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The Walt Disney Company and its subsidiaries have been variously impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic; the company has business interests in areas that involve mass gatherings (including its theme parks and film releases) and isolation (including its streaming service and U.S. television brands).
In March 2020, Disney's executive chairman Bob Iger announced that he would not take any salary during the pandemic; in 2019 he earned $47.5 million. Chief executive Bob Chapek announced that he will take a 50% pay cut. [1]
The president of Walt Disney World, Josh D'Amaro, was included on Florida Governor Ron DeSantis's board for re-opening the state and reinvigorating its economy, while Disney Parks' VP Thomas Mazloum is on the task force for Orange County, Florida's economic recovery. [2]
Two of the company's theme parks, Hong Kong Disneyland and Shanghai Disneyland, closed on January 25, 2020. [4] [5] On February 28, the Tokyo Disney Resort closed. [6]
On March 12, the company announced that Disneyland Resort, Walt Disney World Resort, and Disneyland Paris would be closed beginning March 15 through at least the end of the month, marking the first time that all six Disney resorts worldwide were closed. [7] Two days later, Disney announced the temporary suspension of its internship programs, including the Disney College Program and International Programs, [8] which was later extended until the end of 2020. [9] Due to the closure of Walt Disney World, the British variety show Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway canceled a finale taping that had been set to film at the resort in April. [10] On March 27, the closure of both U.S. resorts were extended indefinitely. Cast members were to be paid through the week of April 18, 2020. [11]
Iger suggested that when parks reopen, temperature checks on visitors will become routine. [1]
Walt Disney World employs 75,000 total workers, the biggest single-site employer in the United States. [12] From the week beginning April 20, 2020, over 100,000 staff at Disney theme parks and hotels were put on indefinite unpaid leave, to save the company $500 million. The move was taken due to the extended period of closures for these destinations, which earn over $1 billion per quarter. [1] Disney had arranged with the Florida unemployment program for its 26,000 UNITE HERE union workers in the state to be automatically enrolled, preventing them from needing to apply on the system that is said to regularly fail – though the state's benefits have been criticized for only paying out $275 a week for 12 weeks. [12]
Shanghai Disneyland was the first park to reopen on May 11, 2020, with new safety protocols. Park capacity was limited to 30%, social distancing measures were instituted, and temperature checks and face masks were required for entrance. [13] On May 20, following the easing of some restrictions in Florida for retail and dining establishments, third party retailers at Disney Springs were allowed to reopen. Disney-owned stores in the shopping district reopened on May 27. [14] On May 27, the Orange County Recovery Task Force in Orlando approved Disney's phased approach to opening the Walt Disney World Resort, with Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom slated to reopen on July 11, followed by the reopening of Epcot and Disney's Hollywood Studios on July 15. [15]
On June 10, 2020, the Disneyland Resort in California announced its intentions for reopening. Pending local government approval, the resort intended to open the Downtown Disney shopping district on July 9. The reopening of the Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure was set to follow shortly after on July 17, 2020, sixty-five years to the day the original park opened. [16] However, the reopening of Disneyland, Disney California Adventure and Disney owned resort hotels were postponed indefinitely due to the continuation of the pandemic. [17]
On June 1, the Tokyo Disneyland Resort shopping district, Ikspiari, reopened to the public. The Parks reopened on July 1. [18]
Disneyland Paris reopened on July 15, 2020, [19] but closed in late October when France started a second lockdown. [20]
On September 29, 2020, the New York Times reported that Disney was laying off 28,000 people in the United States, due to the impact of the pandemic on its parks, resorts, cruise line, and retail store business. According to Josh D'Amaro, the chairman of Disney's parks, 67% of the employees reported to be laid off were part-time workers who were paid by the hour. [21]
On November 9, 2020, the Disneyland Resort announced additional furloughs for executive, salaried and hourly cast members. No reopening date for the California parks was known. [22]
On January 11, 2021, Orange County officials announced that Disneyland was set to become a massive COVID-19 vaccination site. [23]
On February 8, 2021, outdoor dining reopened in Downtown Disney. [24] From March 18 through April 19, 2021, Disneyland and Disney California hosted a limited-capacity ticketed event called “A Touch of Disney”, which offered guests to shop at stores and enjoy eateries around the parks. [25] [26] On March 5, 2021, it was announced that Disneyland and Disney California Adventure could reopen with capacity restrictions beginning on April 1, 2021. [27] [28] Four days later, Disney CEO Bob Chapek announced at a shareholder's meeting that the company was planning on officially reopening the parks in late April 2021. [29] On March 17, 2021, it was then announced by Disney Parks, Experiences and Products that both Disneyland and Disney California Adventure would officially reopen on April 30, 2021. [30]
On May 3, 2021, the return of the Disney College Program in Orlando was announced for June 2021 with priority given for 2020 applicants to reapply. [31] [32] Though no immediate announcement was made for the program in Anaheim, the Culinary Program, Professional Internships or the International Programs, [33] in July 2021, the Culinary Program was confirmed to return to Orlando for the August 2021 semester. [34] [35] [36]
Disneyland Paris reopened on June 17, 2021, marking the first day in 17 months that all Disney parks worldwide were open. [37]
The Disney International Programs returned to Orlando with the Cultural Representative Program in August 2022, as announced by Disney Programs on March 25, 2022. [38] [39]
On March 12, 2020, Disney Cruise Line made the decision to stop sailing. [40] It suspended all ships on March 14, when the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ordered cruises to stop sailing for 30 days. On April 6, Disney Cruise Line extended its shutdown and announced it would not launch ships until April 28, and would not travel to Canada until July 1, in line with Canadian cruise ship restrictions. As compensation to passengers, Disney is offering full refunds or to re-book a cruise for within 15 months of the original departure. [41] Per CDC direction, the cruise line on June 8, 2020, its restart dates canceled additional trips with Dream class ships sailings through July 27 while the Magic and Wonder sailings through October 2 and September 14, 2020, respectively. [42]
On March 19, Walt Disney Studios announced that they would no longer report box office figures. [43]
As films began to cancel wide releases at the start of 2020, Disney's Mulan , which was set to premiere on March 27, but was postponed in China and Italy. [44] [45] Particularly for Disney, Mulan not opening in China, where it aimed to make most of its money, was concerning, [46] especially with the possibility of pirated copies appearing, discouraging Chinese patronage in cinemas on release. [47] Mulan's London premiere on March 12 went ahead without a red carpet, [48] but on March 13 it was announced that the film was removed from the release calendar; on this day, Disney also postponed the releases of Antlers and The New Mutants. [49] Also on March 13, Walt Disney Television announced that production was suspended on many of its series. [50] The Disney Family Singalong , an ABC special on April 16, which featured karaoke performances of songs from Disney works with celebrity guests, was created during the lockdowns in the US. [51]
The 2020 opening March weekend's biggest film was Disney/Pixar's Onward , making around US$39 million. This was dramatically lower than the year before, when Disney/Marvel film Captain Marvel earned over US$153 million. [79] [80] For its second weekend, during the worst box office period the US had seen in decades, Onward saw the biggest weekend-to-weekend drop of any Pixar film, making $10.5 million, though was still the weekend's biggest film and the only one to make over $10 million. [81] It did not open in the areas most affected by the pandemic; while cinemas were closed in China, it also chose not to open in South Korea, Italy or Japan, [82] and was ultimately made available to purchase digitally on March 21. It was then added to Disney+ on April 3. [83]
Pixar delayed its next release, Soul , from June 19, 2020, to November 20, 2020, [72] before cancelling its theatrical showing and instead giving the film a Christmas 2020 release on Disney+. [84] The 2021 film Luca also was released direct-to-streaming on Disney+ on June 18, 2021, along with a simultaneous limited run at the El Capitan Theatre; [85] it was released in theaters in countries without the streaming service. [67] Turning Red was released to Disney+ on March 11, 2022, along with one-week limited engagements at the El Capitan Theatre, AMC Empire 25, and Grand Lake Theatre, amid the surge in COVID-19 cases fueled by the Omicron variant. [86] [87] [88] [89]
The Disney+ European launch press event was postponed. [90] With the lockdowns during the pandemic, it was noted that the popularity of streaming services, including Disney+, would increase. [45] [91] Disney saw fit that the service should go live in India on March 11, eighteen days before it the initial release date was expected to. [92] It also added the film Frozen II to the streaming service earlier than first expected, on March 15 instead of June 26, [93] [94] and sent its movie adaptation Artemis Fowl directly onto Disney+ on June 12, rather than releasing it in theatres. [95] [96] A recording of the broadway musical Hamilton also was shifted from a theatrical release to the service, despite the company paying $75 million for the rights to release it in theatres in 2021. [97] [98] The One and Only Ivan was also added directly to Disney+ on August 21, rather than its planned theatrical release. [99] Mulan , after being delayed several times, had its U.S. along with multiple international releases in cinemas cancelled and instead premiered on Disney+ on September 4, 2020. [100]
Disney+ had achieved over 50 million subscribers in its first five months online (to April 2020). [1] By November 2020, it had more than 73 million subscribers. [101]
The Marvel Cinematic Universe was first hit on March 12; the Marvel Studios film Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings , which was shooting in Australia, suspended production due to director Destin Daniel Cretton self-isolating due to suspected coronavirus, though he later tested negative. [102] [103] The next day, despite several Disney films having their releases postponed in a company announcement. The first film of Phase Four – Black Widow , which was set to premiere on May 1, was initially not one of these. [49] This omission was speculated to be because the other films are standalone, while moving Black Widow would affect the development and distribution of the future Marvel Cinematic Universe and the Marvel Disney+ works, with Disney holding off on an early postponement announcement; Black Widow was finally postponed on March 17, when Disney also postponed its other May releases. [70] [104] It had earlier been speculated that Black Widow would be able to take Marvel's November release date planned for Eternals , as Marvel had 'claimed' many future dates for blockbuster releases, which could save the film's prospects where smaller company releases may not. [44] The replacement was later confirmed, with a domino effect causing each future Marvel film to be sequentially replaced. [61] This also bumped Shang-Chi, with Marvel's first Asian hero, out of its Chinese New Year release date: it was due to be released in February 2021 but was displaced by the sequel of 2016 film Doctor Strange . However, given the film's early production shut-down, it may have missed its planned release date, anyway. [105] [106] [107] Due to release delays and continuous coronavirus cases in the United States, Disney announced both Black Widow and Eternals pushed to a year from their original schedule, with Shang-Chi pushed to a fall 2021 release. 2020 was the first year since 2009 that did not release a MCU film. [67] [108]
The Marvel Disney+ series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier suspended production in Prague, the Czech Republic, where the series was set to film for a week. The series resumed production in Atlanta before global production was halted. [109] Because of the pandemic, the series premiere was pushed back from 2020 to 2021. [110]
On May 11, 2020, Lucasfilm released a video featuring Mark Hamill thanking Star Wars fans from all over the world, who worked as medical and healthcare workers, for their efforts to combat the spread of COVID-19 in their countries. [115]
On June 15, 2020, it was announced that the Star Wars convention "Celebration Anaheim 2020" had been canceled due to the pandemic, with the next event scheduled for August 18–21, 2022 at the Anaheim Convention Center. [116] [117]
On July 23, 2020, it was reported that the next three Star Wars films have been delayed by a year each to December 2023, December 2025, and December 2027 respectively as a result of the pandemic. [118] [119]
On February 9, 2021, Disney announced that it would be closing the animation studio Blue Sky Studios, which it had acquired through its acquisition of 21st Century Fox on March 20, 2019. A studio spokesperson had stated that it was no longer sustainable for Disney to run a third feature animation studio due to the economic impact of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic on the film industry. The closure of Blue Sky Studios affected 450 employees, with Disney stating that it would help them find work at its internal studios. As a result, production of a film adaptation of the webcomic Nimona , [120] originally scheduled to be released on January 14, 2022, was initially cancelled as a result of its closure although the film was revived at Netflix in April 2022. [121] Disney also acquired Blue Sky's film library and intellectual properties. [122] [123] The studio officially closed in April 2021. [124] [125]
All West End and Broadway Disney Theatrical Productions were closed, as Broadway and West End shut down in March 2020. [126] [127] On May 14, 2020, it was announced that the Broadway musical Frozen would not reopen after the lockdown was lifted. The show performed its final performance on March 11, the day before all Broadway theatres closed. The US national tour would open when tenable. The international productions, West End, Australia, Japan, and Germany, have been pushed back to 2021. [128]
The two-year Broadway run cost about $35 million to mount, attracted attendance over 1.3 million and gross over $150 million. While not the box office performer as Hamilton or its stablemates The Lion King and Aladdin , the musical had mostly favorable reviews and a solid box office by grossing in the 80%-90% of box office potential. The 2019 holiday year end week gross about $2.2 million and April 2020 hit 98% of potential. Thus Frozen was chosen to close given the future lower attendance at theatres. [129]
As Broadway and the West End reopened in 2021, Disney was able to open or re-open productions. The Lion King re-opened on Broadway on September 14 of that year, [130] [131] [132] and on the West End on July 29. [133] As intended, the West End production of Frozen began previews on August 27, and held its opening night on September 8 [134] [135] The Broadway production of Aladdin re-opened on September 28. [136]
On March 23, 2020, preeminent North American direct market comic book industry wholesaler Diamond Comics Distribution announced that they would not ship comic books scheduled for release on April 1 or afterwards as many of the comic shops they service were forced to close or move to curbside pickup and/or delivery. [137] Eight days later, Marvel Comics announced it would cease publishing single comic book issues in digital and print format starting the following day. [138] On April 28, Diamond announced it would resume distribution of single issue comics to retailers, with in-store availability scheduled for May 20. Marvel Comics issues were accordingly rescheduled for publication starting that day, ending a 7-week period of delays. [139] As of May 2021, several Marvel series originally scheduled for release prior to the pandemic have not been rescheduled. [140] IDW Publishing, which published licensed Disney comics in North America during the period and is the current publisher of licensed all-ages Marvel and Star Wars comics, also had their single-issue publications suspended by Diamond's shutdown. [141]
The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California. Disney was founded on October 16, 1923, by brothers Walt Disney and Roy Oliver Disney as Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio; it also operated under the names Walt Disney Studio and Walt Disney Productions before changing it to its current name in 1986. In 1928, Disney established itself as a leader in the animation industry with the short film Steamboat Willie. The film used synchronized sound to become the first post-produced sound cartoon, and popularized Mickey Mouse, who became Disney's mascot and corporate icon.
Disney California Adventure is a theme park at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. It is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Experiences division. The 72-acre (29 ha) park is themed after Disney's interpretation of California, by the use of Disney, Pixar and Marvel properties. The park opened on February 8, 2001, and is the second of two theme parks built at the Disneyland Resort complex, after Disneyland.
Hong Kong Disneyland is a theme park located on reclaimed land in Penny's Bay, Lantau Island, Hong Kong. It was the second Disneyland in Asia to open, after Tokyo Disneyland, with Shanghai Disneyland opening in 2016. Hong Kong Disneyland is located inside the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort and is owned jointly by Hong Kong International Theme Parks (52%) and the Walt Disney Company (48%). It is the most visited theme park in Hong Kong, followed by Ocean Park Hong Kong. Hong Kong Disneyland opened to visitors on Monday, September 12, 2005, at 13:00 HKT. Disney attempted to avoid problems of cultural backlash by incorporating Chinese culture, customs, and traditions when designing and building the resort, including adherence to the rules of feng shui. Notably, a bend was put in a walkway near the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort entrance so good qi energy would not flow into the South China Sea.
Ming-Na Wen is an American actress and model. She is best known for playing Melinda May / The Cavalry in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2013–2020). Wen made her breakthrough in The Joy Luck Club (1993) as June Woo. She voiced the eponymous character in the animated film Mulan, its sequel Mulan II, and reprised the role as Mulan in the video game. Additionally, Wen made a cameo appearance in the live-action remake of Mulan (2020).
Walt Disney Studios Park is the second of two theme parks built at Disneyland Paris in Marne-la-Vallée, France. which opened on 16 March 2002. It is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Experiences division. Upon opening, it was dedicated to show business, movie themes, production, and behind-the-scenes, but in the 2010s, in a similar manner to Disney's Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World in Florida, it began to distance itself from the original studio backlot theming and entered a new direction of attraction development inspired by iconic Disney stories. The park is represented by the Earffel Tower, a water tower with Mickey Mouse ears similar to the one formerly located at Disney's Hollywood Studios, which in turn was inspired by the water tower at the Walt Disney Studios lot in Burbank, California.
Fantasmic! is a nighttime show at Disneyland and Disney's Hollywood Studios. The show formerly operated at Tokyo DisneySea. It features fireworks, characters, live actors, water effects, pyrotechnics, lasers, music, audio-animatronics, searchlights, decorated boat floats, and mist screen projections. The narrative of Fantasmic! is a voyage through Mickey Mouse's imagination that culminates in a battle against the Disney Villains.
Mickey's Toontown is a themed land at Disneyland and Tokyo Disneyland, two theme parks operated by Walt Disney Parks & Resorts and The Oriental Land Company respectively. At Tokyo Disneyland, this land is named Toontown. A similar land existed at the Magic Kingdom until 2011 and was named Mickey's Toontown Fair. Walt Disney Studios Park in Disneyland Paris has a related land called Toon Studio.
This is a timeline of the Walt Disney Company, listing notable milestones for the Walt Disney Company.
Shanghai Disneyland is a theme park located in Chuansha New Town, Pudong, Shanghai, China, that is part of the Shanghai Disney Resort. The park is operated by Disney Experiences and Shanghai Shendi Group, through a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company and Shendi. Construction began on April 8, 2011. The park opened on June 16, 2016. The park operated in its first half-year with a visitor attendance of 5.60 million guests.
Black Widow is a 2021 American superhero film based on Marvel Comics featuring the character of the same name. Produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, it is the 24th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The film was directed by Cate Shortland from a screenplay by Eric Pearson and stars Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow alongside Florence Pugh, David Harbour, O-T Fagbenle, Olga Kurylenko, William Hurt, Ray Winstone, and Rachel Weisz. Set after the events of Captain America: Civil War (2016), the film sees Romanoff on the run and forced to confront her past as a Russian spy before she became an Avenger.
Mulan is an American Disney media franchise that began in 1998 with the theatrical release of Mulan.
Mulan is a 2020 American fantasy action drama film produced by Walt Disney Pictures. Directed by Niki Caro from a screenplay by Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver, Lauren Hynek, and Elizabeth Martin, it is a live-action adaptation of Disney's 1998 animated film Mulan, itself based on the Chinese folklore story Ballad of Mulan. The film stars Yifei Liu in the title role, alongside Donnie Yen, Tzi Ma, Jason Scott Lee, Yoson An, Ron Yuan, Gong Li, and Jet Li in supporting roles. It was also Cheng Pei-pei's final film before her death in 2024. In the film, Hua Mulan, the eldest daughter of an honored warrior, masquerades as a man to take her ailing father's place during a general conscription to counter the Rouran army in Imperial China.
Avengers Campus is a Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU)–themed area located at Disney California Adventure and Walt Disney Studios Park in Disneyland Paris, and being developed for Hong Kong Disneyland under the name Stark Expo. The Marvel-themed areas or "lands" are being developed simultaneously at the three parks and inspired by the MCU. However, they instead take place in the "Marvel Theme Park Universe", an alternate universe parallel to it within the MCU multiverse, in which the Blip, introduced in Avengers: Infinity War (2018), and subsequent events did not occur. They are designed by Walt Disney Imagineering, in collaboration with Marvel Studios and Marvel Themed Entertainment.
Phase Five of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is a group of American superhero films and television series produced by Marvel Studios based on characters that appear in publications by Marvel Comics. Phase Five features all of the Marvel Studios productions set to be released starting from 2023 to mid-2025, with Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures distributing the films, while the series release on Disney+. Starting with Agatha All Along in late 2024, live-action series were released under Marvel Studios' "Marvel Television" label, while animation in the phase was produced by Marvel Studios Animation. The first film in the phase is Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, which was released in February 2023, while the first series in the phase, Secret Invasion, premiered in June 2023. The release schedule of Phase Five was changed several times due to the 2023 Hollywood labor disputes. Kevin Feige produces every film and serves as executive producer of every series in this phase, alongside producers Stephen Broussard for Quantumania; Lauren Shuler Donner, Ryan Reynolds, and Shawn Levy for Deadpool & Wolverine; and Nate Moore for Captain America: Brave New World.
Robert Alan Chapek is an American businessman and former media executive who was the chief executive officer (CEO) of The Walt Disney Company from 2020 to 2022. He joined Masimo's board of directors in 2024.
The COVID-19 pandemic had a negative effect on certain films in the early 2020s, mirroring its impacts across all arts sectors. Across the world, and to varying degrees, cinemas and movie theaters were closed, festivals were cancelled or postponed, and film releases were moved to future dates or delayed indefinitely. Due to cinemas and movie theaters closing, the global box office dropped by billions of dollars, streaming saw a significant increase in popularity, and the stock of film exhibitors dropped dramatically. Many blockbusters originally scheduled to be released by mid-March 2020 were postponed or canceled around the world, with film productions also being halted. This in turn created openings for independent cinema productions to receive wider exposure.
Phase Six of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is a group of American superhero films and television series to be produced by Marvel Studios based on characters that appear in publications by Marvel Comics. Phase Six features all of the Marvel Studios productions set to be released starting from mid-2025 to mid-2027, with Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures distributing the films, while the series release on Disney+. Live-action series are released under Marvel Studios' "Marvel Television" label. The first film in the phase will be The Fantastic Four: First Steps, scheduled for release in July 2025. The release schedule of Phase Six was changed several times due to the 2023 Hollywood labor disputes. Kevin Feige produces every film and executive produces every television series in this phase, alongside Anthony and Joe Russo for Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars, and Amy Pascal for the untitled Spider-Man: No Way Home sequel.
Duarte says about 400 to 500 of Local 50's members are headed back to work for a Touch of Disney, which currently runs from March 18 through April 19 but will release more tickets on a rolling basis.
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