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The Walt Disney Company France

Formerly	Walt Disney Mickey Mouse, S.A. (1963) Walt Disney Productions France (1963-1987)
Company type	Subsidiary of a public company
Traded as	Disney France
Industry	Media conglomerate
Founded	1951; 73 years ago (1951)
Headquarters	Paris, France
Area served	France
Key people	Hélène Etzi (Country Manager and Head of Media)
Parent	The Walt Disney Company EMEA (Disney Entertainment)
Website	The Walt Disney Company France

The Walt Disney Company France (French: La Société Walt Disney), formerly Walt Disney Mickey Mouse, S.A. and Walt Disney Productions France, is one of The Walt Disney Company's international divisions and also European divisions. It is headquartered in Paris, Île-de-France.

The Walt Disney Company France is in charge of all Disney's brands and productions in France. The company also owns and operates French versions of Disney television channels and the Disneynature film unit. The Walt Disney Company France also co-produces content with other French media companies.

History

Gaumont Buena Vista International

Gaumont and Buena Vista International formed Gaumont Buena Vista International, their joint venture French distribution company, in 1992. In March 1997, Disney would launch Disney Channel in France, also serving Luxembourg and Switzerland.

After the July 2001 purchase of Fox Family Worldwide, Disney also got a major ownership interest in Fox Kids Europe, which included Fox Kids in France. Fox Kids switched over to Jetix in August 2004.

Toon Disney, Disney Channel +1, a timeshift channel, and a Playhouse Disney channel launched in 2002. As of 30 June 2004, BVPD and Gaumont dissolved their French distribution joint venture, Gaumont Buena Vista International.

Buena Vista International France

On September 4, 2007, Disney Cinemagic replaced Toon Disney.

On November 30, 2008 at 8:30 PM, Disney Cinemagic HD debuted in France broadcasting on CANALSAT from 6am to 1am daily, making the channel the first "children and family HDTV channel in a French market".

Jean-Francois Camilleri, head of the company, had the company acquire March of the Penguins for the French market. Buena Vista International France also managed to obtain a 20% ownership stake in the French version of the film. However, Buena Vista Pictures Distribution's bid to distribute the film in the US ultimately failed. At the formation of the Disneynature film unit, Camilleri was placed in charge of the unit.

Walt Disney Company France

In 2011, Disney Channel HD was launched and the channel became available on all ISP in basic offers on 1 April, and Disney Junior replaced Playhouse Disney. Disney Cinemagic in France was replaced by Disney Cinema in May 2015. In 2012, a Disneynature cable TV service was launched in France. It was carried by Orange.

As part of the renewal of Disney contract with Canalsat, its exclusive channels Disney Junior, Disney XD and Disney Cinema were removed of Numericable on 31 December 2015, as it no longer had an exclusivity exemption for its cable network following its purchase of SFR where it has put its channels on fiber-optic offers.

On 26 August 2016, France Télévisions signed a 3-year contract with Disney France to broadcast Disney series for young people on France 3 and France 5, a contract previously held since 2010 by M6 for its block Disney Kid Club (excluding any Marvel shows which used to be on France 4). It wasn’t renewed and most Disney shows no longer air on French DTT.

Camilleri resigned his position with Disney France in March 2019. While Helene Etzi was appointed to take over his responsibility as head of Disney's French operations, there was no word on who would helm Disneynature.

In 2019, Canal+ and Disney renewed their partnership for 5 years to launch together Disney+ in France. It included the renewal of channels and services in exclusivity, but with the arrival of Disney+, the channels Disney XD, Disney Cinema, and the services Disney Channel Pop Pick, Disney in English, Holà Disney and Fox Play were closed, while Disney Channel became back exclusive to Canal+. Canal+ was initially the unique distributor of Disney+ outside OTT.

In 2024, the Canal+ and Disney groups didn't find a reagreement with the rise of the importance of streaming against traditional television, involving the termination of its channels and services with Canal+ on 31 December 2024, while Canal+ is celebrating its 40th anniversary which is set to lose the initial broadcast of Disney movies on television.

On 20 December 2024, new deals were announced with Orange and Free for the return of Disney Channel and National Geographic in their basic offers, the distribution of Disney+ and VOD releases. Disney Junior and National Geographic Wild linear channels would then close down in France.

Divisions

Cinema

• Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures France (former Buena Vista International France), distribution unit.
• Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment France (former Buena Vista Home Entertainment France), video distribution unit.
• Disneynature, a film unit that produces documentaries.

Television

• Disney Channel, flagship channel, it launched on March 22, 1997.
• Disney Channel +1, a 1 hour time shift channel.
• Disney Jr., a channel aimed mainly at children 2–7 years old. It launched in 2002 as Playhouse Disney.
• National Geographic
• National Geographic Wild

• BabyTV

Video on demand service

All its channels have an on-demand service associated.

• Disney Channel à la demande
• Disneytek, a buy and rent service dedicated to Disney, Marvel and Star Wars productions, which used to be a Free exclusive for a long time and is now part of other services such as Orange and Canal VOD.

Euro Disney S.A.S., Disney Store France and Disney+ are not part of The Walt Disney Company France.

Closed divisions

Film distribution

• Walt Disney Productions France, S.A. a motion picture distributor formed in 1963 as Walt Disney Mickey Mouse, S.A. located in Champs-Élysées in Paris that handled the distribution of Disney films in France from July 1963 to December 1987. It was closed in December 1987.

Cinema and animation

• Walt Disney Animation France (former Brizzi Films), an animation studio launched in 1986 and closed in 2003.
• SIP Animation (Folded into BVS Entertainment)

Press

• Disney Hachette Presse, a magazine publisher co-own with Hachette Filipacchi Médias, closed in 2019. All publications are now published by Unique Heritage Media as part of a licensing agreement with The Walt Disney Company France.

Television

• Toon Disney and Toon Disney +1, a channel launched in 2002 and closed in 2007, replaced by Disney Cinemagic.
• ESPN Classic Sport, a sport channel launched in 2002 and closed in 2013.
• Jetix, a channel launched in 2004 replacing Fox Kids and closed in 2009, replaced by Disney XD.
• Disney XD, a channel launched in 2009 and closed in 2020.
• Disney Cinemagic and Disney Cinemagic +1, a cinema channel launched in 2007 and closed in 2015, replaced by Disney Cinema.
• Disney Cinema, a cinema channel launched in 2015 as a replacement for Disney Cinemagic and closed in 2020, due to the launch of Disney+.
• Voyage, documentary channel acquired in 2019 as part of the acquisition of Fox Networks Group and closed on 1 January 2021.

Video on demand service

• Disney Channel Avant-Première, premium on-demand service of Disney Channel active from 2011 to Summer 2015, replaced by Disney Channel Pop Pick Play which was initially an Orange exclusive.

These three on demand services were closed on 1 April 2020 with the arrival of Disney+.

• Disney Channel Pop Pick Play (2015-2018), Disney Channel Pop Pick (2017-2020), a service dedicated to Disney Channel productions, include in some TV packages.
• Disney English, an educational service include in some Canal+ packages.
• Holà Disney, an educational service include in some Canal+ packages.
• Fox Play, acquired from Fox Networks Group in 2019 and shut down on 31 December 2020, ahead of the launch of Star on Disney+ which was included in the same Canal+ offers.
• ABCtek, a buy and rent service dedicated to ABC Studios productions via Free from 2011 to 2022.
• Disneynature TV, a service dedicated to Disneynature productions.
• Disney Movies on Demand, a service dedicated to Disney movies, available via Zive/SFR Play for example.

See also

• The Walt Disney Company Italy
• The Walt Disney Company Portugal

References

1. Comment Walt Disney organise la distribution de ces films en France
2. ^ "Columbia TriStar forges Gaumont deal for France". The Hollywood Reporter. 3 February 2004. Archived from the original on 12 March 2016. Retrieved 11 September 2015.
3. "A Salute to Disney Channel: Disney Channel time line". Kidscreen.com. 1 April 1998. Retrieved 8 March 2014.
4. ^ "Company: THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY FRANCE SA". MAVISE. European Audiovisual Observatory. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
5. "Fox Kids Europe becomes Jetix to appeal to boys". Brand Republic. campaignlive.co.uk. 20 August 2004. Retrieved 11 September 2015.
6. campaignlive.co.uk. (20 August 2004) Fox Kids Europe becomes Jetix to appeal to boys. Brand Republic.
7. ^ "TV Channel: Disney Junior". MAVISE Database. European Audiovisual Observatory. Retrieved 20 July 2014.
8. Merrett, Andrew (30 November 2007). "Disney Cinemagic HD launching in France tonight". Shiny Digital. Retrieved 19 December 2013.
9. Kim, Steven (2007). "Disney Cinemagic HD launches in France". AOL Inc. Retrieved 19 December 2013.
10. Carvajal, Doreen (28 September 2005). "Compared With Their Filmmakers, the Penguins Have It Easy". The New York Times. Retrieved 6 January 2017.
11. Eller, Claudia; Dawn C. Chmielewski (22 April 2008). "Disney gets back to nature". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 30 October 2013.
12. "Disney Channel : la chaîne devient gratuite pour 60% des foyers français". Premiere.fr (in French). 16 September 2015. Retrieved 23 November 2024.
13. "New Disney channel launches in France". TBI Vision. 29 April 2015. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
14. "TV Channel: Disney Nature TV". MAVISE. European Audiovisual Observatory. Retrieved 8 July 2014.
15. "Le Câble Perd les Chaines Disney | Dossiers » Télévision". Chronique Disney (in French). Retrieved 23 November 2024.
16. Clarke, Stewart (26 March 2019). "Disney's French Chief Jean-Francois Camilleri Exiting, Helene Etzi Upped". Variety. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
17. "EXCLUSIF : « Le lancement de Disney+ en France sera énorme ! » promet Kevin Mayer". Le Monde. 15 December 2019.
18. "En France, c'est Canal qui va distribuer Disney+". Le HuffPost (in French). 16 December 2019. Retrieved 23 November 2024.
19. "Disney+, exclusivité Canal+ en France... ou presque". www.telesatellite.com. Retrieved 23 November 2024.
20. "Canal+ : bientôt la fin de Disney+ dans les abonnements ?". www.lesnumeriques.com (in French). 13 June 2024. Retrieved 23 November 2024.
21. "CANAL+/Disney+ : voilà les changements qui attendent les abonnés à partir du 1er janvier 2025". CNEWS (in French). 5 November 2024. Retrieved 23 November 2024.
22. AFP (4 November 2024). "«Ça s'arrête le 31 décembre» : le contrat entre Canal et Disney n'a pas été renouvelé". La Voix du Nord (in French). Retrieved 23 November 2024.
23. "Orange rachète les contenus Disney, jusqu'alors disponibles sur Canal+". Le Figaro (in French). 20 December 2024. Retrieved 20 December 2024.
24. Thomassin, Geoffrey (20 December 2024). "Orange signe un accord avec Disney, les chaînes Disney Channel et National Geographic seront incluses pour tous". alloforfait.fr (in French). Retrieved 20 December 2024.
25. Musset, Lucas (20 December 2024). "Free signe un accord avec Disney, les chaînes National Geographic et Disney Channel très bientôt incluses pour tous les abonnés Freebox". Univers Freebox (in French). Retrieved 20 December 2024.
26. Comment Walt Disney organise la distribution de ces films en France (post 24)
27. Comment Walt Disney organise la distribution de ces films en France (post 24)
28. "The Jungle Book 2 (2003) End Credits". YouTube. DisneyToon Studios. 13 July 2018. Retrieved 27 November 2018.
29. "市場視察報告書視" (PDF) (in Chinese). December 2003. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 October 2004. Retrieved 13 May 2023.
30. "ADHÉRER AU SNEP" (PDF). SNEP. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
31. Godfrey, Leigh (27 February 2002). "David Stainton Promoted To President, Walt Disney Television Animation". Animation World Network. AWN, Inc. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 18 September 2015.

External links

• Official website

• Companies based in Paris
• The Walt Disney Company subsidiaries
• Mass media companies of France
• Television networks in France