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The first feature film to be released by Walt Disney animation was, as most know, David Hand’s “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” in 1937. Walt Disney himself, of course, had been working in animation for over 15 years at that point, having founded Laugh-O-Gram Studios in 1921. It was at that studio where Disney developed his taste for well-worn fairy tales, making shorts based on “Little Red Riding Hood,” “Jack and the Beanstalk,” “Goldilocks and the Three Bears,” “Cinderella,” and “Alice in Wonderland.” That last film provided fodder for a long series of Alice Comedies that launched Walt Disney Production in 1923. The first 56 films made by Disney were Alice Comedies before he shifted to Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, making dozens for him as well. In 1928, he debuted Mickey Mouse, and the rest is history.
When it came to shorts, Disney clearly had no issues following the traditional template of reusing characters. Mickey became just as ubiquitous as Oswald and Alice, and the character eventually became the face of the company.
In 1933, however, Disney’s attitude shifted. According to Neil Gabler’s biography “Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination,” Disney was impressed with the unexpected success of the short “Three Little Pigs,” one o… from their fallow period in the 1980s.
The company today
Disney
And, of course, it only increased since then. Disney bought up extant properties like The Muppets, Marvel, and Star Wars, and exploited them
