Theatre 8th
Film Test
Vocabulary
Pre-Production: The process of planning some of the elements involved in a film. Pre-production ends when the planning ends and the content starts being produced.
Principal Photography: The actual filming of a movie. Director, actors, and crew gather at a movie studio sound stage or on location for filming.
Post Production: Once principal photography is complete, producers coordinate tasks to begin video editing. Visual, digital, sound, and special effects are added to the film. Often music is performed with the conductor using the film as a time reference and added at the end.
Actors’ Equity Association: The US labor union that represents Actors and Stage Managers.
Directors’ Guild of America (DGA): A labor organization that represents the creative and economic rights of directors and members the directional team working in film, television, commercials, documentaries, news, sports, and new media.
Domestic Gross: Money a film makes in the US alone.
Film: A motion picture.
International Gross: Money a film makes in countries around the world.
SAG-AFTRA: Screen Actors’ Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists…American labor union representing film and television principal and background performers.
Subsidiary Company: A smaller company owned by a parent company (main company).
Worldwide Gross: Money a film makes in both the US and countries around the world combined.
Writers’ Guild: A labor union composed of thousands of writers who write the content for television shows, movies, news programs, documentaries, animation, and internet and mobile phones (new media) that keep audiences constantly entertained and informed.
Production Code: The Motion Picture Production Code was a set of industry guidelines for the self-censorship of content that was applied to most United States motion pictures released by major studios from 1934 to 1968. It is also popularly known as the Hays Code, after Will H. Hays, who was the president of the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America (MPPDA) from 1922 to 1945.
Process of Movie Making: Pre-Production
Begins once a project has been greenlit and financing is generally confirmed.
Principal cast members, director, cinematographer, crew are hired.
Screenplay is usually finalized.
Script is broken down into individual scenes with storyboards.
All the locations, props, cast members, costumes, special effects and visual effects are identified.
A detailed shooting schedule is produced.
Sets are constructed, the crew is hired, financial arrangements are put in place and a start date for the beginning of principal photography is set.
Read-through of the script with all cast members, the director, all heads of departments, financiers, producers, and publicists.
Process of Movie Making: Principal Photography and Post Production
Principal Photography (Filming the movie)
Post Production:
Editing
Sound
Visual/Special FX
Music
Four Main Periods of Cinema
The Silent Era (Mid-1890s to late 1920s)
Classical Hollywood Cinema (1920s-1960’s )
New Hollywood (1960’s-1980’s)
The Contemporary Period (1980-Present)
Culture Impacts the Arts: The values of a nation (no matter what country someone is living in around the world) will always have an impact on what is 'permissible' or 'not permissible' in entertainment.
Examples of the Historical Influence of Judeo-Christianity on American Society and the Entertainment Industry from the 1620's through the late 1960's:
Judeo-Christian Influence in American History (1620's-1950's)
1620: Mayflower Compact…The Pilgrims leave England for America and create a rule of law which included an adherence to the Christian faith.
1647: Establishment of the Public School System. The purpose of the act as written by the early settlers was to teach the children of the colonies to read so they could understand the Bible for themselves in order to live a life that pleased God and to become productive citizens.
1647-1962/63: From that time forward, prayer to God and Bible readings/devotionals were regularly conducted in various public schools all across the United States. Children learned the alphabet, reading, etc. in school using Bible verses and concepts.
July 2-4, 1776: The Declaration of Independence was written and signed by many of the Founding Fathers. It states that all men are ‘created’ equal and endowed by their ‘Creator’ with certain inalienable rights.
The entire concept of inalienable rights in the Declaration hangs on the belief many of the Founders had in the existence of God, as declared in the Bible, and that He is the true source of mankind's freedom (rights).
Many of the Founders reasoned that if God gave a human being their rights, than no human (including a king) had the right to take away those freedoms from another (Example: King George unjustly removing freedoms from the American colonists).
Many of the Founding Fathers were outspoken about their Christian faith in public life and in their writings.
Historically, over 95% of the population of the US identified as belonging to a Christian denomination from 1620-1950's. (In 1970 that dropped to 90%. In 2020 that dropped to 65%.)
The Bible is the most quoted book by the Founders and other American leaders throughout the history of our nation.
The 10 Commandments were placed as monuments and plaques at the US Supreme Court and in other courthouses across the country.
September 12, 1782: Congress authorizes the first printing of the Bible in North America by Philadelphia publisher, Robert Aitken. This Bible has been called the "Bible of the Revolution."
1954: In response to the Communist threat of the times, President Eisenhower encouraged Congress to add the words "under God" to the Pledge of Allegiance.
Entertainment Industry Responds to Christian Influence in America from Early 1900's-Late 1960's
As a result of the influence of Christianity in American life, Radio, Television, and Hollywood executives chose to self-regulate programming and film content in order to not offend 95+% of the American audience that followed the Judeo-Christian faith at the time of their inception (1920's through the 1950's). This was thanks to the establishment of the Production Code which began to be enforced in 1934 by Hollywood.
Film was mostly family friendly or non-offensive to most Americans. The content that was made more for adults still had to follow strict morality guidelines as outlined in the Production Code.
Film often showed American families engaging in prayer, going to church, and treating each other with love. The Bible was often quoted , faith was encouraged, and God was often mentioned (always in a positive light).
Entertainment is a business...if your audience is offended by your content they will not:
Listen to a radio broadcast
Watch television programming
Pay money to see a film
This would all eventually change beginning in the 1960s.
American Culture Shift of the 1960's to the present. Standards in the Arts change for Radio, Television, and Film beginning in the 1970's forward.
Over the last 60 years, America has experienced a culture shift away from her early Judeo-Christian roots.
Some historians point to the ruling of two critical court cases that contributed greatly to the culture shift as well as the events that followed in our nation's history during the Era of Turmoil.
1962: Supreme Court removes prayer in schools.
1963: Supreme Court removes the Bible from schools.
Late 1960's-1970's: The Hippie counterculture movement began . The movement that started on college campuses and spread throughout the nation departed from all forms of Christianity, American patriotism, societal norms, etc. The influence of that movement made its way into schools, homes, music, television programming, and Hollywood films.
1968: Censorship standards changed in film with the collapse of the Production Code allowing content to be shown and heard that previous generations of Americans would have found inappropriate, vulgar, and offensive.
The culture shift made its impact in Hollywood films beginning in the early 70's and in some television programming of the same decade. Radio would follow with more relaxed censorship standards in music.
The American public at the time (and some still today) responded in one of two ways to the change in content which was a reflection of the culture shift:
Some had no problem with the change and continued to listen to radio and watch television programming and films.
Others resisted the change in content by changing the radio station, not watching certain television programming, and/or not attending certain movies. Today, some people have taken to cancelling cable and streaming services as well as not attending movies in the theatre because of the content.
Overall television ratings in modern times have been significantly low for many years as a result of changes in content and the presence of streaming services.
Hollywood has also experienced low ticket sale revenue for most movies with the exception of films considered more family friendly, action/adventure, or patriotic. Rated G films are among the highest grossing at the box office today while Rated R films (with a few exceptions) usually do not perform well financially.
Development of Film
The work of Muybridge, Marey, and Le Prince laid the foundation for future development of motion picture cameras, projectors and transparent celluloid film, which lead to the development of cinema as we know it today.
(1888) American inventor George Eastman made headway on a stable type of celluloid film.
D.W. Griffith
1910: Griffith was a director sent by the Biograph Company to the west coast with his acting troop.
They started filming on a vacant lot near Georgia Street in downtown Los Angeles.
The company decided while there to explore new territories and travelled several miles north to a little village that was friendly and enjoyed the movie company filming there. This place was called " Hollywood".
Griffith then filmed the first movie ever shot in Hollywood, In Old California, a Biograph melodrama about California in the 1800s, while it belonged to Mexico.
The First Seven Studios of Hollywood
1912: Universal Studios
1915: Fox Film Corp.
1935- 20th Century Fox
1916: Paramount Pictures
1924- MGM Studios
*1916: Goldwyn Picture Corp.
*1915 & *1917: Metro Picture Corp and Louis B. Mayer Pictures
1922: Warner Brothers
1923: Walt Disney Animation Studio
1924: Columbia Pictures
Silent Era (1894-1929)
A film with no synchronized recorded sound and no audible dialogue.
Convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue conveyed the use of title cards.
Accompanied by a pianist, theater organist, or a small orchestra would often play music to accompany the films. Pianists and organists would play either from sheet music, or improvisation.
Sometimes a person would narrate the intertitle cards for the audience
Most early motion pictures are considered lost because the nitrate film used in that era was extremely unstable and flammable (about 75% of silent films produced in the US have been lost).
Stars included Charlie Chaplin, Lillian Gish, Buster Keaton, Gloria Swanson.
1920’s: Wall Street began to invest in Hollywood Film industry
Early Popular Film Genres of the 20’s & 30’s:
Biblical Epics
Historical Epics
Slapstick Comedy
Horror-Fantasy
1922: Motion Picture Association of America
The Motion Picture Production Code was a set of industry guidelines for the self-censorship of content that was applied to most United States motion pictures released by major studios from 1934 to 1968.
It is also known as the Hays Code, after Will H. Hays, who was the president of the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America (MPPDA) from 1922 to 1945.
Under Hays' leadership, the MPPDA, later known as the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), adopted the Production Code in 1930 and began rigidly enforcing it in mid-1934.
The Production Code spelled out what was acceptable and unacceptable content for motion pictures produced for a public audience in the United States.
1927: MGM, Fox, and Paramount responded by collaborated on a list they called the "Don'ts and Be Carefuls", which was based on items that were challenged by local censor boards. This list consisted of 11 subjects best avoided and 26 to be handled very carefully.
The list was approved by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and Hays created the Studio Relations Committee (SRC) to oversee its implementation.
1927: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences established.
1929: First Oscar Awards presented.
Classical Hollywood Cinema (1920s-1960’s )
The Studio System: The major studios kept thousands of people on salary--actors, producers, directors, writers, stuntmen, craftsperson, and technicians. They owned hundreds of theaters in cities and towns across the nation that showed their films.
1927: Sound in Movies
The Jazz Singer by WB
1932: Technicolor perfected
1936: Snow White
1939: Wizard of Oz
1941: Citizen Kane
1920s-1960s: Other classic films made like Gone with the Wind, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Casablanca, It's a Wonderful Life, White Christmas, The Ten Commandments, The Sound of Music, and the original King Kong.
New Genres: Biblical Epics, Historical Epics, Westerns, Film Noir, Musicals, Animated Cartoon Movies, Biopics, Drama, Comedy, Tragedy, Farce, Spy Films, Romance, Suspense, Adventure, Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Thrillers, and Horror.
1950s - early 1960s: Hollywood dominated by musicals, historical epics, and other films that benefited from the larger screens.
Classics include Singing in the Rain, The Sound of Music, and West Side Story.
Some of these musicals won Best Picture.
Directors who established Hollywood
Cecil B. DeMille (1881–1959) An American film director, producer, and actor.
Acknowledged as a founding father of the American cinema and the most commercially successful producer-director in film history.
Made 70 films: Known for Biblical, historical, and neo-naturalism films distinguished by epic scale and cinematic showmanship.
Success of his productions led to the founding of Paramount Pictures.
(1923) First biblical epic, The Ten Commandments, held the Paramount revenue record for twenty-five years.
(1927) The King of Kings reached more than 800 million viewers.
(1932) The Sign of the Cross was the first sound film to integrate all aspects of cinematic technique.
(1934) Cleopatra was first film nominated for Best Picture.
(1949) Samson and Delilah became the highest-grossing film of 1950.
(1952) First nomination for Best Director for The Greatest Show on Earth which won Best Picture (Academy and Golden Globe).
(1956) Last and best known film, The Ten Commandments was nominated for Best Picture and was the eighth-highest-grossing film of all time, adjusted for inflation.
Received an Academy Honorary Award for his film contributions and a DGA Award for Lifetime Achievement.
First recipient of the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award, which was named in his honor.
Alfred Hitchcock (1899 –1980) English film director, producer, and screenwriter.
He is one of the most influential and widely studied filmmakers in the history of cinema.
Known as the "Master of Suspense", he directed over 50 feature films becoming well known thanks to his many interviews, cameo roles in most of his films, and hosting the television anthology Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955–65).
His films earned 46 Academy Award nominations including six wins.
(1927) His first successful film, The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog helped to shape the thriller genre.
The "Hitchcockian" style includes the use of camera movement to mimic a person's gaze, turning viewers into watchers, and framing shots to maximize anxiety and fear.
Made multiple films with some of the biggest stars of Hollywood including Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman, James Stewart, and Grace Kelly.
Directed four films ranked among the greatest of all time: Rear Window (1954), Vertigo (1958), North by Northwest (1959), and Psycho (1960).
(2018) Eight of his films selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry, including The Birds (1963) and Shadow of a Doubt (1943).
Walt Disney (1901–1966) An American entrepreneur, animator, writer, voice actor, and film producer.
A pioneer of the American animation industry.
Won 32 Academy Awards
81 features were released by the studio during his lifetime.
(1923) Left Kansas City for Hollywood with nothing but a few drawing materials, $40 in his pocket and a completed animated and live-action film (worked in uncle’s garage).
(1928) Mickey Mouse was created and made his screen debut in Steamboat Willie.
(1937) The Old Mill, the first short subject to utilize the multiplane camera technique.
(1937) Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was the first full-length animated musical feature.
(1930’s and 1940’s) Completed other full-length animated classics like Pinocchio, Dumbo, Bambi, and Cinderella.
(1945) The Three Caballeros combined live action with the cartoon medium (Mary Poppins).
(1955) Disneyland opened.
(1954) Disney was among the first to present full-color programming with his Wonderful World of Color, The Mickey Mouse Club, and Zorro.
(1961) Founded California Institute of the Arts. Conceived the new school as a place where all the performing and creative arts would be taught under one roof.
(1965) Mary Poppins was Disney’s last and most successful film.
(1965) Disney directed the purchase of 43 square miles (twice the size of Manhattan Island) in the central Florida. He planned a whole new Disney world of entertainment to include amusement theme parks, hotel resorts, and his EPCOT. More than seven years of master planning and 52 months construction.
(1971) Walt Disney World opened to the public.
(1982) Epcot Center opened.
Frank Capra (1897–1991) Italian-born American film director, producer and writer who became the creative force behind some of the major award-winning films of the 1930s and 1940s.
Among his leading films were It Happened One Night (1934), Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936), You Can't Take It with You (1938), and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939);
During World War II, Capra served in the U.S. Army Signal Corps.
(1946) Directed It's a Wonderful Life.
Served as President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, worked alongside the Writers Guild of America, and was head of the Directors Guild of America.
Hollywood changes!
Paramount Case (ended block booking and ownership of theater chains by film studios)
Advent of television weakened the traditional studio system.
Hollywood studios initially used spectacle to retain profitability…lost money.
Technicolor, Cinemascope, stereo sound, and 3-D were invented to retain the dwindling audience and compete with television…lost money.
(1957) Life magazine called the 1950s "the horrible decade" for Hollywood.
ERA OF TURMOIL
Era of Turmoil in the 1960’s and 1970’s: Created a negative impact on the American culture and placed the country in a depressed state.
(1947-1991) The Cold War.
(1962) Cuban Missile Crisis.
(1963) JFK assassination.
(1960’s-1970's) Hippie counterculture movement.
Widespread drug use.
Widespread rebellion against authority including parents.
Anti-American and anti-patriotism sentiment.
Rebellion against societal norms.
(1955-1975) Viet-Nam War.
(1968) Bobby Kennedy assassination.
(1968) Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. assassination.
(1972) Watergate Scandal.
(1973) Energy Crisis: Oil embargo imposed by members of the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) led to fuel shortages and sky-high prices throughout much of the decade.
(1974) Nixon Impeachment.
Television programming responded to the crisis by creating new genres in programming called Escapism and New Escapism to help Americans cope with scary realties.
Positive Events in the Era of Turmoil
The following impacted programming in the 1960’s and beyond:
Civil Rights Movement
Roots Mini Series
More African American actors and shows bases on African American families on television.
More minority inclusion on television.
NASA Moon Landing (1969).
New Hollywood (1960’s-1980’s)
Original founders of movie studios sold to corporations.
Corporations took over the industry who had no knowledge of movie making.
A new generation of young filmmakers came to prominence in the United States.
They influenced the types of film produced, their production and marketing, and the way major studios approached film-making.
The films made strongly deviated from classical norms.
Down beat, gritty, and dark.
Cynical view of life.
Heroes replaced with ‘anti-heroes’.
Profanity.
Drug use.
Successful films include Bonnie and Clyde, Night of the Living Dead, and Easy Rider.
(1966) Production Code breakdown.
(1968) New ratings system (reflecting growing market segmentation) set the scene for New Hollywood. Rated G, PG, and R are given to films with PG-13 coming later in 1984.
(1970s) 76% of all movie-goers were under 30, 64% of whom had gone to college. European films, both arthouse and commercial and Japanese cinema were making a splash in United States.
Hollywood in the early 70’s
Studios discovered:
The American teenager had become a large film audience.
Teens wanted to see movies made for them, about them, and created by young directors.
Sci-Fi Fantasy:
Not popular
Average movie made about $10 million
Successful movies made $16 million (Planet of the Apes)
The most successful was 2001: A Space Odyssey ($24 million)
University of Southern California
Studios sought out young directors at USC Film School:
Established in 1929
The oldest and largest film school in the US.
Made as a joint venture with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
Only 3% of applicants are accepted each year making it more difficult then Harvard to be accepted.
Famous directors to graduate from USC are George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, and Francis Ford Coppola.
The Contemporary Period (1980-Present)
Steven Spielberg
(1946 –) American film director, producer, and screenwriter.
Began his career in the New Hollywood era.
One of the most commercially successful directors in history.
Won two Academy Awards for Best Director, a Kennedy Center honor, a Cecil B. DeMille Award, and 11 Best Picture nominations.
(1975) Jaws
(1981) Indiana Jones series.
(1982) E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
(1993) Jurassic Park
(1993) Schindler's List
(1998) Saving Private Ryan
Co-founded Amblin Entertainment and DreamWorks. Served as a producer for many television series and films (The Goonies, Gremlins, Back to the Future, and Who Framed Roger Rabbit).
Several of Spielberg's works are among the highest-grossing films of all time.
7 films were inducted into the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress.
George Lucas
Writer, Producer, & Director
Founder of Lucasfilm, Ltd. & ILM
Born May 14, 1944
Created Star Wars and Indiana Jones.
Father of modern day special effects.
Attended USC Film School
Did not like the Hollywood corporate system.
Wanted to be an independent filmmaker.
Early Influences:
Flash Gordon serials
Joseph Campbell
First film success was American Graffiti
(1977) Second success was Star Wars
The Contract for Star Wars with 20th Century Fox:
Lucas secured the legal rights to:
The story of Star Wars
Sequels
Licensing Rights (*toys, radio, clothing, gaming, posters, comics, novels, etc.)
ILM: Lucasfilm, Ltd.’s special effects company
Original employees made up of young model builders, people who had worked on commercials, and people interested in photography and computers.
Created ground-breaking new special effects technology
Computers (custom micro processers were built) used to create special effects
Blue screen
Motion cameras
Optical printers
Elaborate Models (space ships)
Matte paintings
Won Academy Award for Best Visual Effects in 1978
Star Wars in 1977 changed New Hollywood from the down-beat movies of the 70's into the fun science fiction/fantasy films of the Contemporary Era.
The first Star Wars film made $775 million.
John Williams was the composer who wrote the music for Star Wars.
George Lucas made a deal with Stan Lee and Marvel Comics to produce Star Wars comics to promote the movie in 1977.
1981: National Public Radio released the Star Wars radio drama.
The Christmas 1977 toy campaign for Star Wars was called The Empty Box Campaign (also known as The Early Bird Special).
Obi-Wan Kenobi: In Star Wars, this character played the archetype of the old wise mentor.
Luke Skywalker: In Star Wars, this character played the archetype of the youth on a journey.
Han Solo: In Star Wars, this character played the archetype of the swashbuckler mentor.
Darth Vader: In Star Wars, this character played the archetype of the villain.
Princess Leia: In Star Wars, this character played the archetype of the damsel in distress.
C-3PO and R2-D2: In Star Wars, this character played the archetype of the comic relief.
Other
Superman in 1978 began the Superhero movie franchise as a whole, but for Warner Bros. and DC Comics specifically. It also featured the first superhero in comic books.
Jaws in 1975 was Steven Spielberg's first commercial success starring a killer shark.
Jurassic Park was a Steven Spielberg film in 1993 based on a popular science fiction novel by Michael Crichton in which scientists engaged in DNA engineering to bring to life extinct animals.
Star Trek was a popular film franchise based off of a 1960's television show about space exploration in the future created by Gene Roddenberry.
The Indiana Jones movie franchise of the 1980's featured an archeologist adventurer who would go off on quests to find supernatural objects. Directed by Steven Spielberg and written by George Lucas.
Back to the Future was a film franchise featuring a young man who travels through time in a car to fix his family's past and future problems.
Marvel Studios
History
Marvel Comics was originally known as Timely Publications in 1939 and Atlas Comics in the 1950s.
The Fantastic Four was the first comic book Stan Lee made under Marvel Comics in 1961.
Stan Lee was the creator/co-creator of many popular Marvel characters like Spider-Man, The X-Men, the Hulk, and The Avengers.
Produced numerous cartoon TV shows throughout the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s and the popular live-action 80’s TV adaptation of The Incredible Hulk.
Started to go bankrupt in the late 90’s
Sold the film rights to many popular characters including the Fantastic Four, the X-Men, the Incredible Hulk, Spiderman, and more.
Business agreement with studios to produce a film every 7 years or the rights would revert back to Marvel.
Bought by Disney in 2009.
Disney/Marvel regain film rights to X-Men & Fantastic Four (*Beginning December of 2017 with deal finalized by January 2019)
DC 1938: Superman became a character in comic books beginning with Action Comics No.1 by DC.
DC 1939: Batman become a character in comic books beginning with Detective Comics No.27 by DC.
Followed the comics in that heroes had their own books and lead up to the team book. Iron Man, Captain America, Hulk, etc. had their own books and then were in the Avengers comic.
Films
Marvel Studios films (The MCU) is currently the most financially successful franchise in film history.
Iron Man was the first Marvel Studios film began the MCU in 2008.
Four MCU Avengers films are in the top 10 highest grossing movies worldwide.
Captain America: The First Avenger was the MCU film that featured a World War II setting and the first official superhero for Marvel Comics (when they were formally known as Timely Comics).
The role of Iron Man was played by Robert Downey, Jr.
23 MCU films were made from 2008-2019.
The MCU films made $22.5 billion between 2008-2019.
The Avengers is the MCU film that features a billionaire tech genius, a monster, a super soldier, an alien, and two spies coming together to become a team for the first time to battle evil.
Walt Disney Company
Parks & Resorts
Disneyland
Walt Disney World
Tokyo Disneyland
Tokyo DisneySea
Disneyland Paris
Disneyland Hong Kong
Disneyland Shanghai
Disney Cruise Line
Disney Vacation Club
Aulani Disney Resort & Spa
Adventures by Disney
Walt Disney Imagineering
Live Theatre & Record Label
Disney Theatrical Group (*founded in 1993)
Buena Vista Theatrical Division (Fox Stage Productions joined on July 3, 2019)
Disney Music Group (*founded in 1956 as Disneyland Records)
Subsidiary Television Companies owned by Disney
Media Networks
ABC
ABC Family (now FreeForm)
Disney/ABC Television Group
Disney Channels Worldwide
ESPN
20th Century Fox Television
National Geographic Channel
Fox Networks Group (FX Networks/Productions)
Fox Networks Group International
Studio Entertainment
Walt Disney Animation Studios (*founded in 1923)
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures (*founded in 1953)
Touchstone Pictures (*founded in 1984)
Pixar Animation Studios (*founded in 1986)
Disney Toon Studios (*founded in 1990)
Disney Nature (*founded in 2008)
MARVEL Studios (*acquired Fall of 2009)
Lucasfilm Ltd. (*acquired in Fall of 2012)
20th Century Fox (*acquired March of 2019)
Disney Consumer Products
Disney Licensing
Disney Publishing Worldwide
Disney Store
Disney Dark Age and Renaissance
Purchased MARVEL Entertainment in Fall of 2009 for over $4 billion.
Marvel Comics
Marvel Studios
Owns all characters for publications and television
Purchased Lucasfilm, Ltd. in Fall of 2012 from George Lucas for over $4 billion!
Owns all Lucasfilm, Ltd. and all subsidiary companies:
Industrial Light & Magic (ILM)
THX Surround Sound
Skywalker Sound
LucasArts (Gaming Division)
Owns all the film, story, and merchandising rights to:
Star Wars
Indiana Jones
Willow
Purchased 20th Century Fox in March 2019 ($70 billion)
Disney/Marvel once again owns the film rights to X-Men, Fantastic Four, and all other characters previously owned by 20th Century Fox
December 14, 2017: News broke that the deal between Disney and 20th Century Fox was underway!
Disney offered 20th Century Fox Film and Television studios $71.3 billion!
As of March 20, 2019, Disney owns:
Film
20th Century Fox Studio
Fox Searchlight Pictures
Fox Family
Fox 2000 Pictures
Fox Studios Australia
Boom! Studios (minority stake)
Blue Sky Studios (Animation)
Television
20th Century Fox Television
20th Century Television
Fox 21 Television Studios
National Geographic Channel
Fox Networks Group
FX Networks
FX Productions
Fox Networks Group International
Latin America, Europe, Africa, Asia Pacific
Star India
Streaming
Hulu (60% total)