Walt Disney Pictures

Walt Disney Pictures
Type	Division of Walt Disney Studios
Founded	1953
Formerly	Buena Vista Film Distribution (1953-1959) Buena Vista Distribution (1959-1983)
Headquarters	Burbank, California (United States)
Products	Motion pictures

Walt Disney Pictures started off as Walt Disney Productions on October 16, 1923. Since then, third-party distributor RKO Radio Pictures released Disney movies from 1936 to 1954, before Buena Vista Distribution Company was founded. The name "Walt Disney Productions" first appeared in the opening credits as of 1968, and then at the end of each film as of 1971. This is due to the fact that Walt Disney himself died in 1966.

History

First generation (1937-1945)

At the beginning of time, Walt Disney's films were distributed by RKO Radio Pictures. The first seven animated films were released in theaters as follows, followed by re-releases of the first two films:

Title	Release date
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs	December 21, 1937
Pinocchio	February 7, 1940
Fantasia	November 13, 1940
Dumbo	October 23, 1941
Bambi	August 13, 1942
Saludos Amigos	February 6, 1943
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs	February 22, 1944
The Three Caballeros	February 3, 1945
Pinocchio	October 17, 1945

Second generation (1946-1954)

In order to raise revenue, Disney began re-releasing more old films in theaters.

Title	Release date
Make Mine Music	April 20, 1946
Fantasia	September 1, 1946
Fun and Fancy Free	September 27, 1947
Bambi	December 25, 1947
Melody Time	May 27, 1948
Dumbo	June 22, 1949
The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad	October 5, 1949
Cinderella	February 15, 1950
Alice in Wonderland	July 28, 1951
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs	February 13, 1952
Peter Pan	February 5, 1953
Pinocchio	February 18, 1954

Other films previously distributed by RKO Radio Pictures include Song of the South (1946), So Dear to My Heart (1948), and the first all-live action film, Treasure Island (1950), and its last film, Rob Roy, the Highland Rogue (1954).

Third generation (1955-1962)

The third generation of Walt Disney Pictures began with the founding of Buena Vista Pictures Distribution in 1953.

File:Buena Vista Film Distribution (1954).jpg

Animated films with the logo shown above included the following:

Title	Release date
Lady and the Tramp	June 22, 1955
Fantasia	February 7, 1956
Cinderella	February 14, 1957
Bambi	July 3, 1957
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs	February 7, 1958
Peter Pan	May 14, 1958
Sleeping Beauty	January 29, 1959
Dumbo	December 24, 1959
101 Dalmatians	January 25, 1961
Pinocchio	January 18, 1962

Other films with this logo include 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954), Lady and the Tramp (1955), The Great Locomotive Chase (1956), Old Yeller (1957), The Shaggy Dog (1959), and its last film, Kidnapped (1960).

In 1960, the word "Film" was dropped from the company's first name, changing it to Buena Vista Distribution.

Fourth generation (1962-1971)

Fourth-generation re-releases of Disney's films comprised of the following:

Title	Release date
Lady and the Tramp	September 26, 1962
Fantasia	February 20, 1963
The Sword in the Stone	December 25, 1963
Cinderella	June 9, 1965
Bambi	March 25, 1966
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs	June 11, 1967
The Jungle Book	October 18, 1967
Peter Pan	June 18, 1969
101 Dalmatians	December 25, 1969
Sleeping Beauty	June 10, 1970
The Aristocats	December 11, 1970
Pinocchio	July 7, 1971

Halfway through this generation, Walt Disney died in late 1966, and the company was renamed Walt Disney Productions.

Fifth generation (1971-1979)

The fifth generation of Walt Disney Pictures comprised of re-releases of its films as follows:

Title	Release date
Lady and the Tramp	December 17, 1971
Dumbo	October 11, 1972
The Sword in the Stone	December 22, 1972
Cinderella	March 23, 1973
Robin Hood	November 8, 1973
Alice in Wonderland	March 15, 1974
Bambi	June 20, 1975
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs	December 20, 1975
Peter Pan	June 18, 1976
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh	March 11, 1977
Fantasia	April 15, 1977
The Three Caballeros	April 15, 1977
The Rescuers	June 22, 1977
The Jungle Book	June 9, 1978
Pinocchio	December 15, 1978
101 Dalmatians	June 7, 1979
Sleeping Beauty	September 28, 1979

Sixth generation (1980-1985)

The sixth and final generation prior to the rebranding of Walt Disney Productions to Walt Disney Pictures, the following films were re-released:

Title	Release date
Lady and the Tramp	March 7, 1980
The Aristocats	December 19, 1980
Alice in Wonderland	April 3, 1981
The Fox and the Hound	July 10, 1981
Cinderella	December 18, 1981
Robin Hood	March 26, 1982
Bambi	June 4, 1982
Peter Pan	December 17, 1982
The Sword in the Stone	March 25, 1983
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs	July 15, 1983
The Rescuers	December 16, 1983
The Jungle Book	July 27, 1984
Pinocchio	December 21, 1984
Fantasia	February 8, 1985
101 Dalmatians	December 20, 1985

As of October 14, 1983, an in-credit closing text logo was used for films distributed by Walt Disney Pictures until after September 28, 2007. The text logo comprises of the words "Distributed by Buena Vista Pictures Distribution".

In 2004, KRS Logos claimed this logo as in use until 1981.

Seventh generation (1985-1991)

In 1983, Walt Disney Productions was renamed as Walt Disney Pictures. The first film to have the new company name's first logo is Return to Oz (June 21, 1985), which made its home video debut on June 25, 1986.

The logo can also be found on Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989), Flight of the Navigator (1986), Benji the Hunted (1987), and a few others. Within television networks, the logo premiered on ABC with The Journey of Natty Gann on October 4, 1987.

Animated films released during this era included:

Title	Release date
The Black Cauldron	July 24, 1985
Sleeping Beauty	March 7, 1986
The Great Mouse Detective	July 2, 1986
Lady and the Tramp	December 19, 1986
The Aristocats	April 10, 1987
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs	July 17, 1987
Cinderella	November 20, 1987
The Fox and the Hound	March 25, 1988
Bambi	July 15, 1988
Oliver & Company	November 18, 1988
The Rescuers	March 17, 1989
Peter Pan	July 14, 1989
The Little Mermaid	November 17, 1989
The Jungle Book	July 13, 1990
Fantasia	October 5, 1990
The Rescuers Down Under	November 16, 1990
101 Dalmatians	July 12, 1991

On VHS, the 1985 Walt Disney Pictures logo was seen on 1988 prints of Cinderella, and 1990 prints of The Little Mermaid and Peter Pan, all later seen on The Disney Channel from October 1989 to November 1991.

In 1990, the logo was modernized, and was first seen in The Prince and the Pauper on November 16 of that year. On VHS releases, it was first seen on DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp on March 15, 1991, when the second generation of Walt Disney Home Video began. It was also first seen on The Disney Channel in August 1991.

Eighth generation (1991-1997)

Since the early 1990s, the 1990 logo was commonly used on many films, such as 1991 prints of The Rescuers Down Under, 1992 prints of 101 Dalmatians, The Great Mouse Detective and Beauty and the Beast, 1993 prints of Aladdin, original 1995 prints of The Lion King, 1996 prints of Pocahontas, The Aristocats and Oliver & Company, 1997 prints of The Jungle Book, 1998 prints of The Little Mermaid, and lots more.

During this era, a few films went through digital restoration prior to their final re-releases in theaters. The films released during this era include:

Title	Release date
Beauty and the Beast	November 22, 1991
The Great Mouse Detective	February 14, 1992
Pinocchio	June 26, 1992
Aladdin	November 25, 1992
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs	July 2, 1993
The Lion King	June 24, 1994
The Lion King (re-issue)	November 18, 1994
Pocahontas	June 23, 1995
Sleeping Beauty	September 10, 1995
Oliver & Company	March 29, 1996
The Hunchback of Notre Dame	June 21, 1996
Hercules	June 27, 1997
The Little Mermaid	November 14, 1997

Ninth generation (1998-2006)

 

Following the end of re-releases of old Disney films in theaters, Pixar Animation Studios released more of its own feature-length films, such as A Bug's Life and Toy Story 2, alongside the flagship company's animated films.

Some films with the regular logo appeared on television networks such as on TBS, ABC Family, and Hub Network. The last film to have it was The Fox and the Hound 2 on December 12, 2006, several months after the current Walt Disney Pictures logo began.

Starting in 2000, an alternate logo was spotted on some Disney movies, such as Dinosaur (2000), 102 Dalmatians (2000), Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003), and even the 2002 IMAX theatrical re-release of The Lion King, which was later transferred to DVD in October 2003.

When KRS Logos launched online in 2004, this logo was still current back then.

One of the last films to use this logo and the first to be presented in Disney Digital 3D was Chicken Little (2005). The Pixar version of the Walt Disney Pictures logo was seen on Pixar Animation Studios' first eight feature films, from Toy Story up to Ratatouille. Each film also always used the Pixar Animation Studios logo seen to the right of the Walt Disney Pictures logo. 13 years after its debut, this logo was discontinued on the Blu-ray and 3D releases of first two Toy Story films, Monsters Inc. and Finding Nemo 3D.

Tenth generation (2006-present)

The current Walt Disney Pictures logo, done with CGI animation, was first seen on Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest on July 7, 2006 (on DVD on December 5, 2006). As of November 23, 2011, the logo now just uses the word "Disney" on brand new Disney films in theaters today, and on newer prints of classic Disney movies, especially the Diamond Edition prints.

As of 2008, Pixar now also uses the 2006 Walt Disney Pictures logo in every one of its films. WALL-E was the first Pixar film to have this logo.

As of March 30, 2007, starting with Meet the Robinsons (on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on October 23, 2007), the Walt Disney Animation Studios logo is currently seen on all new prints of Walt Disney animated feature films.

Weblinks

Main site:

• http://www.disney.com (1996-1999)
• http://disney.go.com (1999-2013)
• http://disney.com (2013-present)

Pixar Animation Studios:

• http://www.pixar.com

Latin American version, in Spanish:

• http://www.disneylatino.com (launched in October 1999)