Disney Wiki
Register
Advertisement
Disney Wiki

This article is about the motion picture company headquartered in Burbank, California. For the physical location of the movie studios, see Walt Disney Studios (Burbank).

Walt Disney Studios Alameda Entrance

The Walt Disney Studios, the headquarters of The Walt Disney Company

Disney1990

The Walt Disney Pictures logo, from 1985 to 2006.

WDP2006

The Walt Disney Pictures logo, from 2006 to 2022 (2011 modified version).

Disney Studios 2008

Walt Disney Studios logo, only shown during CinemaCon presentation, from 2007 to 2018

WDP2023

The Walt Disney Pictures logo, from 2022 to now

WDP1002023

The Walt Disney Pictures logo, from 2022 to now (2023 modified version, without an inscription "100 years of wonder")

The Walt Disney Studios (located in Burbank, California) serves as the global headquarters for media conglomerate The Walt Disney Company, and the parent company for Walt Disney Pictures, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar, Marvel Studios, Lucasfilm, Disneynature, 20th Century Studios, 20th Century Animation, and Searchlight Pictures.

History[]

Walt Disney Productions staff began the move from the old studio at Hyperion Avenue in Los Angeles on December 24, 1939. Designed primarily by Kem Weber under the supervision of Walt Disney and his brother, Roy, the buildings are the only studios to survive from the Golden Age of filming. The Walt Disney Company is the last remaining Big Ten company to remain independent from a mother company. The Studios are also the only major film/animation studio not to run backlot tours.

The Walt Disney Studios were originally designed around the animation process, with the large animation building in the center of the complex, and adjacent buildings for the story department, the music department, the ink-and-paint departments, and the other various functions of the studio. Both above-ground walkways and tunnels connected the buildings, and the campus also included a movie theatre and a number of soundstages. The Disney feature The Reluctant Dragon, starring Robert Benchley, served as a tour of the then-new studio, which was also frequently seen and toured on the various Walt Disney television programs.

In the late 1940s, the studio began regular work on live-action features until they could resume animated productions fully, as they needed the money. Though their first films were shot in England, the necessity to build live-action facilities still arose. Lacking the capital to do it themselves, Jack Webb offered to put up some of the money to build live-action stages in exchange for their use (Webb used it to shoot much of the Dragnet TV series). During this time, back lots were also built and remained standing at the studios until Michael Eisner and Frank Wells joined the company in 1984.

In 1986, after the corporate restructuring of Walt Disney Productions into The Walt Disney Company, the buildings were remodeled to accommodate more live-action production space and administrative offices. The Studios are now made up of multiple office and administration buildings and ten soundstages. The primary building is the commanding Team Disney Burbank building, completed in 1990 and designed by Michael Graves. The Team Disney Burbank building contains the office of President and CEO Robert A. Iger, as well as the boardroom for the Board of Directors. It also houses offices for members of Senior Management, such as Andy Bird, head of Walt Disney International, Jay Rasulo, President of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, and Dick Cook, Chairman of Walt Disney Studio Entertainment. The building is sometimes called the Seven Dwarfs Building; it has a stunning fascia of the seven dwarfs holding up the roof of the building.

On January 23, 2006, in honor of Michael Eisner's 21-year leadership of the company, the Team Disney building, was rededicated as Team Disney - The Michael D. Eisner Building.

During the restructuring, the animation facilities were spun off to officially create Walt Disney Feature Animation as a subsidiary of the company, and its operations were moved to the Air Way warehouse in Glendale. In 1995, a new Feature Animation building was completed, across the street from the main lot. The new studio is a colorful piece of architecture, adorned by a giant Sorcerer's Hat, which once housed the office of Roy E. Disney, former head of WDFA.

More recently, after Disney's purchase of ABC, a new headquarters for Disney–ABC Television Group was constructed across Riverside Drive next to the Feature Animation Building. The ABC building was designed by Aldo Rossi and is connected to the lot by a blue serpentine bridge.

External links[]


v - e - d
The Walt Disney Studios logo
Motion Pictures Production
Walt Disney PicturesWalt Disney Animation StudiosPixarMarvel StudiosLucasfilmDisneynature20th Century Studios20th Century AnimationSearchlight PicturesStar Studios (Indian Independence films) • Blue Sky StudiosFox 2000 Pictures20th Digital Studio Walt Disney Animation FranceWalt Disney Animation CanadaWalt Disney Animation JapanWalt Disney Animation FloridaWalt Disney Animation AustraliaTouchstone PicturesDisneytoon StudiosDIC Entertainment L.P. (Limited Partnership)Dimension FilmsCircle 7 AnimationImageMovers Digital Hollywood Pictures Miramax FilmsPixar CanadaWalt Disney Productions
Distribution Labels
Walt Disney Studios Motion PicturesSearchlight Pictures (United States only) • Buena Vista International (European Independence films) • Star Distribution (Latin American Independence films)
Studio Lots
Walt Disney Studios Burbank Studio Lot • Golden Oak Ranch • The Prospect Studios • Disney Studios Australia
Former Studios
Skellington ProductionsCaravan PicturesSIP Animation (Minority Stake)
Former Distribution Brands
Buena Vista Pictures Distribution (1956-2007) • UTV Motion Pictures (2013-2017, India) • Miramax Films (1993-2010) • 20th Century Fox (2019-2020)
Current Figures
Bob IgerJennifer LeePete DocterKevin FeigeKathleen KennedyChristine McCarthy
Former Figures
Michael EisnerJeffrey KatzenbergJohn LasseterEd CatmullBob ChapekSean Bailey
Advertisement