(1901 – 1966) Walt Disney brought visions and values of small-town America to mass media and theme parks; his multimedia conglomerate continues to grow after his death. Disney characters, films, books, toys and places, aggressively marketed, have sold America as a magical kingdom to a global audience. Others have read the man and his legacy as an evil empire defined by exaltation of carefully controlled consumerism, with over 400 Disney stores around the world selling everything from lunch boxes to the Tarzan CD-ROM.

As an artist in Kansas City Kansas in 1919, Disney became involved in the production of local animation/live-action shorts (Laugh-O-Grams). By 1923 he had moved to Los Angeles, CA and created his own creative team and formats for animation. By 1928, after business setbacks mediated by brother Roy Disney produced Steam-boat Willie, which united Mickey Mouse with sound (Walt did the voice). Over time, Disney’s productions increased in quality (with music and color in the Silly Symphonies series), while merchandising of Mickey and other items built revenues.

In the 1930s, Disney Studios pushed the boundaries of animation, including the first animated feature film Snow White (1939) and the growing artistry and complexity of Pinocchio (1941) and Fantasia (1942), despite continuing financial concerns and sometimes problematic labor relations. After the Second World War, Disney’s ability to control products and profits from re-releases, marketing tie-ins and new ventures provided a foundation to move into television and Disneyland (1955). The company also continued to control its labor force tightly supporting HUAC investigations of Hollywood labor organizers.

From Disney’s initial televisual outing, ABC’s Disneyland (1954–8), which promoted the planned theme park on its first show, some form of Disney prime-time children’s television showcase continued for thirty years, although changing titles and networks (in addition to the child ensemble of the Mickey Mouse Club, ABC, 1955–9). Disney continued to seek creative development and public recognition through films like Mary Poppins (1964), plans for a larger, visionary Disneyworld and publicity suggesting him for a Nobel prize. At his death in 1966, primary ownership of the studio stayed with the family Roy Disney finished the Florida project before his death in 1971, by which time studio profits had reached $250 million.

Despite the creative heritage the Disney corporation controlled, the next decade saw diffuse initiatives in films and audiences. By the early 1980s, corporate Disney was vulnerable to takeover battles that attracted Ivan Boesky and Michael Milken. Finally in 1984, the family reasserted control, bringing in Michael Eisner, Frank Wells and Jeffrey Katzenberg to revitalize the company. Their initiatives spurred Disney production in mature films (Touchstone, Hollywood Pictures, Buena Vista), distribution (Miramax), radio, television, cable, multimedia and, finally the second golden age of Disney animation with Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (1987), The Little Mermaid (1989) and successors. Disney theme parks continued a global expansion in Tokyo (1983), a stillgrowing EuroDisney (1992) and Hong Kong (estimated opening 2005), augmented by the urban Disney-Quest concept and Caribbean cruises.

Disney’s corporate growth was rocked by the Eisner/Katzenberg split (as well as problems with Michael Ovitz), and subsequent court cases dragged out details of finance and vituperation. In 1996, nonetheless, Disney moved to acquire the ABC network, creating a concentration of entertainment power that has generated worries about conflicting interests in journalism and creative competition. With Celebration, its new urbanist planned community near Disneyworld, the corporation has blurred the boundaries of theme park and idealized “real life.” The Disney saga revels in many themes of American ideology—making it through work, promoting freedom, supporting family and hometown. Darker shadows appear in heavy-handed control of labor, stereotypes of gender, race and place, and incessant selling, not of the last product but the next. Here, its expanse, power and ideologies remain themes of concern even as new generations of children worldwide delight in these products themselves.