Disney started with “Steamboat Willie,” 100 years later, look at them now

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We all know that the Walt Disney Company is old, but seeing them celebrate 100 years is all kind of insane to me. 100 years of entertainment for all ages, and even if there are plenty of discussions to be had around their corporate decisions, Disney is connected to all of us in one way or another. 

The company was founded as “The Disney Brothers Cartoon Studios” with brothers Walt and Roy Disney at the helm. Until 1950, the focus was on cartoons with their first short film, “Steamboat Willie”, starring Mickey Mouse, and the release of the studio’s first animated feature in cinemas, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Skip ahead over the next few years, and there’s the opening of Disneyland in 1955, the release of Toy Story and the following acquisition of Pixar Animation Studios, which snowfalls in a couple of decades with Marvel Entertainment, Lucasfilm and 20th Century Fox falling under the arms of Mickey and Disney.

Watching a video like the one below, it’s impossible not to get hit in the feels somewhat. Disney is eating up all our favourite properties into one mega-corporate company, but damn if they aren’t hitting us in the feels with some movie or show every few months. 

It’s seeing the kids, and knowing how much Disney films mean to you as a kid, and how these kids now probably feel about somewhere like Disneyland where you can see all of their favourite characters in one place; it’s hard not to agree that as problematic as it may be, it is the continuation of Walt’s dreams. 

Disney+ has a section set up now for “Disney 100”, which features, at a glance, Goosebumps, Andor, Toy Story 4, Secrets of Whales, Grey’s Anatomy, X-Men, Mary Poppins, Planet of the Apes, The Simpsons, The Little Mermaid and The Rocky Horror Picture Show. What a collective bunch. Take a look yourself and tell me what your favourite Disney film or show is in the comment section below.