The Walt Disney Company Disney Media Networks, and Walt Disney Direct-to-Consumer and International. Disney also owns and operates the ABC broadcast network; cable television networks such as Disney Channel, ESPN, A&E Networks, and Freeform; publishing, merchandising, music, and theater divisions; and Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, a group of 14 theme parks around the world. The company has been a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average since 1991. Mickey Mouse was created in 1928 and is the signature mascot and emblem for Disney and one of the world's most recognizable characters. On December 14, 2017, Disney announced an agreement to acquire 21st Century
The Walt Disney Company Fox for $52 billion. The bid was later increased to $71 billion on June 20, 2018 in the wake of Comcast's $65 billion bid for Fox. In early 1923, Kansas City, Missouri, animator Walt Disney created a short film entitled "Alice's Wonderland", which featured child actress Virginia Davis interacting with animated characters. After the bankruptcy in 1923 of his previous firm, Laugh-O-Gram Studio, Disney moved to Hollywood to join his brother, Roy O. Disney. Film distributor Margaret J. Winkler of M.J. Winkler Productions contacted Disney with plans to distribute a whole series of "Alice Comedies" purchased for $1,500 per reel