This month marks the 90th anniversary of The Walt Disney Company. Here are some of the most notable moments in the media conglomerate’s history:
- 1928: Steamboat Willie marks the first appearance of Disney’s iconic character Willie the Steamboat Operator
- 1931: Disney chemists synthesize and patent childlike wonder
- 1936: Company records first successful mergers, purchasing rivals Sunbonnet Animation Studio and Reichsministerium für Volksaufklärung und Propaganda
- 1940: Animators wisely remove realistic corkscrew penis from Donald Duck
- 1953: Under pressure from the Anti-Defamation League, Disney changes its character’s name from Scrooge Duckstein to Scrooge McDuck
- 1966: Walt Disney dies after crashing his Ferrari
- 1997: Boogie Nights earns Disney over $26 million at the box office
- 2005: Walt Disney World celebrates its first day without a visitor death