Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures is an American motion picture distribution company owned by The Walt Disney Company. Established in 1953, as Buena Vista Distribution, the company handles distribution for films produced by the Walt Disney Studios; including Walt Disney Pictures, Touchstone Pictures and, as of 2012, Marvel Studios, which is a part of Disney's subsidiary, Marvel Entertainment. The division took on its new name in 2007.

History
Prior to 1953, Walt Disney's productions were distributed by Columbia Pictures, United Artists and RKO Radio Pictures. However, a dispute over the value of Disney's True-Life Adventures series of live-action documentary featurettes in 1953 led to Walt and his older brother Roy Oliver Disney to form its wholly owned subsidiary the Buena Vista Distribution Company, Inc. (DVB) to handle the U.S. distribution of their own product. Buena Vista's first release was the Academy Award winning live-action feature The Living Desert on November 10, 1953 along with Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom, Buena Vista's first animated release. In September 1956, BVD released the foreign film, Yang Kwei Fei (Most Noble Lady), in US theaters. The Company's first US non-Disney film was The Missouri Traveler, was released in March 1958. In July 1959, BVD released the first Disney financed outside production, The Big Fisherman. In 1961, Disney incorporated Buena Vista International. BVD released in January 1979 its first PG rated movie, Take Down, made by an external company.

In April 2007, Disney decided to drop the Buena Vista brand in its distribution branding.

International distribution arrangements
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures International was formed in 1992 as Buena Vista International, after Disney opted to end a previous joint venture with Warner Bros. 1988-1993 to distribute their films in overseas markets (UK, Ireland, Benelux & Scandinavia). Distribution rights in West Germany were given to MGM and later 20th Century Fox before the Warner Bros. joint venture.

In Russia and CIS, Mexico, Brazil, Thailand, Singapore and the Philippines, Disney films had been distributed in a joint venture with Sony Pictures Entertainment.


 * Other international distributors:
 * UK/Ireland: Rank Film Distributors (1954-1987) and Warner Bros. (1987-1992)
 * Turkey: United International Pictures
 * Ukraine: United International Pictures and Sony Pictures Entertainment
 * Kazakhstan: United International Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment and Warner Bros.
 * Finland: Suomi-Filmi
 * Belgium/Netherlands/Benelux: United International Pictures
 * Australia/New Zealand: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (1959-1968), Greater Union Organization (1968-1987), CIC-Fox (1970s-1987), Village Roadshow (1988-1992)

Distribution
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures is noteworthy for having five films that have surpassed the $1-billion-mark in worldwide ticket sales:
 * Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006) ($1,066,179,725)
 * Alice in Wonderland (2010) ($1,024,299,904)
 * Toy Story 3 (2010) ($1,063,171,911)
 * Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011) ($1,043,871,802)
 * The Avengers (2012) ($1,511,757,910)

Disney is the only major Hollywood studio that has released more than four films that have crossed the $1-billion-mark (in worldwide grosses). In addition, Disney is the only studio to have released two $1-billion-dollar films in the same year. The top three highest grossing animated films have been released by Disney. Sixteen of the twenty highest grossing G-rated films were also distributed by Disney.

The company distributes all features produced by the Walt Disney Studios, other Disney film units and some third-parties including:


 * Current
 * Walt Disney Pictures
 * Walt Disney Animation Studios
 * Pixar Animation Studios
 * DisneyToon Studios
 * Lucasfilm
 * Marvel Studios
 * Disneynature
 * Touchstone Pictures
 * DreamWorks Studios
 * ESPN Films


 * Active producer deals
 * Mandeville Films
 * Jerry Bruckheimer Films
 * POW! Entertainment
 * Studio Ghibli (North America; 1998–present)


 * Former
 * Hollywood Pictures (1990-2007; defunct)
 * Miramax Films (1993–2010; sold)
 * Dimension Films (1993–2005; sold)
 * ImageMovers Digital (2009–2011; defunct)


 * Former producer deals
 * Walden Media (2003-2008)