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The Walt Disney Company France (French:La Société Walt Disney), formerlyWalt Disney Mickey Mouse, S.A. andWalt Disney Productions France, is one ofThe Walt Disney Company's international divisions and also European divisions. It is headquartered inParis,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 theDisneynature film unit. The Walt Disney Company France also co-produces content with other French media companies.
Gaumont andBuena Vista International formed Gaumont Buena Vista International, their joint venture French distribution company, in 1992.[2] InMarch 1997, Disney would launchDisney Channel in France,[3] also serving Luxembourg and Switzerland.[4]
After theJuly 2001 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 toJetix in August 2004.[5][6]
Toon Disney, Disney Channel +1, a timeshift channel, and aPlayhouse 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]
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 acquireMarch 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 theDisneynature film unit, Camilleri was placed in charge of the unit.[11]
In 2011, Disney Channel HD was launched and the channel became available on all ISP in basic offers on 1 April,[12] andDisney Junior replaced Playhouse Disney.[4][7] Disney Cinemagic in France was replaced by Disney Cinema inMay 2015.[13] In 2012, a Disneynature cable TV service was launched in France. It was carried byOrange.[14]
As part of the renewal of Disney contract with Canalsat, its exclusive channels Disney Junior, Disney XD and Disney Cinema were removed ofNumericable on 31 December 2015, as it no longer had an exclusivity exemption for its cable network following its purchase ofSFR 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 onFrance 3 andFrance 5, a contract previously held since 2010 byM6 for its block Disney Kid Club (excluding any Marvel shows which used to be onFrance 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 togetherDisney+ 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, whileDisney Channel became back exclusive to Canal+. Canal+ was initially the unique distributor of Disney+ outside OTT.[19]
In 2024, theCanal+ 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 withCanal+ on 31 December 2024, whileCanal+ is celebrating its 40th anniversary which is set to lose the initial broadcast of Disney movies on television.[20][21][22]
On 20 December 2024, new deals were announced withOrange andFree for the return of Disney Channel and National Geographic in their basic offers, the distribution of Disney+ and VOD releases.[23][24][25] Disney Junior and National Geographic Wild linear channels would then close down in France.
All its channels have an on-demand service associated.
Disney Channel à la demande
Disneytek, a buy and rent service dedicated toDisney,Marvel andStar Wars productions, which used to be aFree exclusive for a long time and is now part of other services such as Orange and Canal VOD.
Walt Disney Productions France, S.A. a motion picture distributor formed in 1963 as Walt Disney Mickey Mouse, S.A.[26] located in Champs-Élysées in Paris that handled the distribution of Disney films in France from July 1963 to December 1987. It was closed in December 1987.[27]
Disney Hachette Presse, a magazine publisher co-own withHachette Filipacchi Médias, closed in 2019. All publications are now published by Unique Heritage Media as part of a licensing agreement with The Walt Disney Company France.
ESPN Classic Sport, a sport channel launched in 2002 and closed in 2013.
Jetix, a channel launched in 2004 replacingFox Kids and closed in 2009, replaced byDisney XD.
Disney XD, a channel launched in 2009 and closed in 2020.
Disney Cinemagic and Disney Cinemagic +1, a cinema channel launched in 2007 and closed in 2015, replaced by Disney Cinema.
Disney Cinema, a cinema channel launched in 2015 as a replacement for Disney Cinemagic and closed in 2020, due to the launch of Disney+.
Voyage, documentary channel acquired in 2019 as part of the acquisition ofFox Networks Group and closed on 1 January 2021.
Video on demand service
Disney Channel Avant-Première, premium on-demand service of Disney Channel active from 2011 to Summer 2015, replaced by Disney Channel Pop Pick Play which was initially anOrange exclusive.
These three on demand services were closed on 1 April 2020 with the arrival ofDisney+.
Disney Channel Pop Pick Play (2015-2018), Disney Channel Pop Pick (2017-2020), a service dedicated toDisney Channel productions, include in some TV packages.
Disney English, an educational service include in some Canal+ packages.
Holà Disney, an educational service include in some Canal+ packages.
Fox Play, acquired fromFox Networks Group in 2019 and shut down on 31 December 2020, ahead of the launch ofStar onDisney+ which was included in the same Canal+ offers.
ABCtek, a buy and rent service dedicated toABC Studios productions viaFree from 2011 to 2022.
Disneynature TV, a service dedicated toDisneynature productions.
Disney Movies on Demand, a service dedicated to Disney movies, available via Zive/SFR Play for example.
