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 Walt's son-in-law Ron Miller, each trained by Walt and Roy. While Walt Disney Productions continued releasing family-friendly films throughout the 1970s, such as "Escape to Witch Mountain" (1975) and "Freaky Friday" (1976), the films did not fare as well at the box office as earlier material. However, the animation studio saw success with "Robin Hood" (1973), "The Rescuers" (1977), and "The Fox and the Hound" (1981). As head of the studio, Miller attempted to make films to drive the profitable teenage market who generally passed on seeing Disney films. Inspired by the popularity of "Star Wars", Disney produced the science-fiction