The Walt Disney Company

The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as Disney, is an American multinational diversified mass media corporation headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California, United States.

The Walt Disney Company was founded in 1923 by animation pioneer Walter Elias "Walt" Disney, his brother Roy Oliver Disney, and Ub Iwerks. Beginning with Pegleg Pete, and expanding to include such characters as Oswald the Lucky Rabbit (who Walt didn't have the rights to and his company wouldn't regain the rights until 2006), Disney and Iwerks' brainchild Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Dippy Dawg (later Goofy), and Horace Horsecollar, Disney dove into the early 1920's and depression-era animations continuing in the tradition of Felix the Cat. In 1934, Donald Duck was added to the cast, soon joined by his nephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie created by comic strip artist Al Taliaferro, as well as a very long list of characters developed into a whole Duck universe by animator and comic artist Carl Barks, starting with Donald's tightwad Scottish uncle Scrooge McDuck.

Disney established itself as a major animation presence with their first feature-length film in Technicolor, 1937's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Unlike rival Fleischer, which was later absorbed by Paramount, Disney has grown ever larger and more influential over the years. Furry animator Don Bluth started out at Disney before he went on his own, creating furry favorites such as The Secret of NIMH, An American Tail, or The Land Before Time.

The company is best known for the products of its film studio, the Walt Disney Studios, and today one of the largest and best-known studios in Hollywood. Disney also owns and operates the ABC broadcast television network; cable television networks such as Disney Channel, ESPN, A+E Networks, and Freeform (formerly ABC Family); publishing, merchandising, and theatre divisions; and owns and licenses fourteen theme parks around the world. Throughout the first two decades of the 21st century, they have also purchased The Muppets, Pixar Animation Studios, Marvel Entertainment, Lucasfilm, and 20th Century Fox. It also has a successful music division. The company has been a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average since May 6, 1991. An early and well-known cartoon creation of the company, Mickey Mouse, is a primary symbol of The Walt Disney Company.

Disney and furry
Bambi, being the first Disney film with an all-animal cast, bears mentioning as an influential film in furry fandom, but 1994's The Lion King stands out bar-none as the most popular. It could not have come at a better time, as the emerging furry fandom was finding its way onto the then-infant graphical internet. Many other Disney films are also known for their influences on Furry Fandom, including Robin Hood (the first Disney animated film with an entirely "funny animal" cast), Brother Bear (with its themes of human-to-non-human transformation and animal spirit guides) and its second-most successful animated film Zootopia (emphasizing a city of anthropomorphic animals).

Beauty and the Beast and Lilo & Stitch could be also be considered of interest to the furry community. Beauty and the Beast ' s protagonist Belle has to fall in love with the prince in his "beast" form, although she is unaware that he is actually a human prince. Lilo & Stitch features the animalistic, "fluffy", alien genetic experiment Stitch, who learns to bond with Lilo Pelekai through ʻohana, a Hawaiian concept of extended family, while its television sequels and spin-offs also feature a large number of other genetic experiments, who are also animalistic artificial alien creatures like him.