- February
- Daisy Duck's three nieces April, May, and June first appear, in Walt Disney's Comics and Stories number 149. [1378.38]
- February 18
- Disney's first People and Places documentary film, The Alaskan Eskimo, is released to theaters. [13] [22] [23] [113.251] [1378.17]
- March
- The board of directors of Walt Disney Productions agrees to license Walt Disney's name for forty years, give Walt Disney a personal services contract for seven years for $3000 per week and 5-10 percent of what the company collects from the use of Walt's name on anything outside of production. WED Wnterprises would design and build attractions for Disneyland park and sell them to Walt Disney Productions at cost plus overhead. Three board members resign; the others warily approve it. [267.254] [1102.493]
- Roy Disney holds a press conference, and states that no future exists in television for the Disney studio. [34.210]
- The government of France awards Walt Disney with the title and decoration of Officer d'Academie, in recognition of his "contribution to truth and knowledge" through his films. [34.210]
- March 19
- The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences awards an Oscar (Short Subjects, Two Reels) for the film Water Birds. [13] [23] [38.228] [39.460]
- March 28
- Disney releases the Goofy film Father's Day Off to theaters. [16] [23] [228.176]
- April
- Walt Disney commissions the Stanford Research Institute to advise on best location for the Disneyland park, and to perform an analysis of amusement parks and public attractions. Cost is US$32,000. [267.186] [23] [26] [48.249] [222.28]
- April 18
- The Mickey Mouse film The Simple Things is released. Pluto also appears. (This is the last film appearance of Mickey Mouse until 1983.) [16] [15] [23] [49.266] [501.501] (1952 [7])
- May 9
- Disney releases the Goofy film For Whom the Bulls Toil to theaters. [16] [23] [15] [228.191]
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- May 28
- Disney's first "Adventures in Music" animated film, Melody, is released. The film was made in 3-D, the first such film to be released in the US. [16] [23] [49.266] [97.119] [232.85] [1378.9]
- May 30
- Disney releases the Donald Duck film Don's Fountain of Youth to theaters. Huey, Dewey, and Louie also appear. [16] [23] [228.149]
- June 20
- The Goofy film Father's Weekend is released. [16] (Father's Week-end [23]) (Father's Week End [228.176])
- (month unknown)
- WED Enterprises begins writing scripts for a proposed TV series Zorro. Walt Disney and Bill Cottrell (producer) propose the series to the CBS and NBC TV networks, but both want to see a pilot show first. Disney puts the Zorro project on hold during construction of Disneyland. [267.181] [384.119]
- WED Enterprises begins design work on Disneyland. [267.181]
- The "Dell Color Comics" comic book Chip 'n Dale is first published. [113.329]
- The film Sleeping Beauty goes into full production. [17]
- Dell Publishing Company produces Dell Color Comics comic book #468, Goofy. [113.333]
- RKO Radio Pictures releases the Disney cartoon film compilation 4th of July Firecrackers to theaters. [23] [228.193]
- The Hollywood Foreign Press Association awards a Golden Globe Award (Cecil B. DeMille Award) to Walt Disney. [369.63]
- July 11
- The Goofy film How to Dance is released. [16] [23] [228.244]
- July
- Walt Disney hires the Stanford Research Institute to look for a 100+ acre location in Southern California for Disneyland. [1073.74] [1102.500]
- Walt Disney meets with ABC president Leonard Goldenson, to negotiate a deal for ABC to benefit from Disney's name and inventory of films, in exchange for financing Disneylandia. [34.216] (Roy Disney [48.249])
- Clement Melancon, a small shareholder of Walt Disney Productions stock, sues Walt Disney and WED Enterprises, claiming Walt is illegally siphoning profits from Walt Disney Productions. [34.216]
- July 23
- The True-Life Adventure film Prowlers of the Everglades is released to theaters. [23] [228.402]
- RKO Radio Pictures releases Disney's live-action feature film The Sword and the Rose to theaters. The film is based on the book When Knighthood Was in Flower by Charles Major, and was filmed in Great Britain. [13] [23] [15] [49.265] [79.110] [370.110] [113.251] [501.534]
- August 1
- The Donald Duck film The New Neighbor is released. [16] [23] [228.354]
- August
- Roy Disney meets with the Stanford Research Institute to discuss the results of the Disneyland location survey. Of ten possible locations, an area in Anaheim along the Santa Ana Freeway is chosen. The 160-acre Ball Road subdivision, a grove of 1000 orange trees, is then purchased for US$879,000. [1073.74] [1102.501] (July [267.187])
- August 8
- Marvin Davis completes his first diagram plan for the Disneyland site. Walt adds a triangular area to show where he wants the railroad to bound the park. [328.200]
- (month unknown)
- A real estate agent, on behalf of Disney, begins discretely buying 270 acres of land at US$4,500 per acre for the Disneyland park site. [267.187]
- September
- Roy Disney announces the studio would end its 18-year distribution arrangement with RKO Radio Pictures, and would distribute films itself through Buena Vista. [34.212] [1102.519]
- September 24
- Roy Disney receives word that prospective financiers in New York for Disneyland want to meet next week. He contacts Walt, asking for a visual presentation to take. [328.204]
- September 25
- Marvin Davis completes his second-generation "hub" layout of the proposed Disneyland. [226.15]
- September 26
- Walt Disney discusses his plans for Disneyland with Herb Ryman, convincing him to help draw a visual image of the park. Over 42 hours, the two create a 43x70 inch detailed aerial view. [92.99] [222.29] [226.15] [234.99] [1364.56] (September 23 [267.183] [939.7] [1102.506])
- September 28
- In New York, Roy Disney meets with CBS TV executives to seek financing for Disneyland Park. They are not interested. NBC's parent company, RCA, stalls in making a committment. ABC's Leonard Goldenson eagerly agrees to participate. The final agreement includes a US$500,000 investment from ABC-Paramount, guarantee for US$4.5 million line of credit, in return for 35 percent interest in Disneyland Park, and a weekly one-hour TV program with Disney films and production for TV. ABC will pay Disney $5 million per year for TV programming, over the 7-year contract. This is the largest TV package deal in history. [234.100] [328.210] [1336.35] (September 25 [267.183]) (ABC deal in Spring [384.120])
- (month unknown)
- Walt Disney sells his rights to produce a Zorro TV show to the Walt Disney Studios. [384.120]
- RKO releases the Disney film compilation Fall Varieties to theaters. [228.173]
- October 2
- Disney releases the animated film Football Now and Then to theaters. [23] [228.190] (Football (Now and Then) [16])
- October 23
- The Donald Duck film Rugged Bear is released. Humphrey Bear makes his first appearance. [16] [23] [501.478]
- (month unknown)
- RKO Radio Pictures releases the Disney cartoon film compilation Halloween Hilarities to theaters. [23] [228.225]
- RKO Radio Pictures releases the cartoon film compilation Thanksgiving Day Mirthquakes to theaters. [23] [501.549]
- RKO Radio Pictures releases the cartoon film compilation Mickey's Birthday Party to theaters. [23]
- RKO Radio Pictures releases the cartoon film compilation Christmas Jollities to theaters. [23] [1378.135]
- Disney establishes Buena Vista Distribution Company as Disney's film distributor. [23] [56.75] [113.251] [228.71,127] (1954 [47.140])
- November 10
- The Buena Vista Distribution Company releases Disney's True-Life Adventures feature film The Living Desert to theaters. It cost under US$300,000 to make. It is the first film distributed by Disney's own distribution company. [13] [22] [23] [48.239] [113.251] [228.293] [267.175] [370.113] [431.30] [1073.74]
- The Buena Vista Distribution Company releases the animated film Toot, Whistle, Plunk, and Boom to theaters in the US. It is the first animated film filmed in CinemaScope. [16] [15] [23] [225.42] [501.564]
- The Buena Vista Distribution Company releases the special animated featurette film Ben and Me to theaters. [16] [13] [23] [1378.71]
- November 11
- Disney releases the Donald Duck film Working for Peanuts to theaters. Delores and Chip 'n' Dale also appear. It was filmed in 3-D. [16] [15] [23]
- December 25
- Disney releases the Goofy film How to Sleep to theaters. [16] [23] [228.245]
- Disney releases the Donald Duck film Canvas Back Duck to theaters. Huey, Dewey, and Louie, and Pete also appear. [23] [1378.116] (Canvasback Duck [16])
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