II. A) The top management team is made up of John E. Pepper Jr., Robert A. Iger, and Thomas O. Staggs. Pepper, 69, is the chairman of the board while he is also the CEO of the National Railroad Freedom Center. He has also had several positions with Procter & Gamble. Iger, 56, is the president, CEO, and director of Walt Disney Company. He was COO for the company since 2000 and became CEO in October 2005. Iger has been with ABC since 1974 and has since held a variety of management positions in the company.
Prior to his arrival in California in 1923, Walter Elias Disney shot a short film called Alice’s Wonderland. It was about a little girl in a cartoon world. It was a pilot to sell a series of these comedies. M.J. Winkler contracted the series on October 26, 1923. This is the beginning of Walt Disney Company. The original name was the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, but Roy suggested changing the name to Walt Disney Studio. Alice’s Wonderland was produced for four years. Throughout production, Walt pushed the visual bound along with the company’s finances. In 1927, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit was born. There were twenty-six Oswald cartoons produced. Winkler signed all of Disney’s animators and he owned Oswald, so Walt was unable to work a second season with Oswald. From this point on, Walt made sure of it that he owned all that he made. Walt was then faced with creating another character. He created a mouse that he called Mortimer. This name didn’t fit, so his wife Lilly chose Mickey and a star was born. Two Mickey cartoons were created, but the first synchronized sound film was produced, so Walt created a new Mickey cartoon with sound, Steamboat Willie. It opened in