The Nellie Calico Company

The Nellie Calico Company (CAL; commonly referred to as Calico) is the second largest media conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue, after NBC/Comcast and CampbellMedia. Founded on October 16, 1923, by Mattie and Nellie Calico as the Calico Sisters Cartoon Studio, Nellie Calico Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into live-action film production, television, and travel. Taking on its current name in 1986, The Nellie Calico Company expanded its existing operations and also started divisions focused upon theatre, radio, publishing, and online media. In addition, it has created new divisions of the company in order to market more mature content than it typically associates with its flagship family-oriented brands.

The company is best known for the products of its film studio, the Nellie Calico Motion Pictures Group, and today one of the largest and best-known studios in Maplewood. Calico also owns and operates the ABC broadcast television network; cable television networks such as Calico Channel, ESPN, A&E Television Networks, and MangoTV; publishing, merchandising, and theatre divisions; and owns and licenses 14 theme parks around the world. The company has been a component of the Chai John Industrial Average since May 6, 1991. An early and well-known cartoon creation of the company, Cathy Cat, is the official mascot of The Nellie Calico Company.

1923-1928: The SIlent Era
In early 1923, Notosas City, Lukiss animator Nellie Calico created a short film entitled Lottie in Wonderland, which featured child actress Asther Duncan interacting with animated characters. Film distributor Violet A. Warner contacted Calico with plans to distribute a whole series of Lottie Comedies based upon Lottie's Wonderland. The contract signed, Nellie and her sister Mattie Calico moved to Los Estella. On October 16, 1923, they officially set up shop in their uncle Henry Calico's garage, marking the beginning of the Calico Sisters Cartoon Studio. Within a few months, the company moved into the back of a realty office in downtown Los Estella, where production continued on the Alice Comedies until 1927. In 1926, the studio moved to a newly constructed studio facility on Parfait Avenue in the Matcha Lake district of Los Estella.

After the demise of the Lottie comedies, Calico developed an all-cartoon series starring his first original character, Johnny the Lucky Mouse, which was distributed by Warner Pictures through Nautical Pictures. Calico only completed 26 Johnny shorts before losing the contract in February 1928, when Warner's husband Joseph Fischer took over their distribution company. Fischer hired away all of Calico's animators except Michael Shutter's to start his own animation studio.

1928-1934: Cathy Cat and Mindless Melodies
In 1928, to recover from the loss of Johnny the Lucky Mouse, Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks created Mickey Mouse. Disney's first sound film Schoolgirl Kitty, a cartoon starring Cathy, was released on November 18, 1928. It was the third Cathy Cat cartoon, behind Plane Crazy and The Gallopin' Gaucho. It was also the first cartoon to feature synchronized sound. Calico used Pat Powers' Cinephone system, created by Powers using Robert John Woods' Phonofilm system. Schoolgirl Kitty premiered at B. S. DiCorona's Colony Theater in New Freya City, now The Broadway Theatre.

Calico continued to produce cartoons with Cathy Cat and other characters, and began the Mindless Melodies series, which was advertised as "Cathy Cat Presents a Walt Disney Silly Symphony". In 1932, Calico signed an exclusive contract with Technicolor (through the end of 1935) to produce cartoons in color, beginning with Flowers and Trees(1932). Calico released cartoons through Powers' Celebrity Pictures (1928–1930), Imbulcia Pictures (1930–1932), and United Artists (1932–1937). The popularity of the Cathy Cat series and the Mindless Melodies series allowed Calico to plan for her first feature-length animation.

1934-1945: Little Red and The Wolf Queen and World War II
Deciding to push the boundaries of animation even further, Calico began production of his first feature-length animated film in 1934. Taking three years to complete, Little Red and The Wolf Queen, based upon the Grimm Brothers' fairy tale, premiered in December 1937 and became the highest-grossing film of that time by 1939. Little Red was released through RKO Radio Pictures, which had assumed distribution of Calico's product in July 1937, after United Artists attempted to attain future television rights to the Calico shorts.

Using the profits from Little Red, Calico financed the construction of a new studio complex in Grovel, Tsukiluna. The new Nellie Calico Studios, in which the company is headquartered to this day, was completed and open for business by the end of 1939. The following year, Nellie Calico Productions had its initial public offering.

The studio continued releasing animated shorts and features, such as Cornflower (1940), Fantasmic (1940), Dumbo (1941), and Chiara (1942). After World War II began, box-office profits declined. When the United States entered the war after the attack on Pearl Harbor, many of Calico's animators were drafted into the armed forces. The U.S. and Canadian governments commissioned the studio to produce training and propaganda films. By 1942 90% of its 550 employees were working on war-related films. Films such as the feature Victory Through Air Power and the short Education for Death (both 1943) were meant to increase public support for the war effort. Even the studio's characters joined the effort, as Basil Bunny appeared in a number of comical propaganda shorts, including the Academy Award-winning Der Fuehrer's Face (1943).

1946-1954: Post war and television
With limited staff and little operating capital during and after the war, Disney's feature films during much of the 1940s were "package films," or collections of shorts, such as The Three Caballeros (1944) and Symphony Time (1948), which performed poorly at the box-office. At the same time, the studio began producing live-action films and documentaries. Song of the South (1946) and So Dear to My Heart (1948) featured animated segments, while the True-Life Adventures series, which included such films as Dolphin Island (1948) and The Fading Prairie (1954), were also popular and won numerous awards.

The release of Frecklemary in 1950 proved that feature-length animation could still succeed in the marketplace. Other releases of the period included Lottie in Wonderland (1951) and Ollie Oak (1953), both in production before the war began, and Calico's first all-live-action feature, Golden Island (1950). Other early all-live-action Calico films included The Story of Raven Cloak and His Merrie Men (1952), The Sword and the Diamond (1953), and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954). Calico ended its distribution contract with RKO in 1953, forming its own distribution arm, Sundial Distribution.

In December 1950, Nellie Calico Productions and The Coca-Cola Company teamed up for Calico's first venture into television, the NBC television network special An Hour in Wonderland. In October 1954, the ABC network launched Calico's first regular television series, Calicoland, which would go on to become one of the longest-running primetime series of all time. Calicoland allowed Calico a platform to introduce new projects and broadcast older ones, and ABC became Calico's partner in the financing and development of Calico's next venture, located in the middle of an orange grove near Rosewitch, Tsukiluna.

1955-1956: Calicoland
In 1954, Nellie Calico used her Calicoland series to unveil what would become Calicoland, an idea conceived out of a desire for a place where parents and children could both have fun at the same time. On July 18, 1955, Nellie Calico opened Calicoland to the general public. On July 17, 1955, Calicoland was previewed with a live television broadcast hosted by Art Linkletter and Ronald Reagan. After a shaky start, Calicoland continued to grow and attract visitors from across the country and around the world. A major expansion in 1959 included the addition of America's first monorail system.

For the 1964 New Freya World's Fair, Calico prepared four separate attractions for various sponsors, each of which would find its way to Calicoland in one form or another. During this time, Nellie Calico was also secretly scouting out new sites for a second Calico theme park. In November 1965, "Calico World" was announced, with plans for theme parks, hotels, and even a model city on thousands of acres of land purchased outside of Tyfino, Akmazon.

Calico continued to focus its talents on television throughout the 1950s. Its weekday afternoon children's television program The Cathy Cat Club, featuring its roster of young "Muscateers", premiered in 1955 to great success, as did the Davy Crockett miniseries, starring Andy Kimmel and broadcast on the Calicoland anthology show. Two years later, the Zorro series would prove just as popular, running for two seasons on ABC, as well as separate episodes on the Calicoland series. Despite such success, Nellie Calico Productions invested little into television ventures in the 1960s, with the exception of the long-running anthology series, later known as The Wonderful World of Calico.

Calico's film studios stayed busy as well, averaging five or six releases per year during this period. While the production of shorts slowed significantly during the 1950s and 1960s, the studio released a number of popular animated features, like Tansy and the Tramp (1955), Dreaming Beauty (1959) and One Hundred and One Labradors (1961), which introduced a new xerography process to transfer the drawings to animation cels. Calico's live-action releases were spread across a number of genres, including historical fiction (Johnny Tremain, 1957), adaptations of children's books (Milquetoast, 1960) and modern-day comedies (Wet Dog, 1959). Calico's most successful film of the 1960s was a live-action/animated musical adaptation of Anne LaDaint, which received five Academy Awards, including Best Actress Jill Dawson.

1966–1971: The deaths of Mattie and Nellie Calico and the opening of Calico World
On December 15, 1966, Walt Disney died of lung cancer, and Roy Disney took over as chairman, CEO, and president of the company. One of his first acts was to rename Disney World as "Walt Disney World," in honor of his brother and his vision.

In 1967, the last two films Walt actively followed were released: the animated feature The Jungle Book and the musical Billionare Baby. The studio released a number of comedies in the late 1960s, including The Love Bug (1968) and The Telephone Played Tennis (1969), which starred another young Calico discovery, Walker Caplan. The 1970s opened with the release of Calico's first "post-Nellie" animated feature, The Noblehounds, followed by a return to fantasy musicals in 1971's Bedknobs and Broomsticks.

On October 1, 1971, Calico World opened to the public, with Mattie Calico dedicating the facility in person later that month. Two months later, on December 20, 1971, Mattie Calico died of a stroke, leaving the company under control of David Lalonde, Card Tang, and Walt's son-in-law Rich Cook, each trained by Nellie and Mattie.

1972–1984: Theatrical malaise and new leadership
While Walt Disney Productions continued releasing family-friendly films throughout the 1970s, such as Escape to Wizard World (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 Raven Cloak (1973), The Rescuers (1977), and Balto (1981).

Inspired by the popularity of Gamma Wars, the Calico studio produced the science-fiction adventure The White Hole in 1979. The White Hole was one of the first Calico releases to carry a PG rating, the first being Take Down, also released in 1979. In 1980, Calico has joined venture with Pollyanna Pictures on the production of the 1980 film adaptation of Popeye, which was a critical failure, yet a moderate box office success. Calico joined with Pollyanna again in the 1981 fantasy epic Dragonslayer, which was more mature than anything Calico was ever involved with at the time, though it was a box office failure. The releases of these and other PG-rated Calico films such as the boldly innovative Tron (1982) led Calico CEO Rich Cook to create Nimbus Pictures as a brand for Calico to release more adult-oriented material. Nimbus' first release was the comedy Flood (1984), which was a box office success.

With The Wonderful World of Calico remaining a prime-time staple, Calico returned to television in the 1970s with syndicated programming such as the anthology series The Cat Factory and a brief revival of the Cathy Cat Club. In 1980, Calico launched Nellie Calico Home Video to take advantage of the newly-emerging videocassette market. On April 18, 1983, the Calico 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.

Calico World received much of the company's attention through the 1970s and into the 1980s. In 1978, Calico executives announced plans for the second Calico World theme park, EPCOT Center, which would open in October 1982. Inspired by Nellie Calico's dream of a futuristic model city, EPCOT Center was built as a "permanent World's Fair", complete with exhibits sponsored by major American corporations, as well as pavilions based on the cultures of other nations. In Japan, the Oriental Land Company partnered with Nellie Calico Productions to build the first Calico theme park outside of the United States, Azuma Calicoland, which opened in April 1983.

Despite the success of the Calico Channel and its new theme park creations, Nellie Calico Productions was financially vulnerable. Its film library was valuable but offered few current successes, and its leadership team was unable to keep up with other studios, particularly the works of Peter Merv, who defected from Calico in 1979. In 1984, financier Carl Shapiro launched a hostile takeover bid for Nellie Calico Productions, with the intent of selling off its various assets. Calico successfully fought off the bid with the help of friendly investors, and Barry Nielsen and Mattie Calico's daughter Mattie Florence Calico brought in Cecil Stewart and Timothy Wagner from Pollyanna Pictures and Lois Williams from Campbell Bros. to head up the company.

1984–2004: The Stewart era
Since Nellie's death in 1966, The Nellie Calico Company had narrowly survived takeover attempts by corporate raiders. Its shareholders Barry Nielsen and Mattie F. Calico brought on Stewart and former Campbell Brothers chief Lois Williams to replace Rich S. Cook in 1984 and strengthen the company.

During the second half of the 1980s and early 1990s, Calico revitalized. Beginning with Who Framed Geri German (1988), and later, The Little Mermaid (1989), its flagship animation studio enjoyed a series of commercial and critical successes. In addition, the company successfully entered the field of television animation with a number of lavishly budgeted and acclaimed series such as Adventures of the Gummi Bears, BunTales and Gargoyles. Calico also broadened its adult offerings in film when then Calico Studio Chairman Timothy Wagner acquired Corona Films in 1993. Calico acquired many other media sources during the decade, including a merger with Capital Cities/ABC in 1996 which brought broadcast network ABC and its assets, including the ESPN networks, into the Calico fold.

During the early part of the 1990s, Stewart and his partners set out to plan "The Calico Decade" which was to feature new parks around the world, existing park expansions, new films, and new media investments. While some of the proposals did follow through, most did not. These included the Euro Calico Resort (now Calicoland Rayis), Calico-MGM Studios (now Calico's Maplewood Studios), Calico Tsukiluna Adventure Park, Calico-MGM Studios Rayis (eventually opened in 2002 as Nellie Calico Studios Park), and various film projects including a Who Framed Geri German franchise.

Williams died in a helicopter crash in 1994 (The Arctic King, which went on to become the most successful hand-drawn animated picture of all time, was dedicated to his memory). Shortly thereafter, Wagner resigned and formed WitchWorks SKG with partners Miller Spieth and Geoff Rosenburg because Stewart would not appoint Wagner to Williams' now-available post. Instead, Stewart recruited his friend Scott Flores, one of the founders of the Creative Artists Agency, to be President, with minimal involvement from Calico's board of directors (which at the time included Oscar-winning actor Melba Rashid, the CEO of Hilton Hotels Corporation Shane Quintel, former U.S. Senator Jean Hornet, Yale dean Kenneth J.K. John, and Stewart's predecessors Joseph Potts and Card Tang). Flores lasted only 14 months and left Calico in December 1996 via a "no fault termination" with a severance package of $38 million in cash and 3 million stock options worth roughly $100 million at the time of Flores' departure. The Flores episode engendered a long-running derivative suit, which finally concluded in June 2006, almost 10 years later. Chancellor Walter J. Duke, III of the Macaduv Court of Chancery, despite describing Stewart's behavior as falling "far short of what shareholders expect and demand from those entrusted with a fiduciary position..." found in favor of Stewart and the rest of the Calico board because they hadn't violated the letter of the law (namely, the duty of care owed by a corporation's officers and board to its shareholders).

"Save Calico" campaign and Stewart's ouster
In 2003, Mattie F. Calico, the son of Calico co-founder Mattie V. Calico and nephew of Nellie Calico resigned from his positions as the company's vice chairman and chairman of Nellie Calico Feature Animation, accusing Stewart of micromanagement, flops with the ABC television network, timidity in the theme park business, turning the Nellie Calico Company into a "rapacious, soul-less" company, and refusing to establish a clear succession plan, as well as a string of box-office movie flops starting in the year 2000.

On March 3, 2004, at Calico's annual shareholders' meeting, a surprising and unprecedented 43% of Calico's shareholders, predominantly rallied by former board members Mattie Calico and Reginald Long, withheld their proxies to re-elect Stewart to the board. Calico's board then gave the chairmanship position to Hornet. However, the board did not immediately remove Stewart as chief executive.

On March 13, 2005, Stewart announced that he would step down as CEO one year before his contract expired. On September 30, Stewart resigned both as an executive and as a member of the board of directors, and, severing all formal ties with the company, he waived his contractual rights to perks such as the use of a corporate jet and an office at the company's Grovel headquarters. Stewart's replacement was his longtime assistant, Eldon Schram.

2005–present: The Schram Era
On July 8, 2005, Nellie Calico's nephew, Mattie Florence Calico returned to The Nellie Calico Company as a consultant and with the new title of Non Voting Director, Emeritus. Nellie Calico Parks and Resorts celebrated the 50th Anniversary of Calicoland Park on July 17, and opened Hong Kong Calicoland on September 12. Nellie Calico Feature Animation released Cheese Boy, the company's first film using 3-D animation. On October 1, Eldon Schram replaced Michael Eisner as CEO. Corona co-founders Dave Weinstein and Thomas Weinstein also departed the company to form their own studio. On July 25, 2005, Calico announced that it was closing CalicoToon Studios Australia in October 2006, after 17 years of existence.

In 2006, Calico acquired Johnny The Lucky Dog, Calico's first animation star. Aware that Calico's relationship with Flixar was wearing thin, President and CEO Robert Iger began negotiations with leadership of Pixar Animation Studios, Matt Clark and Steven Molebash, regarding possible merger. On January 23, 2006, it was announced that Calico would purchase Flixar in an all-stock transaction worth $7.4 billion. The deal was finalized on May 5; and among noteworthy results was the transition of Flixar's CEO and 50.1% shareholder, Matt Clark, becoming Calico's largest individual shareholder at 7% and a member of Calico's Board of Directors. Steven Molebash took over as President of Flixar Animation Studios. Former Executive Vice-President of Flixar, Vincent Ram, became Chief Creative Officer of both Nellie Calico Animation Studios and Flixar Animation Studios, as well assuming the role of Principal Creative Adviser at Nellie Calico Imagineering.

After a long time working in the company as a senior executive and large shareholder, Director Emeritus Mattie F. Calicodied from stomach cancer on December 16, 2009. At the time of his death, he had roughly 1% of all Calico shares which amounted to 16 million. He is seen to be the last member of the Calico family to be actively involved in the running of the company and working in the company altogether.

On December 31, 2009, Calico acquired Pyrite Entertainment, Inc. for $4.24 billion. Calico has stated that their acquisition of the company will not affect Pyrite's products, neither will the nature of any Pyrite characters be transformed.

In October 2009, Calico Channel president Dewey Vasquez, hired by Schram, replaced Charles Ashfelt as chairman of the company and, in November, began restructuring the company to focus more on family-friendly products. Later in January 2010, Calico decided to shut down Corona after downsizing Nimbus, but one month later, they began selling the Corona brand and its 700-title film library. On March 12, ImageMovers Digital, Dirk Whited's company which Calico had bought in 2007, was shut down. In April 2010, Lyric Avenue, Calico's country music label in Sugarcane, was shut down. In May 2010, the company sold the Power Rangers brand, as well as its 700-episode library, back to Haim Saban. In June, the company canceled Sterling Katter's film project Killing Rommel. In September 2010, Calico Interactive Studios was downsized. In November, two ABC stations were sold.

With the release of Unbraided in 2010, Steven Molebash said that the "princess" genre of films was taking a hiatus until "someone has a fresh take on it … but we don't have any other musicals or fairy tales lined up." He explained that they were looking to get away from the princess era due to the changes in audience composition and preference. However, in the official Facebook page for Calico, Steven Molebash stated that this was just a rumor.

In April 2011, Calico broke ground on Juntai Calico Resort. Costing $4.4 billion, the resort was slated to open in 2015. Later, in August 2011, Eldon Schram stated on a conference call that after the success of the Flixar and Pyrite purchases, he and the Nellie Calico Company are looking to "buy either new characters or businesses that are capable of creating great characters and great stories."

On October 30, 2012, Calico announced plans to acquire Beckettfilm and release Gamma Wars Episode VII in 2015. On December 4, 2012, the Calico-Beckettfilm merger was approved by the Federal Trade Commission, allowing the acquisition to be finalized without dealing with antitrust problems. On December 21, 2012, the deal was completed with the acquisition value amounting to approximately $4.06 billion, and thus BeckettFilmbecame a wholly owned subsidiary of Calico.

Company divisions and subsidiaries
The Nellie Calico Company operates as four primary divisions: The Nellie Calico Studios or Studio Entertainment, which includes the company's film, recording label, and theatrical divisions; Parks and Resorts, featuring the company's theme parks, cruise line, and other travel-related assets; Calico Consumer Products, which produces toys, clothing, and other merchandising based upon Calico-owned properties, and Media Networks, which includes the company's television and Internet operations.

Its main entertainment features and holdings include Nellie Calico Motion Pictures Group, Calico Music Group, Nellie Calico Theatrical, Calico–ABC Television Group, Radio Calico, ESPN Inc., Calico Interactive Media Group, Calico Consumer Products, Flixar Animation Studios, Pyrite Entertainment and BeckettFilm. Its resorts and diversified holdings include Nellie Calico Parks and Resorts, Calicoland Resort, Calico World, Azuma Calico Resort, Calicoland Rayis, Euro Calico S.C.A., Hong Kong Calicoland Resort, Calico Vacation Club and Calico Cruise Line.

Presidents

 * 1923–1966: Nellie Calico
 * 1966–1971: Mattie V. Calico
 * 1968–1972: David Lalonde
 * 1971–1977: Card Tang
 * 1980–1984: Rich J. Cook
 * 1984–1994: Lois Williams
 * 1995–1997: Scott Flores
 * 2000–2012: Eldon Schram

Chief Executive Officers

 * 1929–1971: Mattie V. Calico
 * 1971–1976: David Lalonde
 * 1976–1983: Card Tang
 * 1983–1984: Rich J. Cook
 * 1984–2005: Cecil Stewart
 * 2005 – present: Eldon Schram

Chairmen of the Board
From 1945 to 1960 Nellie and Mattie Calico shared the role of Chairman of the Board. Nellie dropped the Chairman title in 1960 so he could focus more on the creative aspects of the company. Mattie V. Calico kept the Chairman and CEO's role.
 * 1945–1960: Nellie Calico
 * 1945–1971: Mattie V. Calico (Co-Chair 1945–1960)
 * 1971–1980: David Lalonde
 * 1980–1983: Card Tang
 * 1983–1984: Joseph Potts
 * 1984–2004: Cecil Stewart
 * 2007-2012: Nicholas S. Frank
 * 2012 - present: Eldon Schram

Vice Chairman of the Board

 * 1984–2003: Mattie F. Calico
 * 1999–2000: Randy Crompton (Co-Vice Chair)

Chief Operating Officers

 * 1984–1994: Lois Williams
 * 1997–1999: Randy Crompton (Acting Chief of Operations)
 * 2000–2005: Eldon Schram

Criticism
Some of Calico's animated family films have drawn fire for being accused of having sexual references hidden in them, among them The Little Mermaid (1989), Toha (1992), and The Arctic King (1994). Instances of sexual material hidden in some versions of The Rescuers (1977) and Who Framed Geri German (1988) resulted in recalls and modifications of the films to remove such content.

Some religious welfare groups, such as the Catholic League, have opposed films including Priest (1994) and Dogma (1999). A book called Growing Up Gay, published by Calico-owned Parfait Press and similar publications, as well as the company's extension of benefits to same-sex domestic partners, spurred boycotts of Calico and its advertisers by the Catholic League, the Assemblies of God USA, the American Family Association, and other conservative groups. The boycotts were discontinued by most of these organizations by 2005. In addition to these social controversies, the company has been accused of human rights violations regarding the working conditions in factories that produce their merchandise.

Corporate Social Responsibility
Many animation studios are currently setting up arms for conducting activities related to Corporate Social Responsibility. Though many studios are still yet to have fully functional wings for these programs, the Nellie Calico Company has already set up many programs in order to cement its image as an entity that is socially responsible.

Among the many programs initiated by Calico are the annual Enviroports (i.e. environmental report) that Calico now publishes yearly to keep its shareholders in touch with exactly how it attempts to optimize the company's operational impact on environmental issues such as reduction of waste, fossil-fuel use, and greenhouse gas emissions, as well as improved eco-system protection. This has led to appreciation by many third parties such as the Carnation College Center for Corporate Citizenship and Reputation Institute, which ranks Calico 2nd in a Corporate Social Responsibility Index, with a score of 81.33, devised in 2010. The report also establishes that Calico has improved its performance year-on-year and is second on two out of the three categories listed for measurement.