The Walt Disney Company France Explained

The Walt Disney Company France
Type:Subsidiary of a public company
Traded As:Disney France
Former Names:Walt Disney Mickey Mouse, S.A. (1963)
Walt Disney Productions France (1963-1987)[1]
Location City:Paris, France
Area Served:France
Key People:Hélène Etzi (Country Manager and Head of Media)
Industry:Media conglomerate
Parent:The Walt Disney Company EMEA
(Disney Entertainment)

The Walt Disney Company France (fr|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.[2] In, Disney would launch Disney Channel in France,[3] also serving Luxembourg and Switzerland.[4]

After the 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.[5] [6]

Toon Disney, Disney Channel +1, a timeshift channel, and a Playhouse Disney channel launched in 2002.[4] [7] As of 30 June 2004, BVPD and Gaumont dissolved their French distribution joint venture, Gaumont Buena Vista International.[2]

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,[8] making the channel the first "children and family HDTV channel in a French market".[9]

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.[10] At the formation of the Disneynature film unit, Camilleri was placed in charge of the unit.[11]

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,[12] and Disney Junior replaced Playhouse Disney.[4] [7] Disney Cinemagic in France was replaced by Disney Cinema in .[13] In 2012, a Disneynature cable TV service was launched in France. It was carried by Orange.[14]

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.[15]

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.[16]

In 2019, Canal+ and Disney renewed their partnership for 5 years to launch together Disney+ in France.[17] [18] 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.[19]

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.[20] [21] [22]

Divisions

Cinema
Television
Video on demand serviceAll its channels have an on-demand service associated.

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

Closed divisions

Film distribution
Cinema and animation
Press
Television
Video on demand service

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

See also

Notes and References

  1. https://www.disneycentralplaza.com/t7544-comment-walt-disney-organise-la-distribution-de-ces-films-en-france Comment Walt Disney organise la distribution de ces films en France
  2. News: Columbia TriStar forges Gaumont deal for France.. https://web.archive.org/web/20160312071945/https://business.highbeam.com/2012/article-1G1-113342828/columbia-tristar-forges-gaumont-deal-france. dead. 12 March 2016. 11 September 2015. The Hollywood Reporter. 3 February 2004.
  3. News: A Salute to Disney Channel: Disney Channel time line. 8 March 2014. Kidscreen.com. 1 April 1998.
  4. Web site: Company: THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY FRANCE SA . MAVISE. European Audiovisual Observatory. 17 April 2014.
  5. News: Fox Kids Europe becomes Jetix to appeal to boys. 11 September 2015. Brand Republic. campaignlive.co.uk. 20 August 2004.
  6. campaignlive.co.uk. (20 August 2004) Fox Kids Europe becomes Jetix to appeal to boys. Brand Republic.
  7. Web site: TV Channel: Disney Junior. MAVISE Database. European Audiovisual Observatory.. 20 July 2014.
  8. Web site: Disney Cinemagic HD launching in France tonight. Shiny Digital . 30 November 2007 . 19 December 2013. Andrew . Merrett .
  9. Web site: Disney Cinemagic HD launches in France . AOL Inc. . 2007 . 19 December 2013. Steven . Kim .
  10. News: Carvajal . Doreen . Compared With Their Filmmakers, the Penguins Have It Easy . 6 January 2017. The New York Times. 28 September 2005.
  11. News: Claudia . Eller . Dawn C. Chmielewski . Disney gets back to nature . 22 April 2008 . 30 October 2013 . Los Angeles Times .
  12. Web site: 2015-09-16 . Disney Channel : la chaîne devient gratuite pour 60% des foyers français . 2024-11-23 . Premiere.fr . FR.
  13. Web site: New Disney channel launches in France. TBI Vision. 29 April 2015. 3 September 2015.
  14. Web site: TV Channel: Disney Nature TV . MAVISE. European Audiovisual Observatory. 8 July 2014.
  15. Web site: Le Câble Perd les Chaines Disney Dossiers » Télévision . 2024-11-23 . Chronique Disney . fr.
  16. News: Clarke . Stewart . Disney's French Chief Jean-Francois Camilleri Exiting, Helene Etzi Upped . 28 March 2019 . Variety . 26 March 2019 . en.
  17. Web site: 15 December 2019 . EXCLUSIF : « Le lancement de Disney+ en France sera énorme ! » promet Kevin Mayer . Le Monde.
  18. Web site: 2019-12-16 . En France, c'est Canal qui va distribuer Disney+ . 2024-11-23 . Le HuffPost . fr.
  19. Web site: Disney+, exclusivité Canal+ en France... ou presque . 2024-11-23 . www.telesatellite.com.
  20. Web site: 2024-06-13 . Canal+ : bientôt la fin de Disney+ dans les abonnements ? . 2024-11-23 . www.lesnumeriques.com . fr.
  21. Web site: 2024-11-05 . CANAL+/Disney+ : voilà les changements qui attendent les abonnés à partir du 1er janvier 2025 . 2024-11-23 . CNEWS . fr.
  22. Web site: AFP . 2024-11-04 . «Ça s’arrête le 31 décembre» : le contrat entre Canal et Disney n’a pas été renouvelé . 2024-11-23 . La Voix du Nord . fr.
  23. https://www.disneycentralplaza.com/t7544-comment-walt-disney-organise-la-distribution-de-ces-films-en-france#260042 Comment Walt Disney organise la distribution de ces films en France (post 24)
  24. https://www.disneycentralplaza.com/t7544-comment-walt-disney-organise-la-distribution-de-ces-films-en-france#260042 Comment Walt Disney organise la distribution de ces films en France (post 24)
  25. Web site: The Jungle Book 2 (2003) End Credits . YouTube . DisneyToon Studios . 27 November 2018 . 13 July 2018.
  26. Web site: 市場視察報告書視 . https://web.archive.org/web/20041019042419/http://dcaj.org/report/anime/anime1.pdf . zh . 19 October 2004 . December 2003 . 2023-05-13.
  27. Web site: ADHÉRER AU SNEP . . . 14 September 2018.
  28. News: Godfrey. Leigh. David Stainton Promoted To President, Walt Disney Television Animation. 18 September 2015. Animation World Network. AWN, Inc.. 27 February 2002. https://web.archive.org/web/20150924020546/http://www.awn.com/news/david-stainton-promoted-president-walt-disney-television-animation. 24 September 2015. live.

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