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We have finally reached the most iconic family-oriented film studio in the United States, Walt Disney Pictures! Short history: Walt Disney Pictures was formed in 1953 as a label of RKO Pictures to continue distribution of films from animator Walt Disney and his studio Buena Vista Cartoons. Prior to 1953, BVC's titles were distributed by multiple distributors, with RKO and United Artists splitting the distribution rights to its library. While distributing titles from BVC, Walt Disney Pictures also distributed several live-action films and some animated films not produced by BVC. The company operated as a label of RKO Pictures from 1953 to 1974, when Walt Disney and his family sold BVC to RKO General. Disney became chairman of RKO General following the sale, and Walt Disney Pictures was established as an independent film studio within RKO General. In 1984, RKO General would spin-off its film assets including Walt Disney Pictures into a new holding company known as Buena Vista. Walt Disney Pictures' purpose would shift around this time to focus primarily on G-rated titles, as well as lighter PG and PG-13 titles. Buena Vista Cartoons was also cut in half, with the family-friendly side becoming Walt Disney Feature Animation (later Walt Disney Animation Studios). Buena Vista would merge with Capital Cities-ABC to form Capital Cities-ABC in 1994, before reverting back to Buena Vista in 1996. Comcast acquired majority ownership of Buena Vista in 2004, renaming them to The Walt Disney Company after the company's flagship asset, the Disney brand. BlackRock would acquire 75% majority ownership in The Walt Disney Company in 2015, changing its name to BlackRock Media. At the same time, Walt Disney Pictures began to refer to itself as Disney, as part of an attempt to unite all of Disney's media assets into one branch. BlackRock would sell its stake in BlackRock Media back to Comcast in 2020 amid several controversies, resulting its name changing again to Disney Holdings. The company's mascot since 1953 is Mickey Mouse. Mickey Mouse was created by Walt Disney back in 1928, and for a while also served as the mascot of Buena Vista Cartoons.
