Chronology of the Walt Disney Company

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References are numbered in [brackets], which are listed here. A number after the dot gives the page in the source.

Last updated: 2023 December 20.


1954

January 15
  • Disney releases the Donald Duck film Spare the Rod to theaters. Huey, Dewey, and Louie also appear. [16] [23] [85.349] [501.516]
February 4
  • RKO Radio Pictures releases Disney's live-action feature film Rob Roy, The Highland Rogue to theaters in the US. The film was made in Great Britain, the third and last for Disney. [13] [23] [49.267] [72.32] [79.115] [370.115] [501.472]
February 15
  • The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences nominates the film Rugged Bear for an Oscar Award in the category Short Subjects, Cartoons. [39.466]
  • The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences nominates the film Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom for an Oscar Award in the category Short Subjects, Cartoons. [39.466]
  • The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences nominates the film Bear Country for an Oscar Award in the category Short Subjects, Two Reels. [39.466]
  • The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences nominates the film Ben and Me for an Oscar Award in the category Short Subjects, Two Reels. [39.466]
  • The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences nominates the film The Alaskan Eskimo for an Oscar Award in the category Documentary, Short Subjects. [39.466]
  • The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences nominates the film The Living Desert for an Oscar Award in the category Documentary, Features. [39.466]
February
  • Disney re-releases the film Pinocchio to theatres. [23] [25] [42.1665] [228.388]
(month unknown)
  • Disney and ABC sign an agreement regarding the building and ownership of Disneyland. ABC will invest in Disneyland, guarantee bank loans for up to US$4.5 million, and receive all profits from the park's food concessions for ten years. Disney will provide ABC with 21 one-hour programs for three years, for payments of US$50,000-70,000 per show, and US$25,000-35,000 for repeat showings. Ownership of all Disney shares: 34.48 percent for ABC (for US$500,000 investment), 34.48 percent for Walt Disney Productions (for US$500,000 investment), 13.8 percent for Western printing and Lithography Co (for US$200,000 investment), 16.55 percent for Walt Disney (for US$250,000 investment). [34.222] [48.249] [56.75] [267.185] [1102.509]
March 5
  • Disney releases the Donald Duck film Donald's Diary to theaters. Daisy Duck also appears. [16] [23] [85.349] [228.147] (1953 [15])
March 12
  • Disney releases the live-action short film Stormy - The Thoroughbred with an Inferiority Complex to theaters. [23] [85.115,349] [501.525]
March 25
  • The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences awards an Oscar (Short Subjects, Cartoons) for the film Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom. [13] [23] [38.240] [39.466]
  • The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences awards an Oscar (Short Subjects, Two Reels) for the film Bear Country. [13] [23] [38.240] [39.466]
  • The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences awards an Oscar (Documentary, Short Subjects) for the film The Alaskan Eskimo. [13] [23] [38.240] [39.466]
  • The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences awards an Oscar (Documentary, Features) for the film The Living Desert. [13] [23] [38.240] [39.466]

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April 2
  • ABC and Disney boards approve the ownership and financing deal for Disneyland. [1102.509]
  • Disney and ABC hold a joint press conference, announcing their agreement for the Disney TV show. [1102.509]
April 7
  • Disney releases the Chip 'n Dale film The Lone Chipmunks to theaters. [16] [23] [85.349] [228.295]
April
  • Admiral Joe Fowler is hired to supervise construction of Disneyland. [1073.75]
  • Walt Disney announces that Disneyland will open in July, 1955. [92.100] [234.100]
April 23
  • Disney releases the animated short film Two for the Record to theaters. It combines the short films After You've Gone and All the Cats Join In. They were originally released as part of the film Make Mine Music. [85.349] [501.577]
May 1
  • The Anaheim Bulletin newspappr reports news of the Disney purchase of land in Anaheim for the (Disneyland) amusement park. [939.17] [1102.501,509] [1300.142]
May 21
  • Disney releases the animated short film Pigs is Pigs to theaters. [16] [23] [85.349] [228.388] [650.84] (1953 [13])
  • Disney releases the animated short film Johnny Fedora and Alice Bluebonnet to theaters. It was originally released as part of the film Make Mine Music. [85.349] [228.264]
June 18
  • Disney releases the animated short film The Martins and the Coys to theaters. It was originally released as part of the film Make Mine Music. [85.349] [228.313]
  • Disney releases the animated short film Casey Bats Again to theaters. [16] [23] [85.349] [1378.123]
(month unknown)
  • The Hollywood Foreign Press Association awards a Golden Globe Award (Special Award) to Disney for the film The Living Desert. [369.66]
  • Walt Disney receives an award as Best Director for his work as a whole, at the Cannes Film Festival. [369.66] (1953 [47.140])
  • At the suggestion of ABC TV, Walt changes the name of Disneylandia to Disneyland. [34.223]
  • Dell publishes the second "Dell Color Comics" comic book Chip 'n Dale. [113.329]
  • Dell publishes the "Dell Color Comics" comic book Daisy Duck's Diary. [113.330]
  • Disney completes buying 244 acres of land near Anaheim, California, as the site for a theme park. [56.61]
  • Key Disney staff members begin touring major American amusement parks, learning what not to do. [20]
  • Roy E. Disney, son of Roy O. Disney, begins work at Walt Disney Productions, as an assistant director. [1] [228.126] (1953 [34.252] [48.304) (apprentice film editor [48.305])
  • Disney re-releases the film Fantasia to theaters. [56.216] (1953 [370.45])
  • The East German government bans Mickey Mouse as "an anti-communist subversive". [97.30]
July
  • Walt Disney petitions the federal court for the dismissal of Clement Melancon's lawsuit filed in July 1953. [34.220]
  • Excavation of the Disneyland park site begins. The first orange tree is removed. [4] [23] [26] [40.233] [48.253] (July 12 [1102.524] [1300.142]) (July 16 [222.27] [450.19] [1300.142]) (August [267.189] [328.213])
July 16
  • Disney releases the Donald Duck film Dragon Around. Chip and Dale also appear. [16] [23] [15] [85.349] [228.150]
  • Disney releases the animated short film Casey at the Bat to theaters. It was originally part of the film Make Mine Music. [85.349] [1378.123]
August 13
  • Disney releases the animated short film Little Toot to theaters. It was originally released as part of the film Melody Time. [85.349] [228.292]
  • Disney releases the Donald Duck film Grin and Bear It to theaters. Humphrey Bear also appears. Ranger J. Audubon Woodlore makes his debut appearance. [16] [23] [85.349] [97.120] [228.220]
August 17
  • Disney releases the animated short film Willie the Operatic Whale to theaters. It was originally released as The Whale Who Wanted to Sing at the Met, part of the film Make Mine Music. [23] [85.349] [501.614]
  • Buena Vista releases Disney's True-Life Adventure feature film The Vanishing Prairie to theaters in the US. The film cost US$400,000 to make. (The film is initially banned in New York by the state censorship board, because of a scene of a buffalo giving birth.) [13] [23] [113.251] [370.117] [431.30] (August 16 [501.585])
September 17
  • Disney releases the animated short film Once Upon a Wintertime to theaters. It was previously released as part of the film Melody Time. [85.349] [228.370]
October 15
  • Disney releases the animated short film Social Lion to theaters. [16] [23] [85.349] [501.511]
October 27
  • The ABC TV network airs the first Disneyland TV show, on Wednesday night, 7:30 to 8:30. The first episode is titled The Disneyland Story. Approximately 30.8 million American viewers watch the show. [1] [5] [6] [13] [19] [22] [23] [26] [34.223] [40.233] [59.50] [48.255] [83.696] [84.897] [96.84] [113.288] [226.18] [228.134,137] [328.210] [370.393] [381.314] [387.182] [431.30] [911.106] [1073.75] [1300.135] (October 17 [50.139] [176.22])
November 3
  • The ABC TV network airs the Disneyland TV show, featuring the film Alice in Wonderland. [370.393] [1378.20]
November 10
  • The ABC TV network airs the Disneyland TV show, featuring the films Prairie, and Seal Island. [228.399] [370.393]
November 12
  • Disney releases the Donald Duck film The Flying Squirrel to theaters [23] [85.349] [228.189] (The Flying Squirrels [16])
November 16
  • Disney acquires the movie rights to eleven of L. Frank Baum's Oz books, not including The Wizard of Oz. [491.47] [501.468]
November 17
  • The ABC TV network airs the Disneyland TV show, featuring The Donald Duck Story. [228.145] [370.393]
November 24
  • The ABC TV network airs the Disneyland TV show, featuring the film So Dear to My Heart. [370.393]
December 1
  • The ABC TV network airs the Disneyland TV show, featuring A Story of Dogs. The show is a look at the making of Lady and the Tramp, plus a group of Pluto films. [370.393] [501.525]
December 8
  • The ABC TV network airs the Disneyland TV show, featuring the documentary, Operation Undersea about the making of the film 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. [23] [48.255] [228.374] [370.393]
December 15
  • The ABC TV network airs the Disneyland TV show, featuring the first "Davy Crockett" episode, Davy Crockett, Indian Fighter. [48.257] [57.48] [59.50] [83.697] [84.898] [113.288] [370.393] [1102.514] [1378.175]
December 22
  • The ABC TV network airs the Disneyland TV show, entitled the 1954 Christmas Show. [228.399] [370.393]
December 23
  • Disney releases the Donald Duck film Grand Canyonscope to theaters. Ranger J. Audubon Woodlore also appears. [16] [23] [85.349] [228.215]
  • Buena Vista releases Disney's live-action feature film 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea to theaters. It cost US$4.2 million to make. The film is based on the novel by Jules Verne. [6] [7] [13] [22] [23] [34.228] [113.251] [190.25] [230.30] [370.119] [431.30] [501.575]
December 24
  • Disney releases the second People and Places film, Siam, to theaters. [13] [23] [85.349] [501.498]
December 27
  • Time magazine features Walt Disney and his animated characters on its cover. [431] [1390.35]
December 29
  • The ABC TV network airs the Disneyland TV show, featuring the films Beaver Valley and Cameras in Africa. [370.393] [1378.66]

End of 1954. Next: 1955.

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1919-1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933
1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943
1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953
1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963
1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973
1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983
1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993
1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003
2004 2005 2006 2007-2008 2009 2010-2011 2012-end


A list of references to all source material is available.


Last updated: 2023 December 20.
Copyright © 1995-2024 Ken Polsson (email: ken@kpolsson.com).
URL: http://kpolsson.com/disnehis/
Link to Ken P's home page.

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