Walt Disney Pictures

Walt Disney Pictures started off as Walt Disney Productions on October 16, 1923. Since then, third-party distributor RKO Radio Pictures released Disney movies from 1936 to 1954, before Buena Vista Distribution Company was founded. The name "Walt Disney Productions" first appeared in the opening credits as of 1968, and then at the end of each film as of 1971. This is due to the fact that Walt Disney himself died in 1966.
==History==
===Season 1 (1937-1942)===
At the beginning of time, Walt Disney's films were distributed by RKO Radio Pictures. The first five animated films were released in theaters as follows:
Title 	Release date
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs	December 21, 1937
Pinocchio 	February 7, 1940
Fantasia 	November 13, 1940
Dumbo 	October 23, 1941
Bambi 	August 13, 1942
===Season 2 (1943-1950)===
During World War II, a series of six package films were made by Walt Disney, in addition to re-releases of films from earlier years to raise revenue.
Title 	Release date
Saludos Amigos 	February 6, 1943
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs 	February 22, 1944
The Three Caballeros 	February 3, 1945
Pinocchio 	October 17, 1945
Make Mine Music 	April 20, 1946
Fantasia 	September 1, 1946
Fun and Fancy Free 	September 27, 1947
Bambi 	December 25, 1947
Melody Time 	May 27, 1948
Dumbo 	June 22, 1949
The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad	October 5, 1949
Cinderella 	February 15, 1950
Also making their theatrical debuts during this era were hybrid live action/animation films Song of the South (1946) and So Dear to My Heart (1948). After World War II ended, Walt Disney continued production of animated films in 1948. His last one in this era was Cinderella (1950). When this film hit theaters, all of the package films were sent back to the Disney Vault for several decades.
===Season 3 (1951-1957)===
During the third season of Walt Disney's films, Buena Vista Distribution was founded in 1953, and further production of Disney's films moved to there from RKO Radio Pictures.
For this season, Alice in Wonderland temporarily took Dumbo's place.
Title 	Release date
Alice in Wonderland 	July 28, 1951
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs	February 13, 1952
Peter Pan 	February 5, 1953
Pinocchio 	February 18, 1954
Lady and the Tramp 	June 22, 1955
Fantasia 	February 7, 1956
Cinderella 	February 14, 1957
Bambi 	July 3, 1957
===Season 4 (1958-1966)===
In 1960, the word "Film" was dropped from the company's first name, changing it to Buena Vista Distribution. Dumbo also returned for this season, after Alice in Wonderland moved to network television.
Mary Poppins' theatrical release on August 27, 1964 could be one reason why no animated films were re-released that year.
This was the last season of re-releases during Walt Disney's life, before he died on December 15, 1966.
Title 	Release date
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs	February 7, 1958
Peter Pan 	May 14, 1958
Sleeping Beauty 	January 29, 1959
Dumbo 	December 24, 1959
101 Dalmatians 	January 25, 1961
Pinocchio 	January 18, 1962
Lady and the Tramp 	September 26, 1962
Fantasia 	February 20, 1963
The Sword in the Stone 	December 25, 1963
Cinderella 	June 9, 1965
Bambi 	March 25, 1966
===Season 5 (1967-1975)===
For the fifth season of Walt Disney Pictures' animated films, Walt Disney Productions was established following Walt's death. Alice in Wonderland also returned to theaters in 1974.
Title 	Release date
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs	June 11, 1967
The Jungle Book 	October 18, 1967
Peter Pan 	June 18, 1969
Fantasia 	December 17, 1969
101 Dalmatians 	December 25, 1969
Sleeping Beauty 	June 10, 1970
The Aristocats 	December 11, 1970
Pinocchio 	July 7, 1971
Lady and the Tramp 	December 17, 1971
Dumbo 	October 11, 1972
The Sword in the Stone 	December 22, 1972
Cinderella 	March 23, 1973
Robin Hood 	November 8, 1973
Alice in Wonderland 	March 15, 1974
Bambi 	June 20, 1975
===Season 6 (1975-1982)===
The sixth and final season prior to the rebranding of Walt Disney Productions to Walt Disney Pictures, the following films were re-released:
Title 	Release date
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs 	December 20, 1975
Dumbo 	March 26, 1976
Peter Pan 	June 18, 1976
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh	March 11, 1977
Fantasia 	April 15, 1977
The Rescuers 	June 22, 1977
The Jungle Book 	June 9, 1978
Pinocchio 	December 15, 1978
101 Dalmatians 	June 7, 1979
Sleeping Beauty 	September 28, 1979
Lady and the Tramp 	March 7, 1980
The Aristocats 	December 19, 1980
Alice in Wonderland 	April 3, 1981
The Fox and the Hound 	July 10, 1981
Cinderella 	December 18, 1981
Robin Hood 	March 26, 1982
Fantasia (re-release) 	April 2, 1982
Bambi 	June 4, 1982
During this era, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Dumbo and Alice in Wonderland were all released on VHS in 1981. Fantasia was also re-released in theaters twice for this generation, the second one in place of The Sword in the Stone, which was pushed back to 1983.
As of October 14, 1983, an in-credit closing text logo was used for films distributed by Walt Disney Pictures until after September 28, 2007. The text logo comprises of the words "Distributed by Buena Vista Pictures Distribution".
In 2004, KRS Logos claimed this logo as in use until 1981.
===Season 7 (1982-1988)===
In 1983, Walt Disney Productions was renamed as Walt Disney Pictures. The first film to have the new company name's first logo is Return to Oz (June 21, 1985), which made its home video debut on June 25, 1986.
Dumbo, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Alice in Wonderland and Robin Hood no longer played in theaters as of this generation due to getting VHS releases at that time.
The logo can also be found on Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989), Flight of the Navigator (1986), Benji the Hunted (1987), and a few others. Within television networks, the logo premiered on ABC with The Journey of Natty Gann on October 4, 1987.
Animated films released during this era included:
Title 	Release date
Peter Pan 	December 17, 1982
The Sword in the Stone 	March 25, 1983
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs 	July 15, 1983
The Rescuers 	December 16, 1983
The Jungle Book 	July 27, 1984
Pinocchio 	December 21, 1984
Fantasia 	February 8, 1985
The Black Cauldron 	July 24, 1985
101 Dalmatians 	December 20, 1985
Sleeping Beauty 	March 7, 1986
The Great Mouse Detective 	July 2, 1986
Lady and the Tramp 	December 19, 1986
The Aristocats 	April 10, 1987
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (re-release)	July 17, 1987
Cinderella 	November 20, 1987
The Fox and the Hound 	March 25, 1988
Bambi 	July 15, 1988
Oliver & Company 	November 18, 1988
===Season 8 (1989-1996)===
Lady and the Tramp, The Aristocats, Cinderella, The Fox and the Hound and Bambi all did not return to theaters for this generation, all instead getting VHS releases.
A few films went through digital restoration prior to their final re-releases in theaters. The films released during this era include:
The Rescuers 	March 17, 1989
Peter Pan 	July 14, 1989
The Little Mermaid 	November 17, 1989
The Black Cauldron(as "Taran and the Magic Cauldron")	March 21, 1990
The Jungle Book 	July 13, 1990
Fantasia 	October 5, 1990
The Rescuers Down Under 	November 16, 1990
101 Dalmatians 	July 12, 1991
Beauty and the Beast 	November 22, 1991
The Great Mouse Detective 	February 14, 1992
Pinocchio 	June 26, 1992
Aladdin 	November 25, 1992
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs 	July 2, 1993
The Lion King 	June 24, 1994
The Lion King (re-issue) 	November 18, 1994
Pocahontas 	June 23, 1995
Sleeping Beauty 	September 10, 1995(delayed from March 1993)
Oliver & Company 	March 29, 1996
The Hunchback of Notre Dame 	June 21, 1996
In 1990, the logo was modernized, and was first seen in The Prince and the Pauper on November 16 of that year. On VHS releases, it was first seen on DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp on March 15, 1991, when the second generation of Walt Disney Home Video began.
Since the early 1990s, the 1990 logo was commonly used on many films, such as 1991 prints of The Rescuers Down Under, 1992 prints of 101 Dalmatians, The Great Mouse Detective and Beauty and the Beast, 1993 prints of Aladdin, original 1995 prints of The Lion King, 1996 prints of Pocahontas, The Aristocats and Oliver & Company, 1997 prints of The Jungle Book, 1998 prints of The Little Mermaid, and lots more.
===Season 9 (1997-2006)===
  
The last film to get a re-release in theaters within the old tradition was The Little Mermaid, on November 14, 1997; after that, Pixar released more of its feature-length films in place of re-releases of old films from Walt Disney Animation Studios. Such examples include A Bug's Life and Toy Story 2, alongside the flagship company's animated films.
Some films with the regular logo appeared on television networks such as on TBS, ABC Family, and Hub Network.
A Pixar-ified version of the Walt Disney Pictures logo was exclusively seen on Pixar Animation Studios films, and was seen on every film from Toy Story to Ratatouille, although The Incredibles was the last film under this generation.
Starting in 2000, an alternate logo was spotted on some Disney movies, such as Dinosaur (2000), 102 Dalmatians (2000), Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003), and even the 2002 Special Edition re-release of The Lion King, which was later transferred to DVD in October 2003 after only playing in IMAX theaters.
When KRS Logos launched online in 2004, this logo was still current back then.
The last film to have the 1990 Walt Disney Pictures logo was The Fox and the Hound 2 on December 12, 2006, several months after the current Walt Disney Pictures logo shown below began.
===Seasons 10-12 (2005-2022)===
The current era of Disney animation began in late 2005 with Chicken Little (2005), when it became the first film ever to be presented in Disney Digital 3D. However, it wasn't the first film to have the current Walt Disney Pictures logo. That title went to Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, when it first played in theaters on July 7, 2006 (and released on DVD on December 5, 2006). This logo was done with CGI animation.
Pixar still used the 1995 Walt Disney Pictures logo on Cars and Ratatouille, before finally using the current logo on films starting with WALL-E.
This logo was in use throughout the entire era of Generation 4 of My Little Pony.
As of March 30, 2007, starting with Meet the Robinsons (on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on October 23, 2007), the Walt Disney Animation Studios logo is currently seen on all new prints of Walt Disney animated feature films.
In Seasons 11-12, the logo now just uses the word "Disney" on brand new Disney films in theaters today, and on newer prints of classic Disney movies, especially the Diamond Edition prints.
Category:The Walt Disney Company