Editing Walt Disney Pictures (section)

=== Predecessor unit ===
{{See also|The Walt Disney Company#History}}
The studio's predecessor (and the modern-day the Walt Disney Company's as a whole) was founded as the '''Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio''', by filmmaker [[Walt Disney]] and his business partner and brother, [[Roy O. Disney|Roy]], in 1923.

[[File:Walt Disney Productions 1929.jpg| thumb|right | Logo used from 1929 to 1937.]]

The creation of [[Mickey Mouse]] and subsequent short films and merchandise generated revenue for the studio, which was renamed as '''The Walt Disney Studio''' at the Hyperion Studio in 1926.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://kpolsson.com/disnehis/disn1926.htm|title=Chronology of the Walt Disney Company (1926)|work=kpolsson.com|access-date=April 21, 2014|archive-date=November 29, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131129174432/http://kpolsson.com/disnehis/disn1926.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1929, it was renamed again to [[The Walt Disney Company|'''Walt Disney Productions''']]. The studio's streak of success continued in the 1930s, culminating with the 1937 release of the first feature-length animated film, [[Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937 film)|''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'']], which becomes a huge financial success.<ref name="GablerBook">{{cite book|last= Gabler|first= Neal|year= 2007|title= Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination|location= New York |publisher=Random House|isbn= 978-0-679-75747-4|pages= 276–277}}</ref> With the profits from ''Snow White'', Walt relocated to [[Walt Disney Studios (Burbank)|a third studio]] in [[Burbank, California]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Schroeder|first=Russel|title=Walt Disney: His Life in Pictures|url=https://archive.org/details/waltdisney00russ|url-access=registration|year=1996|publisher=Disney Press|location=New York}}</ref>

In the 1940s, Disney began experimenting with full-length live-action films, with the introduction of hybrid live action-animated films such as ''[[The Reluctant Dragon (1941 film)|The Reluctant Dragon]]'' (1941) and ''[[Song of the South]]'' (1946).<ref name=fu>{{cite web|title=The Walt Disney Company History|url=http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/the-walt-disney-company-history/|work=Company Profiles|publisher=fundinguniverse.com|access-date=November 6, 2012|archive-date=October 28, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121028212729/http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/the-walt-disney-company-history/|url-status=live}}</ref> That same decade, the studio began producing nature documentaries with the release of [[Seal Island (film)|''Seal Island'']] (1948), the first of the ''[[True-Life Adventures]]'' series and a subsequent [[Academy Award]] winner for [[Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film|Best Live-Action Short Film]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/movies/movie/123954/The-Best-of-Walt-Disney-s-True-Life-Adventures/overview|title=The Best of Walt Disney's True-Life Adventures (1975)|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160109213719/http://www.nytimes.com/movies/movie/123954/The-Best-of-Walt-Disney-s-True-Life-Adventures/overview|archive-date=January 9, 2016|url-status=dead|department=Movies & TV Dept.|work=[[The New York Times]]|author=Hal Erickson|author-link=Hal Erickson (author)|date=2016|access-date=March 18, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/141404/Seal-Island/details|title=The New York Times: Seal Island|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130901035958/https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/141404/Seal-Island/details|archive-date=September 1, 2013|url-status=dead|department=Movies & TV Dept.|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=2013|access-date=May 18, 2008}}</ref>

Walt Disney Productions had its first fully live-action film in 1950 with the release of [[Treasure Island (1950 film)|''Treasure Island'']]'','' considered by Disney to be the official conception for what would eventually evolve into the modern-day Walt Disney Pictures.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Walt Disney Studios|url=http://thewaltdisneycompany.com:80/disney-companies/studio-entertainment|website=Disney Corporate|publisher=The Walt Disney Company|access-date=June 4, 2014|archive-date=February 14, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140214044620/http://thewaltdisneycompany.com/disney-companies/studio-entertainment|url-status=live}}</ref> By 1953, the company ended their agreements with such third-party distributors as [[RKO Pictures|RKO Radio Pictures]] and [[United Artists]] and formed their own distribution company, [[Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures|Buena Vista Distribution]].<ref name="bbg">{{cite news|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=a0MG17nO.PG8&refer=home|title=Disney to Drop Buena Vista Brand Name, People Say (Update1)|last=Fixmer|first=Andy|date=April 25, 2007|work=Bloomberg News|access-date=November 28, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110918060836/https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=a0MG17nO.PG8&refer=home|archive-date=September 18, 2011}}</ref> By the 1950s, the company had purchased the rights to the work of [[L. Frank Baum]].<ref>{{Cite news|date=February 29, 1984|title=Disney Rolls 'Oz' In Britain, Bought Baum Rights in '50s|page=6|work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]}}</ref>