Touchstone Pictures

Touchstone Pictures is a film division of The Walt Disney Company. Its releases are typically more adult than those under the Disney label, although the features Who Framed Roger Rabbit and The Nightmare Before Christmas, which were released under the Touchstone banner, are more considered as "Disney" movies (the former featured Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and many other Disney characters, though it also featured characters from other studios while the latter was featured in Kingdom Hearts, which is essentially a Disney crossover, and the latter was released under Walt Disney Pictures upon its theatrical re-release in 2007).

The origins of Touchstone Pictures can be traced to the 1979 release of The Black Hole, a science fiction film that sparked controversy due to the fact that it was the first Disney film to receive a PG rating (although Disney had already distributed it's first PG rated film, Take Down, without the Disney name visible). Over the next few years, Disney experimented with more PG-rated fare, such as the 1981 film Condorman,1982's Tron and 1983's Trenchcoat. The latter film attracted major criticism for including adult themes that were considered inappropriate for a Disney film. The controversy over Trenchcoat is generally considered the catalyst that sparked the creation of Touchstone Pictures. One title considered for the new company was "Hyperion Pictures," named after the location of the studio in the 1930s before the move to Burbank.

Ironically, some critics complained that the creation of Touchstone in order to distribute more adult content was itself inappropriate for Disney. Founded by Disney CEO Ron W. Miller in 1984, Touchstone's first release was Splash, a huge hit for the studio. The film included brief nudity on the part of star Daryl Hannah and adult language.

The unit became a top source of income for Disney during the 1980s. Touchstone/Disney's first R-rated film, Down and Out in Beverly Hills, came in January 1986 and was another smash. Ruthless People followed in April of 1986 and was also huge. One example of a recent release is Signs (2002). Touchstone is still an active unit of the company today. The studio's sister company, ABC Studios currently produces the smash hits Desperate Housewives and Lost, as well as Scrubs.

List of notable Touchstone features

 * Splash (1984) (PG)
 * Country (1985) (PG)
 * Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend (1985) (PG)
 * My Science Project (1985) (PG)
 * Down and Out in Beverly Hills (1986) (R)
 * Off Beat (1986)
 * Ruthless People (1986) (R)
 * Tough Guys (1986)
 * The Color of Money (1986) (R)
 * Outrageous Fortune (1987)
 * Good Morning, Vietnam (1987) (R)
 * Tin Men (1987)
 * Three Men and a Baby (1987) (PG)
 * Adventures in Babysitting (1987) (PG-13)
 * Stakeout (1987) (R)
 * Ernest Goes to Camp (1987) (PG)
 * Can't Buy Me Love (1987) (PG-13)
 * Hello Again (1987) (PG)
 * Shoot to Kill (1988)
 * D.O.A. (1988) (R)
 * Big Business (1988)
 * Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) (PG)
 * Cocktail (1988) (R)
 * The Rescue (1988) (PG)
 * Heartbreak Hotel (1988) (PG-13)
 * The Good Mother (1988)
 * Ernest Saves Christmas (1988) (PG)
 * Beaches (1988) (PG-13)
 * Three Fugitives (1989) (PG-13)
 * New York Stories (1989) (PG)
 * Disorganized Crime (1989) (R)
 * Dead Poets Society (1989) (PG)
 * Turner & Hooch (1989) (PG)
 * An Innocent Man (1989)
 * Gross Anatomy (1989) (PG-13)
 * Blaze (1989)
 * Three Men and a Little Lady (1990) (PG)
 * Ernest Goes to Jail (1990) (PG)
 * Pretty Woman (1990) (R)
 * Ernest Scared Stupid (1991) (PG)
 * What About Bob? (1991) (PG)
 * 3 Ninjas (1992) (PG)
 * The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) (PG)
 * Ed Wood (1994) (R)
 * My Father the Hero (1994) (PG)
 * Slam Dunk Ernest (1995) (PG)
 * Con Air (1997) (R)
 * Armageddon (1998) (PG-13)
 * Krippendorf's Tribe (1998)
 * Bicentennial Man (1999) (PG)
 * Gone in 60 Seconds (2000) (PG-13)
 * Pearl Harbor (2001) (PG-13)
 * Signs (2002) (PG-13)
 * Sweet Home Alabama (2002) (PG-13)
 * The Count of Monte Cristo (2002) (PG-13)
 * Under the Tuscan Sun (2003) (PG-13)
 * The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004) (R)
 * King Arthur (2004)
 * Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005) (PG)
 * Flightplan (2005) (PG-13)
 * Stick It (2006)
 * The Prestige (2006)
 * Wild Hogs (2007) (PG-13)
 * The Proposal (2009) (PG-13)
 * Gnomeo & Juliet (2011) (PG)
 * The Help (2011) (PG-13)
 * War Horse (2011) (PG-13)

Roger Rabbit Short

 * Roller Coaster Rabbit (1990) (short)