narrowly survived several takeover attempts. Their board elected Michael Eisner as CEO in hopes to revitalize the company. Disney’s theme parks were wallowing in debt, while the company struggled to find its foothold in live action, and its bread-and-butter animation division failed to launch any big titles. As vultures circled for a hostile takeover, they found a young Hollywood executive who stepped up to the challenge. Eisner became the face of Disney and continued his reign until 2005.
1990s: Disney and Pixar collaboration
A busy decade under Eisner: In 1996, Disney bought Capital Cities/ABC—whose president and COO was a man by the name of Bob Iger—for $19 billion. In that same year, Disney released its first collaboration with Pixar Animation Studios, Toy Story, which would rake in $361.5 million in worldwide ticket sales.
Pixar was originally a division of Lucasfilm with Apple’s Steve Jobs as its majority shareholder. It became a publicly traded company in November 29, 1995.
After Michael Eisner resigned before his contract was up and Bob Iger took over as CEO, several major acquisitions took Disney from major player to juggernaut. Iger was able to mend some broken fences caused by years of turbulent relations between the company and Steve Jobs, ultimately acquiring Pixar Animation Studios in 2006, then going on to buy comic book giant Marvel Entertainment in 2009.
2010s: Disney buys Lucasfilm and 21st Century Fox (2019)
Bob Iger wasn’t finished yet. Under his leadership, Disney purchased Lucasfilm in 2012, allowing for the immediate progress of the long-awaited next installment in the Star Wars franchise. Lest the significance of Marvel and Lucasfilm be understated, take a look at the top performing Disney films over the past 100 years, adjusted for inflation.
Then, in 2019, Iger negotiated the purchase of the entertainment assets of 21st Century Fox for $71.3 billion. This all helped fortify Disney’s catalogue and launch its streaming platform Disney+ in November 12, 2019.
2020s: Bob Iger resigns then returns as CEO (2020, 2022)
The Mickey Mouse house saw a few shakeups at the start of this decade. In 2020, Bob Iger stepped down as CEO, handing the reigns to Bob Chapek. Chapek was later forced out and replaced by Bob Iger again in 2022.
Iger’s contract has been extended another two years, reaffirming that he is this decade’s face of Disney.