Disney, Walt 1901-1966, was a american cartoon artist and producer of animated films.
Walt Disney was born in Chicago on December 5, 1901. He left school at the age of 16, and later he studied briefly at art schools in Chicago and Kansas City, Missouri. In 1923 he began to produce animated motion pictures in Hollywood, in partnership with his brother Roy O. Disney. Walt Disney made a cartoon series from 1926-1928, Oswald the Rabbit, for Universal Pictures. Steamboat Willie in 1928, made by his own company, introduced Walt Disney's far most popular cartoon character, Mickey Mouse. Walt Disney also utilized sound for the first time in an animated cartoon. He first used color in a film of this series, Flowers and Trees 1932.Walt Disney originated the feature-length cartoon with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs 1937 and followed it with other feature-length films, such as Pinocchio 1940, Fantasia 1941, and Bambi 1942.
In the 1950s and 1960s Walt Disney Productions, was one of the major producers of films for theaters and television. As the boundrys of his enterprises expanded, Walt Disney retained as much artistic views as possible. The company was involved in the publication of books for children and the syndication of comic strips, most of them featuring such characters as Donald Duck and Pluto, the dog. In 1955 Walt Disney Productions, opened a huge amusement park called Disneyland in Anaheim, California. Featuring reconstructions of history, displays, and rides, it becme a famous tourist attraction. Disney World opened near Orlando, Florida, in 1971. Meanwhile, in addition to cartoons, the company made several documentary films, including The Living Desert 1953 and Secrets of Life 1956. Beginning in 1950 the company made such live-action films as Treasure Island 1950, Robin Hood 1951, The Shaggy Dog 1959, The Absent-Minded Professor 1961, and Mary Poppins 1964. Animated features of this period included Peter Pan 1953 and The Sword in the Stone 1963. Walt Disney's company was also responsible for the television show Davy Crockett, and Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color. Walt Disney received 26 Academy Awards.

Eisner, Michael 1942- , American entertainment executive, whose leadership in the 1980s and 1990s revitalized the Walt Disney Company. Born in New York City, Eisner was educated at Denison University, where he studied literature and theater. After graduating in 1964, he worked for six weeks as a clerk at NBC and then briefly in the programming department at CBS. His career peaked at ABC, which he joined as a programming assistant in 1966 and where he spent the next ten years, ultimately becoming senior vice president of prime-time production and development. Eisner's rise through the corporate ranks was paralleled by ABC's leap from third place to first place in the network viewing ratings. In 1976 he was named president and chief operating officer of Paramount Pictures. During his eight-year tenure the motion-picture studio moved from last place to first place among the six major studios, with such successes as Saturday Night Fever 1977, Airplane! 1980, and Raiders of the Lost Ark 1981.
In 1984 Eisner left Paramount to become chairman and chief executive of Walt Disney Productions, and renamed the Walt Disney Company in 1986. Eisner fasinated with Walt Disney and was especially interested in the children's programming and family entertainment area. The company's success included several feature-length animated films in the Disney tradition, such as The Little Mermaid 1989, Beauty and the Beast 1991, which was the first animated feature to be nominated for an Academy Award for best picture, Aladdin 1992, The Lion King 1994, and Pocahontas 1995, several films carrying Disney's Touchstone studio label, including Beverly Hills 1986, 3 Men and a Baby 1987, Who Framed Roger Rabbit 1988, Pretty Woman 1990, and Sister Act 1992, two television shows, "Golden Girls" and "Disney Sunday Movie", and the Disney Channel. The growth of Disney's theme parks, particularly in Japan and France made disney a popular company. In 1992 Eisner enforce the effort that resulted in the granting to the company of a National Hockey League expansion franchise, the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim California