In 1977, Disney's created the successful animated film The Rescuers, grossing $48 million

at the box office.[169] The live-acton/animated musical Pete's Dragon was released in
1977, grossing $16 million in the U.S. and Canada, but was considered a disappointment to
the company.[170][171] In 1979, Disney's first ever PG rated film and most expensive film
at $26 million dollars The Black Hole was released, showing that Disney could also use
special effects. Grossing $35 million, which was a disappointment to the company who
thought it was going to be a hit like Star Wars (1977), the film was in response to other sci-
fi movies that were being released.[172][173] In September, 12 animators, which was over
15 percent of the department, resigned from the studio. Led by Don Bluth, they left
because of a conflict with the training program and the atmosphere at the studio, starting
their own company Don Bluth Productions (which later became Sullivan Bluth Studios).
[174][175] In 1981, Disney released Dumbo to VHS and Alice in Wonderland the following
year, eventually leading Disney to release all their films to home media.[176] On July 24,
Walt Disney World on Ice, a two year tour of ice shows featuring Disney charters, made its
premiere at the Brendan Byrne Meadowlands Arena, after Disney licensed its characters to
Feld Entertainment.[177][178] The same month, Disney's animated film The Fox and the
Hound was released and became the highest grossing animated film to that point at $39.9
million.[179] It was the first film that Walt had nothing to do with and was the last major
work done by Disney's Nine Old Men, making way for the younger animators to do more.
[148]

A castle painted blue and pink with the bottom layer being made of stone bricks

Blue and white castle with the bottom layer being made of stone bricks

ginormous ball made of triangles

(left to right) Disneyland's Sleeping Beauty Castle, Magic Kingdom's Cinderella Castle, and
Epcot's Spaceship Earth are each of the park's main icon.

As profits for the company started to slow down, On October 1, 1982, Epcot, then known
as EPCOT Center, opened as the second theme park in Walt Disney World, with around
10,000 people.[180][181] Costing the company over $900 million to construct, The park
consisted of the Future World pavilion and the World Showcase which represented nine
countries including Mexico, China, Germany, Italy, America, Japan, France, United
Kingdom, and Canada (Morocco and Norway would be added later in 1984 and 1988,
respectively).[180][182] The animation industry continued to decline and 69% of the
company's profits were from its theme parks, with attendance of 12 million visitors to
Walt Disney World which would decline by 5% next June.[180] On July 9, Disney released
one of the first films to majorly use computer-generated imagery (CGI) Tron, which would
a big influence on other CGI movies, although it only received mixed reviews.[183] In total
in 1982, the company lost $27 million.[184] On April 15, 1983, Disney's first ever foreign
park Tokyo Disneyland, similar to Disneyland and the Magic Kingdom, opened in Urayasu,
Japan.[185] Costing around $1.4 billion, construction on the park started in 1979 when
Disney and The Oriental Land Company agreed to build a park together. Within its first ten
year, the park had been a hit with over 140 million visitors.[186] After an investment of
$100 million, on April 18, Disney started a pay to watch cable television series called
Disney Channel, a sixteen hour-long series showing things such as Disney films, twelve
different programs, and two magazines shows for adults. Although it was expected to do
well, the company lost $48.3 million after its first year, with 916,000 subscribers.[187]
[188]