Walt Disney and his animator associate, Ub Iwerks, founded the studio Laugh-O-gram Films in Kansas City, making animated cartoons, their most iconic work at the time being the short Alice in Cartoonland (1923). After it was finished, Walt Disney moved to Hollywood to further his career as a cinematographer, and gained a new long-term business partner in the form of his brother, Roy Disney, as the Alice short films that he continued to produce kept getting met with success.
In 1927, Disney published animated films that featured the characters he was responsible for creating, those being Oswalt the Lucky Rabbit and Mortimer, later renamed Mickey, Mouse, which led to productions such as Plane Crazy (1928), Gallopin' Gaucho (1928), and Steamboat Willie (1928). The studio was renamed to Walt Disney Productions Ltd. in 1929, as Disney and his associates continuing to produce animated cartoons that starred Mickey Mouse and his supporting cast, including Goofy and Donald Duck.
Starting in 1934, Walt Disney began production on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs 1937, his first feature-length animated film that obtained widespread success and recognition. This film brought success to Disney, his company and the animated film genre as a whole when it released. Disney delivered a realistic approach to the animation style and shot composition that was just like those utilized for live action films. Pinocchio (1940) also innovated animated films, as it incorporated a hodgepodge of different elements into the film, such as songs, comedy, horror and strong emotion engagement. Both of these movies introduced elements that that inspired a myriad of animated films to come, including the countless animated films and television shows that Disney and his company would continue to produce, even after his death in 1966.
In 1986, the studio that Walt Disney had founded was renamed The Walt Disney Company, and continues to operate under that name, even as its brand keeps expanded the productions it creates through its plethora of mergers, such as its merger with Pixar Animation Studios in 2006, Marvel Entertainment in 2009, Lucasfilm Ltd. in 2012, and 21st Century Fox in 2019. Disney also launched their streaming service, Disney+, in the fourth quarter of 2019. Many people claim that Disney has turned in to a monopoly, and their reasoning can be justified by their early success and growth throughout their entertainment making history.