The Walt Disney Company "Mickey Mouse Club". In 1980, Disney launched Walt Disney Home Video to take advantage of the newly emerging videocassette market. On April 18, 1983, The Disney Channel debuted as a subscription-level channel on cable systems nationwide, featuring its large library of classic films and TV series, along with original programming and family-friendly third-party offerings. Walt Disney World received much of the company's attention through the 1970s and into the 1980s. In 1978, Disney executives announced plans for the second Walt Disney World theme park, EPCOT Center, which would open in October 1982. Inspired by Walt Disney's dream of a futuristic
The Walt Disney Company Sword and the Rose" (1953), and "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" (1954). Disney ended its distribution contract with RKO in 1953, forming its own distribution arm, Buena Vista Distribution. In December 1950, Walt Disney Productions and the Coca-Cola Company teamed up for Disney's first venture into television, the NBC television network special "An Hour in Wonderland". In October 1954, the ABC network launched Disney's first regular television series. In 1954, Walt Disney used his "Disneyland" series to unveil what would become Disneyland, an idea conceived out of a desire for a place where parents and children could both have fun