FOUNDED: 1923
TWO-SENTENCE HISTORY: Though established in 1923, Walt Disney Animation Studios didn’t release their first feature-length project until 1937: the groundbreaking and eternally wondrous Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. The studio experienced an impressive run of box-office success that all but bottomed out in the ’70s and ’80s—anyone remember Condorman?—before storming back with a string of animated hits that began with 1989’s The Little Mermaid.
MEMORABLE FILMS INCLUDE: Fantasia (1940), 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954), Mary Poppins (1964), The Lion King (1994) and Enchanted (2007)
THE LOGO: It’s kind of hard to believe, but Disney—among the most brand-conscious of companies—didn’t use a logo for its movies until…1985. (Up until then, they simply used some variation of the words Walt Disney Presents….) The “Magic Castle” logo—presented on a plain blue background—was updated to a more artful presentation in 2006.
VERSIONS: The 1990 version can be seen here and a highly stylized version created for 2011’s Tron Legacy can be seen here.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMyHnZ4lV54]