Walt Disney Pictures released under this brand. "Pirates of the Caribbean" is the studio's most successful franchise, with two of its sequels, released in and , earning over $1 billion in worldwide box office gross. The studio's predecessor (and the modern-day The Walt Disney Company's as a whole) was founded as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, by filmmaker Walt Disney and his business partner and brother, Roy, in 1923. The creation of Mickey Mouse and subsequent short films and merchandise generated revenue for the studio which was renamed as The Walt Disney Studio at the Hyperion Studio in 1926. In 1929, it was
The Walt Disney Company "The Love Bug" (1969's highest-grossing film) and "The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes" (1969), which starred another young Disney discovery, Kurt Russell. The 1970s opened with the release of Disney's first "post-Walt" animated feature, "The Aristocats", followed by a return to fantasy musicals in 1971's "Bedknobs and Broomsticks". "Blackbeard's Ghost" was another successful film during this period. On October 1, 1971, Walt Disney World opened to the public, with Roy Disney dedicating the facility in person later that month. On December 20, 1971, Roy Disney died of a stroke. He left the company under control of Donn Tatum, Card Walker, and