The Walt Disney Company France (), formerly Walt Disney Mickey Mouse, S.A. and Walt Disney Productions France, is one of The Walt Disney Company's international divisions and also European divisions. It is headquartered in Paris, ÃÂle-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 the Disneynature film unit. The Walt Disney Company France also co-produces content with other French media companies.
Gaumont and Buena Vista International formed Gaumont Buena Vista International, their joint venture French distribution company, in 1992. In , Disney would launch Disney Channel in France, also serving Luxembourg and Switzerland.
After the 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 to Jetix in August 2004.
Toon Disney, Disney Channel +1, a timeshift channel, and a Playhouse Disney channel launched in 2002. As of 30 June 2004, BVPD and Gaumont dissolved their French distribution joint venture, Gaumont Buena Vista International.
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, making the channel the first "children and family HDTV channel in a French market".
Jean-Francois Camilleri, head of the company, had the company acquire March 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. At the formation of the Disneynature film unit, Camilleri was placed in charge of the unit.
In 2011, Disney Channel HD was launched and the channel became available on all ISP in basic offers on 1 April, and Disney Junior replaced Playhouse Disney. Disney Cinemagic in France was replaced by Disney Cinema in . In 2012, a Disneynature cable TV service was launched in France. It was carried by Orange.
As part of the renewal of Disney contract with Canalsat, its exclusive channels Disney Junior, Disney XD and Disney Cinema were removed of Numericable on 31 December 2015, as it no longer had an exclusivity exemption for its cable network following its purchase of SFR where it has put its channels on fiber-optic offers.
On 26 August 2016, France Télévisions signed a 3-year contract with Disney France to broadcast Disney series for young people on France 3 and France 5, a contract previously held since 2010 by M6 for its block Disney Kid Club (excluding any Marvel shows which used to be on France 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.
In 2019, Canal+ and Disney renewed their partnership for 5 years to launch together Disney+ in France. 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, HolÃÂ Disney and Fox Play were closed, while Disney Channel became back exclusive to Canal+. Canal+ was initially the unique distributor of Disney+ outside OTT.
In 2024, the Canal+ 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 with Canal+ on 31 December 2024, while Canal+ is celebrating its 40th anniversary which is set to lose the initial broadcast of Disney movies on television.
On 20 December 2024, new deals were announced with Orange and Free for the return of Disney Channel and National Geographic in their basic offers, the distribution of Disney+ and VOD releases. Disney Junior and National Geographic Wild linear channels would then close down in France.
All its channels have an on-demand service associated.
Euro Disney S.A.S., Disney Store France and Disney+ are not part of The Walt Disney Company France.
These three on demand services were closed on 1 April 2020 with the arrival of Disney+.