All language subtitles for 20-20.2023.12.14.Disney.100.A.Century.of.Dreams.720p.WEB.h264-EDITH[EZTVx.to]

[projector whirring]

[♪ mellow music playing]

I loved Snow White. It was so good.

I remember going to see
Bambi and Fantasia.

Little Mermaid in 1989.
I was on a play date

and I was never the same.

To all who come to this
happy place, welcome.

[narrator] Tonight,
the memories and the magic

100 years of Disney.

He probably, when you think about it,

is the most famous name in the world.

[John] You would go through
those doors at Disneyland,

through the gates, and the rest
of the world just went away.

[Roy] Generations of people
have experienced

our stories with friends and family.

They're shared experiences.

And of course, Disney
is the ultimate storyteller.

[Idina] Stories through the lens of hope

and joy and love.

[narrator] Now, the stories
behind the stories

you've never heard.

I didn't know how to dance
so I just faked it.

I faked it pretty good.

[narrator] What it took to make
Walt Disney's dreams come true.

♪ Let it go... ♪

[narrator] From movies...

Let It Go change the whole movie.

[narrator] To musicals...

That completely changed my life.

[narrator] Television...

- Justin.
- Brittany.

- Ryan.
- Love me.

[narrator] To theme parks...

How did he do that?

[narrator] And experiences
around the world.

Pirates Of The Caribbean,
it's the best ride

I've ever been on.

Disney is for the legacy.

It's about what happens years to come.

I mean, who's done what he's done?

I'm so proud, I think I'll bust.

Challenge accepted. Let's go.

[♪ uplifting music playing]

[♪ mellow music playing]

[narrator] For 100 years,
we've been wishing.

I wish that my little Pinocchio
might be a real boy.

[Princess] I wish they could
stay here with us for always.

Genie, I wish for you to make me a prince.

I wish...

[Chris] So it's no coincidence
that this is the movie arriving

as Disney celebrates
its 100th anniversary.

[woman vocalizing]

I play Asha in Disney's Wish.

♪ So I looked up at the stars
to guide me ♪

She's grown up to believe
that anything is possible

and that your dreams can come true.

♪ So I make this wish... ♪

[Jennifer] Something
that defines all our films

in some ways and connects them.

You know, there's really
no greater power than a person

with a true wish in their heart.
It drives them.

And it's also something
that we know involves

a lot of hard work.

And so this film celebrates
that inspiration

and also that work.

[train horn blaring]

[narrator] That inspiring work
started 100 years ago

when a 21-year-old
animator named Walt Disney

came to Los Angeles from Kansas City

with a wish in his heart

to become part of the motion
picture business.

[Walt] I arrived here in August 1923

with $40 in my pocket

and a coat and a pair of
trousers that didn't match.

And he's gonna try to
find a job. And he fails.

[Walt] I tried to get a job in Hollywood,

working in the picture business
so I could learn.

There was, uh, nothing open.

[Chris] Disney had a lot of setbacks

and failures starting out.

And so it wasn't like he was this Midas

that he would later be described as.

[Walt] I thought the cartoon
business was established

in such a way that there's
no chance to break into it.

[narrator] So, Walt takes matters

into his own hands, literally.

[Neal] Walt wanted to create
something new,

something for which he could make a name

in the animation business.

[Mindy] He produced a short
called Alice's Wonderland,

taking a real live girl

and placing her in an animated world.

It was actually Walt appearing
in his first cartoon.

The Alice Comedies are the first

large success that Walt has.

[narrator] The 100th anniversary
of Disney dates back to the day

when Walt, working with
his brother Roy Disney,

signs a deal to do 12 Alice Comedies.

[Neal] The Walt Disney Company
officially begins

on October 16, 1923.

[narrator] Walt has modest
professional success

and he also finds
happiness in his personal life.

[Mindy] Lillian Bounds
was hired as secretary

to do a whole range of things
for the little studio.

Soon romance ensued.

[Chris] And they are eventually married.

But Walt soon suffers a career setback.

[Neal] These Alice Comedies
run out of gas.

His distributor, they want
a new kind of cartoon.

So Walt has to create a new character.

That first character he creates

might not be the one
that people are thinking of.

It's a rabbit named Oswald.

[Neal] Oswald the lucky rabbit.

[Fox] This is the Walt Disney
Animation Research Library.

In our collection we house over
65 million pieces of artwork.

This is a clean-up animation drawing

from the first Oswald
the lucky rabbit short

titled Trolley Troubles.

[♪ instrumental music playing]

[Mindy] He was a very
playful, fun character.

[Mark] He could pull his legs off,

he could pull his ears off,

he could do whatever he needed to do

for whatever the story was.

[Neal] Oswald has a fairly successful run.

[narrator] But then he gets snared by a

business deal that he'd made.

And through some contractual,
we'll call it complication,

he wasn't able to retain or hold
on to the rights to Oswald.

[Chris Miller] He felt that
he had created the character

and also the personality of Oswald.

It was a devastating moment
for Walt in his life,

something that really
shook him to the core.

But as we've learned about Walt,

Walt was an unbelievably resilient person.

When he had a pitfall,
he rose the occasion

because it's not like
he didn't expect that in life.

He never assumed it would all be easy.

Walt Disney had a very difficult child.

My grandpa had h-humble beginnings

and he never forgot that.

[narrator] When he was just nine
years old, he'd wake up

every morning at 3:30
to deliver newspapers.

[Walter] Walt's dad instilled
in him the work ethic

to not just throw the paper

but go and put it behind the storm door.

He had this incredible sense,

t-this embedded in him, this work ethic.

[narrator] So down but not out,
Walt is determined to own

outright the next character he creates.

A mouse, not a rabbit, of similar stature.

[Walt] I'd always fooled
around a lot with little mice

and they were always cute characters.

So I-I decided it would be with a mouse.

Oh, and then the name came.

I had a Mortimer first
and my wife shook her head

and then I tried Mickey
and she nodded the other way

and that was it.

This is a very important
artifact in animation history.

This is the earliest known
drawing of Mickey Mouse.

[narrator] Walt and the
brilliant animator of iWorks

worked together to animate Mickey Shorts.

After months of rejection,
Walt makes a deal

with a little-known distributor.

Mickey Mouse makes his first
public appearance

at the Colony Theater in New
York City in Steamboat Willie.

It's the first cartoon ever
with synchronized sound.

[whistling]

[whistling]

The early synchronization
of music and animation,

what a potent and powerful
combination that is

when animation comes to life.

It brings us worlds we could
never have dreamed of.

It made such a smash hit

because of the synchronized sound

and also because of the
personality of the character

in the animation.

[Chris] And the timing
is right for a character

like Mickey Mouse.

He comes into public consciousness

during the Great Depression.

People want escapism.
They want positivity.

Well, Mickey Mouse
is the ultimate optimist.

[Neal] You cannot defeat Mickey Mouse,

which is certainly a characteristic

that Walt Disney himself had.

Walt always said that Mickey
Mouse was his alter ego.

Walt even did Mickey's voice early on.

Pluto, you don't wanna
get thrown off, do you?

Be quiet, I'll let you out.

[Floyd] So Walt's Mickey
and Mickey is Walt.

[Chris] You could never have imagined

what Mickey Mouse would be.

You could never imagine that he would be

the most ubiquitous
figure in American culture.

[Obama] I am excited to see Mickey.

It's always nice to meet a world leader

uh, who has bigger ears than me.

[laughter]

[Fox] By the mid-1930s,

Walt Disney was looking ahead

in terms of his artistry
and what the studio could do.

[Chris] And so Walt wants
to make something that's

never been done in American cinema before.

The first feature-length
animated movie ever made.

[Fox] And he has an idea
of what audiences might like.

Everybody knew Snow White
And The Seven Dwarfs.

It was a very popular Grimm's fairy tale.

[Walt] I had the sympathetic dwarfs.

I had the prince and
the girl, the romance.

I just thought it was a perfect story.

[Neal] In 1934, he brings virtually

everybody in the studio together.

And Walt Disney proceeds to
tell the story of Snow White.

It goes on for hours.

He acts every part.

He does all the voices.

It's a magic wishing apple.

[Eric] But everybody had been telling Walt

that this isn't going to work.

Everybody said all those bright
colors that they'd seen

in the fast-moving shorts

were gonna hurt your eyes.

[narrator] The late Ward Kimball
was an animator

who worked on Snow White.

[Ward] Walt was wise enough
to know that with Snow White,

you couldn't have a gag
every five seconds.

He wanted realism with Snow White.

It had to have believability.

[narrator] But Walt faces
a big challenge early on.

[Eric] Of course, our artists at
that time weren't really up to

what we were trying to get on Snow White.

Back when they were starting to experiment

moving human characters,

there was a style
called rubber hose animation,

a very embarrassing attempt
at doing human animation.

But this brought about change.

Walt recognized he needed
live-action reference models.

[Neal] The model for Snow White
was a woman

by the name of Marge Belcher.

[Mindy] Thanks to Marge's
reference, her movement,

her sensibilities, the artists
were able to transform her

into a much more life-like,
believable character.

[Floyd] One of the things
Walt Disney realized

animation could do
was that it could really develop

individual personalities.

This is a departure from the
original Grimm's fairy tale,

where the seven dwarves
were identical and had no names.

[Neal] So they're batting
around all sorts of names.

Flabby, Awful Burpee.

I'm glad they didn't go with Baldi either.

[laughing]

- [Neal] Blabby.
- [Kelley] Scrappy. Cranky.

Stuffy. Flaboo.

They really settled on dwarves
with characteristics

that everybody has.

[sneezing]

This funny face is Sneezy.
He has hay fever.

So, Grumpy moves in a grumpy way.

When Bashful's bashful,
he's really bashful.

And that's what then makes them alive.

The gestures we make, the way we think,

the crinkles of our face,

you're endeared to them for that.

[Mindy] When Walt began Snow
White And The Seven Dwarves,

it was a small little studio

and he knew everyone by name.

But through the course
of creating Snow White,

the numbers grew, quadrupling in size.

And ever the innovator,
Walt takes cinematography

to new heights with the Multiplane Camera.

It's an invention created at his studio.

[Eric] Basically, it is a camera

with several layers of glass.

When the camera travels through it,

it feels three dimensional.

And nobody anywhere was trying
that sort of experimentation.

[narrator] But as production
gets underway, the goal of

having Snow White finished
by Christmas of '37,

it's like a pipe dream.

It's running behind schedule.

And much of that is due
to Walt's relentless

pursuit of perfection.

At one point, Walt Disney was
watching some rough footage.

And he said, I don't like
the finger on Grumpy.

He reanimated.

Walt's standards added to the cost.

[Chris] They originally think
they can make this movie for

$250,000.

[narrator] But the budget
is approaching $1.5 million.

And they didn't have a million
and a half dollars.

And they had to go and borrow money.

[Walt] We had the family fortune.

We had everything
wrapped up in Snow White.

[Floyd] Many in Hollywood
laughed at Disney.

[Eric] Saying, "Oh, it's not gonna work.

It's Disney's folly."

This was the film
that was going to bankrupt

the Walt Disney Studio.

[announcer] We take you
now to the world premiere of

Walt Disney's Snow
White And The Seven Dwarfs.

[man] This aisle is lined by hundreds

and hundreds of people.

That shows you the anticipation
of Snow White.

But there was also anticipation and nerves

for Walt Disney himself.

[Walt] We're very happy that all
these people are turning out.

I hope they're not too disappointed.

- [projector whirring]
- [♪ music playing]

[Chris] You have to imagine
yourself sitting there

at this fabulous premiere.

And the first shot of Snow White,

thanks to that special
camera Walt Disney is using,

takes you in.

Your mind is blown.

You've never seen anything like it.

♪ Heigh-ho heigh-ho ♪

♪ It's home from work we go... ♪

[Ward] The night of
the premiere, when I saw

this vast audience of Hollywood producers

and moguls laughing at the right places.

[Neal] But the question was,

if a drawing can make you laugh,

that's fine.

[crashing]

But can a drawing make you cry?

[Fox] When Snow White
was laying on the funeral bear

with the dwarves in tears.

[Ward] I heard people blowing their noses

and they were sitting all around us.

And when the prince kisses Snow White

and she revives, the music swells up.

[♪ uplifting music playing]

[Fox] I don't think they were
aware that something as simple

as an animated cartoon could actually

touch them that deeply.

But it did.

[Chris] It's a huge, massive success.

What was Disney's folly
is now Disney's triumph.

And it becomes the highest grossing movie

of the sound era to that point.

[narrator] The industry is so impressed,

Walt Disney is given an honorary Oscar.

[Ward] And seven little Oscars.

Isn't it bright and shiny?

I'm so proud, I think I'll bust.

[Chris] And so the movie industry

will never be the same again.

And neither will the Walt Disney Company.

[Neal] He went on subsequently
to do Pinocchio and Fantasia

and Dumbo and all of these
great, great animations.

[Jennifer] All the risks that Walt took,

they gave us what we have now.

Flounder, hurry up.

It's still hard for me
to fathom that I'm Ariel.

You're not getting cold fins now, are you?

[Jennifer] Walt's vision
is that foundation

that we all stand on to create these

beloved characters for the audiences.

[narrator] And even today at the company's

corporate headquarters,

look what's built into the architecture.

[Eric] The dwarves, they're
holding up the company.

The characters upon
whom this empire was built.

[narrator] So just as Walt invented

feature-length animation in America,

he's about to take another huge gamble,

hoping to completely reinvent
the amusement park.

[bell ringing]

[Josh] Disney's been around for 100 years,

and every year something new
is coming out of the ground,

a brand new experience
that was totally unexpected.

If you go to Avengers campus
in Disney California Adventure,

of course you're gonna
get to meet some of your

favorite Avengers.

And if you look up,
you will see Spider-Man

swinging over the campus.

Oh yeah, show time!

[crowd exclaiming]

How did he do that?

People usually have no idea
that there was a robot involved.

This is a good friend.
We call him Mark II.

This is the robot that really
informed the final design

for what became Spider-Man

that's now being thrown 65 feet in the air

at Disney California Adventure.

We're always looking to the future,

and I think that's the way
Walt would have wanted it.

[Chris] Mind-blowing, magical attractions

with your favorite stories
and characters coming to life.

They've always been
a hallmark of Disneyland.

But the initial idea of the park
started with a simple dream

that Walt had for his daughters.

[Walt] I felt that there should
be something built

where the parents and the children

could have fun together.

[Neal] As Walt began to conceptualize

what he wanted to do with Disneyland,

he looked at other amusement parks.

[Todd] During the 1940s,

the most American amusement parks

were these Coney Island type ventures.

Walt would describe them
as crowded or cluttered.

In 1951,

Walt Disney visits Tivoli Garden,

which is in Denmark.

[narrator] Walt loves the look of this

European Amusement park.

The landscaping,
the beautiful architecture,

the bright colors, and how clean it is.

[Todd] Walt sees that

and understands that this might
be a way to transform

how amusements work in the United States.

[helicopter whirring]

[narrator] So in 1954, Walt buys
160 acres of orange groves

in Anaheim, California.

[Neal] Walt was a man of many obsessions.

He was always thinking,
how do I make this,

the best space
that I can possibly make it?

[narrator] Walt liked the idea of

a single entrance to Disneyland.

Here, guests start their visit
with a stroll up Main Street

to a central hub.

And from the hub, you can then decide

what land you're going to visit.

This is known as the hub and spoke layout.

[narrator] And since
this is a storybook world,

Walt taps the best craftsman,

Hollywood has to offer.

[♪ instrumental music playing]

[Tom] A lot of the early
designers for Disneyland

came from motion pictures,

creating sets for live action movies.

They had designed Victorian Main Streets

and jungles, and they had
designed western forts.

And so those people
kind of knew what to do

right off the bat.

They didn't need a lot of training.

[narrator] And one of
the last living Imagineers

who can talk about
the creation of Disneyland

is 92-year-old Bob Gurr.

I started in 1954, the year
before the park opened,

with the very first job Walt gave me,

which was designing the body
for the little Autopia car.

I was charged with

providing nine Autopia cars
for the parade.

[♪ instrumental music playing]

[Neal] The opening day of
Disneyland was July 17, 1955.

[narrator] That day, Walt rode
into the park on a train,

a train that's still operating
today at Disneyland.

[foghorn blaring]

My name is Mark Gonzalez,
and I am a steam train engineer

for the Walt Disney Company.

[bells ringing]

A little after I got my job here,

I read through a biography
that I got of Walt Disney,

and realized that he liked trains.

And he would even build them himself.

First in miniature form,
he set up in his own backyard.

[♪ instrumental music playing]

And then, of course, at Disneyland.

[Mark] He would get into
the cab of his locomotive

and just circle the park.

And a lot of times, people didn't realize

that they were being pulled by Walt Disney

to be in the same seat that Walt was in,

to operate the same throttle.

That's something magical.
It's really nice.

[Walt] For all who come to
this happy place, welcome.

Disneyland is your land.

[narrator] Later, during
the production of Mary Poppins,

Walt toured the park with his
leading lady, Julie Andrews.

[Julie] While I was in Hollywood,

Walt said,

I'd love to show you Disneyland,

because I'd never been.

And to be sitting beside Walt Disney,

driving around Disneyland
is quite an experience,

because people went crazy.

They tried to touch his sleeve.

People kept saying, "God bless you, Walt,"

and "thank you, Walt, for all you do.

And we love you."

[Narrator] But Walt is never satisfied,

and wants to bring his
attractions to new audiences

on the East Coast.

This is where the early
planning is taking place

for our so-called Disney World Project.

[narrator] And so in the early
60s, he selects Central Florida

as home to his next big dream.

It was 27,440 acres,
twice the size of New York.

[Bill] It was 27,000 acres of swamp.

And people all thought
we were crazy to do that.

[♪ melancholic music playing]

[narrator] But sadly, Walt does not live

to see his dream realized.

[Beach] This is Beach Rogers
in the KFWB newsroom.

We have a bulletin from Burbank,

which is going to sadden the entire world.

Walt Disney dead

at the age of 65 this morning.

That was a great
sense of loss of a friend,

of a monumental gentleman.

His dreams were larger than most people's.

[♪ instrumental music playing]

[man] Attention is focused
on all that land in Florida.

[Card] After Walt died in 66,

it was a big decision for Roy Disney,

who was then the chief executive officer

of the company, to say go.

[Roy] The responsibility is now ours

to carry out Walt Disney's
imaginative plan.

[♪ instrumental music playing]

[Orlando] It was wonderful
to see it actually open

and just see some of the expressions

on people's faces.

[♪ music continues]

[Djuan] Walt Disney
came to Central Florida

when it was nothing.

And he put in the infrastructure

for the largest tourist
destination on the planet.

[narrator] And back in Anaheim,

Disneyland has expanded to two parks,

adding Disney California
Adventure in 2001.

[♪ instrumental music playing]

[Arlene] Are you associated in
some way with show business?

[Walt] Uh, yes.

[Bennett] Are you beloved by

millions and millions of children?

[John] The answer to that
would have to be yes.

- I think it's Walt Disney.
- You're right.

[narrator] Walt Disney
often made appearances

on popular shows like What's My Line?

Quick to grasp an understanding
of the value and power

of television as a way to market himself

and his creations.

Not only did he understand it,

he built the company on television.

[♪ instrumental music playing]

[Kelley] But what a lot
of people may not know

is how savvily Walt

would use this new medium

to help finish building his
theme park in the early 50s.

And the way he did that

was to make a deal with ABC.

[man] Disneyland will combine
the facilities and creativeness

of two great organizations.

The Disney Studios and

the American Broadcasting Company.

Disney said, I will give you
television content

and you give us the money
to finish Disneyland.

[narrator] But Walt sees something else of

value in the deal

beyond ABC's half a million
dollar investment.

Not only does he get the money,

but he also gets to promote Disneyland

through the show that he does.

So on July 17th, 1955,

Walt hosted a very special
television show on ABC

that helped open the park
and really introduce

the finished product.

In this timeless land of enchantment,

the age of chivalry, magic
and make believe are reborn

and fairy tales come true.

[Neal] Eight weeks of rehearsals.

There were gonna be 29 cameras.

There was a cast of all stars.

Ronnie Reagan, come on in.

Yeah, how about that son of yours?

I've been buttering up to him all morning.

[Neal] But it was a fiasco.

There were technical glitches
all over the place.

[man 1] The cameras are
in the other direction, Danny.

[man 2] I don't know where the cameras\
are picking me up or not.

He's looking for a microphone.
He looks all confused.

And then it's time for ABC to recoup.

And they're going
to do it with groundbreaking

Disney branded children's programming.

[Chris] And some of that
content goes on to become

enormously influential from
a pop culture standpoint.

[man] And now your host, Walt Disney.

You know you're on television.

You don't know about television, do you?

Sunday night meant
Wonderful World of Color

with Walt Disney.

The family would gather around
the television

every Sunday night and watch
Walt talk about

all of his dreams and his visions.

He was a good salesman.

He could get you excited about anything

That was part of his charm,
I think. His...

His infectious enthusiasm
about what he was doing.

This is the Carousel Theatre host.

But nothing's more synonymous
with Disney television

than what comes next.

[bugle call]

♪ Who's the leader of the club
that's made for you and me? ♪

♪ M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E ♪

And every kid in America knew that song

because every kid in America
watched that show.

The Mickey Mouse Club.
It becomes wildly popular.

It's a variety show that has
song and dance numbers.

It also has the stars
of The Mickey Mouse Club,

young kids speaking
directly to the cameras.

And now, Mouseketeers, we proudly present

Symphony versus Jazz.

We wanted to sit with them
and sing their songs

and essentially experience the same joy

that they're experiencing
and projecting to an audience.

They all wear the little Mouseketeer hats.

They all have their names right here.

Nancy.

- Bobby.
- Annette.

My mom told me a story once that
I was so crazy about the show

that she caught me behind the television

unscrewing the back of the television.

I was thinking that if you got
into the back of the TV,

you could get into the show.

[narrator] The Mickey Mouse Club
of that era

had tapped into something

that would become a hallmark
of Disney television.

Young people on journeys
of friendship, discovery,

adventure and fun.

And it really becomes
a secret sauce decades later

when they launched the Disney Channel,

an all new Mickey Mouse Club.

♪ M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E ♪

All these giant stars came out
of the Mickey Mouse Club.

- Carrie.
- Justin.

- Britney.
- J.C.

- Christina.
- Ryan.

The one thing that the Mickey Mouse Club

didn't lack was talent.

You've obviously heard of...

the Justins and the Britneys.

They call me Air Brittany.

[Chris] Ryan Gosling, Harry Russell,

- JC Chasez.
- [Kelley] Christina Aguilera.

Who's the leader of the club
that's made for you and me?

We're in a club.

The shows that
Disney Channel does after 2000

understand what the club is.

The club is school.

The whole class got my back on
this one right here.

I'll do it. I will run
for class president.

Hi, I'm Christy Carlson Romano

and I am the voice of Kim
Possible for Disney Channel.

I have never been captured that fast.

This is almost as embarrassing
as cheerleading practice, Ron.

[Christy] I do remember having chats

about what a tween was.

What are you talking about? We are tweens.

[Christy] I think that word
was kind of a new phenomenon,

to identify not just children,

but more importantly,
the female tween demographic.

Once again, cheerleading saved my life.

That became something that was so vital

to the success of this programming block.

[Kelley] And the young girls
depicted on these programs?

They were far from damsels in distress.

I was being polite.

I happened to handle conflict just fine.

These shows depicted strong,
confident female characters

that didn't need saving.

They were stars.
They were treated as stars.

And that changed everything.

[fans cheering]

When did you realize that you were famous?

Really famous?

It was the day after the show came out

and someone had stopped me
and was like, oh my gosh,

there's Miley Cyrus. I want an autograph.

And that's when life just kinda changed.

What if they found out
I was Hannah Montana?

No one would treat me the same.

Disney took all the knowledge
that they had

and from 2000 onward,

they were on a roll.

Does anyone know the chocolate slide?

[Chris] In High School Musical,
I really think of

as kind of the Disney Channel apotheosis,

where everything they'd learned
about tweens and music

and characters comes together for a film

that nobody can stop watching.

The moment that I knew
that High School Musical

was going to be something special

was when we were in the gymnasium

and we were filming
We're On This Together.

And I said, "Folks,

"we're gonna have a monster here.

Get ready for your lives to change."

And boy, did that.

♪ We're on this together ♪

[Kenny] We were like the Taylor Swift of,

[chuckles] you know, the moment.

[Vanessa] High School Musical,
we've been able to reach

so many kids.

And I just think giving kids
hope is an amazing thing to do.

[Zac] I think that's the most
gratifying thing

about all of it.

Honestly, if you can change
someone's life,

what else can you ask for?

[♪ instrumental music playing]

[Tom] The sun never sets on a Disney Park

because we have Disney
parks around the world.

I have a life bucket list goal

to go to every Disney Park
in all of the world.

From Orlando to Tokyo,

there are actually 12 Disney Parks

at six Disney resorts
located around the world.

So Katie has her work cut out for her.

[♪ music continues]

[♪ mellow music playing]

[Chris] Michael Eisner
becomes the CEO of Disney

and brings over a whole management team.

[news reporter] A new management
at Disney is now

in the hands of Michael Eisner.

Isn't that right, Mickey?

Eisner loved the parks.

Michael Eisner figured
if two million tourists

are coming over from Europe

to go to the Disney Parks in America,

why not give them a park in Europe

so they don't have to travel that far?

We decided between Spain and France.

Spain seemed a little less in the center.

So Euro Disney or Disneyland Paris opened.

- [crowd applauding]
- [♪ band music playing]

[Doris] My name is Doris Hardoon.

I was the executive creative director

and the producer.

I've worked on all the parks
around the world

and whenever you do go to another culture,

it's only respectful to understand

what bridges over certain story elements

that the Disney storytelling has.

[Tom] The castle at Disneyland Paris,

Le Chateau de la Belleau Bois Dormant,

which means basically
Sleeping Beauty Castle.

The art that you find in the
castle at Disneyland Paris

really relied on craftspeople from France,

who make stained glass.

So it is really
an authentic fantasy castle.

[narrator] As head of
Walt Disney International

during the early 2000s,
Bob Iger oversaw the planning

and construction of Hong Kong Disneyland

with an eye toward mainland China.

By 2016, he was Disney's CEO,

cutting the red ribbon to open
Shanghai Disneyland

and says it's still one of his
top achievements.

[Bob] We didn't wanna
just build Disneyland

as it existed in other places in the world

and basically just put it right
there in the middle of Shanghai.

I'm at the grand opening of the
Shanghai Disney Resort

on the tallest, largest castle
Disney has ever built.

We were mandated
to kind of break the mold.

It was a magic kingdom.

But we were asked to try
to really dream up new concepts

that actually matches the culture.

We wanted to build something

that felt like it belonged there.

[indistinct chattering]

And it belonged to the people
of China who visited.

[♪ instrumental music playing]

[Bob] One of the things I'm
most proud of and love so much

is using technology to make
the experience so much better,

so much more immersive,

and that's what we did
at Shanghai Disneyland

with the Pirates
of the Caribbean attraction.

[indistinct chattering]

[Ric] We were terrified

to design a new
Pirates of the Caribbean ride

because Pirates was Walt's attraction.

It's the last attraction that
Walt worked on personally.

This little miniature here
is taken first from a sketch.

We make these sketches
to figure out the types

and the characters.

Walt was incredibly passionate
about Pirates of the Caribbean.

In fact, it was envisioned originally

as a walk-through experience.

We're working on a full-scale pirate.

This will animate when we have
it in the show, you know.

[indistinct chatter]

[gunshots]

He was very proud of at the time,

developing more and more animatronics.

You see, our whole 40-some-odd years here

has been in the world
of making things move.

[Jeanette] How we started that attraction

and where it is today has
completely evolved.

It started first as a ride
that Walt created,

then it was inspiring a film,

[groaning]

and then to the Pirates that we see today.

[dramatic music]

[Jeanette] In Shanghai,
we really focused on

creating the story around
the Pirates of the Caribbean

that our guests know and love.

[laughter]

Katy Perry remembers going
to Disneyland Shanghai

with her fiancé Orlando Bloom.

I went on the ride with Orlando,

who was in Pirates of the Caribbean.

A craftsman is always pleased
to hear his work is appreciated.

And as she says, if you want
a mind-bending experience,

go on this unbelievable ride

with a guy, who was in the movie.

So, you know, that's a level.

It blew my mind, the technology,
what comes to life.

[indistinct chatter]

I was so blown away.

I mean, they really outdid themselves.

[thud]

Disney stories are,
they're truly universal.

They translate around the world.

Creating wonderful memories
for people around the world

every day, every week.

[speaking in foreign language]

[♪ instrumental music]

[woman] When I think of Disney,
one word that comes to mind

is magic.

Dreams.

Wonder.

Supercalifragilistice.

[Kevin] Asking about
my first happy Disney memory

is probably the same as asking
about my first memory.

It's all Disney.

All the risks that Walt took,
they gave us what we have now.

[narrator] And Disney at 100 has
a lot that he never dreamed of.

Maybe he did.

His dreams were larger than most people's.

Like how are you gonna get

singing talking animals to Broadway?

[narrator] And these days,
the magic's not just on stage,

but exploding everywhere.

I left the meeting and I was like,

they want me to be the Mandalorian!

[man] You also have to look at tomorrow

and what possibilities exist there.

It's opened a whole, whole new world.

OMG!

[♪ instrumental music playing]

♪ Let it go! ♪

♪ Let it go! ♪

♪ And I'll rise like the break of dawn ♪

♪ I just can't wait to be king! ♪

Almost anywhere you go in the world

You can say to someone

sing me a Disney song.

♪ We don't talk about Bruno ♪

♪ No, no, no, no ♪

Music is such an emotional story teller.

And what Walt did so beautifully

was really set up the power

of the musical in storytelling.

[♪ instrumental music playing]

My all-time favorite Disney
song is Under the Sea.

Once Upon a Dream from Sleeping Beauty.

Chim Chim Cherie.

It just makes the hair on
the back of my neck stand up.

[♪ instrumental music playing]

♪ Chim Chiminey ♪

The sweep is as lucky as lucky can be.

It became a lucky song for us.

It won the Academy Award.

♪ And that's lucky too ♪

[Dick Van Dyke]
God, that was a great tune.

So easy to move through.

[woman] Ninety-five-year-old
Richard Sherman

is a bona fide Disney legend.

He and his brother Robert were hired

as Walt Disney's own
staff composers in 1960.

But Walt referred to
them simply as The Boys.

Well, I'll be.

Just amazing.

[Chris] The piano they played on

is still in Walt's original office,

preserved exactly as it was
on the Disney lot in Burbank.

Every major song that Bob and I wrote
at the Walt Disney Studios,

we demonstrated first on this piano.

♪ So there's a great
big beautiful tomorrow ♪

♪ Shining at the end of every day ♪

All that music
just once it's in your head,

you'll never get rid of it.

The Sherman Brothers have written

many of the wonderful songs

for motion pictures and television shows.

But also for the parks,

including this unforgettable earworm song.

It's a big world, but it's a small world.

It's a small world, after all.

That's it.

♪ It's a world of laughter,
a world of tears ♪

[Chris] At any given time on Earth,

It's a Small World is playing somewhere,

thanks to the Disney parks
around the world.

♪ It's a small world after all ♪

The secret of the Sherman Brothers

is they play with expectations
in their melody.

They will sing,

♪ A spoonful of sugar ♪

♪ Helps the medicine go down ♪

Every time they say go down,
the interval jumps up.

I actually stole that move for a song

in Hamilton when King George goes,

♪ Oceans rise, empires fall ♪

That's a straight Sherman Brothers move.

I think that Walt intrinsically used music

in a way to help the emotion
of the storytelling.

Every song drives the story forward

where you're never stopping for a song.

That quality of capturing the Disney ethos

of the innocence of a child
through music and through songs.

[narrator] It's a tradition
future Disney storytellers

have carried into the films

of the animation Renaissance period.

♪ Look at this stuff, isn't it neat? ♪

Wouldn't you think
my collection's complete?

For my character of Ariel,
my focus was to make her

as real and authentic
and as vulnerable as possible.

And we do that with
our song Part of Your World.

♪ Wish I could be part of that world ♪

When Ariel sings what we now
call the I want song.

♪ I wanna be where the people are ♪

Ariel tells us what she wants

and then we're on her side to go get it.

You want to find that
vocabulary, that specificity.

♪ What's a fire and why does it ♪

♪ What's the word, burn? ♪

In an I want song, you're really
opening up the world

of this character

and the journey
that he or she is going on.

Speaking as a Disney songwriter,
it's the hardest one to write.

♪ I've been staring
at the edge of the water ♪

♪ Long as I can remember ♪

[Lin-Manuel Miranda]
When I was writing for Moana,

finding the want is really
tricky and specific.

The conflict for Moana
is that she loves where she is.

What is that inner voice
that is telling her

to venture beyond the reef?

♪ See the line where the sky
meets the sea ♪

♪ It calls me ♪

♪ And no one knows ♪

♪ How far it goes ♪

And for How Far I'll Go,

I actually went to my parents' house

and locked myself up
in my childhood bedroom.

I went to where I was when I was 16

and wanted to get out of where I was.

♪ How far I'll go ♪

[Chris] Some Disney songs would
not only move a story forward

but would change
the story's entire trajectory.

Maybe you've heard of
a little movie called Frozen.

Let It Go changed the whole movie

when we heard that song.

♪ Let it go ♪

♪ Let it go ♪

♪ Can't hold me back anymore ♪

Elsa was originally written

as this very conventional
nemesis character.

And then when Bobby
and Kristen wrote Let It Go,

there was so much pathos and compassion

that it dawned on everybody

that she could be so much more

of a complex, complicated character.

So Bobby had found

exactly the right kind
of emotion she'd be feeling.

[♪ instrumental music playing]

She's a perfectionist.
She spent her whole life

working so hard

to live up to her parents'
expectations for her.

♪ It's time to see what I can do ♪

♪ To test the limits and breakthrough ♪

It is a song of transformation.

We had it written in the outline
as Elsa's badass song.

♪ Let it go, let it go ♪

♪ I am one with the wind and sky ♪

We have to be willing to take the risk

and let people see and hear us.

And I think that's really
what Let It Go is all about.

♪ The cold never bothered me anyway ♪

I'm a creature of the theater, remember.

I think it's a natural progression

for a Disney musical

to then sort
of make its way onto the stage.

[narrator] In 1994, Disney CEO
Michael Eisner

brings the big screen to Broadway.

Going to Broadway started
with Beauty and the Beast.

♪ Be our guest ♪

♪ Be our guest ♪

♪ Our command is your request ♪

[narrator] Giving audiences
stories and songs

reimagined for the stage.

But it was not an
immediate hit for some people.

The community of Broadway, however,

did not like this idea at all.

The fear that some big behemoth
was going to come in.

People thought, oh,
theme park entertainment.

And it wasn't theme park entertainment.

And now, of course, Disney has become

an enormously influential
and important force in theater.

It's opened a whole, whole new world.

♪ A whole new world ♪

♪ Don't you dare close your mouth ♪

Aladdin is here, Mary Poppins played here,

Lion King played here.

[chanting]

The animated film The Lion King
is charging onto Broadway.

Celebrating record breaking success.

Broadway's third longest running
show, now in its 26th year,

features music beloved in the film

by Leb O.M. and Elton John.

♪ The circle ♪

♪ Ingonyama ♪

♪ Circle of life ♪

Certain things like that have happened

certain times in my career

where one phone call, one decision,

one gut feeling has made my life better.

And The Lion King,
I took my voice to see it

and it was just amazing.

I see it on a taxi cab.

The Lion King,
I think, oh, God, I'm with that.

The moment that the animals

start walking through the audience

in the beginning is always
a spine chilling thing for me.

Goose bump time.

That completely changed my life.

Introduced my music to
a whole brand of different kids.

And it's wonderful to be
involved in something like that.

It's the Circle of Life.

[narrator] And many of these songs

are performed in school plays

across the country,

thanks to a Disney Musicals
in Schools program.

It's a new generation
discovering the music.

♪ Come on whisper what it is you want ♪

♪ You ain't never had a friend like me ♪

Walt was a futurist.

He always thought about
the good things

And that's the kind of songs
we write for him.

When I got to first meet Richard Sherman

and he went to town to tell me the story,

which is now very well known,

that Walt would invite them to his office

on Friday afternoons.

He'd always say, play that
for me. Feed The Birds.

And this was his favorite song.

[♪ instrumental music playing]

I wept. It was just the most
beautiful thing I ever heard.

It's about generosity.

It's about charity to our fellow man.

♪ Feed the birds ♪

♪ Tuppence a bag ♪

♪ Tuppence ♪

[man] It was just a beautiful,
soulful summary

of everything meaningful
in what artists do.

And I think it spoke to Walt.

[♪ instrumental music playing]

Thanks, boys. Say goodbye to the folks.

[♪ Tiger roars]

[woman] We take our guests to places

they've never experienced or seen before,

and that is timeless.

It's classic and it can be forever.

[narrator] Take the fan favorite
Jungle Cruise attraction

that opened in 1955 at Disneyland

based on a concept
from Walt Disney himself.

[elephant trumpeting]

The Jungle Cruise gave Walt a chance

to give the audience a taste
of what it would be like

to go to these exotic places
around the world.

[Jeanette] Animals that made you feel like

you were on a riverboat safari.

That was the way

that most people
got to see Africa back then.

[woman] Walt Disney was an adventurer,

an explorer, and a traveler.

And that's one reason why in 1948,

Walt produced the first nature documentary

with a storyline, Seal Island.

The story of Seal Island
is going to be a story

about how these seals survive
and their struggles.

[narrator on film] On these long journeys,

her life is in constant danger

from her mortal enemies,
the killer whale and the shark.

Walt understands that
narrative is one of the ways

to capture an audience's interest.

[narrator on film] And here's
one who decided to slip away

and see the world on his own.

He creates characters
and he creates narrative.

[narrator on film] What's father
doing about this? Nothing.

[narrator] Seal Island was
the first documentary

in a series called True Life Adventures.

Which helped inspire people

to be able to imagine what else
was out there in the world.

[man] In all, Walt Disney produced

13 True Life documentaries and shorts.

Eight won Academy Awards.

Walt Disney.

[man] And to this day,
anytime you turn on television,

you're going to find nature movies

that probably
owe their life to Walt Disney.

[narrator] Over the years,

Walt explored the world with his family.

And in the summer of 1966,

he took them all up north on a cruise

off the coast of British Columbia.

Treasured memories were made

because this turned out to be
Walt's last vacation.

Walt's daughter Diane later reminisced

about the experience.

[Diane] It was all my children, my sister

and brother-in-law and their little baby.

I didn't sense any illness.
He seemed good to me.

It was one of the most wonderful times.

And then later realized
it was the last one.

The last one.

[narrator] Some 32 years
after his passing,

in keeping with Walt's love
of travel and adventure,

the Walt Disney Company decides
to get into the cruise business

with its first ship, the Disney Magic.

[Laura] A cruise ship built
entirely for families.

Disney had, I would say,

a lot of bravery for going out

in this well-established market

to offer something that didn't exist.

[Chris] Back in the '80s and '90s,

before Disney was on the scene,

most cruise ships
were marketed towards singles,

eager to find Mr. or Ms. Right.

♪ The Love Boat ♪

[man] The demand driven by the
popular ABC show The Love Boat

with its famous theme song

and brimming with
Before They Were Superstars.

Don't you get a little tired

being tied down to just one girl?

Families did not want to go

because of the image of cruise ships

being one great singles' holiday.

Gambling was the economic driver
of the cruise ship business.

They told us that we didn't have
gambling, it wouldn't survive.

[Chris] But the Disney Magic
defies the odds

and is an immediate success.

[Michael] We did better
than ships that had gambling.

We had a lot of kids in teenage areas

for the whole family
and we had shows and a big hit.

We did it the Disney way.

[Chris] And the Disney way
at sea helped launch

the career of
a future American Idol finalist

and Oscar winner for her role
in Dream Girls

with the showstopping number

And I am telling you, I'm not going.

♪ And you and you and you ♪

♪ You're gonna love me ♪

You started on a Disney
cruise ship before Idol.

Yes, I was on a Disney Wonder cast seven.

I remember every step, every note.

[Chris] Jennifer Hudson
honed her craft as a performer

on the Disney Wonder

and the Dream Girl came back
to celebrate the Disney Dream.

I christen thee, Disney Dream.

May God bless this ship
and all who sail on her.

There are five Disney cruise ships

currently traversing sea lanes
around the world.

[woman] The magic and the wonder,

the dream and the fantasy.

[Chris] The newest addition
is the Disney Wish.

The Disney Wish is 144,000 gross tons.

It's about three football fields long.

Or as long as the Eiffel Tower.

[woman] It is something that is like

the building of the pyramids.

I mean, it's unbelievable.

It's a kit of parts of steel

that you lift and you hoist

onto this foundation of the ship.

And then you weld it all
together and you have a ship.

[Chris] And the fleet
is growing to eight ships.

[Laura] Currently,
we're working on the new ship

that will port in and out of Singapore.

[Chris] It's called The Disney Adventure.

[Josh] Bringing magic to new guests,

just another way for us
to tell our stories in new ways.

[projector wheel whirring]

I'm looking for a great warrior.

[♪ instrumental music playing]

To infinity and beyond!

Almost every transaction
that occurs at the company

or by the company has its roots

in some form
of storytelling and creativity.

[narrator] Soon after
stepping in as CEO in 2005,

Bob Iger takes some bold steps

to expand the Disney family

with some major IP acquisitions.

Case in point, striking
a deal with CEO Steve Jobs,

Disney acquires Pixar in 2006.

And the news today was about
our parent company Disney,

which announced it has purchased

the animation giant Pixar.

Oh, oh, oh, pick me, pick me!

[woman] Pixar always seemed like

it was part of the Disney family.

Yeah, good job!

It took what Disney did
so well in the animation space

and just took it to a different level.

Get up, Sully!

They reminded us of some of the brilliance

of Walt Disney from the earliest days.

Reach for the sky!

[narrator] And on Disney's watch,

Pixar would carry on that tradition

with cutting edge computer animation

on such fan favorites as Wall-E.

First Disney animation
art film since Fantasia and Up.

So long, boys! I'll send you
a postcard from Paradise Falls!

[Chris] And not only
did movies like Toy Story

and Finding Nemo do
huge numbers at the box office,

they also created characters
that have now found

their home at Disney
Hollywood Studios in Orlando.

[Pete] I grew up going
to Disneyland, Disney World.

I still can't quite believe
that the stuff that we do,

that I get to help make,
is now part of that. It's crazy.

Every classic Disney character,

Minnie and Donald and Goofy
and all those princesses.

And there also is Woody
and Buzz and they're dancing.

And when I saw that once, my daughter said

that she's burst out in tears,

and said, why are you crying?

She says, "Dad, you'll be there
for the rest of time."

[woman] But with Woody and Buzz
in the stable,

the company soon set its sight

on a very different blend of superheroes.

[♪ Marvel theme playing]

When I was first told

that Disney was interested
in acquiring Marvel,

I really thought
it felt like destiny calling.

[narrator] Starting with 2012's Avengers,

all the way to next year's
Deadpool 3 with Ryan Reynolds,

it's been a pretty
spectacular acquisition.

I got places to be, a face to
fix, and oh, bad guys to kill.

Marvel was a far cry from Disney

in terms of storytelling sensibility.

Now might be a really good time
for you to get angry.

I'm always angry.

Excitement and action

and characters that were not just unique,

but in so many ways superheroes.

And millions of stories that could be told

from thousands of characters.

Their priority was to actually
stay true to the comic books.

And I think there was
a little bit of a perfect storm

with social media and Comic-Con

and a very vocal, excited, geeky audience.

Excelsior.

With a perfect callback
to the comic books,

which led to a billion dollar line.

[Captain America] Avengers, assemble.

[Avengers yell]

Each of these films
live in the same universe,

which is pretty wild.

Wakanda Forever.

[Lupita] To be a part
of something like Black Panther

that really changes what is possible

with Black story in Hollywood
has been monumental.

[Letitia] Yeah, like just being
a part of something

that is impacting people around the world

and making people look at Africa

through a lens of pride
really shifts the mindset,

especially for generations to come

of young black boys and girls
that look like me.

Somehow Kevin Feige's
managed to kind of create

really beautiful arcs and,
you know, entertaining stakes.

It's just the magic of Marvel.

[narrator] And then in 2012,

Disney buys Lucasfilm from George Lucas.

[♪ Star Wars theme music playing]

It's one of the most iconic opening images

married to music in all of modern cinema.

You know immediately what it is.

George Lucas and Star Wars created

one of the all time great mythologies

of modern world in Star Wars.

Join me and together we can rule
the galaxy as father and son.

To have an opportunity to be involved

with that great mythology

was something that I thought

would be wonderful for the company.

There hadn't been
a Star Wars movie since 2005.

I really think there's
been this opportunity

to let the audience know

that we're exploring new characters

and going to different places.

[man] Under Lucasfilm president
Kathleen Kennedy,

J.J. Abrams takes the helm,

directing and co-writing
The Force Awakens in 2015,

creating a host of new exciting heroes

and bringing back
all the beloved characters too.

And eventually a new
Star Wars trilogy takes shape.

It's like no, this is the real thing.

We're actually doing it.

That's Chewbacca, that's Peter Mayhew,

that's Anthony Daniels,
that's Harrison Carey, Mark.

I think that for me made it feel,

that's what made it feel very real.

When Han Solo appeared on screen

and there was a roar in that room.

I've never heard anything like it.

Chewie.

We're home.

There was George's Star Wars

and now this, the new generation.

And by the way, these are original fans,

grown up now, making up their own stories.

[narrator] And then it too,
that galaxy far, far away...

Ladies and gentlemen, Star Wars
Galaxy's Edge is now open.

...finds its way right into our backyard.

So in essence, to take something

that has been so beloved
for more than four decades

and then to create a world

that you can experience and walk through

at Walt Disney World and Disneyland

is not an easy feat, I would not think.

[narrator] Walt Disney World houses

yet another immersive experience

born from a blockbuster.

Pandora, the world of Avatar.

No!

[narrator] Avatar the original

is still the highest grossing
movie of all time

with nearly three
billion dollars globally.

And its sequel, Avatar the Way of Water,

currently ranks at number three.

Both with eco-conscious messages

about how fragile our planet
and its creatures are.

Avatar became symbolic of
the plight of indigenous people

everywhere is the same.

They're losing their habitat,
they're losing their culture,

they're being pushed out
of their ancestors' territories.

He's holding a mirror up to us

and some of the unthinkable things

we're doing to our fellow creatures,

to the earth, to people.

[narrator] So it's no surprise
Pandora's theme park of choice

was Disney's Animal Kingdom in Orlando.

Animal Kingdom is a celebration
of the natural world,

of that which is wondrous
right here in our world.

Now some people just
see the movie and maybe

go to Pandora at Disney World and just,

they just love the experience.

But some people are reminded

this is something worth fighting for.

[♪ instrumental music]

[Chris] So while the magic of
Walt Disney has lived

in the hearts of millions
for a hundred years,

the company's 1995 acquisition
of media group Cap Cities

brought two major television networks

into the Disney fold,

ESPN and ABC.

So people you trust, shows you love.

Like who wants to be a millionaire?

Okay, final answer?

He's won a million dollars!

[Chris] And later, Shark Tank.

- You have a deal.
- You've got a deal.

You have a deal!

When I think of classic game shows,

I think about TV dinners and TV trays.

It just feels like classic Americana.

All under the Disney roof.

[Kelly] Fox trots to touchdowns,

to late night.

[announcer] Jimmy Kimmel!

And they're raising the roof too.

[announcer] Curry, way down top. Bang!

Oh, what a shot from Curry!

Pure excitement from ESPN,
the worldwide leader in sports.

[announcer] Touchdown! Alabama wins!

I'm not sure it's radiating
through the TV enough.

This place is electric.

Sports hits everybody.

Pull up, pull up!

And that's what we're here
to show or tell you about.

ESPN with an unparalleled

portfolio of major sports rights.

It's on the way!

No good! He hooked it!

What we've been able to do because

Disney has put forth the cash

to give us those rights is
it's hard to even quantify.

You pick!

All this and the NBA

with transcendent stars like LeBron James.

[announcer] Up for the layup!

Oh, blocked by James!

LeBron James with the rejection.

Some of my favorite moments
are speaking with athletes

when they've reached the pinnacle.

Talking to LeBron James

after they won the title in the bubble.

Stay well until next time, okay?

[Chris] That COVID-safe 2020
bubble at Walt Disney World,

a point of Disney Prime.

It made possible that season's
NBA playoffs and ESPN,

where hoops are always
in the conversation.

This man was a bona fide scrub.
He can't play!

[Chris] And since 2006,
Monday Night Football,

the NFL's crown jewel.

With ESPN innovations like
the Manning Cast viewing option.

I host a TV show from a basement.

When I know that ESPN is presenting

Monday Night Football,
it's really pretty cool.

Chris Berman, host of

the landmark franchise NFL Prime Time,

where Robin Roberts was a rising star.

[Berman] Robin was a delight
from the minute she walked in,

and she's a delight as
we see her on TV now.

This is Good Morning America.

GMA, the leader in morning
television seven days a week.

The View, part of an array of
award-winning

daytime program.

[Kelley] Meanwhile, ABC
found sitcom success

by shining a prime-time spotlight

on Contemporary Families, Modern Family...

Who'd like to help me with a magic trick?

Oh!

Fresh Off The Boat...

I want more than okay for us, too.

Eight seasons of the
incisively funny Black-ish.

The SVP of our new urban
division, Andre Johnson.

[thinking] Wait, did they just
put me in charge of Black stuff?

We were a show that
was unafraid to go there.

[Kelley] And Quinta Brunson's
Abbott Elementary.

Where is your class, by the way?

Out in the hallway in a single file.

- Really?
- Mm-hmm.

Abbott Elementary is a gift that
just keeps on giving and giving,

and I love it.

And an Emmy for Sheryl Lee Ralph.

Thank you! Thank you!

[Sheryl] The fact that people
watch the show,

then they say, you know what,
let me go help this classroom.

These ripple effects are amazing.

[Chris] In dramas, there'd be
the storytelling pyrotechnics

of Scandal and How to Get Away with Murder

from creative powerhouse Shonda Rhimes,

with her Grey's Anatomy soon
to embark on a 20th season.

So pick me.

Choose me.

Love me.

Grey's Anatomy was

and is a cultural phenomenon.

[person] It's about not
diversity, but authenticity.

And your characters just
reflect what we see in America.

Yeah, I mean, I feel like
the television landscape

should look like the world we see outside.

[announcer] From ABC News...

Good evening, and welcome to 2020.

[narrator] ABC News,
honoring the memory of

a true legend, Barbara Walters.

Did you ever order anyone killed?

[narrator] Bold,
straightforward journalism

and innovative storytelling

day and night from
the best team in the business.

[person] We have to signal every
night that we hear everyone.

You look in the mirror,
do you see the same face?

No, I see a lucky man.

There's a lot of satisfaction in
developing ideas into realities.

[Bob] Walt had a vision when it came to

providing entertainment for families

that no one had had before at that time.

He wanted to essentially improve,

and as he used to say,
plus up the experience.

I wanted something that could grow,

something I could keep plusing with ideas.

[Chris] You know today how everybody says

this plus and that plus?

Well, Walt, ahead of his time, once again.

[Bob] Walt created a legacy
that had the company

embrace the opportunity

that disruption actually creates.

Disney Plus is one of
the most recent disruption

in terms of the way people are
consuming entertainment.

Meet them where they are
or where they want to go.

Good morning America, welcome
to launch day of Disney Plus.

Disney Plus was launched
in November of 2019,

and it was joining an already
crowded streaming field,

but maybe had the edge in one way,

nearly 100 years of content to offer.

[Bob] Be able to open up an app,
and there was Mickey of 1928

and Han Solo of 2015.

I love the idea of essentially

opening up our library to the world.

I'm Olaf, and I like warm hugs.

My kids rely on Disney Plus
as their go-to experience.

Oh, my gosh.

You can have The Little Mermaid,

and then you can
have Beauty and the Beast.

Well, some people use their imagination.

What's really cool is that Disney Plus

has also brought in a lot of older people.

I've had people say, I waited

until I was in my 50s to see that movie.

Now I watch it with my grandkids.

[narrator] But there
would need to be all kinds

of exciting content.

That was a big reason why
Disney bought 21st Century Fox.

We're going to Disney World.

[narrator] Giving Disney Plus
access to so many great movies

and TV shows like The Simpsons.

Oh, it's so beautiful.

[Chris] And at launch, Disney Plus had two

fully original scripted series.

A High School Musical spinoff

starring Olivia Rodrigo.

It's a fresh start.
Everyone's on the same page.

[Chris] And the other,
a Star Wars space western

dreamed up by co-creators
Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau.

What I like about this new platform

is that there's no expectations
about what it is.

You can't compare Disney Plus to a movie,

and you can't really
compare it to a TV show.

It's, its own lane.

[narrator] The pressure was on them to put

their Disney Plus original on the map.

Pedro Pascal was one
of the first to get a call.

[Pedro] I drove out to
Jon Favreau's office,

and it was just exploding with Star Wars

imagery of the best kind.

And asked him, which one of these

creatures or robots would I be?

And they had assumed that I understood

that they were talking to me
about the main role.

I left the meeting, and I was like,

they want me to be the Mandalorian!

I can bring you in warm,

or I can bring you in cold.

[Pedro] It's the first live-action series

that Star Wars has ever had,

and streaming networks
take different kinds of risks.

Never tell me the odds.

[Jon] With the big movies,
they tend to stand alone.

They tend to be big events.

On Disney Plus, a story was
going to be told every week.

This is the way.

George was so inspired
by serialized storytelling,

Flash Gordon and those kind of influences.

It was fascinating to see how easily

Star Wars transitioned
into this kind of storytelling.

[Jon] One idea that breaks through...

Baby Yoda.

Everybody has fallen
in love with the child,

also known as Baby Yoda.

Baby Yoda was everywhere.
He was on late-night talk shows.

The big breakout star of
that series is Baby Yoda.

Everyone had a stuffed Baby Yoda.

I have a stuffed Baby Yoda.

Say what? Ooh!

Marvel would use the creative
opportunity of Disney Plus

to put its beloved characters
into familiar TV show formats.

When Disney Plus came around,

you could tell something in
a way that we could never tell

on a movie screen,

you could never tell on a comic book.

With WandaVision, Lizzie Olsen plays

Wanda Maxim off.

Each episode is a nod to a
different decade of sitcom,

using the tropes of television
as a part of the story.

I think it's just here under the sea!

[Kelley] Stories were as varied as a

Pakistani-American
superhero in Ms. Marvel,

a first-ever Marvel series
with a Muslim-league character.

It's not really the brown girls

from Jersey City who saved the world.

[Kelley] And She-Hulk gave audiences

something they hadn't seen before.

[Kevin] There was something so surreal

about seeing this giant green Hulk woman

walking into a courtroom and really doing

like a legal comedy series.

Jennifer Walters, attorney at law.

Breaking the fourth wall and
the Disney Plus menu itself.

Alright.

Then I would like to
give my closing argument.

[Kelley] The year-long
Disney 100 celebration

started in January of 2023,

and what a celebration it's been.

Please, can't we go back to page
one and do it all over again?

I hope I don't have to do it over again.

[Chris] Disney cast members
and creators know

they're standing on
the shoulders of the innovators

who've come before.

Those innovators are being celebrated

with the biggest exhibit
the Walt Disney Archives

has ever produced.

[Becky] This is Disney 100,
the exhibition,

which is a 15,000-square-foot

traveling exhibition.

[Chris] Packing and shipping
a hundred years of history

from the Disney vault in California,

that is no easy feat.

It involves 16 trailers with 44 crates

crossing thousands of miles,

starting in Philadelphia to Chicago

with more cities to come.

[Becky] The Walt Disney
Archives are enormous.

We have brought 250 pieces.

We also have 14 interactives

that we've created specifically
for this exhibit.

- Hi, Mouseketeers!
- Hi! Mickey!

We decided we wanted to
have Walt host this exhibition,

so Mickey comes in and makes Walt appear.

Let the show begin!

Here's my pal, Walt!

[Becky] It's a pretty
special technological

marvel that hasn't been seen before.

We keep moving forward.

We're always exploring and experimenting.

[Chris] Not surprisingly,
one of Walt's first creations

also makes a cameo.

Well, it started with the rabbit.

It started with Oswald.

[Bob] The Oswald story is
a story that I love to tell.

Over the years, the rights to Oswald

ended up in the hands of Universal.

In 2006, Bob Iger was our new CEO,

and one of the first things
he did was to get Oswald back.

Nice to meet you, Oswald.

Through an interesting negotiation,

we had the opportunity to actually

get the rights to Oswald in a trade.

[Todd] You can see Oswald on Disney Plus

with new animation now, too.

And so bringing Oswald back is a
way to unify the whole century.

[Floyd] What Walt left us
was that remarkable legacy

of Disney storytelling,
and he handed it off to us,

the next generation of
filmmakers, storytellers,

to whatever happens next.

For 100 years now, Disney has
been creating the unexpected,

and we're going to continue
to do that in some ways

that I think are going to
completely surprise our guests.

Zootopia, for example,
is coming to Shanghai.

We have new frozen lands in
Hong Kong and coming to Paris.

Throughout everything that we do,

we're going to continue
to tell brand new stories.

Just look at it, mama.

[Kelley] And one of those
new stories is what's next

for beloved Princess Tiana,

who at the end of 2009's
The Princess and the Frog

is opening a New Orleans restaurant.

And in the parks, she's seen
embarking on a new mission.

I am so excited

to share with you this first look

inside Tiana's Bayou adventure.

Our story takes you on a magical journey.

Guests are going to join Tiana
and her jazz-loving friend,

Trumpeteer Lewis, on
a journey through the Bayou.

Why, the Bayou's the best
jazz school in the world.

We spent probably close to three years

doing research in New Orleans.

For us to bring the story to life,

the journey was about food,

about music, about history,
about culture, the foliage.

So you really get
a taste of what it's like

to be in the Bayou
during Mardi Gras season.

Disney also recently
released drawings of a possible

tropical America's themed land
and animal kingdom.

It shows a familiar Encanto-like house.

I want to go inside
that casita, don't you?

I don't even know
what that would look like,

but some genius Disney imagineer does.

You wish you could have
seen more, so see more.

Walt Disney taught us to
think of the world differently.

The company today is still

keeping that legacy alive,

but they're expanding too.

So what he founded 100 years ago,

it's going to be around for a long time.

That was his secret,

that he was still a child inside

and saw things through a child's eyes.

He's a genius and also
a great human being.

He's a kind man on top of everything else.

[Walt] My greatest reward,
I think, is that I've been

able to build this wonderful organization

and also to have the public

appreciate and accept
what I've done all these years.

That is a great reward.

[train chugs and blows whistles]